UNITED STATES—Oh, I love this time of year. I’m referring to March Madness which is about to kick off in less than a week when it comes to college basketball. It pits the best of the best with the underdogs in the basketball arena and it is simple people; win or go home. Things will kick off on Sunday, March 17 of all days, for those not in the know that is also St. Patrick’s Day so you will be seeing plenty of people celebrate their teams making the Big Dance and those who do not.
As of right now, I don’t have any preferential picks. You have your favorites like you have every year whether it’s Kansas, Villanova, Duke, UCLA, University of Connecticut, the Michigan State Spartans, Kentucky, North Carolina, Purdue or Houston, there are plenty of teams that will vie for that illustrious title. People have to understand just because a team is the favorite doesn’t mean it will be a cakewalk to the Final Four.
Every year, you have those underdogs and Cinderella teams that find their way into the tournament, and they make a deep run, many making it all the way to the Final Four and some actually making it to the Championship game. I love the notion of putting together your bracket as the official NCAA Tournament kicks off and hoping that you have that perfect bracket or the predictions that you have made are actually accurate.
The reality of the situation is who can actually craft a perfect bracket? There is going to be an upset or a series of upsets, there always is and that is what makes college basketball so fun. You don’t have to be perfect to win a game; you just have to be better than your opponent. And for all those teams that are dominant throughout the season, all it takes is having one bad day or night and BOOM you’re out and there are no second chances!
It really puts the focus on play every single game like it is your last game because a foul, a missed free throw, a three-pointer or not defending the bucket can be the difference between a win and a loss. With that said, you always have those moments that are talked about where literally the final second, or milliseconds of the game can create a point or two differential that catapults one team over the other.
Also, the NCAA Tournament brings people together. I don’t know what it is about sports that bring this raging energy to the country. There is nothing like shouting and screaming at the bar as you watch your favorite team score a basket or make a run from a deficit to put a game that looked like it was finished to an upset. I love it, just drink responsible America. Of course I am rooting for my Spartans. I feel like MSU is synonymous with March Madness, and Coach Tom Izzo just knows what to do with this team to get them playing at their best. The team is doing well currently, but they have to kick things into gear this week and next week to really make a deep run like I hope to see.
I’ll never forget 2003 when the team made a run in the Tourney and then again in 2005 that was quite impressive, and of course 2009 was the year that I was on cloud nine the NCAA Final Four was being hosted in my hometown and we were the biggest underdog and seeing the team prove the naysayers wrong it was just glorious to witness people it truly was. Could 2024 be that year? I don’t know, but I’m just going to sit back and watch and enjoy the journey and watch each game like it will be the last.
Written By Davy Jones
