Let's talk tournament
“The winter was over; the time was come for the growing, the visible growth, which to him was glory.”
– From the novel “Babbit”
Somewhere in the great state of Indiana is a one-year-old kid wondering if IU will ever play in the NCAA tournament in his lifetime.
But I digress.
Astute readers will recognize that I used the exact same quote when introducing my March Madness column last year. I cannot emphasize greatly enough the importance of this tournament.
Just as the NFL playoffs signify the start of a harsh winter ahead when one’s team has been eliminated, the college basketball tournament is the beginning of spring. Everything brightens, the weather improves and we stop wearing socks.
Spring break approaches and then it’s summer, a return to school and all of the good things to come.
But I digress.
One may wonder why I couldn’t find a different quote that conveyed the same meaning.
Don’t worry about it.
Before I give up some of my picks for this year’s fun, I want to call shenanigans on Franklin College. It’s a special moment in a boy’s life when he doesn’t have to pretend to be sick anymore to watch the entire first round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday and Friday.
From way out, I was planning to schedule my two “personal days” of the semester in an effort to see all the games. Unfortunately, our school must not realize that we live in the most basketball-crazy state in the union and scheduled midterms for this week. I have four in the span of 24 hours between Thursday Friday.
But I digress.
It is ridiculous for anyone to claim knowledge over others in their tournament prognostications. I watched more college basketball than anyone else in my house this season, but it gives me absolutely no advantage in our friendly, non-monetary bracket contest.
Of course, we’ve all seen the e-mails reminding us that participating in NCAA tournament pools for money is illegal for any college athlete, regardless of division or skill level. And we all know that gambling is illegal outside of certain designated places.
In conclusion, here are a list of four interesting long-shot bets for entertainment purposes only:
Ohio State at 30 to 1 to win the Midwest. Check out player Mark Titus’ blog at ClubTrillion.com
Marquette at 15 to 1 to win the West. Teams often play better in basketball without their best player.
Florida State at 18 to 1 to win the East. This make for a great story after the cheating scandal.
Stephen F. Austin at 350 to 1 to win the South. Because Stone Cold said so.
