The Madness

For those of you who follow sports in any degree, you know that March Madness is upon us and that the tournament is a mere 36 hours away! This excites me greatly. The NCAA Tournament is one of my most favorite things. All the upsets and surprises, all the so-called experts being so wrong in their analysis, the bracket challenge winners being the person who picked winners based on how much they liked the mascots..... It's so much fun!

Right now I have the challenge of filling out my bracket. This is a science for me, and every year I try to refine the process for improved results. I look over the bracket Sunday night when it comes out, and begin getting some initial impressions. Then, just because I love the tournament so much, I read all sorts of articles and watch all sorts of TV about it to get some more analysis for my picks. It's not until the Wednesday night before it starts that I'll actually make the picks. I have hard-fast rule of not changing picks once they've been made. Once I make the picks I am forbidden to change them, for I know that if I do, my first pick will have been the correct one. I never want to be in that situation, so I wait until I'm ready, and then make my picks.

So, with just one more day to finalize my picks, I think I pretty much know who I'm picking for what games. The hardest decision is going to come regarding my beloved BYU Cougars. I think every year I have picked them to win the first game (which of course I've been wrong on every time :( ), but with unfavorable seedings, I could never pick them past the first round. This year presents a very unique challenge. BYU should (time to knock on wood) win the first game against Florida. If they win that, then, more than likely, they will face Kansas St. in the 2nd round. The vast majority of sources I've looked at say this would be a very good matchup, and I think BYU could pull off the upset with a really good game. If that happens, they will then play the next weekend in Salt Lake City. This is tremendously favorable for them. I think they could beat any possible Sweet 16 team in Salt Lake, which would then put them in the Elite 8. Could I really in good conscience pick BYU to go to the Elite 8? Joe Lunardi of ESPN did. And could I even go as far as putting them in the Final 4? That's what Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated did. I really want to pick them to go far, but I just don't know if I have the guts to do it.

All this pondering and belaboring of picks is all part of the great fun that is March Madness. Regardless of how BYU does or how well I do with my picks, it will still be a lot of fun this next few weeks. So, tell us, how do you make your picks and who do you have in the Final 4? We should have a prize or something for anyone that can get all 4 teams. :)