College Sports in the National Arena: NCAA Basketball Tournament

With the NCAA tournament come and gone it once again showed no lack of upsets, excitement and surprise. Every year the NCAA college basketball tournament turns in more viewers and followers than any other sporting event in the country. I think the NCAA basketball tournament is what makes college sports, or any sport for that matter great. Its the unpredictability and not knowing what will happen. No other sport shows this as much as the NCAA tournament. 

With the exception of last year when all four number one seeds from each region made the Final Four, there is an upset sometime in the tournament over a number one seed who is supposed to make the Final Four. Upsets are what make the tournament fun to watch. One of the most exciting tournaments to watch was when George Mason made the Final Four. Everybody jumped on their bandwagon and became fans of this Cinderella team. It is also good for the school. Research shows that when a schools makes the tournament or does well, enrollment goes up. It's like the Flutie effect when Doug Flutie of Boston College completed the Hail Mary pass in the final seconds to beat Miami. The next year enrollment at BC went up. What makes the tournament great though isn't what it does for the school but what it does for the fans. When else can you watch four very important games simultaneously and be as interested in one as you are any other? Even if you know nothing about college basketball you can still fill out a bracket and do as well as a supposed expert. That's what is so intriguing and fun about the tournament. There is no other time of year like March Madness.