Beginning March 19, the men in your life will stop calling you, send you three to four word text messages (maybe five if they really like you!), and most likely forget about your weekend plans together. When your boyfriend calls you “Cinderella,” it will not be because he is trying to be romantic. When he refers to the big dance, he will not be talking about semi formal. For the next three weeks, your guy will have one thing on his mind, and it is probably not what you are thinking. Welcome to March Madness season, ladies.
A week ago, I had no clue about this annual men’s college basketball tournament. I decided to do a little research and figure out what all this “madness” was about. I learned March Madness is a single-elimination tournament that takes place every spring. This tournament consists of 68 men’s college basketball teams that compete for the National Championship title. Each of the 68 teams are divided into four regions and organized into brackets. A team’s “seed” refers to its ranking; the ranks are numbered one through 16. The seeds are determined based on how well universities do during the regular season and their respective conference tournaments. The team with the best seed plays the team with the worst seed (i.e. the number one seed versus the number 16 seed), to ensure that the better-seeded teams face less challenging opponents early in the tournament, and therefore advance more easily throughout.
The tournament consists of several rounds, in which the losing team is eliminated. It begins with what is called the “First Four,” where the lowest ranked eight teams play against each other. The next round is referred to as the “Round of 64,” followed by the “Round of 32.” The teams continue to play until the Regional Semi-finals are reached, otherwise known as the “Sweet Sixteen.” Next are the Regional Finals, or the “Elite Eight.” This is where things get serious…expect very little communication from your man from here until April 8. Shortly after are the National Semi-finals, or the “Final Four,” followed by the National Championship, which determines the number one NCAA men’s basketball team of 2013.
Even if you do not follow college basketball, you can still create a bracket. The games are unpredictable and it is highly unlikely that even your boyfriend or male friends will make a bracket that is completely on point. More importantly, you will have something to talk about with the guys for the next three weeks and who knows, maybe you will end up really loving college ball!
Now that I am an expert at this springtime college basketball madness, it only makes sense to make my own bracket! Wish me luck, collegiettes! ;-)
Find out more information about March Madness at http://www.ncaa.com/march-madness and visit the NCAA March Madness official Facebook and Twitter pages for updates.