March Madness

Just for fun, I make a bracket for March Madness most years. I begin the tournament with optimism, but my success is generally short-lived.

This year is more exciting than usual for me because the Tennessee men's basketball team is in the mix!

Unless you are new to Miles and Laurel, you know that I've been a Tennessee football fan for almost three years. There have been some unintended effects of this project - for example, I've followed college football in general more closely than I ever expected. This year, another unintended effect was that I ended up following the Tennessee men's basketball season fairly closely simply because the Tennessee beat writers I follow on Twitter go from covering football in the fall to hoops in the winter. The team's season gained a lot of momentum at the right time heading into the SEC tournament, and they ended up playing last night in one of the First Four games to begin the NCAA tournament.

And what a game it was! UT trailed early and in a big way, but ended up winning 78-65 in overtime. It was a thrilling start to March Madness for Volunteer fans (including Josh and me, but not Wish - he was sleeping).

Even the snowman is rooting for UT!

Who's in your Final Four? How do you craft your brackets? And are you rooting for powerhouses or underdogs?