Things That Make Me Mad About March

By and large, I realize how rare (and ridiculous) it is that I tend to enjoy a good NBA game more than a good college basketball game.

Trust me, I get it.

But, I still get off on these next couple of weeks.  The conference tourneys, the over-usage of the phrase "dancing", Selection Sunday, (formerly) Billy Packer, that theme song, and of course, the actual N-C doubles.  

Still, I am a cynic at heart, and there are things that bother me (about everything) 'round this time of year.  Here are some of them, in no particular order.

• Everyone and their mother's Facebook stati (why people feel the need to keep updating these things, I have no idea) says something stupid like "MARCH MADNESS BABY!!!!!". 
• Around this time of year, you can't walk more than 30 feet without encountering someone that has a definitive opinion about which team should be getting a 6th seed in the West Regional.  You didn't watch the A-10 or the WAC or the PAC-10 or any other conference out of your geographical area enough to talk like that.
• People rooting for the underdog.  Here's my "underdog theory":  they're only fun to root for if you're team has no chance of losing to them either because they're not playing or have already been eliminated.  I bet no one in Cincinnati really loved the DePaul story.  People in the SEC didn't likely think Georgia's little run was so cute last year.
• Everything after the first few days of the tournament.  Let's be honest, those first few days when it seems like there's 70 games going on at once at every point of the day from 8 AM on, that's the most fun.  The rest really is dependent on the match-ups, what miracle teams keep winning.  The "madness" of those first few days is really all I truly love.
• The Selection Committee's (should they be capitalized?) decision to value how a team finished the season.  Why is that important?  Why does it matter if a team had a great run to end the season?  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that games in December are as important as games in February.  Syracuse's usual all-Onondaga County non-conference schedule is proof of that.  But, as an example, let's say Notre Dame finished the season hot, does that negate how poorly they played earlier in conference play?  The same could be said for Wisconsin.  When we're talking about conference play, the first 8 or 10 games should be just as important as the last 8 or 10 games.
• Statistics like RPI and rankings and strength of schedule.  RPI is the worst of all of them.  No one truly knows what this means.  I'd imagine that the same people that figure out each team's RPI are the same people that know the calculations behind the QB Rating.
• Anyone that wins their bracket.  Because that's never me.
• Anyone that wins their bracket picked on any of the following.  1) Funny/cool team names, 2) best weather, 3) places you've visited, 4) jersey color.  
• Being scolded for taking too many upsets, or too many chalks.  No one knows how this damn thing goes!  It's mad, remember!