Dear UC Santa Barbara, North Texas University, Morgan State University & Robert Morris University

Congratulations on earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament! Each of you have had great seasons and deserve your spot in the field of 65. You may be wondering, well thanks random guy, but who are you? Well, my name is Sean, and I am a college basketball fan as well as an (arguably) amazing blogger. Twice in my life, I have had the opportunity to attend the men’s NCAA tournament. In 1997, I watched the #15 seed Coppin State University defeat the second-seeded University of South Carolina at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. In 2008, I was present for the amazing game between #2 Duke University and #15 Belmont University at the Verizon Center in Washington. As a #15 seed, you may remember (or perhaps you're learning about now) the Duke-Belmont game and how Belmont could have, and arguably should have, pulled off an amazing upset. Was it a coincidence that at the two NCAA Tournament games I attended, the #15 seed won and should have won on both occasions? I say no.

Therefore, I welcome you to invite me to your first round match. I believe that my track record as stated above proves that I can be of great assistance in watching your game live. All that I ask for is a flight from the Washington DC area to wherever your game takes place, two tickets for the games (please note that games are in plural for both of your first and second round matches), a hotel room near the arena, and a gracious per diem for food. In exchange, you’ll get a great good luck charm in me. Just think of all the exposure #15 seeds receive when they win an NCAA Tournament game. You’ll be on the front page of the ESPN and Yahoo Sports websites, be the lead on Sportscenter and be the talk around the water cooler for days and weeks to come. I think the benefit your team and school will receive will certainly outweigh the cost of paying for my trip.

In full disclosure, I wrote a similar letter to Robert Morris University, Binghamton University, Morgan State University and California State University Northridge for the 2009 NCAA Tournament. None of these fine institutions took me up on my offer. Do you know how these teams fared? They lost by an average of 19.5 points. You don’t want that to happen to you, so just contact me. Robert Morris & Morgan State, I hope that you'll learn from this experience.

Just so you know, I give priority to attending the Robert Morris-Villanova game since RMU is a Pittsburgh area school and I have been on the campus and in the Sewell Center in the past. However, I will certainly consider offers from all for of you.

Good luck in the NCAA Tournament, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Sean