The NCAA Tournament Brackets: The Greatest Fantasy Game of Them All!!!

Over the past two weeks, I've been majorly distracted by the NCAA Tournament. All I've been doing is watching college hoops, and the weird part about it is that I have actually stayed awake during these games because usually I fall asleep watching TV. I haven't even made any progress on the new SportsSteez GT segment (Spoiler Alert) mainly because along with watching these games I've been caught up in my bracket. I'm not winning my group, but I'm tied with my friend Stephanie who I have a bet with, so that's all I'm really worried about.

I was talking to my boy Victor (who is also in my group but he's not doing too well) when I had an interesting thought about the whole bracket situation. I asked Victor, "Could filling out brackets be one of the greatest fantasy games of all time?" It didn't take him long to agree, but he asked me if filling out a bracket could even be considered a fantasy game. I figure why not, it's basically the same concept as all fantasy sports with the exception of you're picking teams instead of players. You pick who you think is going to advance just as you would pick who's going to start in your lineup in the other fantasy sports. In most online platforms, you get points when the team you picked advances, just like you get points when your player scores a touchdown, hits a homerun, or drains a three pointer. So why wouldn't we consider the brackets as a fantasy sport?

Filling out brackets also provides us with the same extracurricular fun that comes along with fantasy sports. There is usually some kind of bet or pot that is involved with fantasy sports. Whether it's an office pool or a group of friends that came together for the group, usually money or some other attractive prize is on the line. Plus, bragging rights is always up for grabs in fantasy sports and the brackets are no different. We all know whoever wins the your bracket group is going to be talking major trash until next March. Also, when you're in a group with other people, you're likely to watch the games and/or interact more with those people in your group about the game just like in the other fantasy sports. I know this to be especially true in fantasy football where many groups get together to watch NFL games.

I believe there are multiple reasons why the brackets should be considered one of the greatest fantasy sports of all time. Starting with the length of the games. In most fantasy sports, your fantasy season is going to last the whole regular reason of the respective sports. In most cases, you're talking about 16 to 36 weeks depending on if you're playing fantasy football, baseball, or basketball. The NCAA tournament lasts for about three to four weeks, so you really don't have time to get cute. Actually, you can get cute all you want when you're picking your teams, but once the tournament starts, you're stuck with your picks. When the tournament starts you can't change your picks like in other fantasy sports where you can edit your roster through free agency or make trades. Your picks are truly your picks and your bracket lives or dies with those picks.

Strategizing for the brackets is definitely one of the reasons why filling out brackets is so intense. Many people haven't watched a lick of college basketball all season and are just picking teams they are familiar with. Some people have bizarre methods of filling out their brackets such as picking teams whose team colors are blue and white, or random selection. There aren't major publications or draft kits floating around where so called experts are suggesting who to pick. There are sports reporters and so called bracketologists, but they'll be the first to tell you that anything can happen in the tournament. You always have to look for upsets because these upsets will bust your bracket so quick. Many people including myself will tell you one of the best ways to strategize for the brackets is to watch and pay attention to the conference tournaments that goes on right before the big dance. Watching these games are a good way to see which teams are hot and also have a good momentum going into the tournament.

So now let's imagine (and in some instances remember as this scenario has probably happened to most of us) that you just filled out your bracket, it's the end of the first weekend and you're feeling absolutely overwhelmed by your bracket. Some of your picks lost and you're thinking "I knew I should've picked UCLA." Then you realize that you can't pick UCLA for the next round because your picks are locked for the whole tournament. You start panicking because you realize your bracket is completely screwed and there's nothing you can do about it.  However, this weekend isn't the end of the game as the game lasts for the whole tournament. So you're watching and waiting week after week, hoping your remaining picks can pull out a victory. Yeah, I think filling out brackets should definitely be considered the greatest fantasy game of them all.