It’s time.Midterms are finished, and laptop screens will most likely be tuned into a midday basketball game rather than taking notes, if students show up to class in the first place. Welcome to March Madness. Also known as the NCAA tournament, the month long smorgasbord of college basketball games is a favorite among hardcore and casual basketball fans alike.”It’s filled with possibilities,” said Tom Coleman, mass communication junior. “There’s a lot of Cinderella teams. You can’t underestimate the underdog. It’s great.”CBS helped unveil the hallowed brackets Sunday. Kansas (32-2), Kentucky (32-2), Syracuse (28-4) and Duke (29-5) earned No. 1 seeds.Picking the winners is just as much tradition as spectating. While the four No. 1 seeds are hot picks, others value heart over mind.Patrick Hatzenbuehler, agricultural economics graduate student, conducted his undergraduate studies at Georgetown and picks the Hoyas to win the national title every season, no matter the predictions.”I have to put them in the title game every year,” Hatzenbuehler said. “If I had to pick someone else, I guess I’d go with Kentucky.”Similarly, Coleman has a familial affiliation with Notre Dame. He’s picking the Irish, a No. 6 seed, to win it all.”My dad went to Notre Dame, so I root for them,” Coleman said. “I root for LSU too, but they’re not in the tournament. My mind tells me to pick Syracuse, though.”Experts have expressed some displeasure about the selections themselves. It’s not so much the teams selected, it’s the paths given to the top seeds en route to the Final Four. Consensus has it that Duke, the third overall No. 1 seed, will travel the least perilous road to Indianapolis.”They put too many good teams in one region,” said Luke Winn, Sports Illustrated college basketball writer. “Kansas can still beat Ohio State, Georgetown and Michigan State. The point is putting all those teams in one region diluted the bracket. It just doesn’t make sense.”Grant Westerhaus, civil engineering sophomore, doesn’t put much stock in that notion.”It’s always tough to win six games in a row,” Westerhaus said. “The way things shake out, somebody is always going to have an easier road. I do think they set up Duke nicely, though.”The tourney is never known for being easy. Some tournaments are upset parties, while others are more boring. Westerhaus said Tennessee and Bruce Pearl, a No. 6 seed, is a prime candidate for a letdown.”Bruce Pearl never does well in the tournament,” Westerhaus said. “Even in ’06 when they were a two-seed, they almost lost in the first round and lost in the second round.”Winn disagreed with all of them. According to Winn, Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse and No. 2 seed Villanova will make the Final Four with Kansas taking home the trophy.”It’s Kansas’ year,” Winn said. “They have that right mix of pro talent and experience and an amazing leader at point guard in Sherron Collins. Kentucky has an incredible wealth of talent, but Kansas’ experience factor will be the difference for them.”Winn, who follows basketball as closely as anyone, has had his own troubles with brackets.”I don’t know why, but for some reason covering college basketball doesn’t help you fill out a great bracket,” Winn said. “I haven’t won a bracket pool since college.”–Contact Chris Branch at [email protected]