The madness of covering March Madness
This is my first year making an NCAA Tournament bracket, and I admit it's pretty exciting. The 68-team competition has commenced, and while fans are embracing the madness, players and teams are here for serious play.
👋 Nicole Fallert here, and welcome to Your Week, our newsletter exclusively for Paste BN subscribers (that's you!). This week, we talk with Paste BN March Madness correspondent Paul Myerberg about how he covers March Madness amid the madness and his expert advice on what to watch for. Keep updated with Paste BN's NCAA Tournament command center here.
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Why our NCAA expert 'wouldn't know in a million years' who is going to win this year's tournament
This weekend is filled with match-ups in the 2023 men's and women's NCAA tournaments, an all-out scramble among schools big and small across the nation for the top title in collegiate basketball.
Unlike previous years, there's not an overwhelming favorite, Myerberg told me in a phone call this week. Myerberg and his team are tasked with the madcap job of covering March Madness, from the coaches to the voices you'll hear on TV.
I guiltily asked Myerberg for his pick of winners (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for the men's and the University of South Carolina for the women's, for the record) as I fine-tuned my own brackets. But he admitted he "wouldn't know in a million years" who will really end up top.
With legacy stars like UNC Chapel Hill out of the men's tournament, it's a far shot at who will win, but this year will promise unique match-ups, he said. If you're new to following the tournament, watch out for the players and their stories, he said. One player he's got his eye on: Purdue's Zach Edey is a "giant among other giants" at 7"4' and doesn't even come from a basketball background. And don't miss this story about siblings playing in the tournament.
The tournament has gone through a few fundamental changes since the COVID-19 pandemic. Name, Image and Likeness legislation that went into effect in 2021 now allows these young athletes to make money through their representation.
"This is a great moment not only for your star athlete but the sixth man playing for a small town university who can get an endorsement," Myerberg said. Also the extra COVID-19 year granted by the NCAA means some players who may have already experienced multiple tournaments are facing 18-year-olds on the big court for the first time.
"Keep an eye on those players who have been veterans and will make an impact," he said.
And don't miss out on the women's tournament, Myerberg said. Collegiate basketball is "exploding" for women, and he appreciates the women's bracket isn't dominated by just one team (although the University of South Carolina has historically been on top). There's a wide range of impressive talent scrambling to make a name in the women's bracket.
And Myerberg himself is a sort of coach for the next few weeks, running point on a team of journalists in the Paste BN Network covering every second of the competition. (Look for which games to watch this upcoming week on our tournament schedule here.) When he wants meaningful insights about coaches, players and their stories, he leans on the Paste BN Network's local coverage.
"Me, from 30,000 feet will have different takes than the reporter there every day," he said. "[Our network] has a unique amount of depth no other outlet can tap when it comes to college basketball."
They're busy prepping tournament predictions and run-downs, but the rest is pretty unknown, he said: "That's the beauty of the tournament."
Women of the Year
I'm ending this newsletter with an exciting update: Paste BN has launched its 2023 Women of the Year program! This marks a massive newsroom effort to celebrate the women changing their industries and empowering the causes they care the most about. Click here to learn more about the program — and we'll be back with more next week!
Thank you
Whether or not you're following the tournament, I hope you have a restful and restorative weekend. We'll be back next week with more from the Paste BN newsroom.
Best wishes,
Nicole Fallert
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