We have officially entered March Madness.
Three weeks of all-out, one and done, college basketball among the top 65 teams in the nation.
The challenge that millions of Americans, basketball fans or not, is the art of mastering the NCAA Tourney Bracket year after year.
If you haven’t dipped in the pool, get out the trunks, because this is the perfect year to get your feet wet, especially with Temple and Villanova in the running for a national championship.
After earning an automatic bid by winning the Atlantic Ten championship, Temple University is slated as an 11th seed in the South Region and will take on 6th seeded Arizona State on Friday in Miami for round one.
Villanova continues to be a powerhouse in the Big East with a 3rd seed, at-large bid. The Wildcats will face the 14th seed, American, in the first round right here in Philadelphia at the Wachovia Center on Thursday at 7:20 p.m. And yes, it’s okay to go with your instincts here-it’s gonna be a blowout.
Or at least we can think it will be, that’s the beauty of the bracket. Anything goes.
So whether you’re part of an office pool or partaking in one of the millions of online challenges, choose your strategies wisely. Upsets, especially in the first-round, are almost always a given. You just have to think long and hard about who leave the court victorious.
Watch tournament specials and read up on blogs. Go with the higher seeds and pick your favorite schools or your favorite mascot (a woman actually won ESPN’s million dollar challenge with the mascot method…so much for the experts) and see what happens. Do whatever you need to do to prepare because the “experts” probably won’t help you win. In fact, that’s the only sure bet you can count on.
Despite our self-proclaimed expertise or lack there of, in bracketology, like the 65-team field, everyone who plays has an equal chance of perfection.
But you gotta play to win.
Chances are there’s that guy at the office that is all over the situation facilitating the pool already. If not, start your own by printing out free online brackets at ESPN.com or cbssportsline.com.
Your chance to pull a Nostradamus and call each game is about one in a million. Lucky for you, that’s also about the number of sites that offer bracket challenges so join as many as you’d like.
Let the madness begin, but remember your bracket-buster is just a game away!