March madness has a majesty to it.
Brackets bust and hearts break, victory and triumph. The metaphorical battle of David and Goliath. The 68-team tournament that is held from late March, until the championship on the first Monday night in April to crown the NCAA men’s basketball champion has taken on a life of it’s own. Here are a few things the tournament gives you every year for what is, in my opinion, the greatest three weeks of the sports year.
The NCAA tournament makes more money and headlines than the entire four month regular season. It could be because of a powerhouse school like Kentucky or Kansas getting beat out on the first weekend. Maybe it’s because Ron Hunter, the head coach at Georgia State, coached on a swiveling stool due to a torn Achilles and fell off of that stool after his son, RJ, hit a game winning three pointer to stun Baylor last week.
The tournament brings heartbreak when the school you pull for loses and tears a plenty for the coaches and players of those. While powerhouse teams typically win the tournament, no team dominates it year after year. Arguably, the three greatest basketball programs in NCAA history, Kentucky, Kansas and Duke have all gone on 10-year stretches where they haven’t won the crystal ball. It’s hard to win six games in a row against really good teams.
The tournament brings confidence. Teams that you would typically think would have no shot against the big schools have an overwhelming amount of confidence when it comes to the tournament because they’ve seen the big upsets before. It could be Wayne Simien off the front of the rim against Bucknell or RJ Hunter from 27 feet to beat Baylor. The only way to accomplish something great is to believe you can do it first.
The tournament brings joy. On selection Sunday every year, teams are thrilled just to be in the field of 68. You see them dancing and high-fiving to get the chance to probably get smoked in the first round but its okay because for those small schools it’s their only chance to be on TV. If by some chance, they do win the first game, tears of happiness flow on the elated players faces as they dance and hug. Sure, they play again in two days and statistics say they’ll get beat by double digits, but it does not matter to them because they’ve already accomplished all that they could’ve hoped for.
This tournament isn’t about the bracket. It’s not about how good you are in the regular season. It’s about having one chance on one day to prove yourself. Having a chance to show the world how good you are and that anything is possible. This is about the majesty of March. March ‘Majness,’ if you will.