If you walk into the lobby of Smith Hall during the last few weeks of March, you are likely to find different groups of students, huddled around four separate televisions, watching college basketball. This is March Madness, and no one does college basketball like Smith’s resident director, Brian Follett.
As a year-round college basketball enthusiast, Follett finds this time of year particularly exciting.
“I have always been a sports guy, but March Madness has this certain appeal to me because everyone gets together and watches basketball and makes brackets, so even a ton of people who do not watch basketball kind of get into it,” Follett said.
March Madness watch parties have always taken place at Northwestern.
“As long as there have been TVs in dorms, guys have been watching March Madness,” Follett said. Back when he was a student at NW, he would watch the games with guys in the lobby of North Suites.
“The temptation nowadays is, since it is so accessible to watch it your rooms, I think a lot of guys just do it by themselves,” Follett said. “So, I try still, to get guys to watch it together.” However, Follett’s love for college basketball goes back long before his college years.
“I remember sitting on my grandpa’s lap at a young age and he would have this big bracket from the newspaper, and he would write in it, and he would always have Duke go too far,” Follett said. “I do not remember a ton with my grandpa, but I remember having that moment with him.”
For Follett, basketball is much more than just entertainment. It is a storyline of underdogs and upsets, and the experience of watching the drama unfold is far more meaningful when it is shared.
“This is how you do March Madness the right way,” Follett said. “I try to keep the magic going because that is what it was for me growing up.”
Follett encourages even those who know nothing about college basketball to make a bracket and pick a team to root for, just for fun.
“I would never want to be a gatekeeper for March Madness,” Follett said. “I am a purest with a lot of things, but with March Madness part of the appeal is the fact that people who never watch college basketball make a bracket and participate in a little way. I get to talk to people who I would never get to talk basketball with, so it is special.”
So go watch some good basketball.
