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Marshall: Let the Madness begin

Published 3/16/2010 in Sports

While everybody is excited about March Madness, otherwise known as the NCAA Division I basketball tournament, I had my own version last week in Hays at Gross Memorial Coliseum on the Fort Hays State University campus.

Sixteen games in four days, eight girls and eight boys. The best part was being able to sit courtside and get a look at how high school basketball has progressed and improved through the years.

The game, much like the NCAA — high school basketball is faster, the athletes are stronger and the game has become more physical. Players are spending more time in the weight room, getting stronger and working on specific drills to become better players with their shot at college basketball.

But now that my March Madness is over, I get to enjoy this next version which begins tonight with the opening round (play-in) game in Dayton, Ohio, between Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Winthrop.

Webster's dictionary defines "madness" as insanity, ecstasy, enthusiasm, or ailments marked by frenzied behavior.

Does any of that sound familiar to you as you are filling out your brackets, seeing who your favorite team has drawn and how far you think your team(s) will advance? The NCAA Tournament has become the ultimate one-and-done sporting event.

Since the NCAA does not have a single-elimination football playoff for Division I, this is easily the greatest spectacle in sports in the U.S.

The Super Bowl is one game, but teams have advanced through earlier round playoff contests. The World Series is a best 4-of-7 series as is the NHL Stanley Cup and the NBA Finals. The NCAA tournament grants no byes to any teams, even the No. 1 seeds.

I have to admit that I've not had much success in the past in filling out my brackets and competing in those Internet Fantasy contests. For some reason, my logic just simply doesn't work in this event.

Some people I know have their spouses fill out a bracket and base their selections on the school's nickname or colors. Now there's an educated way of doing it — but it has worked for some.

I've done my best to evaluate the teams in this year's field, which means I know just enough to be dangerous.

I've chosen the Kansas Jayhawks to win this year's title. That's the scary proposition. Two years ago when they won it all, the Jayhawks were a No. 1 seed and I got to see them escape in the Elite Eight in Detroit. The main reason I'm selecting KU is that they don't have to play any school whose name starts with the letter "B." You remember — Bradley, Bucknell?

Even though the Jayhawks earned the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament, they have no easy road to Indianapolis and the Final Four. If they play the way they did in the last two weeks, the Jayhawks are primed for a run to the title.

There will be a number of upsets in the first, but usually the favorites settle in and do well. My Final Four is Kansas vs. Kansas State, which will eliminate Syracuse in the Elite Eight, and West Virginia vs. Villanova. The championship game will be KU vs. Bob Huggins and West Virginia.

It will be fun to watch the Jayhawks take down Huggie Bear for the title.

Sports Editor Brett Marshall can be reached at bmarshall@gctelegram.com.

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