March Madness Is Here, And I'm All In On The Women's Tournament
Plus, revealing my brackets for both the Men's and the Women's Tournaments...
Happy March Madness to all those who celebrate!
One of the best sports events of the entire year is here and, for once, I think the vast majority of America will be united as one as we get ready to indulge in non-stop Hoops heaven for a couple of weeks.
The first Thursday of the tournament is always the best because we have 12 straight hours of madness to look forward to.
What’s not to love about that!
Today is the kind of day where you sack off work for the day, invest in a buffet full of snacks and drinks, retreat to the couch and only get up for toilet breaks. Or, if you’re on your own, maybe have a bottle handy so you don’t have to get up at all…
I kid. I kid. Okay, maybe I’m only kidding on the sqaure.
Anyway, March Madness really is one of the best times of the entire sports year and nothing else really comes close.
Spending hours researching and filling out your brackets will never get old, and I’ve invested a fair chunk of time in a couple of brackets. Here are two of them below, one for the Men’s tournament and one for the Women’s tournament (ignore the crappy handwriting on both):
Men’s Bracket
Women’s Bracket
As you can see, I have UConn winning the Men’s Tournament and Iowa reigning supreme in the Women’s Tournament.
Who do you have winning both tournaments? I’d love to see all of your March Madness brackets, so please feel free to share them in the comments below!
Now, I will say, I’m far more excited about the Women’s Tournament, which gets underway fully on Friday, than I am about the Men’s Tournament this year. I’m not a religious College Basketball watcher by any means - I’ll try and catch a couple of games a week - but I just sense that there isn’t as much of a buzz around the Men’s Tournament, and I think that sentiment is widely shared.
I think the reasons behind that are clear. Firstly, the whole one-and-done situation in Men’s College Basketball has really hurt the sport, in my opinion at least. There is just no continuity anymore and I’d fail to name you five stars or renowned names in the game today. I just would. Heck, I can’t even think of one off the top of my head. And, secondly, there is just so much more star power in Women’s Hoops right now.
I mean, the list is ridiculous.
Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, JuJu Watkins, Cameron Brink, Paige Bueckers, Hannah Hidalgo, Aaliyah Edwards, Rickea Jackson, Georgia Amoore, Madison Brooker, Lauren Betts and Elizabeth Kitley to name just a handful.
The list is endless.
I truly believe that Clark is the most exciting athlete in college sports right now. Period. She makes the entire world stop every single time she’s on the court. More so than a lot of the current heavyweights in the NBA, even. And I don’t think there is a single name on the Men’s side that would even come close to being as fun to watch as any of the names I’ve listed above. I just don’t.
Just study those names again and imagine just how captivating the Women’s Tournament is going to be. There’s legit 10+ teams that have a real shot of winning all the marbles, and that is going to make for a fantastic tournament. We’re going to have some real juggernaut showdowns throughout the event.
There’s just so many compelling storylines, too. Clark trying to cap off a historic season with a National Championship. Watkins looking to further cement her own legacy. Reese trying to lead a stacked LSU squad to glory. Brink absolutely dominating on the defensive end of the floor. A fully healthy Bueckers looking to make another magical March Madness run. Betts looking to lead UCLA to its first Final Four.
Yeah, this is going to be one heck of a fun mesmerizing tournament to watch.
And, while I will be tuning in to the First Round of the Men’s Tournament on Thursday, I’m really just waiting for the Women’s Tournament to begin. Again, there just isn’t really anything on the Men’s side to truly grab me, outside of the cool story that is Washington State. But, other than that, I just don’t find the Men’s Tourney all that interesting. I’m sure that could change once a couple of lovable Cinderellas emerge, but I’m going to be fully invested in what’s going on in the Women’s Tournament.
I’m picking a Clark game over any Men’s game that may be on at the same time, and the same applies to when the likes of Reese, Watkins, Brink and Bueckers are playing too. I mean, who in their right mind wouldn’t want to watch Clark draining non-stop 3’s on the biggest stage?!
Again, I’m sure I’ll become more invested in the Men’s Tournament as it progresses but, for me, the 2024 Women’s March Madness Championship has become the more interesting, the more fun and the bigger spectacle.
The Women’s Tournament is going to win the faceoff over the Men’s Tournament every single time for me this year.
And I don’t even think it is close.
Let the Madness begin.
I’m all aboard the Caitlin Clark / Iowa bandwagon.