Let the Madness Commence

That's Mario Chalmers up there. Yes, he's mad. Mad with excitement!!! And also mad because his team keeps losing in this crazy tournament. You're not alone, Mario- thousands of Kansas fans are mad about that too.

This is one of the highlights of a sports fan's year- a time when all rules, logic, and sense go flying out the window. A time when the nation's best teams win with ease or lose with agony, and often by the closest margins.

The 2007 NCAA football season was absolutely nuts, and college basketball programs across the country were not to be outdone. This year, more than any in recent memory, offers the NCAA title up for grabs.

Sure, the perennial heavyweights are present and accounted for. I'm sure Player of the Year candidate Tyler Hansbrough wonders at the answer to the above question as much as any North Carolina fan or sports writer. It's a legitimate question. I think the aswer is yes, enough to choose UNC as the eventual champion in three out of the four brackets I filled out.

Sure, the stalwarts are back in the tournament, but none is without more than a few weak spots. That gives hope to the Baylors and George Masons of the tournament. There are a few surprises- Memphis had almost a record year. They were #1 and undefeated when they lost to Tennessee, who claimed the new #1 spot, only to be beaten by spoiler Vanderbilt a few days later. So they are, record-wise, the favorite...but they are a long way from being the undisputed champ in their region, let alone the tournament. I have them losing to Texas in the Elite Eight.

UCLA is around, as they always have been, and as they probably always will be. Dang that John Wooden. But they aren't perfect, nor impregnable (even though they are all men). I think Duke will knock them off their #1 high horse.

As for Kansas- every year, they are so good. Every year I want them to win. And every year, they choke. Sometimes as early as the first day; other times they make it deep, only to rip your heart out by losing to chumps like Mike Bibby and the Arizona Wildcats. I still hate Arizona for that.

But is history enough to stop me from favoring them in my brackets? Is the knowledge of that history sufficient to stop me from repeating it? Hecks no...

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!