March Madness has arrived.

I sit here writing this, right after Siena’s loss. I have to say, the team’s loss works perfectly for my bracket. But, I still wish they won. It would have been awesome.

Anyway, congrats to Siena. Its clear they fought hard, and they kept it close.

I love March Madness. I watch more basketball in March than I do during the rest of the year. For one, I prefer college basketball much more than professional basketball. It seems so much more pure and less corrupted. That’s probably naïve, but it’s true.

There’s also something intoxicating about the NCAA tournament. I think it’s the win or go home atmosphere. It’s live or die and every second counts. It’s just so exciting.

And my brackets are legendary. And I do mean: legendary. Three years back, I took Bucknell (14) over Kansas (3). I was right. My dad’s friend, who had spent hours poring over his bracket, called me asking for advice. Why did I choose Bucknell, you may be asking? Because I figured the Bucknell team probably consisted of dorky kids like myself.

Also in 2006, I took George Mason. Not as far as they went, but I had them winning at least one, maybe two, games. Now how I chose George Mason is a bit more complex. Peter Stearns, the author of my sophomore year history textbook, was a professor at George Mason. I loved that textbook. So naturally, I took George Mason.

This year, now that I have friends at schools all over, I filled out my bracket based on who I know at what school, to certain extent. There’s an art to filling out a bracket. Every year, my brother fills out about twelve brackets. He does one by flipping coins. The team on top is heads and the bottom is tails. I kid you not: he flips coins for hours.

Clearly, it’s not a science. It takes patience and luck. And, in my case, a rather obscure way of choosing teams.

Anyway, if you’re curious, I have UNC winning the whole thing.

And you?