Call it ironic. To start, let’s look at the Villanova #5 - Clemson #12 matchup in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Now, while every inch of my body wanted to write the Wildcats name down deep into the tournament - I am a diehard member of ‘Nova Nation - I took a deep breath, let reason take over, and for the first time in three years didn’t include Villanova in my Sweet Sixteen. Ha! How cruel chance can be, for as I cheered my ‘Cats on, I watched them systematically rally from being down 18 to shocking the Clemson Tigers with a win. In the first round, a fourth of my Final Four was already wrong.
Call it impossible. I somehow managed to correctly predict Siena’s stunning upset of Vanderbilt as well as Western Kentucky’s dethroning of mid-major favorite Drake. Yet, when all was said and done, I picked 38 of 63 games correctly. For you math majors out there, that’s failing - 61 percent. Wow.
Call it unique. Even before the Final Four was decided, history was already guaranteed to be made. Going into the last game, Stephen Curry, leading Davidson’s improbable rise (and fall to eventual champion Kansas), helped bring the Wildcats on by far their wildest NCAA ride. Davidson fell literally inches short of upsetting Kansas and consequently being the only 10 seed ever to reach the Final Four. Even without Davidson, college basketball’s biggest dance was still historic, as this year marked the first time all four number-one seeds reached the Final Four. That’s a pretty impressive stat, when one considers that essentially, this is the first year the NCAA selection committee actually got it right - my apologies to Syracuse, UMass, Florida and Ohio State, all NIT snubs.
But whatever you call it, don’t ever call it predictable. Despite being a self-proclaimed “sports buff” and feeling like I had it all figured out going into the opening round, every year it becomes more clear to me why we call it “March Madness.” It really is the greatest, most unpredictable, slightly-more-than-a month in sports. Just ask Villanova, Davidson’s Stephen Curry and Kansas’ Mario Chalmers. They all achieved the seemingly unthinkable at one point or another, and they all did it at the expense of my bracket. And in the end, I wouldn’t want it any other way. After publicly embarrassing myself by printing my bracket, I can honestly say I look forward to gracing you with my choices again before the madness starts again next March.