The Best Postseason Tournament in Sports

In my opinion, the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday after Selection Sunday are three of the slowest days on the sports calendar.  That’s because Selection Sunday is one of the most exciting days on the sports calendar.  Most of the major conference tournaments conclude on Selection Sunday, or the day before, and then we all see the bracket released in the evening.  Then all the ESPN analysts begin to break it down and by the end of the night it seems like a lot of people who lock in on the coverage are ready to fill out their brackets.  But then there are still three days before the tournament really gets underway in earnest.

The First Four play-in games on Tuesday and Wednesday are a tease in my mind because it’s just a small sampling of what’s to come.  But once Thursday comes and the first weekend arrives, there’s no slowing down.  There’s something about just taking in game after game in the NCAA tournament, wire-to-wire finishes, and the unpredictability of the entire tournament that is unlike another other postseason in sports.  Consider that there are probably lots of people all across the country that haven’t watched a second of college basketball all season but are sure to fill out a bracket.  That’s when you know people are hooked.

Usually my bracket never turns out as planned.  Rarely does my national champion come close to winning it all (sorry Louisville) and once the regional finals roll around it’s usually tough for me to even look at what I predicted without cringing.  But that too, is the beauty of the next three weeks. Once we get to that first Monday in April and nets are being cut down, I often feel a unique sense of reflection about the entire tournament.  

At the end of it all, usually I can say that the last three weeks of basketball were still exciting, still kept me on the edge of my seat, and still very much worth paying attention to regardless of how good or bad my picks turned out.  Isn't that what it’s really about anyway? The intensity level and quality of play are usually very high for the entire tournament and the games are riveting no matter who everyone’s picking.  The bracket busting runs from teams like Florida Gulf Coast and La Salle last year are really definitive of what the NCAA Tournament is and why it’s called March Madness and how can anyone not enjoy it?

The close competition and excitement of almost every game is unparalleled to any of the professional sports postseasons.  So it leaves us with no chance but to take in the next three weeks and think about that while watching.  Rarely do we see a postseason tournament that provides so much surprise and nail-biting finishes left and right.  But the time has come yet again and it’s time to enjoy it.