It’s that time of year. Even if you aren’t the world’s biggest basketball fan, you can’t help but get drawn into March Madness. There are the die-hard fans, and then there are those who just pick a team to root for. Those who are more lackadaisical about it generally choose either the Cinderella team or the Bracket Buster team. Either way, nearly everyone ends up with a team to cheer for.

March Madness doesn’t just apply to NCAA basketball. High school basketball in Kentucky reaches its peak in March as well. Both the boys’ and the girls’ state championship Sweet 16 tournaments are played in March. As with the NCAA college teams, the boys have a bigger following than the girls. I have a niece who plays basketball; she loves it as much as any guy who plays. So having watched several of her games, I don’t understand why a girls’ team, especially a good girls’ team, can’t get a better following. I could probably write an entire blog about that. However, it is what it is, and for now, I’ll just say that folks, you should give the girls’ teams a chance.

Just as there are people who buy tickets for the SEC tournament every year and those who buy NCAA tournament tickets every year, I know folks who buy tickets to the Boys’ Sweet 16 every year. Many people make it a family outing every year. And that’s great. If that’s what your family enjoys, then by all means do it. You’ll make yourself some great memories.

My students are into March Madness as well. The AP classes had to do a visual essay, and they were allowed to choose any topic they wanted. They had to present these to the class. I had three that were just about basketball in general. I had one about Duke basketball, one about Louisville basketball, and two about UK basketball. The majority of students at our school are UK fans, but we do have a few misguided ones who prefer Louisville and Duke. We love them anyway, and I do applaud them for standing by their teams, through the good and the bad.

And as I finish up tonight, overtime is happening for the first time in this year’s tournament, and we’re watching it until time for UK, and then we’ll change channels to cheer on our Cats.

C-A-T-S! Cats! Cats! Cats!