The Year of the Jayhawk

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

I love March. College football falls are great. Winter NFL playoffs are good as well. But nothing compares to March Madness!

To those who know me, I begin the process of filling out my brackets the same way every year. Here’s how it looks…

Kansas winning it all. Everyone else gets filled in second.

I’ve done it that way through the thick & thin years; during the times when they were the favorites & the times when no one in their right mind (except me) picked them to win the championship.

That being said, here’s why I think this is the year Kansas wins it all for the fourth time…

• This is familiar territory - For some teams, this will be their first tournament appearance. For others, it will mark their return to the Dance after a long hiatus. Kansas? Leading 21st straight NCAA tournament. We’re used to the pressure cooker of the NCAA Tournament. We’re a team that expects to win… and delivers. Don’t expect to see many tournament butterflies from the Jayhawks.
• Being Number 1 Isn’t a New Pressure - The Jayhawks began the season ranked #1. They spent all but three weeks atop the polls. In all but two games this season they faced that pressure and won. Being a #1 seed doesn’t change a thing.
• Sherron Collins Doesn’t Like to Lose - The Kansas senior point guard is the winningest player in KU basketball history, and that’s saying a lot. And the fact remains that Collins has carried the team on his shoulders more times than not and willed his team to win, even when they weren’t playing their best.
• Kansas Wins Even When They Aren’t Playing Well - They’re deep… scary deep. At least eight men deep. What does that mean? It means that stars like Aldrich and Collins can play poorly and someone else will step up to the plate. It means a player like Tyrel Reed can come off the bench in the Big 12 Championship game, score a career high, and be the player of the game for the Jayhawks. It means that the ‘player of the game’ moniker can be worn by anyone on the KU team on any given week.

So, it’s on to filling out the rest of my bracket, and then running four pools again this year with likely over 1200-1300 people. Can’t wait for Thursday!

Let the Madness begin!

Posted 03.15.2010

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