Source: WRAL, WRAL, Fayetteville State University
We are finally in March and the weather is getting better. The birds are chirping with a little more command. The days are longer and the weather is starting to warm up. The pollen is making its guest appearance on cars and in our eyes. The only thing we can hope for at this point is this better not be false spring in North Carolina.
March also means it’s time for something else exciting – March Madness! This year, over 300 NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball teams are all hoping they are one of the lucky 68 teams chosen to play for a chance to win a national championship. For many of us, we will be glued to our televisions and phones hoping to catch the next buzzer beater. During this time, work production will slow down too, so to all of the bosses out there – give your employees grace. Act cool and join the festivities.
Another important component of March is the battle for supremacy in who has the most accurate filled-out bracket in their office pool. For many offices across the world, this gives you the biggest honor of having bragging rights until next year. Who cares about an employee of the month award when you can have your very own championship belt for winning your office pool?
On a more serious note, the state of North Carolina has a total of six (Duke, UNC, N.C. State) men’s and women’s teams vying for a chance to be national champions in their respective sports. Duke, UNC, and N.C. State’s men’s and women’s teams all qualified for March Madness, which is impressive considering there are only a handful of other universities that can say this. It’s called Tobacco Road for a reason, peeps. College basketball is a form of religion here if you didn’t know.
The biggest longshot of all teams that qualified was the N.C. State Men’s team. The Wolfpack won five games in five days in their first ACC Tournament Championship since 1987, including beating Duke, Virginia, and then UNC in the title game. Light the Bell Tower red is what the Wolfpack did! This was the only way the Wolfpack could qualify for the tournament and they got it done. March Madness is in full effect.
Let’s also give a shoutout to the Fayetteville State University Women’s Basketball team for a great season. The CIAA Champion Lady Broncos entered the NCAA Women’s Division II Basketball tournament with a 29-3 record and came one game short of making it to the Elite Eight of the tournament. Congrats on a historic season, Lady Broncos!
There are plenty of bracket challenges to participate in. Just be careful in which teams you pick as it’s called March Madness for a reason. Finally, just so we are clear, understand you have a better chance of getting chased by a UFO than to get all of the matches correct. But this is why you play the game.
Good luck to all of the teams representing our state and don’t forget to fill out your brackets for a chance to win big.
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