"America is enthralled by the NCAA Tournament each year, picking brackets, slacking off during work hours to watch the games, wrapped up in the high-stakes, single-elimination basketball where every loss means the end of seasons and careers, and every win is a magical tale to be told for years to come."
"Having begun on March 2 and running all the way up to the Selection Show on the 15th, there is high-stakes, single-elimination men's college basketball every single day. While the numbers whittle down from 68 to leave us with one team standing over the three weeks of NCAA Tournament action, the two weeks prior bring us from nearly 365 all the way down to 68."
"When Barone accepted the head coaching job in 2019, he hung a framed pair of scissors over the locker room door, symbolizing the goal of winning the program's first ever Division I conference championship and earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament."
The NCAA Tournament captivates America annually with 68 teams competing in high-stakes, single-elimination basketball where every loss ends seasons and every win creates lasting memories. The tournament is preceded by two weeks of conference tournaments that narrow the field from nearly 365 teams down to 68 qualifiers. Each of Division I's 31 conferences awards an automatic bid to their postseason champion. Low seeds, including 14, 15, and 16 seeds, possess deeply meaningful stories behind their tournament appearances. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville exemplifies this narrative, with head coach Brian Barone achieving his lifelong goal of winning the program's first Division I conference championship and earning an NCAA Tournament berth after hanging symbolic scissors in the locker room in 2019.
Read at Fast Company
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