TWEAKING "MARCH MADNESS"

TWEAK "March Madness" ! "March Madness" could be made better by scrambling the brackets so that the number 1 seed does not always play the lowest seeds first! That way, the lowest seeds may have an increased opportunity to win a game or two, among more comparable teams, before being eliminated from the annual top college basketball tournament by the very best teams eventually. Now they lose by design from the start, before they ever get to play! As matters stand now, the little guys with the automatic bids from HBCU's like the MEAC, SWAC, CIAA--and the like--are almost gone from the very start! They often end up losing by 30 or 40 points. This is demoralizing and in derogation of recruitment options for those better black athletes, who are already bewitched by the big-named schools marketing allures. I remember a very exciting game between Kansas and Jackson State some years ago, which Jackson State almost won, due to its having an outstanding shooter, just barely losing in overtime . Such games are rarities, however memorable! Much more common are embarrassing, predictable blowouts in them all. The system needs fixing not by expansion, but by scrambling, by tweaking. The best teams would still play the same number of games, as ever, inevitably rising to the top, overcoming all comers. But, the basketball mystique will be made better, being enhanced by eliminating "bracketology," where the highest play the lowest seeds. Instead, substituting fairer lottery selection methods, i.e., "chance," to determine who will play whom within each region, so that the little guys get a fighting chance, will be result. Right now, the tournament is designed to eliminate the small schools first. That is discriminatory. The element of chance, not design, will enhance the excitement and would not necessarily hamper the advancement prospects of these little historically black colleges and universities, as now, who normally are clobbered early-on by their lack of athletic talent, great coaching, or confidence, to their fans' sorrow! Deleting built-in bracket design disasters, as described above, in favor of regional lotteries will improve the competitiveness of the process and promote enjoyment !