Craig Daily Press

Craig — The final buzzer sounded Tuesday night in Mount St. Mary’s 69-60 victory against Coppin State, and it meant one thing:

March Madness is upon us.

The win kicked off college basketball’s national championship March Madness tournament (which oddly enough runs through April), where fans dream of their team making it to the Final Four.

Mount St. Mary’s, a little known school from the little known Northeast Conference, won the NCAA March Madness play-in game, qualifying as the No. 64 seed in what some believe is the sporting world’s best national championship tournament.

That I call it the best tournament in all of sports isn’t even debatable.

In what other sport does a Cinderella team like Mount St. Mary’s have a chance to win it all?

Sure, all Tuesday’s victory did for the Mountaineers is match them up with East Region No. 1 seed North Carolina, but hey, they have a shot.

Nobody thought West Texas University would beat Kentucky in 1966.

Gonzaga has made a living (as well as a bunch of cash) off being an upset team.

And two years ago, little known George Mason University advanced to the Final Four.

In the words of Moffat County High School girls basketball coach Craig Mortensen: “That’s why they play the games.”

I decided to contact a few coaches from Craig, eager for some of their insight in to this thing we sports nuts call “March Madness.”

“I’ve always been a UCLA fan,” Mortensen said. “I’ve got to pull for them.”

As far as picking a Final Four, it took him a few minutes.

“The custodians do better at the pools than I do,” he joked. “I can never pick the upsets.”

Still, it was only a matter of time before he filled out the Final Four.

“I can see Memphis, Tennessee and Wisconsin,” he said.

As a coach, Mortensen pulls for other coaches.

He mentions John Calipari at Memphis, Bruce Pearl at Tennessee and “the guy at Wisconsin, I like him” as reasons for his picks.

For MCHS boys basketball coach Steve Maneotis, much is the same.

He’s picked UNC, Clemson, Memphis and Duke.

Why?

The coaching.

“All the games are interesting match-ups, so I’ve got to go with coaching,” he said. “That’s why I like Duke. Coach K (Krzyzewski) has done a lot with that program. I like his style. Year in and year out, look what he does.”

As far as picking a team off the radar, Maneotis has a team in his sights.

And, in the bulls-eye are the Jayhawks.

“Watch out for Clemson. They are playing really good basketball right now,” he said. “It wouldn’t surprise me, as I digest this, that Clemson will beat Kansas.”

Perhaps there is a misconception that people pick their alma mater when they fill out their brackets.

This theory has proven half true in Craig.

MCHS girls swimming coach Marin Campbell graduated from the University of Georgia, but she’s not taking the Bulldogs.

“I can’t take Georgia. I’ve got money on this,” she laughed and said. “I’m still working on my bracket, but I think it will be UNC, Texas, UCLA and Drake.”

She believes UNC will win it all, but if it were up to her, she’d fill out two brackets.

“If I had enough money, I’d put in a heart bracket and a head bracket,” she said. “But I don’t have enough, so I’ll go with the head.”

On the other hand, Univer­sity of Wisconsin graduate and MCHS librarian/freshman football coach Jim Neton is all about the Badgers bringing home the title.

“Wisconsin, without a doubt,” he said. “They play tough, and it’s my alma mater. I’m going to sing ‘On Wisconsin’ when they win with the band.”

His three other picks?

“Tennessee. My brother went to school there. Memphis and Duke. They are well-coached.”

There’s that coaching thing again.

Right now, in the March Madness tournament’s infancy, is when the bracket is so much fun.

The idea of picking a college basketball’s best team is alluring.

People with sporting and non-sporting backgrounds participate each year, dreaming up the next Cinderella squad.

And I’m one of them.

Pencil me in for UNC, Kansas, Memphis and Connecticut in the Final Four.

Memphis wins it all.