It's that time of the year again: the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship (aka, The Tournament). After a one-year hiatus, I am again keeping a bracket. I am sure I will do very badly, as usual, but that is not really the point. Making picks tournament picks is a tricky business. One must negotiate a complex web of emotional attachments (in this order: teams from Philly; teams in the Big East, except Syracuse; the Ivy League champion, especially if it's Princeton), irrational grudges (any team coached by Bobby Knight or Jim Harrick; Duke; North Carolina; Indiana [still under sanctions for the Knight Era]; and when in doubt, anyone from the Big 12), and spontaneous fascinations (obscure teams with funky nicknames [e.g., the Manhattan Jaspers or the Southern Illinois Salukis]). One must weigh one's loyalty to a program or coach against past disappointments (oh, Cincinnati, how many times will you burn me?) and negotiate the inevitable good-vs.-good and evil-vs.-evil matchups. In the end, it is not about being right, but about creating an alternate reality in which basketball results would always make you happy.
