Abridged with the author’s permission from a post on eyecube.
Two weeks ago one of the great traditions in college sport took place as the field was set for the NCAA men’s college basketball championship. Of course, any time you are selecting a certain number of teams, others are going to be left out. The so-called Bubble Teams represent one of the most intriguing parts of the whole experience, as jubilation and heartache are exposed and fans witness the raw emotion of 19-year old kids going bananas when they make the tournament. Here’s Baylor from a couple of years ago:
Of course some deserving teams, or teams who feel they are deserving, are left out, so every year there is a call for a system that will eliminate the subjective nature of the selections. More metrics, more data, more rules. These calls are misguided.
With the possible exception of a thrilling championship game, almost nothing creates as much discussion as “who’s in, who’s out?” in college basketball. Injustice begets emotion and from that you have passionate discussion. Why would you want to try to squeeze that out? Rather unwittingly the NCAA has stumbled upon a key tenet of good Social Media engagement: give people a reason to discuss something they are emotionally invested in.
Don’t get focused on definitively solving every issue with science. Injustice, anger, joy, and heartbreak. Let’s the passion and emotion felt by your audience pour out, and figure out a way to own that conversation and extend it.
Rick Liebling is a sports marketing communications consultant with more than 10 years of experience helping brands like MasterCard, Guinness, Gillette, and Johnnie Walker. You can read more of his thoughts at http://www.rickliebling.com.
