We are officially into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, which means a couple of things. First, it means that we’re going to start getting a lot more of Verne Lundquist – love that guy. Second, it means that the best part of the tournament is already behind us, unfortunately. (It’s true. The first weekend is easily the best part of the tournament, and if you think otherwise, you’re wrong.) And lastly, but most importantly, it means it is time to stop being the guy who is still concerned about his bracket.
Simply put, if you don’t have a dog in the fight for the Big Dance, if your bracket isn’t 100 percent perfect or ranked number one in whatever tournament pool you’re in, you need to be cheering for the best story possible depending on who is left in the field. There’s no reasonable defense for doing otherwise unless you fall into those first two categories. You need to be losing your mind on the edge of your seat pulling for the lowest seeded teams remaining to go as far as possible. Don’t be the guy who is still pulling for his bracket. I promise, your bracket is not that good.
Let me give you an example. My national champion pick in my official, “turn-it-in-to-win-money” bracket was Michigan State. They had Tom Izzo and Denzel Valentine — they weren’t going down until at least the Elite Eight. It was as safe a pick as you could make… until they got blasted by 15-seed MTSU in the first round. In literally one day, I was done, but that’s the beauty of the tournament; at that point, who the heck cares? A 15-seed just beat Michigan State! I was pulling for them against my bracket while it was happening, because it’s the NCAA Tournament and that’s what you’re supposed to do. If you aren’t pulling for a 15-seed to upset the 2-seed, even against your bracket, why are you even watching? I shouldn’t have to explain why you do that — you just do it.
This is America; we cheer for the underdog here. Start randomly pulling for schools you’ve never heard of. My Friday and Saturday team was Arkansas-Little Rock. My Sunday team was Stephen F. Austin until they lost. Then it became VCU. Then it became Northern Iowa. If you’re truly a fan of college basketball, your allegiance should be to the goofy-looking ginger kid from a school in South Dakota who pulls up from three when he should take the layup. Your allegiance should be to the Bryce Drews, Ali Farokhmaneshes, George Masons and Butlers of the world. Your allegiance, especially now that we’re in the Sweet 16, should not be to your bracket, because if it still is at this point, you are the worst kind of person.
