I love me some March Madness. How could I not, I work in sports, duh! Every time that March rolls around I count down the days until I can start filling out my bracket(s) and placing my bets. The first few days are the absolute best. There is game after game after game and your bracket always takes a few hits. You live for the upsets, but are secretly mad that it messed up your bracket. There is a reason why they call it “madness”.

I wanted to share someone with you that knows more about sports than anyone else I know…  Luke [also my bf, hehe]. Luke attended IU [Go Hoosiers!] from 2000-2004 & majored in Sports Communications. So it’s safe to say he knows a thing or two about this topic. IU also made it to the finals in 2002, so I’m sure he has a thing or two to say about that experience. So without further ado, here is a Q & A with him below:

It was one of the most exciting 2 weeks of my life.  IU had just fired Bobby Knight the year before and we were worried that it would affect the play of the team.  As we progressed through the tournament, every game meant more, and every party we had was more epic.  The best experiences were when we upset Duke (who was a much lower seed than our team), the Kent State game (they put on a 3-point shooting clinic, making their first eight shots from long range and 15 of 19 overall), and when nearly the entire student body convened on campus after we beat Oklahoma in the Final Four (at the Showalter Fountain, which was the meeting spot when the team would win).  We ended up losing in the Championship game to Maryland, which at the time was devastating to me.  Now that I am a little older, I’m just glad I was able to have the experience.

To be honest, since my team has been has been pretty atrocious this year, I haven’t paid as much attention as I should have.  I’m obviously hoping for a miracle, with IU needing to win the Big Ten Tournament to get into the big dance.  It’s never going to come close to happening, but a boy can dream.  Anyway,  I think the team I’m most excited to see this year is BYU.  They have who many think is the player of the year, in a kid named Jimmer Fredette.  The dude can shoot it from any spot in the gym and is just an overall exciting player.  Plus, they just went through some turmoil by having to release one of their best players for violating the ridiculous BYU “Honor Code” by having sex with his girlfriend.  Gasp!  At any rate, I want to see how they handle the absence of probably their best big man.

At this point it’s hard to pick any upsets because the bracket won’t be determined for another couple days.  As for teams that will probably be middle-to-higher seeds, I see Marquette, Michigan State, Villanova, and Gonzaga to possibly pull off some upsets.

Always pick some upsets, especially in the first round.  The thing never goes the way it’s planned, and there will usually be 4-5 pretty major upsets in the first round.  Usually they are the 13 seed over the 4 seed or the 14 seed over the 3 seed.  No 16 seed has ever beaten a 1 seed, so don’t count on that happening.  Pay attention to where the teams are playing.  If they are playing close to home in the first round, that means it’s more likely they will have more of a “home” court advantage.