It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

Posted on by chadyork81

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Well, it’s that time again…  my favorite time of year has arrived.  The sound of shoes squeaking, crowds screaming, and hearts breaking will resonate for the next month.  Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you March Madness!  Which begs the questions, is the NCAA Basketball tournament the most exciting of all championships Pro or College?  I say yes…

Where else can you have Cinderella stories like VCU and Butler University?  College powerhouse teams such as Kansas and Louisville going home early to teams you’ve never heard of and couldn’t tell me what state they play in if I gave you 47 guesses.  Players who have flown under the radar only to break out, have a big showing in “The Dance”, earn a multi million dollar NBA contract… and never produce anything at the pro level.  Nobody does it like college basketball.

For the next month I will be watching teams play that i could care less about, but at the end of the day I will have a vested interest.  Because as we all know there is no greater feeling that filling out the perfect NCAA Championship Bracket.  Have i ever actually filled out perfect bracket?  Well, no technically not… but.. I feel this may be there year. Here are a few ground rules I have when filling out my bracket:

1.  UNC always makes it to at least the Final Four.  Even in 2010 when they were playing in the NIT, I wrote them in to the Final Four.

2.  Duke never makes it past the sweet 16.  Even if they are 32-0, won every game by 30 points, they aren’t going to the elite 8.

3. Kentucky always gets to the elite 8… but never further. (This usually holds true)

4. At least one 12 seed makes it to the elite 8, usually some small podunk school that looks like they should be in the Final Four of the Math Olympics.

5.  And Finally, the final score of the final game is always 77-72.

 

What are your bracket tendencies?  Lets hear them.  Goodluck to you in your bracket, if you want to see the perfect bracket.. please check back soon when I post mine!  Haha, happy madness!

55 responses to “It’s the most wonderful time of the year…”

  2. Ah yes, I look forward to this month for almost a whole year. I’m usually not very good with the brackets, but my number one rule is that Syracuse goes all the way. (Can you tell I live in or near central New York state?) Go ‘Cuse! And on occasion I have been known to fill a space depending on whether I liked the school’s mascot or not. A perfect bracket? Not yet, but the dream stays alive! Looking forward to the madness.

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  6. “Which begs the questions, is the NCAA Basketball tournament the most exciting of all championships Pro or College? I say yes…”

    I couldn’t agree more. March Madness is the best sports programming on by far at any level. There is more intensity during the NCAA Basketball tournament than World Series, Super Bowl Sunday, & NBA Finals, combined x 10. No matter who your favorite team is I find it impossible not to get addicted.

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  8. The years I have put the most thought and logic behind my picks I’ve done worse :). I still consider their records, look at what conference they come from, what anomalies they may have, secret weapons, coaching etc… but once I do this in the end I go with my gut. It’s not that I totally shoot off the cuff but quite often people over think this bracket.

    I play in several different brackets… We always play at my work which is dominated by 90% men… A few years back the winner was a girl who doesn’t watch much basketball, filled out the bracket in about 5 seconds…

    It’s madness!

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  9. I have “liked” your post on behalf of my brother who bemoans the fact that I do not watch college basketball. As a North Carolinian whose family is die hard for UNC, this is sacrilege. But I have to admit there is something infectious about March Madness. It turns nonbelievers like me into believers, if only for a month or so.

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  10. Chad York–cool to discover your blog. Mine is about creative humanists doing things like making paintings and photographs and cartoons and guitars, and I teach French for a living, but I grew up in Kentucky and am concerned about your rule of thumb about UK not getting beyond the elite 8. What? I’m all for being for the little guy (I usually am, with the exception of UK), and I’m a Virginia grad, too, so Go UVa, but still.

    Blog back at you, if you’re interested. I guarantee it’s the only blog you’ll see that starts with a picture of Terrence Jones and ends with a basketball poem by a recent book out of Belgium. Maybe it will mysteriously somehow help you make the perfect bracket.

    http://thehowtohumanist.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/hoops-for-the-how-to-humanist/

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  11. It IS the most wonderful time of the year! My brackets usually have the #12 seeds beating the #5 seeds – makes for great basketball!

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  12. I don’t follow college B-ball like I used to, but I listen to the sports stations on the radio in the car, and i sometimes keep up that way. But when I was watching them (more) consistently, your 5 points are usually on point.

    If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that’s an ongoing pattern.

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  14. I can remember when the NIT was bigger than the NCAAs. Much of that was because the NCAA tourney was only 16 teams and it was possible for schools to play in both. One school won both in the same year (not sure who, but it was an Eastern school and St Johns sticks in my mind). Some schools turned down invites to the NCAA to play in the NIT until NCAA said it would sanction any team that did that. To avoid a war, NCAA began to expand.

    NIT was played all in Madison Square Garden in those days over several weekends. That lasted until the late sixties, I believe, when they started to play regional games and finals were in NYC.

    In 1957, Carolina went 32-0, beat Kansas and Wilt Chamberlain (in OT) in the NCAA finals with star scorer Lenny Rosenbluth and Sports Illustrated did not even cover the game. They apologized by running a big story on the team the next preseason issue, Rosenbluth was gone and a star forward broke his leg. They weren’t nearly as good. Frank McGuire was the coach and that was the start of the great legacy of UNC Teams. McGuire recruited almost exclusively our of NYC but ‘Bluth was from Phillie.

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  18. Expect lots of surprise this year coming from:
    Big Ten – Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio state
    Big East – Cincinatti, Notre Dame
    maybe a podunk (?) school like Murray State, St. Mary’s

    no surprise from Kentucky and Syracuse will clean clocks to make up for upset by Cincy

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  21. UNC looks like the best team right now… They have a really good chance of winning the natty. I think at least 1 Cinderella will make the Final Four. It’s been a trend as of late.

    My homer pick to win the National Championship is Kansas. They are a complete basketball team. I know they just lost to Baylor, but stuff happens!

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  23. You just earned a follower and a like, because I admire not only your way of writing but also because I like basket, haha… Well anyways what I don’t like is your judgemental ways.

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  26. I’m a Coach K fan myself, always have been and even though they’ve fallen short … I still believe 😉 I’m like a Red Sox Fan … always believing even though the Madness takes over 😉

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  28. March Madness is indeed right around the corner and time couldn’t get any better. Just saw Syracuse lose to Cincy and Kansas being upsetted by Baylor. Anything can happen in the Big Dance, which makes the tournament the best!

    I invite you to our site. Check us out… we’d love for you to share your opinions on certain topics. See you soon.

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  29. In memory of Dean Smith and his four corner stalling offense – which eventually led to the shot clock – I always have North Carolina upset in the first game. As far as my other quirks, Louisville is always in the Final Four.

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  31. think you may be off about kentucky this year. difficult surely to have won all those titles when dont make it to the finals? definitely the most wonderful time of the year, hard part is finding a pub in ireland showing it.

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  33. 1- Much like you, Duke never makes it past the Sweet 16.

    2- I must pick at least one 12 seed and one 11 seed to win in the first round.

    3- I don’t pick Calipari teams to win it all.

    Really liked your post, I will be doing extensive coverage on the NCAA Tournament over at my college hoops blog: http://dg2hoops.wordpress.com/. You should check it out !

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  34. the photos is very extreme ana the i like the basketball and i aggre surely to have won all those title and make this title

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  38. I have to agree with you all the way about the 12 seeds (especially VCU) and UNC and Duke. I chuckled heartily with the NIT comment – don’t forget that UNC almost won the NIT that year!

    I can’t help but feel you are either a kindred spirit (I am a Tar Heel born and bred) or that you have some ties to the Blue Blood Rivalry… Either way, this is the start of the best type of madness there is!

    I always have UNC at the top… and a good deal of the time Purdue does pretty well. This year, I think the #7 seeds may make a good run.

    Can’t wait to read your next posts.

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  39. So agreed that March Madness is by far the best tournament AND time of year!

    I’m an Indiana alum and a huge fan (went to every home game during my college years, and traveled with the team to the first and second rounds of the tournament in 07), so in my bracket, IU always wins it all, even if they’re not picked. But this year, for the first time in a few, things are looking up for the Hoosiers! 🙂

    No matter what happens, it’s going to be a fun few weeks.

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  40. I have to admit, I only get excited about college basketball during March Madness. There’s just something about the bracket and the Cinderellas. Of course every year I’m telling myself that this will be the year I make the perfect bracket from nothing but dumb luck. I might steal a few of your tips though because I’m getting impatient! Cheers and thanks for the read!

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  42. Usually I don’t read post on blogs, but I wish to say that this write-up very compelled me to check out and do so! Your writing style has been amazed me. Thank you, quite nice post.

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  51. I think it should be noted that every year, I’ll likely tune in once the game is over, just to watch the “One Shining Moment” montage. I care more about that then the game itself.

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