March Madness
March is an exciting month. Why? For starters, it is Optimism Month, Cheerleading Safety Month and the last week of March is Tsunami Preparedness Week. The most exciting part about March, however, is basketball. Every year, 68 of the best teams in Division I college basketball compete for the title of NCAA National Champion. This tournament is the holy grail of basketball. This is what college basketball players dream about all year. This is March Madness.
March Madness is exactly what it sounds like: madness. With crazy buzzer-beater shots, Cinderella stories, upsets, and controversies, it is easy to see why. The only predictable aspect of March Madness is its unpredictability. There are bracket challenges that offer thousands of dollars in prize money to the person who can correctly guess the outcomes of every game in the tournament. Think you have what it takes to win the prize money? Think again. According to NCAA.com the odds to correctly pick the entire March Madness bracket by flipping a coin are 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808. Even if you know basketball and are a mathematical genius, you would calculate your odds of around 1 in 120.2 billion.
Is March Madness still fun to watch if you are not going to win the money? Of course! You can support your favorite team or just watch the games out of love for basketball. Last year, the Virginia Cavaliers won their very first National Championship. As a Virginia native, I was extremely happy. If you want to support the Nebraska Cornhuskers, I am sorry to say they will not be in the tournament. However, if you love Nebraska so much that you can only root for a native team, look no further than Creighton. The team from Omaha is ranked and they find themselves in the tournament nearly every year. So team up with your friends and family and watch some basketball! Put the body and face paint on and support your team’s colors. Maybe find some pom-poms and other crazy fans and watch a game or two. Get crazy and have fun supporting the wonderful game of basketball. Don’t hesitate to gear up now, because March Madness starts Thursday, March 19.
Joel Shetler is a sophomore studying science education.