March Madness is a real state of madness in our house and it has everything to do with NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. See, my husband Kyle is a big college basketball fan and Michigan State alumni. Early in the tournament (we won’t say how early for those of you novice ‘bracket-eers”) but early enough, the madness ended in our house. Michigan State University has one of the most successful Men’s Basketball programs in college hoops. Thanks to the incredible leadership by Coach Tom Izzo, they have won a NCAA Championship, 7 Big Ten Regular Season Championships and 4 Big Ten Tournament Championships. Under Izzo, the have made it to 2 National Championships games and appeared in 7 Final Fours, 9 Eight Eights and 13 Sweet Sixteens. This year, MSU was favored to be another success in the Tournament. Perhaps not the champion but hey, it’s sports and anything can happen…

And that anything did. On March 18 in St. Louis, Missouri, one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history happened. (Or, at least that’s what the sports casters said.) MSU, a No. 2 seed, lost to Middle Tennessee, a No. 15 seed. This wasn’t supposed to happen! Even myself, a Wolverine and closest rival to the MSU Spartan’s, knew this was not how this story was supposed to end. The Spartans were supposed to play a good game, size up the Blue Raiders, and then waltz into the next round of the Big Dance. You see, Middle Tennessee was a speed bump. They were like a construction zone on the highway- unavoidable but you still have to drive through it to get to your destination.

Now I am not a basketball fan per say but I do have a lot of respect for college athletics and those involved in their programs and having got my start in event production via the University of Michigan Athletic Department, you could say it’s some what a part of me. Michigan State wasn’t supposed to loose that game. They were supposed to win, advance to the next round, and the next and the next.  If this was the biggest upset in Tournament history I doubt Vegas saw this coming. Statisticians, analysts, sports casters, coaches, players, fans alike all had them winning… all except the Middle Tennessee team and fans.

But you see, no matter how good of odds or how impressive the MSU starting line was, they were only the “assumed winners.” A game is a game. There is a winner and a loser and you cannot determine this outcome until the game is played and the winner has been decided. Even though they were favored to win, they didn’t. Maybe you have just sent a proposal to a client you are certain you will get only to find out they have not chosen you and selected someone else. Or, perhaps your realtor told you there is an offer about to come in on your house that’s for sale that will for sure go through but come to discover they passed on your house and found something different. Whatever it might be, no matter how good the odds are, they are still just odds. So next time you loose a bid or get passed on, just remember you can’t win them all but the ones you will win, are the ones you are supposed to win. Now, get back in the game, sport!

Stats via MSU Athletic Department.