Okay, let’s get down to brass tacks: The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is the single greatest post-season in all athletics. Hard stop. No qualifiers.* I started writing up an extended defense of this stance (relative parity, matchup storylines, rooting interests, yada yada yada) but I kinda doubt anyone reading this blog feels much differently. Anyhoo. I’ve started up a pool for Team Slayer at ESPN.com, which I prefer for its in-bracket game tracking—a very nice feature for anyone looking to monitor his/her dominance whilst office-bound. To fill out a bracket you will need to create an account hereabouts:

http://games.espn.go.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/en/

Group name: SlayTracks

Password: Pavement

Matt suggested a house rule that all entrants must, when applicable, advance (each of) their home school(s) to at least the Sweet Sixteen. This seems fairly capricious, though not all that arbitrary given Michigan’s potential collision with UNC in the “fourth” round; nevertheless, I shall abide. Oh, and one last tidbit: For an even more satisfying experience, try listening to “I Wish” by Skee-lo while filling out that bracket. Something tells me this used to be one of Andy’s favorite songs….

*Okay, qualifier: The Kumite doesn’t count.