Let the Madness Begin.

What makes March Madness so special is the uncertainty and thrill that comes with the game of basketball. Basketball is unlike any other sport in that the smaller, seemingly less talented school always has the chance to pull the upset.

In every tournament, one school is deemed the “Cinderella Story.” Most notably, in last year’s tournament, the 6th seeded Butler Bulldogs made it all the way to the National Championship. Also, in 2006, George Mason University put Fairfax County on the map by beating UConn, UNC, and Michigan State on their way to the Final Four.

It is teams like George Mason and Butler that make the NCAA tournament such a hard tournament to predict. Small teams who barely get any national attention and whose games can only be seen on local channels finally get the chance to display their talent and shine on the big stage against the “big boys” of college basketball.

This year’s tournament doesn’t seem to have a single dominant team. No team has propelled itself above any other and the usual big name teams have all had their struggles during the season. However, we picked Duke to repeat in this year’s tournament for several reasons.

The first reason is simply the fact that their only major loss in terms of personnel is John Scheyer. Their first and second leading scorers both returned and they brought in new talent to compliment those scorers, which brings us to the second reason. The second reason we believe they will repeat this year is the return of their star freshman point guard, Kyrie Irving. Irving, who missed most of the season because of a right toe injury, has been cleared to play, making the Blue Devils, who already have momentum after winning the ACC tournament, that much more dangerous.  The third and final reason, and perhaps the most important, is the fact that the Blue Devils are coached by Mike Krzyzewski, a hall of fame coach whose team always seems to be a legitimate threat to be the champion.