For the better part of the past five months, nearly 350 teams have been competing for one of 68 coveted spots in the NCAA tournament, hoping for a taste of March Madness. Now we’ve finally arrived at the Big Dance, and that madness is set to ensue.
There will be shocking upsets and heartbreaking buzzer-beaters over the next few weeks. There will be Cinderella stories and national powerhouses making unexpected early exits.
There will be hugs and tears — in victory and defeat. And when it all wraps up in New Orleans on April 2, yet another team will have cemented its place in college basketball lore.
Those are only a few examples of the countless reasons to love the NCAA tournament, and in honor of the 68 NCAA tournament hopefuls battling for college hoops supremacy, here are 68 of the best ones:
1. Turning on the TV early Thursday and watching basketball nearly nonstop until Sunday night.
2. Getting paid for watching two days' worth of basketball at the office . . .
3. . . . and the condoned, in-office gambling that goes with it.
4. Counting the number of times some co-worker tells you, “Man, this is why college football needs a tournament system.”
5. That moment when you realize your entire bracket has just been busted . . .
6. . . . and the exasperating feeling when you realize you just lost your bracket pool to a co-worker whose picks are based on favorite colors.
7. Picking your bracket based on your favorite colors — and then beating your angry co-workers.
8. Putting your bracket up against the president’s and realizing that, in addition to everything else, he also knows more about basketball than you do.
9. Learning where Lehigh is located.
10. Belmont grads getting to talk smack with the state schools in Tennessee.
11. Getting so into March Madness that you’ll even watch the women’s tournament.
12. Whining about that there are nine Big East teams in the field . . .
13. . . . and realizing there are three more future Big East teams in it (Memphis, Temple and San Diego State).
14. Watching Georgetown try to end its skid of three NCAA tournament losses against teams seeded 10 or higher.
15. Seeing if ailing coach Jim Calhoun and his UConn team can ride their Big East tourney success back to the Final Four.
16. Referring to West Virginia coach Bob Huggins as “Huggy Bear” — though I wouldn’t try hugging him when he’s mad, which is most of the time.
17. Learning the name Kevin Jones — who averaged a double-double in the Big East this season for the Mountaineers.
18. Yancy Gates and Cincinnati overcoming a midseason brawl with Xavier and reaching the tournament.
19. Xavier doing the same.
20. Secretly hoping that Xavier and Cincinnati meet in the national championship game.
21. Realizing that, love him or hate him, Scott Drew has done an incredible job making Baylor into a Final Four threat.
22. Rick Majerus being back in the Big Dance with Saint Louis.
23. Former bartender Jimmy Patsos coaching Loyola (Md.) to the NCAA tourney.
24. Southern Miss coach Larry Eustachy being back in the headlines for all the right reasons.
25. Rick Pitino’s impeccable fashion sense.
26. Louisville and Baylor and their blinding neon uniforms.
27. Saint Mary’s and St. Bonaventure not being the only teams launching prayers over the next few weeks.
28. Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s fans either celebrating Friday’s second-round wins or drowning in their sorrows with a green beer (or 10) on Saturday.
29. The yearly drunken debate on how to spell Krzyzewski.
30. Watching a game at the bar with Fab Melo — no, literally, with him next to you.
31. Discussing whether Syracuse’s off-court distractions will finally get the best of the Orange with Melo out.
32. Jim Boeheim’s snarky reply to every non-basketball question he’s asked.
33. Watching ACC champ Florida State — a team that beat both Duke and North Carolina twice — try to prove it wasn't overseeded as a No. 3
34. Finding out if No. 7 seed Florida can prove it was underseeded (or will Bill Donovan wish, once again, he’d just taken the Orlando Magic job?)
35. Watching VCU try to become the next Butler.
36. Watching one of this year’s First Four teams become the next VCU.
37. Finding out which highly ranked mid-major star will prove to have been extremely overrated.
38. Finding out which highly ranked mid-major star will prove to have been extremely underrated.
39. Finding out which low-ranked mid-major was better than you thought and which highly ranked major conference team wasn’t really that good.
40. Hoping that this is the year we finally see a No. 16 seed beat a No. 1 — and hoping your team isn’t that No. 1.
41. The fact that a 16-18 Western Kentucky team has a chance to end 32-2 Kentucky’s season.
42. A Kentucky team so good even John Calipari can’t screw it up.
43. A potential UConn-Kentucky matchup in the Round of 32.
44. Watching the NBA stars of tomorrow compete against one another today.
45. Anthony Davis’ unibrow — and his unmatched skill in the tournament field.
46. Enjoying Draymond Green’s final NCAA tournament run with Michigan State.
47. BYU’s Brandon Davies’ feel-good story as he continues his comeback after missing last year’s tournament because of an honor-code violation.
48. Watching proud father and Celtics coach Doc Rivers take in son Austin’s success at Duke.
49. The father-and-son combos at Detroit (Ray McCallum and Ray McCallum Jr.) and Creighton (Greg and Doug McDermott).
50. Realizing that Creighton’s Doug McDermott — the tournament’s top scorer — can really put the ball in the basket.
51. Harvard getting its first NCAA tournament bid since 1946.
52. Harvard opening against Vanderbilt in the brainiest matchup in NCAA tournament history.
53. The potential for Harvard to play Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games at TD Garden in Boston.
54. Rooting for a team called the Jackrabbits as South Dakota State makes its first trip to the Big Dance.
55. Creepy mascots — I’m looking at you, Purdue.
56. The hope that Wednesday’s First Four matchup between the Bulls (USF) and the Bears (Cal) has no bearing on the stock market.
57. Finally, we can stop talking about where Peyton Manning and Dwight Howard will end up.
58. The potential for a Missouri-Kansas final — since we didn’t get to see it in the Big 12 tournament.
59. Traveling to watch your team play in the tournament’s opening weekend.
60. Taking a second trip that you can’t afford when your team improbably reaches the Final Four.
61. Finding out your ticket is right next to the pep band, then listening to it play “The Impression That I Get” 12 times during the game.
62. Large cutouts of heads sprinkled throughout the crowds.
63. Replays of Jim Valvano’s emotional national-championship celebration.
64. Buzzer-beaters; lots and lots of buzzer-beaters.
65. The inevitable “Onions!” call from Bill Raftery.
66. Playing with the Gus Johnson soundboard because he’s not calling any games.
67. The joy of cutting down the net and wearing it as a necklace.
68. It’s your one chance of the year to listen to “One Shining Moment.”
