March 18 – “Madness”

And … the NCAA basketball Road to the Final Four has officially begun.  I filled out a bracket this year.  And I did pretty well on the first night.  Perfect, in fact.  The two teams I picked in the new First Four round both won.  Notice I said “two.”  There were actually four games.  I totally missed the other two games.  So I started out at 50%. 

I also never expected Baylor to be blindsided by Yale.  Wow.  The Yale kid from Hawaii was nothing short of amazing.  Thirty-one points.  And the Baylor boys had some attitude problems on the sidelines that need to be addressed.  At least for national television audiences.  That wasn’t the only upset, though.  Wichita State, one of those play-in teams, beat Arizona.  That knocked out a few of my predictions.  And Little Rock beat Purdue.  There went another run I anticipated.  I was proud of Gonzaga, though.  They have always been one of my favorite teams, primarily because I like to say their name.  Apparently they do, too.  Their mascot is the Zags, whatever that means.  Anyway, they took down Seton Hall to advance to the next round. 

I’m still waiting to see how the other Texas schools do.  Texas Tech is out.  Texas and Texas A&M both play today, and both have a pretty good chance at advancing, if they don’t fall victim to the sleeper upset like Baylor did.  Texas plays Northern Iowa.  I know nothing about them.  Not sure anyone does.  Do people really live in Northern Iowa?  A&M plays Green Bay, so I may have to awaken a little rivalry with my buddy who lives up there in those northern reaches of nowhere.  Are you reading this, Gary?  Here come the Aggies.  Stephen F. Austin plays today as well.  They are the representatives of my alma mater’s (Houston Baptist University) conference bracket.  They face West Virginia, though.  A number three seed.  Uphill battle there, for sure. 

Oh, my picks for the final four?  So far all of them are still alive.  I know.  Easy to say in the middle of the first round.  I picked Kansas, North Carolina, Michigan State and A&M.  Then Kansas and Michigan State in the finals, with Kansas winning it all.  So there you have it.  Bracketology by the worst of us.  But you gotta love that March Madness.

Revelation 5:12 says, “In a loud voice they sang: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’”

Father, help us all remember that the hope we have in you is a lot stronger than what we have in our final four picks.  No chance at all of an upset.  Amen.