March Madness in February? Well, sort of. Mad magazine is set to release a fold-in parody of Americans feverish ways of filling out their NCAA Men's Basketball brackets at the end of the season. You can thank Al Jaffee for the creativity as his latest fold-in is featured in Mad magazine's next edition due to hit stands next week. Check out our exclusives of the cover of the edition and the fold-in poking fun at this tradition.
It's okay. We've all been there, don't feel insulted. There's always that one team we expect to surprise, the "Dark Horse" that will take the tournament by storm. We want to predict the Cinderella team of our brackets, but ultimately, we fail.
Then there's the other case where a team is dominant and packed with stars so place all the No. 1 seeds from each region in the Final Four. "How could they lose? They were ranked No. 1!" That's our logic.
However, after filling out the bracket we remember that the odds of all four No. 1 seeds making the Final Four are extremely slim. In fact, only once in the history of the tournament have all No. 1's made it to the Final Four. Memphis, UCLA, North Carolina and Kansas all made it in 2008. Hadn't happened before and it hasn't happened since.
Check out Al Jaffee's cartoon of the main form people prioritize once March rolls along.
It's okay. Take your time analyzing the cartoon. So you're supposed to get the image on the right from the image on the left. Brilliant no?
As we can see, Jaffee places important documents on the table. We all have to fill taxes, unless we want IRS to come after us, kids are going to college and getting a head start on those college applications or lining up all the responses they've already received or awaiting and of course, somebody's got to bring in the money so job applications might be stacked around our homes.
However, at the end of the day, when all the games are over, the main form we're studying and filling out is that NCAA Men's Basketball bracket. A team has to get scratched out, we have to see how good our predictions are and if our favorite teams live to see another day.
Brackets have become so important in American culture that they even have a science known as "Bracket-ology," so you're not alone.
Mad Magazine's next edition is supposed to hit newsstands everywhere on Feb. 19. Get your edition today!
