Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
March 19, 2009, Washington Post

College Hoops Fans, Let the Games Begin!

It's that time of year again: March Madness. The men's and women's college basketball championships begin today, and that means 129 teams will play 127 games in the next three weeks to crown two national champions.

It's heaven for the serious hoops fan.

But kids can't watch all those games. If they did, they wouldn't have time to go to school, play their own sports or do their homework. So here are some ideas on how to enjoy the fun without watching every game.

Play a family tournament: My family runs its own NCAA tournament by picking teams during March Madness. We usually play our game with the men's bracket, but you can do it with the women's tournament, too.

Here's how we play. Each of us takes a turn picking a team, with the youngest picking first, the next youngest second and so on. Once a team is picked, no one else can take that team. We continue picking teams in that order until everyone has picked six teams. One special rule: Each player has to have at least one team (an "upset pick") whose seed, or rank, is between 9 and 16. That way people can't pick only the favorites to win the tournament.

We post our lists of six teams on the refrigerator door. Every time a team on someone's list wins a game, we put a check beside the team's name. The person whose teams win the most games is the champ and gets to choose his or her favorite meal for dinner after the tournament.

Root for the home teams: Lots of local teams missed the tournaments this year. But some made it. So root for them.

The American University men's team had a great season, winning the Patriot League regular season championship and tournament. But the Eagles probably won't last long in the NCAA tourney. They play the powerful Villanova Wildcats in Round One. The Wildcats should feast on the AU Eagles.

The Maryland men sneaked into the tournament despite a losing record during the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular season. Still, the Terps have a good chance of beating California in their first-round game. After that, they will probably play Memphis. The Terps have had trouble winning two games in a row all year. I doubt they will win two in the tournament.

The local team with the best chance to win it all is the Maryland women's team. The Terps have a terrific record (28 wins and 4 losses), won the ACC tournament and are led by two standout seniors, guard Kristi Toliver and forward Marissa Coleman. And the Terps play their first two tournament games on their home court.

So I'm picking the Maryland women to make it to the Final Four. And that will make March Madness lots of fun this year.

Fred Bowen writes KidsPost's sports opinion column and is an author of sports novels for kids.

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