UNITED STATES—This is my favorite time of the year when it comes to sports. Now, I don’t care about the Super Bowl as much as people would assume. It tends to be predictable and never exciting. However, college basketball is at its fever pitch and on Sunday, March 16, the bracket and the NCAA Tournament will officially kick off. I love this time of year because I feel like collegiate sports have more at stake than professional sports.

Many of the athletes in the professional leagues have already made it, so unless they’re rookies, they don’t have much to prove and they don’t care as much either. They are collecting their checks one way or another. When it comes to the collegiate arena there is so much more to prove. Not only are you attempting to prove your worth as an athlete, you’re building name recognition in the public sphere as well.

I can’t describe the incredible feeling I get when it comes to March Madness. It is a bonding moment for people who enjoy the tournament just like me. It is an opportunity to socialize with individuals who are rooting for the same team or teams as you, and if you are an alum of a school playing in the NCAA Tournament, the trash talking and camaraderie is at an all time high.

The chaos is actually taking place as we speak as various tournaments are unfolding across college basketball from the Big Ten, The SEC, America East, America Athletic, Atlantic 10, ACC, Big West, Big East, Big 12, Horizon League, Sun Belt the list goes on and on people. Teams that find themselves victorious in these tournaments find themselves getting bids into the bracket.

However, you have to realize that some of the best teams out there, don’t always make the NCAA Tournament and it’s a shame and the Committee is going to have to find a way to find some better determinations across the board. I always find it baffling when a team with a near perfect record fails to crack the bracket, but a team with a not so impressive record sneaks in and a lot of the time it has to do with name notoriety.

Yes, I am indeed rooting for my Michigan State Spartans who have been on a roll this year. Hell, I can’t recall a time the team didn’t make the NCAA Tournament in the last 20 years. Even with that said, the team hasn’t always faired great either. I can’t forget our journey to the Final Four in 2009, which was hosted in Detroit, the school’s home turf at the time people.

The campus was vibrant, chaotic and everyone was hoping for a victory, only for those hopes to be dashed by the NC Tar Heels, yes, they have always been a thorn in the Spartans side in recent years, but one can hope that is not the case this year. That is the thing about March Madness, you either win or you go home. There are no second chances. You have a bad night and you’re out and I love it as a result, because the best of the best can be knocked out by a Cinderella school. A lot of the time it tends to be schools that people never expected, and they tend to go on a deep run, but that run tends to end at some point.

I cannot recall in the NCAA Tournament history as I have been a participant, a team that has won back-to-back championships. It is just a very difficult feat to accomplish. I could be wrong, but it just rarely happens. So get ready college basketball fans because on March 16 the bracket will be unveiled and it will be your time to start making predictions. Who will defeat who? Where will the upsets be, and who will make all the way to the NCAA Final Four and who will win it all.

Yeah, you can participate in that bracket B.S. about crafting a perfect bracket which I’m sorry it just seems impossible to do. If someone does do it, it is sheer luck and I mean sheer luck like a coincidence that just rarely happens. Gosh, the next three weeks are about to be so much fun, I cannot wait!

Written By Davy Jones