Every year sport enthusiasts and basketball viewers make their wages to predict who is going to win the March Madness tournament. The highest ranked teams are often the selected teams to enter into the final rounds and championship. The road to the final game does not always go as planned, many upsets occur. The polls are not as accurate to predict the final outcome. On any given day, inconsistencies of the game are what make the tournament so exciting. Just because a team is ranked higher in the tournament does not guarantee the team will win the tournament.
March Madness is one of the most anticipated times of the year for any sports viewer. The talk about team rankings and placement on the bracket drives the thrill for viewers who eagerly wait to place bets on who will win. When the brackets do arrive many people across the country fill out a bracket. Some brackets are just filled out with who the viewer want to win while others do research to learn the concerns about each team to make predictions. All brackets, blogs, and polls are predictions of sport enthusiast’s opinions. The polls are not going to guarantee the team will win. The game has to be played before a winner can be announced.
Coaches every year do the best they can to have a great team in hopes to win the NCAA March Madness tournament but even with the most talented team they are not guaranteed the win. Uncontrollable circumstances and controllable issues do arise and have caused a team to lose even when predicted to win the trophy. Every player on the team is vital and when one player is down it can significantly impact the team. Players can get sick or injured during the tournament, which changes the team dynamics and impacts the game. Lack of energy from the team or player can cause the other team that is not ranked as high to take advantage of the situation to dominate and ultimately win the game. This shows that even if one player is down or makes a wrong decision the outcome can cause the opposing team to win.
Athletes’ decisions on and off the court can impact the results of the game and many times the coach cannot control what is happening on the court. There is not a poll or coach that can predict before a game starts what the end result will be. Coaches and sports analysts can do all the research they want but the game comes down to who shows up to play on any given day.
The best advice for these situations is to have depth for when inconvenient circumstances occur, train the athletes to work together, and stay in the game from buzzer to buzzer. Coaches should teach athletes even when playing what is predicted as an easy team to keep their game face on because a win can never be guaranteed.
About the Author: Jamie Kootz is a doctorate student at The United States Sports Academy. While working on her degree, Jamie is an adjunct instructor working for two different universities in Kansas: MidAmerica Nazarene and Kansas Wesleyan. She teaches both in the classroom and online to promote others to learn more about sports, fitness, and health.
Outstanding, she is spot on!!