I know a few Modern Friends whose teams got unceremoniously booted from the tournament last night. I also know a few whose teams are still in. I was sorta pulling for my hometown team after the two teams I follow lost in the first round, but that was for naught as they lost last night too.
This begs the question, how do you decide who to root for after your team is out of the tournament?
Of course the easy answer is, “Whatever is best for my bracket.” But that would require you to still have a bracket that’s mostly in tact, and mine is not. There’s always the “root for the conference” rule, but my conference of choice did a great job of proving to the nation this basketball season that it is, indeed, a football conference. My dad has decided as a rule of thumb he’s rooting against any team in blue and white, in which case he did pretty well last night. One of my work colleagues is summarily rooting against the Big East, which doesn’t leave him with many options.
I think I may start rooting for the team with the best mascots. Or perhaps the green team, based solely on the fact that it’s my favorite color (I know that would make at least one Modern Friend happy).
Was having this exact conversation with the husband last night as I watched Duke get trashed by Villanova. I’m an ACC fan, but the idea of rooting for UNC makes me physically ill. What to do, what to do???
I knew I liked you!
We have one of the best mascots too so it technically checks two things off your list. 😉
I would love for you to pull for my Sooners tonight. If for no other reason than Blake Griffin. He is from here in OKC, a good kid and an awesome specimen of a basketball player.
I will root for any team that is not UNC.
I actually tend to choose teams based on how they look to me. If they look and play like a nice bunch of guys, I hope they win. If they look like they love being the crap out of the other team, I really would rather they lose. Carolina being the notable exception.