I love this time of year, especially as a Kansas Jayhawks fan. My phone is flushed with memories of the 2022 National Championship run, vintage clips of the 2008 and 1988 titles, and plenty of other awesome tournament moments from Jayhawks past. Somehow, each year, I'm able to put all of those memories aside and give myself a clean slate to make new memories in March.
It's hard not to get excited around this time of year. I'm not just talking about base-level excitment, like the kind you get when the weekend hits. I'm talking genuine, unbridled, childlike excitement. The kind that distracts you during the work day, the kind that you dream about months in advance, and the kind that I'm experiencing in this current moment.
Maybe it's the larger-than-life feeling that all 67 games of the NCAA Tournament have. It could be the coaching personalities or the freshman phenoms stepping up in clutch moments. Could it be the epic broadcaster roster that CBS has for their tournament coverage, or even the wild underdog stories that you just have to see to believe? No, it's not one singular thing. It's all of it combined, and then some.
From the first four in Dayton to the final four in Indianapolis, there is no greater run of weekends than what we are about to experience. There will be players nobody has heard of that will be household names by the end of this week. There will be coaches who coach themselves into a bigger job than they currently have. The broadcasters will score every moment with epic one-liners and color analysis that we'll remember forever. Everything about this tournament rocks, I'm obsessed with all of it.
Tip-off time is SET 🏀 pic.twitter.com/IuH4ZwynZD
— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) March 16, 2026
Friday night against Cal Baptist is staring at me like a bright, fluorescent sign on a dark highway. Another chapter in Kansas's spring history books is about to be written. Who's going to be 'the guy' this year? Maybe Darryn Peterson breaks out and doesn't turn back, maybe Bryson Tiller can't miss from behind the three-point line, or maybe Jamari McDowell averages nine-plus points off the bench each night and scores a contested three to take the lead late in a game. The possibilities for this month are endless, and each one is just as magical as the next.
To put it simply, I love March. There's something in the air during this time of year, and I don't quite know, nor do I care to know, what it might be. I will be locked into every game, especially every Kansas game, these coming weeks. Six games and a dream, that's all it takes in March. I don't think there's a team more fit to live out this dream than the Kansas Jayhawks. Rock Chalk.
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