March Madness: In the thick of it

And here we are just two weeks away from a new men’s and women’s NCAA basketball champion to be named. The tournament starts and is nonstop, switching channels to catch as many games and bracket-busters as possible. 

This year, unlike any that I can remember, the hype was high for the women’s basketball tournament more so than the men’s. I watched the women’s “Selection Sunday” and not the men’s because I followed no men’s team (other than Columbia) and there were no men’s players that I was excited to see play. To be honest, I thought that this year, I would watch more of the women’s games than the men’s. I agree that the women’s game was definitely highlighted and elevated through the college season, but now that it's tournament time, it's not as exciting as the men’s tourney. 

This may be an unpopular opinion, but historically (based on what I can remember and no actual analytics), the women’s bracket usually follows suit and the men’s games provide those heart stopping buzzer-beaters and unbelievable bracket-busting performances from a school you have never heard of. You know, the drama. I am not saying that there won’t be some upsets on the women’s side, but that would be less likely and in the men’s tourney already we saw a #3 Kentucky lose to a #14 Oakland. So, although I definitely didn’t know any of the teams or players names on the men’s side ahead of the “March Madness,” I now know a few names of teams I am following to watch play and noticing a few players that are making a little noise now that the tourney has started.

**Update** I was going to share this newsletter on the star power of the women’s basketball stars vs the drama and team aspect of the men’s tourney, but then I watched VT vs. Baylor and Stanford vs. Iowa State and my feelings changed a bit. Those were both some good games that went down to the wire. I still think that the draw to watch the games is the star power of the most publicized or talked about women on the teams, but these games are entertaining with a lot of high-intensity good basketball happening! So, I stand corrected that I will be tuned in to both tournaments looking for something a little different from both, but being just as entertained either way I go. Did I say how much I love this time of year?  

What tournament are you watching; Men’s, Women’s, or both? What teams have you got making it to the final four or winning the whole thing? Right now I can’t call it and don’t have a prediction for the men. But on the women’s side, I would love to see Dawn and South Carolina pull out a perfect 2023/24 campaign to the ‘ship! #MarchMadness