I have never been a fan of college hoops. I attended Syracuse University the year after they lost in the finals in 1986. I graced the same quads as Ron Seikley who was drafted by the Miami Heat (or was it the Magic?) and later achieved tremendous anonymity in the NBA with half a dozen other teams. (And ironically has Lebanese roots. His cousins attend my school.) I never attended a game and purposely avoided campus on game day.
My reasons for joining the office pool every year has nothing at all to do with my knowledge of the game. Or even a passing interest in any of the teams. I fill out two or three brackets every year so that I can participate. I enjoy the simply inclusion in a social activity. More specifically, I enjoy the trash talk and harmless ribbing. Plus, I get satisfaction in seeing the frustrated look in my opponents face when they discover my time honored method of predicting winners based on whose mascot is tougher than whose.
This year the entry fee is 15,000 Lira so the stakes are high. (I love the sound of that even though that's equivalent to ten dollars.) I decided to prepare even more than usual so an hour before tip off I was scouring the ESPN web site for any advice. I found lots of stats and percentages but nothing that helped me figure out what Murray State's mascot was. I finally settled on picking the favorites. I made exceptions for names of cities that I had actually visited before. Thank goodness there were few upsets in round one and I even predicted the Manhattan win. If I had known what the letters UAB stood for in I might have picked that one too.
I'm told I am tied for first place in the office pool after round one. With more than 300,000 Lebanese Lira going to the winner I only have one thing to say. "Go Kentuckians!