With being right in the middle of March Madness, it’s hard not to get caught up in the craziness… especially if your heart is with a certain team. I never cared much for March Madness going to my first game with my brother John and cousin Stephen as a surprise right after I had decided on going to Xavier. We traveled up to Dayton to watch them unfortunately lose, and while it was a memorable first Xavier game and experience in general, I hadn’t quite grasped ahold of the “madness” yet. I think I can officially say I’ve caught it. And it’s a bad. Or, extremely, extremely amazing. Here’s why.

March madness is insanely unpredictable. Sitting in the crowd at the Michigan State and Middle Tennessee upset was quite the experience. The looks on the faces of the fans who couldn't believe their team was actually going to lose this one, and the screaming and excitement of the fans who had realized that their team had it... pretty unforgettable.

I didn’t talk to a single person whose bracket wasn’t completely destroyed within one day… or even one game. That’s the beauty of the madness… you can go by the books and stats, but it’ll probably end up not how you calculated at all.

People are so happy... or mad. But generally, the atmosphere is full of excitement mixed with nerves. Everyone checks out the shirts of the people they pass to see if they're friends or enemies for the month of March. I can’t lie, and for every Weber or Wisconsin shirt I passed on the streets of St. Louis, I may have either had to look away or send some telepathic “GO X!” cheers. Then, when I pass people in Xavier attire, I felt like I was seeing a long lost best friend. It’s a pretty great connection.

You play schools outside of your conference. All season you know what to expect from a team, because you’ve played them already and kind of know what you’re up against. All bets are off when you go outside of that conference comfort zone, making anything possible. Not only are all bets off, it’s also extremely exciting. Not knowing what to expect means that you get to be completely entertained, scared and excited for the entire duration of the games.

The amount of good food and beer (if you're 21!) consumed is likely the best part. It's like an entire month of Super Bowl Sundays... but with basketball (a complete win-win in my opinion). There are few things better than sitting with friends, eating and watching a great game.

March Madness, you are truly insane. You bring people together, tear down some of the best teams, and display the greatest talent in college basketball. Thank you for making me yell like crazy at a court or TV, bite off all of my nails and allow me to cheer on the greatest college basketball team for a little longer this year (X).