Why I'm happy my bracket busted

Anyone else handling their brackets like this?

I thought so.

So how do we predict the upsets and create a bracket that isn't crumpled in the garbage before the Sweet Sixteen even arrives? Yeah, we all know about the 5 and 12 seed curse but how could someone guess that West Virginia, Baylor, Texas and Arizona would all be at home while SF Austin, Yale and Wichita State are still surviving and advancing? How can you plan for Northern Iowa's half-court shooting luck? And let us not forget the bracket-busting elephant in the room, Michigan State's shocking premature exit.

How do we guess these things? Well. We don't.

But I think that's why this tournament is so captivating. Yes, it's frustrating trying to predict the unpredictable but if it was so easy to guess a perfect 64-team bracket, Warren Buffet wouldn't be offering a $1 Billion prize to the successful fan. Nobody would want to try if this was so easy.

A player could be sick, injured or dealing with any number of personal issues ranging from midterms to family life. And that's just ONE player. Take into account the number of players on each team, then factor in resilience, team dynamic, coaching style, weather, and stadium and put it all into perspective of the entire tournament. These elements all come together to make the chances of predicting a perfect bracket 1 in 9.2 quintillion.

Yes, you read that right. 1 in 9.2 quintillion.

It can be tough seeing a team dominate all year and fall short in the first round but the possibility of a Cinderella run and the promise of upsets are what keep the entire country collectively engaged for an entire month. It's unpredictably crazy and that's why they call it March Madness. It's not about rankings or which team has consistently played the best, it's about which team has the potential on any given day to play good enough.

It's what makes the Arkansas Little Rocks of the tournament want to bring their A game. They know they have a chance.

So as disappointed as I am that CU stumbled in the first round and I likely will not be winning my office pool this year, I'm still happily awaiting all the upsets to come. It's a full-court mess out here but that's just how we like it. Bring on the madness.

Happy bracketing everyone.

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