March Madness: The Epidemic is Widespread

(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

For as long as I can remember, I have been handed a bracket on Selection Sunday and told to fill it out. As a middle school student who knew very little about sports, I found the competition, and the chance to win bragging rights, fun.

Today my family is still filling out brackets and every March, everybody has an equal chance to win.

My brother, who as a sixth grader somehow predicted George Mason's Final Four run on his way to winning without watching one minute of college basketball during the season, has won. My mom, who likes to make her selections based off school names and jersey colors, has beaten us all. My girlfriend, who prefers putting team mascots up against one another as she makes her picks, is currently leading.

My father and I, who know each of the teams and can name one hundred more players than the rest of our family combined, have never won. We spend too much time looking at individual match-ups, free throw shooting problems, and point guard play rather than focusing on the truly important things. You know, things like how the Utah Utes have a weird name so of course the Arizona Wildcats are going to upset them.

This chance for everyone to participate, and win for that matter, is part of the reason that March Madness has reached all demographics and become similar to the Super Bowl in a sense that everyone is excited about something. This widespread epidemic known as March Madness Fever is highly contagious and spreading rapidly.

From a basketball sense, what fan of the sport wouldn't want to watch the best teams in the country go head to head for a title? Sixteen games packed into one day makes for excellent basketball, individual match-ups, and excitement.

And this isn't the NBA. Teams can't lose three games and then still come back and win a title. If you lose, you're done. Every big play is more important and every mistake is magnified. March Madness is a basketball fan's heaven, there is no doubting that.

But what about those who don't understand or like the sport? They love it too. Most of the people in my family's pool are either casual sports fan or have very little interest and they get just as into it.

Even if they had never heard of the Sienna Saints until this month, they are now rooting for them to beat Ohio State just as hard as Michigan fans because their bracket needs them to. But that's not all. Anyone who loves rooting for the underdog or their favorite school can get into the Big Dance. Heck, if you love winning money and gambling, this is the time of year for you.

The Super Bowl has the commercials, parties and media frenzy, but March Madness is getting up there in terms of diverse audiences. One reason for this is that fans love the intensity, pressure, and excitement of a single game determining a winner. Everything this team worked for during the season is decided in these twenty minutes. The suspense is always that of a game seven. That is why March is the month where heroes are made and rivalries are strengthened.

The players who make these games so excited never lose the passion and intensity towards the tournament either.

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