Are you ready for the emotional floor pounding, net swooshing, hard running, and slam dunking of the Division I NCAA basketball playoffs?  Every year 65 teams pull together to play to find out who the best team is in men’s collegiate basketball.  Yes, there is a women’s league and yes there are Division II, and Division III tournaments, but the major tournament known as the pinnacle of March Madness are the games of Division I playoffs.  Thirty one teams have been decided, and 34 additional teams will be chosen Sunday, March 11. 

Some games are already sold out even though all the teams have yet to be bracketed.  Tickets are expensive and you will pay more per ounce for a soda than gasoline has ever reached in any country in history!  That’s right, an average of $53.00 a gallon for a 12 oz soft drink to enjoy with nachos made with chips and fake cheese.  We gripe about paying $3.50 per gallon for a fossil fuel that took millions of years to form, but we will gladly pay over $50.00 a gallon for flavored carbonated water.  That, along with the $130-$225 seat will allow you to enjoy the court shoes squeaking below you.

The critics have their favorites.  The Ohio State Buckeyes will top a lot of lists.  The Kansas Jayhawks and Wisconsin Badgers will be in the hunt.  I traditionally pull for one of two teams.  Texas A&M, who is definitely not normally a major fixture in the playoffs and is currently having the best year they have had since I started following them, and the underdog.  As I watch the bracket work its way to the “Sweet Sixteen”, “Elite Eight” and “Final Four” I watch for the underdog.  The team that is the least likely to win and become the Cinderella Story for the year.  It’s not that I like to see the top teams loose, but since they are expected to win, it is a lot more exciting to see the team the critics count out win the big one.  In 2006 we all watched as the number 11 seed, George Mason Patriots, made it to the final four and almost made it to the final game.

If you get a chance to actually go to one of the games, let us know about your experience here at www.middleagedmale.com .  We will follow the tournament and work to share observations, outcomes, and anything that appears to be of interest.  I will not be able to attend a tournament game, but I will be seated in front of my 55 inch Sony projection television with my favorite soda and real nachos!  

Great information on the tournament can be found at www.ncaasports/basketball/mens .