By Marcus Krum
Staff Writer
@marcuskrum

Ever since I first began to follow sports at around age 7, I have been infatuated with statistics. Batting averages, field goal percentages, winning streaks, you name it. While soaking all these statistics up like a sponge, I have become increasingly better at predicting outcomes of all kinds.

However, once the temperatures start rising, flowers blooming and March (and the madness that comes with it) rolls around, all this data in my head goes out the window. No longer will the team with a higher three point percentage or more offensive rebounds prevail. The NCAA tournament and the wild, volatile and absolutely unpredictable results coming with it are what makes this month of sports what it is: universally appealing.

The only other sporting event that can compare to the tournament in regards to its widespread participation in the United States is the World Cup in recent years. Even though the Super Bowl creates more viewers than any other sporting event worldwide (Super Bowl XLIX roped in a record 114.4 million views), the sense of unity that came with the 2014 World Cup and, in a sense, with March Madness.

While most people watching the Super Bowl have no particular ties to either team, last year’s World Cup provided the national unity that makes it unique from any other sporting spectacle, giving many people who are not soccer fans a reason to watch. March Madness gives viewers a very similar experience, but in a slightly different way.

As a triplet, I am accustomed to not agreeing on every decision that my brother and sister make. Sometimes, this can be a hassle for my mother and father when we are trying to decide on things such as where to go out to eat or what to watch on TV. However, the NCAA tournament takes these different viewpoints and makes them into entertaining competition for anyone. Just last year, my sister, who is not a basketball aficionado by any stretch of the imagination, defeated me in our bracket group.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, about 40 million Americans will make a total of about 70 million brackets this year. The brackets range from sports gurus who spend hours picking teams, to others who do not even follow college basketball or sports in general. The best part about it is anyone can win. No matter how much time or effort you put into your bracket, the upsets will always be there, and therefore so will busted brackets.

For me, this is the first year that I have thoroughly followed college basketball. Any time I turned on the TV and saw that a game was on, even if it was between two teams I had absolutely no ties to, I would still tune in to try to get a feel for how they play.

After watching Kentucky romp Arkansas 78-63 in the SEC championship game, I knew they had to be included in my final four. My favorite to come out of the East is the defensively stout Virginia team. I picked Iowa State to upset Duke in the Elite Eight and make it to Indianapolis, My team to come out of the wild west is Wisconsin.

This year, the only team with a legitimate shot of beating Kentucky is the Badgers, and I’m taking the upset over the undefeated Wildcats. They are my pick to win it all this year.

However, even through the (limited) research I did, there is sure to be some kind of cinderella team that will make a deep run, dismantling my bracket along the way.

In recent history, there have been plenty of “bracket busting” teams. Just last year, Dayton’s improbable run to the Elite Eight as an No. 11 seed destroyed brackets across the nation. Florida Gulf Coast’s near impossible Sweet 16 appearance as a No. 15 seed, becoming the only team to do so, wrecked anyone’s chances of a perfect bracket. The nature of the beast is this: Sports fan or not, everyone has an equal chance of winning.

And now more than ever, making a bracket takes little to no time. With websites such as ESPN’s Tournament Challenge, one can create their own bracket and join groups with friends easier than ever before. Because it is no longer necessary to print a bracket out and make your picks by hand, March Madness has grown into a can’t-miss event.

So whether you are a seasoned bracketologist or a sports novice, I encourage you to invite your family or friends, sports fans or not, to join in some friendly competition. Go with your heart, not your head. After all, once the brackets are set and the family is gathered around the television to watch game after game, that is when the real madness begins.