image via CHUCK LIDDY - CLIDDY@NEWSOBSERVER.COM

For this trap of the day, it began as a staring contest—a blank gaze at my empty screen, blink-blink-blink goes the cursor. Honestly, I was tempted to simply jot down one giant question mark to sum up my insight on the greatest tournament in the world of sports. I could call myself an expert, but quite frankly, I’d be a liar.

To clarify, there is a justifiable reason the NCAA college basketball tournament has been coined “March Madness.” The do-or-die 68-team tournament is as unpredictable as it gets in sports, even forcing self-proclaimed basketball experts to hop down from their high horses, and don dusty humble hats for the weeks of basketball chaos. In this tournament you’ll find imagery of pure jubilation, but rest assured you’ll also see heartbreak and shattered dreams.

To put the craziness into perspective, each year my extended family of 25+ comes together virtually to enter a competition in which we battle it out to see who can successfully create the most accurate “bracket“ of win-loss predictions. The level of sports interest amongst us varies considerably, yet it’s become apparent that everyone—despite one’s sports erudition or effort—has a realistic chance to catch that lucky streak.  In 2011’s tournament, my aunt Kay stole the show and took home the family trophy (by the way, she is my GREAT aunt, 91 years young). 

That’s where Trapit comes into play. I pieced together a March Madness Trap so we can figure out this whole basketball formula together, what the so-called study sports gurus like to call, “Bracketology.” The trap is rather diverse, capturing opinions from bloggers, beat writers and columnists with predictions and pick breakdowns (remember to absorb each opinion with a grain of salt, because although one may be in-the-know, in actuality he or she often had no idea in retrospect).

Over the weekend, what is known as Selection Sunday is judgement day for many universities on the “bubble” of making the tournament. An NCAA selection committee will huddle and delve deeply into each team’s season-long body of work to deem whether they are worthy of getting their ticket punchedto go to the big dance.

Once all the seeds have been selected and the first-round match-ups set in stone, the speculation officially begins. When the buzz hits a fever pitch, this is where the March Madness Trap will take twists and turns of its own. Who are the favorites to win it all? Who are the Cinderellas most likely to shock the basketball world? Which bubble teams were snubbed the worst? Who are the overrated squads most vulnerable for potential upsets and letdowns? Out of which region will 2012’s new shining star be born? And so on… 

After Selection Sunday wraps up this weekend, bracket-fillers around the globe have just a handful of days to finalize all their picks and cast in their brackets. So it’s time for you to start doing your homework with the March Madness Trap. Much love to my Aunt Kay, but she’s going down this year. It’s on!

-Geoff