Why I Love March Madness
I love March Madness. This opinion doesn’t make me unique. But people should never forget how great this tournament is. It gives everyone a chance to make a run. The underdog teams have a chance to shine, and the top teams have no excuses if they lose. It has everything. It’s big enough for small teams to dream of making it. It has upsets that are created by the merit and play of smaller teams. And it allows any team to see a clear path to glory.
The NCAA college basketball tournament has the best national championship format in college sports. College football is the biggest sport, but there aren’t enough games and too many teams to accommodate a national tournament that gives everyone a chance. College baseball requires too many games. In college hockey, there isn’t the same bracket tournament appeal. And college soccer…well this being the USA, college soccer just isn’t on the minds of most sports fans sadly.
But I would argue that basketball as a sport lends itself to the knockout bracket nature of March Madness. Basketball as a sport can have many games in a short amount of time. Football and soccer can’t have 7 games in less than 3 weeks. One-off baseball games just don’t feel right. But basketball can accommodate the needs of knockout tournaments. There are enough stoppages and substitutions available so that players can be fresh to play multiple games in quick succession. The game is fast paced, and less likely to need long overtimes like in soccer.
In basketball there is more immediate action in games. This makes all games in the tournament immediately exciting. For me, it is an American sports tradition to scroll through multiple games in March, with upsets and buzzer beaters happening simultaneously. The fact that so many exciting things are happening simultaneously is part of the charm of the tournament.
And of course, the making of the bracket is a time honored tradition. The anticipation of upsets and lower seeded teams making runs, but not knowing where in the bracket it will occur. The hope that your bracket will end up better than your peers. And everyone wondering if there will ever be a perfect bracket (almost certainly not). Almost all red blooded Americans love March Madness. It is something that I hope soccer one day achieves in the US, although I doubt ever will.
March Madness allows all teams, big and small, to chart a clear path toward ultimate glory. Everyone can see the prize, everyone can dream, and no committees of subjective decisions are needed to decide the national champion. I know I am not making any serious revelation here saying that I love this tournament. But I want to remind everyone of exactly why this tournament is so great. So every March, sit back, relax, enjoy the basketball, and appreciate what a great tournament this is.