Get caught up in the (March) Madness

March Madness officially started yesterday with Morehead pounding Alabama State for the right to lose to No. 1 overall seed Louisville. The major tournament games begin tomorrow and I have until then to finalize my bracket.

I have UNC winning it all, but I'm more concerned with Ty Lawson's big toe than I have been with any other person I don't know's injury. I've watched the newswires for report on his toe and it looks like he may or may not play the first round of the tourney, which is OK--they won't need him to get the win, but they won't be able to win it all without him. When will he play? How will he play when he does play? Do I really want to pin my bracket hopes on a big toe? I don't know, these are questions I've been thinking about the past few days.

If you haven't filled out a bracket yet and gotten in on the madness, you are missing out and should. Filling out a bracket is the whole key to March Madness. It doesn't matter how much you know about basketball, everyone is suddenly an expert come March. Just fill out a bracket, follow the games and see how your bracket does.

Again, it doesn't matter how much you know about college basketball. March Madness is little more than a chance for all the so-called experts to show the world what they don't know. Experts normally make only two types of picks: safe powerhouse picks that will most likely be right or way out in left field, such as Jason Whitlock picking Gonzaga to win it all. With this pick, if Gonzaga does win it all, he gets to say, "I told you so!" When it does happen, no one will remember or call him out on it.

As I said, this is a chance for experts to show how much they don't know, as once game play starts, anything can happen. A three at the buzzer sends a power house school home, a couple of free throws with two seconds left forces overtime and an upset. The number one school in the bracket pounds their opening round victims by 28 only to lose the next game to an eight seed. One kid goes hot and scores 32 points a game from a school no one's heard of. Anything can happen once play starts and with 65 games played in such a short time, it does happen.

Because of this, I worry when the experts and I make the same picks. I have the same Final Four teams and national champion as one of Sport Illustrated's experts and our president. This means there is virtually no chance of the Final Four being Memphis, Pitt, Louisville and UNC. All I can do is hope none of those teams get knocked out early, especially my final teams of Louisville and UNC.

Filling out a bracket gives you an excuse to follow the action and a reason to care if No. 12 Western Kentucky beats No. 5 Illinois. And let's be honest, unless you're an alumni or fan of the winning team, it doesn't matter who wins the title, as long as you win your office/buddy pool.

Speaking of pools, feel free to join my pool on facebook: http://apps.facebook.com/thebracketchallenge/?page=pool&id=184610.

Again, anyone can fill out a bracket. It doesn't matter what strategy you use. Last year, the girl I was dating made her picks based off of which school city she'd rather visit on vacation. Sometimes people pick which school color they like most. Always fun is making your picks based off which mascot you like more or which sounds the toughest.

Filling out the bracket and seeing how right or wrong you are is what the madness is all about, be sure to get in on it before it's too late.

Speaking of postseason play, I'm excited to watch Idaho play Drake in the first Colleginsiders.com Postseason Tournament tonight. I'm not sure what it is (though I know what it isn't) but it's Idaho's first postseason play in 19 years and I'll get to watch it live.

Go Vandals!