Written by Zach “Busted Bracket” Dalton
We are now a full week into the NCAA’s March Madness Tournament, and if you are
anything like me then you are totally, hopelessly lost. You may be asking yourself a lot of varying questions like “what is a bracket?” or “where did all these teams come from?” or “why are they all so mad?” Well, fear not, dear reader. I did exactly one hour of research and here are some tips to March Madness so you can feel included when watching the games.
March Madness is an annual tournament hosted by the NCAA in which colleges across
the nation compete to see who is truly the most baller of all basketballers. There a lot of really good teams in the running, especially since Duke did not even start this year.
This leads to tip #1 about March Madness: pay attention to the rankings and then just throw them out the window. It does not matter if the team playing is a higher rank than the other, somehow the higher seeded team will lose to the underdog…that is just the way it goes. The rankings really only prove beneficial to know in instances when you are talking to someone and they say, “yeah this team was rank [insert number]. I cannot believe they lost to that team which was rank [insert another number].”
Another key element to feeling included in March Madness is reading the room. If you find
yourself at a COVID-safe watch party and you do not know who to cheer for, just look around the room and see how the crowd is going. From there you have two options: go along with the crowd and cheer for this team OR be a trailblazer and cheer for that team. Either way you are sure to become a vital part of that fan atmosphere.
The final big thing to help you get into March Madness is something you have already missed out on: making a bracket. Brackets are a big part of the tournament because it makes the fans feel like they are experiencing the wins and losses like the teams in the game. Unfortunately, brackets were to be done before the tournament started. So, when the time comes when someone asks how your bracket is doing just repeat after me: “my bracket was busted.” They will show sympathy and forget to even look at the poor, broken, made-up thing.
Happy basketball watching, Maroons!
