The Heart of March

This weekend is Championship Weekend in the NCAA world and basketball’s elite will rise above the rest to claim their conference titles.  Some will play like champions while most will feel the sting of defeat.  They will all gain national exposure but it will not quite quench their thirst for greatness.  For each of these disciples of the hardwood, this weekend is nothing more than a prequel of things to come.  They long for something bigger than just the chance to make a run at the conference championship.  They wish and pray to hear their names called on the holiest of all holy days in college basketball.  They hope to worship at the church of March Madness on Selection Sunday.

There are a lot of great traditions in sports but none as exciting and pure as March Madness.  A field of 68 teams will be selected and battle it out over the next several weeks for the chance to hoist the national championship trophy.  It's win or go home.  There are no contract years or endorsements to play for.  Each team takes the court for 40 minutes a night and plays with all their heart for the chance to live to play another day.  For most of them, David will fall to Goliath but for a select few, they will be able to pull off an upset or two and if we are lucky there will be a 2006 George Mason Patriot, a 2010 Butler Bulldog, a 1983 NC State Wolfpack or a 1985 Villanova Wildcat in the mix because every big dance needs a Cinderella. 

So on Sunday, number one seeded teams will go to sleep with visions of climbing ladders and cutting down nets dancing in their heads while 16^th seeded teams will be trying on their glass slippers.  The bubble teams whose invitation to the big dance got lost in the mail will find themselves settling for the not invited tournament and the world will try desperately to harness their inner psychic powers to complete the most accurate brackets.  Fans will live and die by their teams and hope for nothing more than for the madness to last for as long as possible.

Welcome to the heart of March.  Get ready for the madness.

"Kentucky basketball is a big deal, and I'm not the biggest fan - I am just the most notorious one." - Ashley Judd