March Madness is in Full Swing

March Madness has arrived and its one of the greatest times of the year for college basketball fans!

The tournament is also called “The Big Dance” but many of my friends still prefer to call it “March Madness.” Do you believe in fairy tales? Anything can happen between the teams that made the cut on the road to the NCAA Championship. All the teams have played hard this season and now it is their time to prove that they deserve to be the champions. Even the Cinderella teams are hoping to take an awesome journey all the way to the Final Four.

In order to claim the National Championship, a team must play six games and win them all. It’s a tough road to travel. The best teams in college ball must now let everybody see they deserve to be there every game. Also, they get to show the NBA scouts what they can do.

When the NCAA tournament started in 1931, only eight teams played. Today, 68 teams compete in the playoffs. This year, Ohio State is the top seed in the tournament and is the ready to win the title. Duke is the defending champions, ranked fifth in the polls with a lot to prove. Now, the Sweet 16 has been determined and they will begin playing on Thursday. The Elite Eight slots are up for grabs. There is no way to determine who will be in the Final Four.

It’s been a week since I completed my bracket and I need to see which of my teams are still in the game. The fun thing to do is to root for the underdog, because people love picking upsets. I am currently perfecting my bracketology skills and hopefully will become good bracketologist with the outcome of the games.

Since I’m new to the NCAA tournaments, I decided to get help from someone who had a little more experience. I got a chance to talk with Gordon Ellison, a former college basketball referee. I asked him the question, “What advice would you give to the teams participating in the tournament this year?” He responded, “Whatever you’ve been doing, keep doing it because that’s what you’ve done all year. There is no point in changing now!” All right players, there will be millions of fans watching you, including the scouts and coaches, so I hope you will take this advice and use it.

For the first time in the tournament’s 73-year history, every game will be televised nationally. This means fans will be able to see their favorite teams play ball until the final buzzer instead of being switched to another game before it ends. The tournament is also on-demand with an app that allows fans to watch the game on their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. I think this is great since many Americans like to watch T.V. today on their laptops and smart phones. I will be watching March Madness from my iPod Touch. I can’t wait to see what teams from the Sweet Sixteen will dance their way to the Elite Eight, the Final Four and the ultimate championship game for the title.