For basketball players, there is one time of the year that is above all else. It’s not Christmas, New Year’s, or birthdays, it's March Madness.

To any other sports fan, March Madness is just another basketball tournament, but to a basketball player, March Madness is a single elimination tournament where the best 68 teams in the nation battle it out all month long to claim a national title.

It is a long awaited month of upsets, defeats, victories, champions, Cinderella stories, comebacks, and all around madness that truly makes March the best time of the year.

There’s always an unwritten rule in the house of a basketball player during the month of March that states: “the TV will remain on the game unless I turn the channel to watch highlights of the game.”

What is better than watching basketball all morning, afternoon, and night? The games are streamed live, back-to-back so there is continuous excitement all day long. And when a basketball player’s favorite team is playing, the TV will be turned up so loud that it feels as if you are watching the game live in the arena.

For a basketball player, the tournament bracket is a sacred document that took hours to complete. For some, that is more time than they spent on their homework. They carry it everywhere and they follow it closely, making sure to record all the scores and eliminate any possibilities ink smudges or crumpled corners.

Teams aren’t just chosen to move on in the bracket based on a coin flip but rather each team was strategically placed based on their performance in season prior to the tournament.

March Madness is special because every basketball player can sympathize with the losers and celebrate with the winners. We’ve all been in either position and we can all remember a time when our fans did the same for us.

There’s always a sense of pride that comes with a defending champion working their way up the bracket but there’s also an excitement for those Cinderella teams who make an unbelievable upset that shocks the crowd because at one point or another we were one of those teams.

When March Madness finally comes to an end, and a team is sent home with a national title, there will already be a countdown labeled, “Days Until March Madness 2018” on the calendar of a basketball player.

According to a basketball player, March Madness is definitely the best time of the year. It’s true, all basketball players are a little crazy during this time of the year, but it is called March Madness for a reason.