As I watched today as my Spartans faltered late against a surprising UConn team, I thought to myself: "You know, what a couple of great weeks of basketball this has been." Not just for my Panthers or Spartans but for all the teams.
March Madness offers something that no other tournament on the planet does - equality. Every team, big or small, has a chance of winning. It's the only place where a team like Mercer can upend a national powerhouse like Duke. It's the only place where a team like Dayton can captivate an entire nation in nothing short of 3 days. It's the only place in sports where hope truly reigns supreme, for in this tournament, in the madness comes a sort of optimism that is found no where else.
Every team, from Florida to Mercer, all entered this with the hope and optimism that it would indeed by they who would walk away with the national championship this year. That it would be they who defied the odds and came out on top. As I starred at my empty bracket a few weeks ago, before this all began, I felt myself feel some of the same things. What if Pitt did defy the odds and win it all this year? What if this would be the year a #16 seed upset a #1 seed.
What if........... - You can apply this to almost an infinite number of situations leading up and into March Madness every year. It's a beautiful thing in that no one, no matter how much research you do or basketball knowledge you have, knows how this tournament will shape out. In the same note, no basketball team, no matter how talented or well coached, truly knows what opposition lies ahead of them. But they, team after team, coach after coach, player after player and fan after fan, all have that hope that it is fact they that have all the answers. That it is they who have the perfect game plan. That is is they who have the perfect bracket. That it is they who will defy the odds and come away with glory. It's that kind of optimism that makes this whole thing so special. Beyond the basketball, beyond the brackets, beyond statistics and billion dollar bracket pools, it's the simplest thing that that shines through here more than all of those things.
Hope.
Hope that no matter what team your rooting for (or playing for), big or small, has a shot to make history.
You just can't create that kind of hope anywhere else.
It's what makes this tournament the greatest sport spectacle on earth.
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