Every year, there's one week I look forward to above everything else &mdash the selection and first two rounds of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.From Selection Sunday to the finalizing of the Sweet 16, I'm in heaven.
I always print out way too many brackets and start using different methods - gut feeling, stats, coaches, mascots, cool names - to get an idea of how I should fill it in (Chief Kickingstallionsims' name alone is definitely enough for me to pick Alabama State in the play-in game).
That keeps me busy enough that Thursday and Friday roll around in no time - and these are the best two days of the year.
With 32 games in two days, the first round is unbeatable entertainment. You can plant yourself on the couch and marvel at the steady stream of upsets and buzzer beaters pouring out of your television. Forget school. And showering.
And March Madness means the greatest sportscaster of all time is back in the spotlight: Gus Johnson. If you don't know who I'm talking about, I feel sorry for you.
This is the most exciting time to be a sports fan, and it's one of the few large-scale events that can be enjoyed to the fullest by fans whose teams aren't part of it.
But there's something about the tournament that makes me sad. As most things do, March Madness got me thinking about college football.
NCAA hoops is my third or fourth favorite sport behind NCAA football, the NFL and sometimes MLB, but for me, its finale easily tops everything else in sports.
So when I think about how awesome the next few bracket-busting weeks will be, I can't help but imagine what a college football playoff would be like.
When the tournament starts, there's no fear in the back of my mind that I'll feel cheated when it's over. The game is decided on the court, where the contenders can battle each other head-to-head, and I'll always feel 100 percent comfortable referring to the tournament's winner as the national champion.
Those characteristics are usually not a part of the college football season, where two teams are selected by computer programs from a super-exclusive club of schools to face off for the title while everyone else plays in highly publicized, totally meaningless bowl games.
In my mind, this is the most basic reason that college football needs a playoff. Sports are supposed to provide two things: entertainment and a champion. A playoff would satisfy both categories to a much greater degree than the current system does.
Obviously, working out the details (number of teams, conference privileges, money, locations) will be difficult, but the notion that a playoff is necessary should be universally accepted.
Besides, when I was driving back to Gainesville on Sunday, I watched as a space shuttle tore across the sky, and if we can do that, we can figure out a way for some football teams to take part in a playoff.
Now, when this college football playoff comes into being, as it inevitably will, March Madness will have some serious competition for the title of best postseason tournament.
But until then, I'll take Gus Johnson or a Western Kentucky-Illinois matchup over a college football bowl game any day.
