It's a mad, mad, mad, mad March

I love March Madness. I barely pay attention to college basketball for most of the season (like many sports, I get excited when I'm at a game, but rarely take the time to watch one on TV). But I really get into the NCAA tournament.

I think it's the whole do-or-die thing. You can be the greatest team that ever lived, but if you have a bad day, you can lose to the No. 16 seed. That means it's probably not the most fair judge of which is really the best team, but there's something to be said for the ability to play consistently. And besides, the upsets keep things interesting.

I usually enter the office pool and this year is no different. I actually ended up submitting two ballots (the maximum allowed per person). I had planned on doing all this research but ended up not really having time and just picking like I do every year -- totally randomly, based partly on gut instinct and the occasional eenie-meenie-minie-mo. This was actually how I determined who would win in the final game between Illinois and North Carolina on one of my brackets. (Rounding out the Final Four for that bracket are Syracuse and Louisville.) In the second bracket, I have (gasp!) Kansas taking it all after defeating Oklahoma State. Of course, I just found out this morning that their best guy's stomach flu is flaring up again, or something like that, so that doesn't bode well. (Rounding out the Final Four for the second bracket, if you care, are Duke and Wake Forest.)

In the past, I've always done a bracket for fun in which I determine the game winners by flipping a coin. I mostly do this to see if I can pick winners better than random chance. I'm proud to say that, more often than not, I can.

Though not much better.

So we'll see how the Big Dance goes. But even if my bracketology sucks, if the games are exciting, I'll be happy.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be in front of my TV watching the games...