Whether you're a hard-core basketball fan, you're just cheering for your school or made a bracket just for fun, you need to have at least a surface level understanding of basketball during March. So here are a few things to get you through March Madness without embarrassing yourself:
1. If you don't understand fouls, don't try to comment on them.
Follow along with everyone else's reaction. Let them have their reaction first — either yelling at the ref for a bad call, yelling at the player for fouling or sigh because you know the call was valid — then follow along.
2. If you DO understand fouls, call out any moving screen and offensive foul.
3. When the other team gets a rebound, yell with disgust at your team.
"Come on, guys. You've gotta box out."
4. If there's an injured player on your team, comment on how the team dynamic is thrown off by the missing player.
5. ALWAYS root for the upset in the NCAA tournament...
...unless the upset would result in a loss for your team. This way your team will have a better chance of playing a lower seed.
6. If you don't know the players on your team, look up the roster before the game starts.
At least get an idea of who the main players are. Get a general idea of what they look like or memorize their number so that you can make comments throughout the game.
7. A 14 seed can beat a 1 seed.
The seeds obviously matter, but upsets happen. Upsets are common in the NCAA tournament, so don't a discount team based on its seed.
8. It's not called a "three throw."
One of my friends recently discovered that three-pointers are not called "three throws." There are free throws, but there is no such thing as a three throw. Don't make that mistake.
9. If you're down by 5 and there are 12 seconds left, the game is not AT ALL over.
Possession changes very frequently in basketball, so your team can still come back and win. Don't stop cheering when you see that the time is running low.
So hopefully these tips will help you during March Madness and keep you from making a fool of yourself. Basketball will be on CONSTANTLY during this time of the year, so being informed is essential.
