I’m exhausted. It’s not because I’ve been pulling late nights at Lau to study for my midterm or because I’m worrying about all the projects that will start piling up in the coming weeks. It’s because I’ve been looking over a one-page document for the last three days trying to crack the code. March Madness is here, and the bracket has taken over my life.
As a student I have more important things to focus on, but I can’t help it—it follows me everywhere. It started popping up last week during spring break, before the teams had been chosen. Since Selection Sunday it’s only been harder to escape. I’m already in four pools (not that I’m popular; I’m just a sports nerd), it appears on every website I visit, and it even dethroned the mighty Charlie Sheen for at least a week. Who’s winning now?
Don’t get me wrong, I love this time of year, but I am awed by how consumed this country becomes by the simple bracket, especially when it is so unpredictable. Analysts on ESPN who call themselves “bracketologists” (which I still can’t believe is a real thing) aren’t guaranteed to do any better than that nice old lady who picks winners based on mascots and jersey colors. (For the record, there is actually a bracketology class offered at St. Joseph’s University, taught by alumnus Joe Lunardi.)
After spending hours completing my bracket, I’ll probably be ripping it up in disgust when my picks get destroyed before the Hoyas even take the floor on Friday night. Making a bracket is similar to playing golf. Before the tournament begins, my confidence is high and I’m thinking to myself that this is the year I win my pool and get every pick right. On the golf course, right before I tee off, I have a ridiculous amount of confidence. Thirty minutes later, after I slice my ball into the woods on the third hole, all I want to do is pull a Happy Gilmore and throw my club as far as I can.
In the last 10 years, the growth of the bracket has transformed March Madness and the entire country during the second half of the month. The rise of ESPN and social networking has only helped fuel this behemoth. But this year, thanks to a new television deal, the Big Dance is entering a new phase. When CBS’s exclusive NCAA Tournament rights ended after Gordon Hayward’s half-court heave missed by inches in last year’s Championship game, the company entered into a 14-year agreement to share the TV rights with Turner Sports. The $10.8 billion joint venture will allow fans to watch every game live on TV for the first time ever.
Instead of just CBS, Tru TV, TBS and TNT will now also air the games. Fans now have even more control over the action. Before, you’d have to rely on CBS execs to switch back and forth to games, often missing thrilling buzzer beaters only to watch Kansas throttle a small school making its first appearance in the tournament. Those days are over—the new deal puts that power in the hands of the fan. Also, unlike in previous years, the start times are more staggered, making it unlikely that two games will end at the same time, and making it almost impossible to miss a memorable moment.
If the madness grows every year and more and more people become enveloped in it, how big will it actually get? We’ve seen it turn small college athletes into folk heroes and the presidential bracket has become an annual tradition at the White House. At this pace, the next thing we’re headed for is a national holiday on the first weekend. Not that it would make a difference. No one is productive today or tomorrow anyway.
Nick, the column you wrote on March Madness was by far (in my humble opinion) the best piece you’ve written this year and by far, the best I’ve read from any of the sports journalists who cover the experience, young or old. Keep up the great work son, cause whether you realize it or not, you have another 3 dads and a brother that keep close track of work. Regards, Victor