Managing March Madness mayhem

By FAITH MOLDAN / Bigfork Eagle

I didn't want to write this column.

It's not that I don't enjoy watching college basketball (men's or women's), it's just that the craziness of March Madness and the NCAA tournament has me overwhelmed to the point that I didn't want to think about it. That might be because I've watched a total of three (maybe) games all season. If that makes me a bad sportswriter, so be it.

Undoubtedly, in the next couple of weeks I will get swept up in the tournament as I pray for the snow to melt and track and tennis seasons to begin. What else am I supposed to do in these days between winter and spring, especially when I don't ski too well? Here's my few cents on the tournament and teams' hopes for a chance to play in San Antonio (site of the Final Four).

Sixty-five schools/teams are a lot to take in and measure against each other. A little less than half of those teams seemingly deserve to be in the tournament, as they earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. Cornell, the automatic bid of the Ivy League, was the league's regular season champion. The Ivy League does not conduct a post-season tournament.

Despite all the talk and hype over the No. 1 seeds — North Carolina, UCLA, Memphis and Kansas — my focus and interest is on the "play-in game" between Coppin State and Mount St. Mary's. The game will be two days in the past by the time the Eagle is in the hands and mailboxes of faithful readers, and the winner will be waiting to play UNC, basically on the Tar Heels' home turf.

The play-in schools are both from Maryland (Emmitsburg and Baltimore), which should be exciting for that area, since the Terrapins of the University of Maryland have had an NCAA tournament drought in recent years after 11 straight NCAA Tournament appearances (1994-2004). Before this year's tourney bids were announced I would have had no idea where Coppin State or Mount St. Mary's were located. I guess the NCAA tournament can teach you more than just how to shoot a nice, fluid jump shot — it's also a nice geography lesson.

My pick to win it all is Memphis, and not just because I fear my coworkers' ridicule and shunning (two are Memphis natives) but because Memphis is skilled and has the benefit of "easy" first and second round opponents (UT-Arlington and the Mississippi St./Oregon winner). It won't be until the Sweet 16 that the Tigers get a taste of a hard-fought and tough opponent.

There will be upsets, one or two Cinderella stories and a new national champion when all is said and done, and maybe I'll be able to look past all the hoopla and find something to calm my March Madness frazzled nerves. For now, though, I wish you luck in making your bracket picks.