March Madness is finally here--with no slam dunk favorite

I'm sticking to focusing on just one sport this week--college basketball. The official selection show for the men's NCAA tournament was March 17. There are now 68 teams who get bids.  Action started March 19 with the play-In games--a recent addition to the traditional 64-team bracketing-- which typically are not included in the office pools.

Picking an overall winner will be difficult as there are no dominant teams you can depend on this year to make it all the way through to the championship.  I actually think a huge reason for this is the new rule in college basketball/NBA that a pro needs to have one year of college experience to be eligible for the NBA draft. I think it should be it either zero or two years. The best example of what happens with the one-year rule is the lineup of last year's championship team, Kentucky. Their best player, Anthony Davis, and some of his teammates left for the NBA after the 2012 season. Kentucky didn't even make it into the tournament this year to defend its championship title. With the current rule, most of the big programs will have to be prepared to rebuild every year! That seems short-sighted and diminishes what college basketball and the college experience is supposed to be about. Next week after the first two rounds have been played, I will share with all of you my pick for the 2013 champion.

The women's March Madness tournament is well worth following because the University of Delaware team has a good chance of going far! Their first game is this Sunday against West Virginia. It will be on either ESPN TV or on ESPN3.com.  Check it out.