For some people, March normally consists of Spring Break or Spring Sing. When it comes to sports fanatics it includes only one thing: March Madness. There are 64 teams competing in 13 different locations for one championship trophy.
Every year in March, millions of sports fans fill out brackets to see if they can correctly predict the results of the tournament. Some fans compete against each other in small groups of friends or submit their bracket into the CBS or ESPN bracket challenges.
For as long as I can remember I have been filling out brackets with my family. When I was younger I always based it off of team color, mascot or uniqueness of the school’s name. Now, I have a little more background and can actually attempt to make educated guesses.
When I fill out my bracket, I can almost always decide on a team that I think will easily make it to the Final Four. This year, in my opinion, there is no stand out team that seems to be easily gliding through to the next round.
Until this year a 15 seed had never made it through to the Sweet 16. Florida Gulf Coast University is the Cinderella story that made history on Sunday, March 24, with their victory over San Diego State. In round two of tournament play, the Eagles defeated Georgetown University.
This is only FGCU’s second year of eligibility to make it into the NCAA Tournament. They have left their mark on tournament history and red marks on brackets. Against Georgetown and San Diego State, the team put on a show with multiple dunks getting them into Sport Center’s Top 10.
Another game that left sports fans with their jaws on the floor was La Salle University vs. University of Mississippi. Ole Miss was the SEC tournament champion and some thought a contender to make a run in the tournament. The Rebels season ended in a nail biter, 76-74, against a feisty Explorer team.
Surprisingly, there are still three No. 1 seeds left going into the Sweet 16.
Look for Louisville, Kansas and Indiana to have to put up fights against scrappy lower seeded teams looking for upsets.
This year I have noticed a large amount of tweets talking about how everyone’s brackets are busted.
Even though my bracket has taken a hefty beating, I still have two of my four Final Four teams vying for a National Championship, Indiana and Louisville.
I would be lying if I said I was not disappointed. I am losing in my bracket pool, but they do not call it March Madness because every game can be predicted.
With 16 teams left, as of press time, look for a few more nail-biting upsets to occur before the NCAA can crown its 2013 National Champion.
The Final Four will be held in Atlanta, Ga., on April 6 and 8. Harding University will be featured on GEICO’s Best of College Basketball on April 6 at 1 p.m. EST. All the NCAA tournament action can be viewed on CBS and its other affiliates, TBS, TNT and Tru TV.
