The University of Idaho Argonaut

For some, March is an escape from the Palouse winter and the first sign of spring.  But for fans like University of Idaho senior Tom Purvis and sophomore Matt Thomas, who don’t leave the dark confines of the TV room, March is basketball.
“March is a holiday — the whole month,” Thomas said. 
Following Sunday’s bracket release, Purvis and Thomas made their picks in more than 20 brackets combined.  

“If I studied accounting as hard as I study the brackets, I’d be out of college in two years,” Thomas said.
The basketball analysis Jay Bilas and the ESPN Gameday crew spout off is more influential and important than any philosopher he’s learned about in Philosophy 103.
Watching ESPN’s sports talk show Around the Horn, Thomas emphatically shouts to the TV screen like he’s at the stock exchange.  Purvis is just as involved.

“It’s not uncommon for me to check the scores 25 to 50 times each those first two days,” Purvis said. “I check ESPN religiously every half hour. I have to know what’s going on.”
Laptops across campus will flip open to scores during school Thursday and Friday — if students go at all.
Purvis was lucky enough to be homeschooled growing up. 

“It was sweet.  I had the TV on all day,” Purvis said.  “I can’t say I did very much those two days.”
Thomas has been skipping school for the first two days of March Madness since the sixth grade.  An hour before tip off, he’s in front of a TV no matter where he is. Five years ago, he was on a Spring Break vacation in Hawaii.  While his family hit the Maui beach, Thomas was inside watching the double overtime Gonzaga versus Arizona game.
“It was the best game I’ve seen yet and there was no way I was going to miss it,” he said.

Betting isn’t in the cards for Purvis and Thomas only throws down $5 to $10 a year.  Despite there being no real financial gamble, Purvis and Thomas research their brackets as much as a graduate student researches a thesis.
They spend hours listening to the input of broadcasters, analysts and web pages.  Purvis regards Joe Lunardi’s predictions and input as the best, but Pat Forde and Andy Katz help his brackets. 
“If I don’t agree with their picks, I’ve got to go with my gut,” he said.

On the tough picks, Thomas and Purvis look at strength of schedule, winning streaks and statistics.  They listen to the analysts on ESPN, CBS and FOX Sports.  If they’re still unsure, they make the emotional pick.
“If Duke is playing North Carolina, I pick North Carolina,” Thomas said. “It’s not that I like the Tar Heels. I just hate Duke.”
Only a family emergency would pry Thomas off the couch away from the TV, he said. 

“I may have to miss a few classes,” Purvis said.  “It’s just going to have to happen.”
Purvis said he and his fraternity brothers will argue “bracketology” all day.
Thomas’ friends and family just have to be patient with him.
“It’s only one time a year,” Thomas said. “After that I’m pretty normal again,”