March Madness Always A Wonderful Time Of The Year.

March Madness is upon us once again. The annual survival of the fittest in College basketball has commenced and already has had its share of upsets and surprises and Cinderella stories. The competition is unique and provides us with a month where we get to see the heavy weights and the small fries face off against one another where victory is never guaranteed. Without a doubt, March Madness is the most wonderful time of the year….right after Christmas, sometimes.

March Madness has been great to watch and now that I live in Spartan country, I am more invested in watching it. I have been following March Madness ever since I was exposed to it when I was 10 years old and Duke went on to win their first title under coach K. It seems like yesterday that the 1999 Final Four was held in my hometown in Saint Petersburg, Florida where the team I grew up rooting for, Duke, lost to UConn in the final. I was able to go see the teams practice for free and see others schools’ fans, students and alums root for their schools. It was without a doubt a memorable experience and was glad to have enjoyed a part of it. Just wish Duke hadn’t lost to UConn.

Me and my friend checking out Final Four practices

There is something unbelievable about this tournament that other sporting events cannot deliver. 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament is unparalleled in any other sport. Do or Die. It is indeed the survival of the fittest. One bad performance can be enough for a team to crash out and dash their hopes and dreams. The uncertainty and the unpredictability of it, is one important aspect of this tournament. This competition wouldn’t be this memorable if each edition of March Madness had the top seeds advancing to the Final Four. Instead, we have seen David slay Goliath on numerous occasions.

Valparaiso upset architects, father and son.

Over the years, we have witnessed great upsets such as when Richmond eliminated Syracuse, Weber State eliminated North Carolina, Hampton eliminated Iowa State, Santa Clara eliminated Arizona, Valparaiso eliminated Mississippi, Princeton eliminated UCLA, George Mason eliminated UConn, Gonzaga eliminated Stanford and Florida, Virginia Commonwealth University eliminated Kansas, to N.C. State pulling off the greatest upset in defeating Houston in the Final. There are so many that I apologize if I forgot to mention your school.

                              Jimmy V after NC State won the title.

If you love rooting for the underdog, then March Madness will not disappoint either. This competition has also given us a share of Cinderella stories. Gonzaga were a Cinderella story back in in 1999 when they eliminated Minnesota, Stanford and Florida before falling in the Elite Eight. George Mason had a memorable run when they defeated the likes of Michigan State, North Carolina, and UConn to make it to the Final Four. Virginia Commonwealth University defeated the likes of USC, Georgetown, and Kansas before falling to Butler in the Final Four. If there ever was a great Cinderella story, then Butler wins that prestigious label hands down.

Butler's Cinderella Run

Not too many teams can brag about making it to consecutive Final Fours, let alone consecutive Final Four National Championship Finals. Butler managed to do that in 2010 and 2011. Butler made it all the way to the Final Four when they defeated the likes of Syracuse and Kansas State to get into the Final Four where they eliminated my beloved Michigan State University Spartans in the National Semi-Finals before losing to Duke by 2 points in the National Championship Final. Butler defied the odds again the following year when they defeated the likes of Syracuse and Florida to make it to the Final Four yet again. They eliminated fellow Cinderella story, Virginia Commonwealth University in the National Semi-Finals before falling to UConn by 8 points in the National Championship Final.

We have already seen our share of upsets this year. Florida Gulf Coast eliminated Georgetown, Harvard knocking off New Mexico and La Salle knocking off Kansas State in the first round of March Madness. You can’t take anything for granted. Gonzaga were a top seed this year and were nearly beaten in their opening game before Wichita State sent them home packing a few days later. How times have changed. Back when I was a teenager, Gonzaga were a Cinderella team defying the odds and now there are the top seed being upset by another team donning the Cinderella label.

This truly is an uncanny tournament where most people don’t even know the majority of the players let alone where the heck some of these schools are located. Yet, people still tune in to watch. I am from Florida and I never heard of Florida Gulf Coast. I didn’t knew they were just south of my hometown. There is something about young kids playing to win a title …and earn a big pay day when they head to the NBA. This is the tournament that introduced us to future NBA legends such as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, Isaiah Thomas, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, and Dwayne Wade after guiding Marquette to the Final Four.

Dwayne Wade working his magic before his Heat days

We are almost down to 16 teams now. This tournament kicked off on Tuesday and the majority of the teams have been eliminated. So sit back and watch to see which team will be the next Cinderella story and which player will become a future NBA legend. There will be nail biting buzzer beating shots and some heart breaks along the way. May the best team win indeed.... and here's hoping it's Michigan State.

Here's to Coach Izzo bringing MSU another title