‘March Madness’ makes people do crazy things

I think I’ve finally figured out why they call the NCAA men’s basketball tournament “March Madness.” It seems that only crazy people would pick Eastern Kentucky to go the Final Four.

At least that’s the only thing that makes sense to me.

Now, this is nothing against EKU, which I’m sure is a fine university–despite the fact that I know nothing about it other than it’s in Kentucky, and one would assume, the eastern half of that state. But something about office pools brings out crazy things from people, as evidenced by the actual pick of Eastern Kentucky winning its region in our Desert Advocate office pool.

To be fair, that pick is nowhere near as bad as the selection of “not Florida” to win not one game, but advance three rounds in the tournament.

It seems the defending national champion Gators’ opponent in the first round was hard to read on the pool sheet. But instead of figuring out the opponent, this person skipped that step and picked said team to beat Florida–and the next two teams in the tournament. This person must have figured, “Heck, if they’re good enough to beat Florida, they must be good enough to get to the Sweet 16.”

That’s how the NCAA tournament is, though. Office pools are nearly mandatory these days, but people always pick with their hearts instead of  their heads.

Everybody knows that in a  normal year, the secretary who doesn’t watch a second of basketball usually wins the pool because a perfect storm of upsets makes it possible.

But that’s not happening this year as the higher seed is winning just about every game. In fact, this year is probably good for those who pencil in the higher seed in every game and take their chances.

Those of us who picked a handful of upsets like we do every year are all left scratching our heads wondering why the heck we picked Holy Cross and Long Beach State to pull off first‑round upsets.

Either way, this is the greatest sports tournament in the world. The Internet age (not to mention digital cable) has brought us all the games for free and helped make up for the lack of thrilling buzzer‑beaters that have been  the staple of the tournament over the years.

But that should only set up a great finish, as most of the nation’s top teams are still alive. There is still plenty of drama, despite no George Mason.

And, oh yeah, Eastern Kentucky won’t be there either. Sorry.

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