Good luck net heads
Today I am going to make a spin from the diamond to the hardwood. One of the country’s favorite tournaments is coming up. The NCAA Men’s basketball tournament, better known as March Madness, has had 358 teams vying for 68 spots in the bracket. From basketball bluebloods to small-school Cinderella stories, the tournament sees them all, and sports fans flock to fill out brackets, be it for office pools or big-time betting — and everything in between.
The year 1939 saw the first NCAA men’s tournament, where the University of Oregon defeated The Ohio State University. At the time, and for the first 12 years, only eight teams were invited to participate. In 1943, our own University of Wyoming Cowboys, led by Ken Sailors (the inventor of the jump shot who shares a birthday with yours truly), defeated the Georgetown Hoyas 46-34. In 1951, the field was doubled to 16 teams, again in 1975 to 32, and in 1985, it reached 64. In 2001, a play-in game was added, bringing the total to 65 teams, and in 2011, three more play-ins were added, bringing the total to the current 68.
Bracketology has become a huge pastime, whether you study and use metrics to fill out your bracket, throw darts, pick by mascot, or whatever voodoo method, your odds of filling out a perfect bracket are a staggering 9.2 quintillion to one. I have read statistics that say if you study the metrics of the game and understand the ebb and flow, that number is reduced to 120 billion to one, still astronomically daunting. According to my research, in any formally organized contest, there has never been a perfect bracket submitted.
According to Fortune magazine, Berkshire-Hathaway has an employee bracket contest. Any employee who fills out a perfect bracket will get $1 million per year for life. The prize is doubled if any team from Nebraska wins the title. That is a heck of a perk, if you could only get it right.
A quick search revealed that last year Americans wagered $3.1 billion on the tournament. Those wagers were placed by approximately 45 million people. Some of you may have heard of Mattress Mack from his outrageous bets. He wagered $5.5 million on the Kansas Jayhawks to win it all last year. I don’t know about you, but as much as I enjoy sports and the occasional bet, I could find a much better use for $5.5 million. I would probably invest in two dozen eggs and five gallons of gas.
No matter how you look at sports, if you are a casual fan, a die-hard fanatic, or someone who just follows box scores, March Madness seems to pull people from all groups together. I know people who do not watch a single regular season game, unless it is in passing, who will take time off from work just to spend the day watching every opening round game they can. They then watch the next rounds as much as possible. For me, I only check scores out of curiosity. Basketball isn’t a huge draw for me, but there is an excitement that draws a person in when that plucky team from small school USA starts slaying giants. Contests like that will bring me to stream a game or two.
So, no matter what type of fan you are, no matter how much research you put into that bracket, just remember to have fun with it. Fill out a couple on the different websites that offer prizes. Can’t hurt, right? Who knows, maybe you will be that 1 in 9.2 quintillion.
Good luck net heads.
