Students share excitement about the upcoming NCAA March Madness tournament
By McDaniel Hartranft, ’17
Fast approaching is the third month on the calendar that flirts between the cold depths of winter and the early onset of spring. As people patiently wait for a weather pattern change and long for spring break destinations there is a sporting event that makes these 31 days unique. This is no other than the annual NCAA college basketball tournaments, also known as March Madness.
Senior Elizabeth Adams enjoys the annual NCAA basketball tournament March Madness.
“I really like the competition with my family and making a braquet. The atmosphere around the house gets a lot more fun,” Adams said.
Living with a family who shares her interest for March Madness the Adams’ family makes the tournament even more competitive.
“Everyone puts ten dollars in and I have a pretty big family so it ends up being almost 100 bucks,” Adams said.
Contrasting the intensity to other college level sports Adams finds that this tournament has something different than the others.
“I think it’s because it’s different from the way that football and other colleges sports are played. There are so many teams involved and it [March Madness] goes on for so long and there is the opportunity to make a bracket. I think that people just enjoy the extra chaos of it,” Adams Said.
On Sunday, March 12 Selection Sunday will be nationally broadcasted and streamed on NCAA.com. Adams hopes that she hears Ohio State’s name called as one of the 68 other teams chosen for the tournament.
“I also want Indiana and OU because those are both prospective schools for me next year,” Adams said.
Adams doesn’t have a specific formula to success when it come to creating her bracket but she likes the Cinderella teams.
“I usually make a lot of random guesses and hope that some of them are right. I try to put in some upsets which gets really nerve racking. I could be right which would be awesome or I could also be very wrong.”
In 2015’s March Madness Adams’ used her upset picking ability to good use.
“Sophomore year I had Wisconsin beat Kentucky when everyone thought that Kentucky was unbeatable,” Adams said.
Senior and avid Ohio State fan Andrew Owens also finds the competitive nature of March Madness attractive.
“I love the competition, there are so many games being played in the first few days of the tournament,” Owens said. “I normally compete with friends to see who can have the best bracket and the winner gets bragging rights for the next year. That’s something I never want to pass up.”
Owens assess teams during regular season in hope to be keen on the teams before tournament time.
“This year is a bit unusual, there isn’t that single dominant team. Every team besides Gonzaga has at least 2 losses. Duke and Kentucky have 5 losses a piece and they were preseason favorites to take home the trophy,” said Owens. “The only reason Gonzaga hasn’t lost yet is because they play in a weaker conference than the rest of the top teams,” said Owens.
As a true Buckeye Owens hopes to see the university’s team make March Madness.
“I always want the most deserving teams to make the tournament because I don’t want to watch bad basketball on spring break,” Owens said. “Of course, I want Ohio State to make it in but their record does not look like it can get them there, they would have to win the Big Ten tournament in order to make the tournament.”
Owens reflects on past Ohio State basketball players and their seasons.
“Ohio State has not been making noise in the tournament like they once did in the days of Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Aaron craft or Jared Sullinger,” said Owens. “I remember when the would make the tournament every year and I would write them in to be the champions just so I could cheer for them the whole way without conflict.”
Owens believes that a team that wants to win has to have many skill sets.
“The winner of the tournament is always the team that gets hot at the right time because today teams rely heavily on their ability to shoot the ball well and if a team is cold it’s too hard to win when the competition is as tough as it is in the tournament.”
Owens still finds excitement and fun in March Madness even when his team doesn’t make it.
“Even when the Buckeyes don’t make the tournament I still want to try and get the perfect bracket and just watching the games closely to see if I made the right picks is a great feeling,” Owens said.
The tournament begins March 14 and ends April 3 with a champion. Whip out those brackets and pens and makes your guesses even if it’s based on team colors.