March Madness, the most competitive post season in college sports. I was an NBA fan as a young girl, and once the Pistons stopped playing well, and so did I, I kind of gave up on the sport all together. As I got older, I was exposed to the magic that is college basketball in March. I saw a new form of drive, motivation and passion for a college sport. In high school I really started to understand the confusing and unpredictable nature of the NCAA tournament, and my interest in picking my own bracket came to be. Especially in going away to college myself, I fell in love with the game again. This year, after filling out seven different brackets, I found myself overwhelmed and way too angry for a 20-year-old girl watching basketball. The first round did a great job of confusing me senseless, this was when I made the realization that there are so many factors that make me hate March Madness, yet you’ll still find me glued to the screen all the way through. In light of the Elite 8, I compiled eight things about March Madness that are sure to make you go mad.

1. First-round upsets: This is my personal favorite, especially this year. As a Michigander, I usually feel stupid choosing Michigan or State to go all the way, or win. But, after hearing about the year that MSU went 29-6 this season, I finally chose to put my faith in them, after avoiding it for so long. If you’ve watched the tourney at all this year, you understand why this decision now pains me. What happened to “Spartans Will?” (You can tell I’m still a little salty.)
2. 5 vs. 12 seeds: I hadn’t really realized how common this was until somewhat recently, but wow does it irk me. Statistically, according to ESPN, over the last 31 tournaments, 12 seeds have overcome 5 seeds, 36 percent of the time. That’s 44 wins overall. If that doesn’t surprise you, you’ve been placing your bets on the 12 seeds much longer than most.
3. Uneducated “bandwagoners:” This you’ll find in any sport, but for some reason, college students get so much more offended when it comes to their own school or a school they have strong allegiance to. I understand being dedicated to a team better than most, and I know that when it comes to the tournament, you can’t expect people to remain calm, especially when they go out and buy a T-shirt from Oregon just in spite of Duke, or talk about their love for Oklahoma when during football season Texas A&M was their go-to. Don’t get offended by people who don’t know what they’re talking about, if they want to support Middle Tennessee after the first round, that’s their own problem.
4. Picking the right champion, but blowing your sweet 16 through your final four: This is a personal skill of mine. Last year I had Duke for the Championship, but my hate for the state of Wisconsin determined their destiny in my mind back in the sweet 16, and like I said before, I’ve tried not to place bets on my hometown teams, so there was not shot of me taking State past the Elite 8.
5. Trying to predict upsets: Don’t. Just close your eyes and start clicking, because I think that’s the only way you can predict something like number 15 Norfolk State beating number 2 Missouri back in 2012. The only times I get upsets right is when I pick them as a joke. Like Gonzaga, I thought it sounded fun, apparently a solid choice to the sweet 16.
6. Choosing based purely on statistics: One would think it makes sense to pick the higher seed. They killed it all year, they went almost undefeated, they have 10 percent of the roster NBA bound… Nope. Apparently, statistics no longer count in the post-season. Number 1 probably won’t win you a championship, just because.
7. Filling out multiple brackets, but never really changing your picks: This is a real challenge I face. I try to get creative and make picks I didn’t make in the last bracket, but then I get through the rest and think “There’s no way these teams are about to make it this far.” So I change my picks back to the ones I thought were “safe.” Plot twist: there’s no such thing as a safe pick.
8. Teams you know nothing about: Ever heard of Florida Gulf Coast? Yeah, I hadn’t until last March either. Oh what about the Stephan F. Austin Lumberjacks? Apparently they had the ability to give Notre Dame a run for their money for a second. Or my personal favorite, why would anyone think, first hand, “Yeah, Middle Tennessee State, they’re ready to take out the number 2 seed.” If you made these predictions, give yourself a pat on the back, because you’re doing better than the 61.8 percent of ESPN brackets that had Michigan State in the final four.
So, you may not be able to predict your way through March Madness, and your team might be eliminated in the worst of circumstances, but try and remind yourself loss comes with the territory of being a real fan. I myself usually can’t wrap my head around this fact. So embrace the upsets and embrace the madness, because NCAA post-season basketball is sure to shake things up.