Let the Madness Begin!

I'm not sure when or where the term actually began, but March Madness has come to symbolize the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament held annually in mid to late March until early April.

But the battle for the slots in the tournament starts two weeks earlier as 30 of the 31 Conferences hold a qualifying tournament involving their teams, in which the lone survivor is given an Automatic Bid to the tournament. A committee of 10 people will lock themselves in a hotel room in Indianapolis in the middle of next week to select the remaining 35 entrants, as well as seed and pair all 65 teams into the tournament field.



Then the fun begins as 64 games are played in 21 days to determine the national champion in Detroit, Michigan on April 6th.

A corresponding tournament is also played with the Women's Teams culminating in a National Champion also with finals being played in St. Louis, MO.



The qualifying starts today as the Big South and Ohio Valley Conferences start their tournaments.

This is one of my favorite times of the year, and in most cases I will root for the dark shirts (or underdogs) in the games. Who knows what great moments will come out of this year's tournaments, but it will certainly be a gruntling experience to watch.