For college basketball fans, March Madness is the greatest time of year. Hours upon hours of tournament analysis go out the window when a 3-seed loses to a 14-seed on the first day. Brackets get busted. People ask their three-year-old nieces to fill one out just as a basis for comparison. Your co-worker wins the tournament pool for picking teams based on mascot and not skill, after you spent 47 hours painstakingly scouting every single team and came in last. It’s a billion-dollar tournament (I’m guessing). It makes people lie on floors and cry.
Before I go any further, here’s a quick tidbit. I root for Villanova. I didn’t go to Villanova, no one in my family went to Villanova, and yet I have a very valid reason for rooting for them.
Back in the day, I decided I wanted to work in sports media relations. The only way to do this is usually via an internship after college. So I diligently applied to basically every school and NFL team with openings, and Villanova was the only program willing to give me a chance. (I was rejected by the University of Florida on three separate occasions. I rock.) I interned there in the days of Randy Foye, Allan Ray and Kyle Lowry. We were good again. It was exciting. Even though I don’t work in sports now, I still love basketball and get ready to root on ‘Nova every season.
Even though I only interned there for nine months, I still feel emotionally attached. So when they lose, I get angry. Close games stress me out. For some reason, when Villanova loses, it hurts more than usual. This season was supposed to be different, a return to the Final Four for the first time since 2009. Instead, we lost in the round of 32 to NC State, which pretty much left me feeling like:
As a result, most of my brackets are in disarray. I did four this year, as kind of a fail-proof, head vs. heart. vs. best case vs. worst case, thinking I’d cover my bases. Also, I wanted brackets where Kentucky DIDN’T go 40-0 because I am sick of John Calipari and his cheating and hair gel. But OF COURSE my bracket that is in the best shape has Kentucky winning it all because of course. Let’s assess:
Bracket #1:
National Champion: Duke (AKA I forced myself not to pick Kentucky)
Stupidest pick so far: Virgina into the Final Four because they lost in the Round of 32.
Smartest pick so far: N/A — No smart picks, and this bracket is the hottest of hot messes.
Redeemable, yes or no? Definitely not.
Bracket #2 (AKA my “heart bracket”)
National Champion: Villanova
Stupidest pick so far: See above
Smartest pick so far: I correctly had the Xavier/Arizona and Michigan State/Oklahoma Sweet 16 games, so there’s that.
Redeemable, yes or no? Three of my Final Four teams didn’t make it out of this weekend, so I’m guessing not.
Bracket #3 (AKA I picked Villanova to win again)
National Champion: Villanova
Stupidest pick so far: See above
Smartest pick so far: West Virginia into the Sweet 16
Redeemable, yes or no? Under no circumstances is this bracket redeemable.
Bracket #4 (AKA I forced myself to pick Kentucky)
National Champion: Kentucky (UNTIL IT IS VACATED IN FIVE YEARS, THAT IS)
Stupidest pick so far: Virginia into the Final Four because, of course.
Smartest pick so far: Villanova losing to NC State and you shut your mouth when I’m talking to you.
Redeemable: Yes, actually of course, because this bracket should be named WORST CASE SCENARIO I HATE EVERYONE.
After Villanova lost on Saturday, I thought about how worked up we get over sports in general. For a brief moment, I decided that I should give up sports entirely because why do I invest so much of my happiness into something I have no control over?
Then I decided to stop being a drama llama and try to just do what I do every year, which is shrug it off and root for all the teams playing the teams I can’t stand (Duke, UNC, Kentucky, now NC State, etc). It feels like a proverbial kick in the teeth every year when our team is not the last one standing, yet every year we come back for more.
It’s just the beauty of sports, the thrill of being invested in a team that you love, and with that, the risk of knowing you might end up crying in your car on the way back from Long Beach because you defended your team from all the haters who called them overrated who are now gloating on their soapboxes while you are stuck watching highlights from the days of yore when making it past the first weekend was feasible and not impossible.
