NCAA basketball tournament will be difficult to call

CONROE, Texas -- It's ‘March Madness’ and time to fill out your NCAA brackets. Florida, Wichita State, Arizona, Virginia claimed the No. 1 seeds in this year’s tournament. But this year’s tournament winners are expected to be difficult to call.

Baylor, a number 6 seed, and Texas a number 7, will represent our great state, unlike last year when no Texas teams made it to the tournament. SMU missed their opportunity by losing to the University of Houston with a 16-15 record, in the AAC tournament.

It’s debatable why the NCAA calls the tournament ‘March Madness.’ Some say it’s because it drives people to madness to try and predict the winners, and others say it’s because people get so mad when their predictions don’t materialize.

In reality, the term was coined as far back as 1939, by Henry V. Potter, an official with the Illinois High School Association, in an article he wrote for an in-house magazine for the organization. But it wasn’t until 1982, when CBS broadcaster and sportswriter, Brent Musburger, used it during his network's NCAA tournament coverage.

Other terms used in connection with the 65-team tourney's unique nomenclature include "Sweet 16," used to describe the third round of the tournament, then the “Elite Eight,” and the "Final Four." Overall, the tournament is referred to as the "Big Dance." As these terms emerged, the NCAA trademarked them.

It doesn’t matter by what name you call it, the NCAA tournament has become impossible to call. The likelihood of filling out a perfect tournament bracket is so remote, that billionaire investor, Warren Buffett, will pay one billion dollars to anyone who fills out a perfect bracket., but the odds of doing so are one in one quintillion (1 followed by 30 zeroes). For most, the only reward they'll get is bragging rights for a full year if they beat out the rest and win the office pool. So go ahead and call them as you see them, and good luck.

To access the 2014 NCAA Basketball Tournament bracket visit the link provided.