We Finally Have A Schedule For This Year's NCAA Tournament - It's WEIRD And I Hate That We're Losing A Sacred Day

Listen, I'm fully with whatever it takes to get to an NCAA Tournament. Not having the Tournament last year was one of the worst days of my life without hyperbole. I live for the NCAA Tournament. I made my living thanks to the NCAA Tournament. It's something every year that I can just count on and get jazzed up for. 

That's why I hate this. I hate change with the NCAA Tournament. I'm not talking moving it all to Indianapolis, that's necessary this year in order for it to happen. But losing the Thursday/Friday for the first round is BRUTAL. It's the best two days of the year without question. You either take the half day on Thursday or off both days, head to the bar or a house with your guys and watch 12 hours of basketball with the pit in your stomach as your team plays. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand that my job it doesn't really matter what day this goes down. People will celebrate, I'll get to watch every game and all that. But I'm about to be 34. I hate change when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. 

Then when you start looking more at it - the Monday Round of 32 games is what's really going to throw me off. There's something absolutely perfect about the Thursday-Sunday schedule. Is that Monday a massive hangover? Yep. But you have those days to break down what happened, look at the Sweet 16 on Thursday. Instead you're going Monday to Saturday? Nope. Even the Elite Eight being Monday/Tuesday is going to be bizarre. 

The good part? Hinkle being a Sweet 16 place is awesome. It's historic, I don't care if people think it might be a dump or anything. I actually wish Hinkle had the title game. Also awesome? The Sweet 16 games being standalone games. Typically they go off 2 at a time with a slight staggered start. Now we all get to focus on one game at a time and get all day basketball. That's not a bad thing, just going to trick my brain that it's the Sweet 16. 

It's already a weird season and going to be a weird tournament. We could see a tournament without Kentucky, Duke, UNC, Syracuse, Arizona, Indiana and Michigan State. Why the fuck not have a weird tournament schedule to go with it? Like I said, I could cry seeing dates but I hate the change. Let's get to March.