Whenever you need evidence that this is a great country, I’ve got two words for you: Joe Lunardi.

For one month a year — and particularly this week — he is seemingly the most important person in the basketball world. He has invented words and terms that people think actually mean something. Bracketology, Last Four In. First Four Out. And of course, his hole card …

The bubble.

Every announcer on ESPN takes Lunardi’s word as gospel. Sure, he’s crunched some numbers, but basically all of this is his opinion. What really matters is what the selection committee thinks, yet people think the little guy from Philadelphia who looks like he lives in his mom’s basement (have you seen his video feeds?) is calling the shots.

It’s all a way for ESPN to create buzz for the tournament which, by the way, they don’t even have on their network. Lunardi is like a weatherman; people hang on his every word and make plans based on what he says. But ultimately, what’s going to happen is going to happen no matter what Joe says.

I used to hate the conference tournaments because I thought they were just money grabs. They still are, but the games do have some urgency to them and the level of play is usually high. Either the small conferences are playing for that one shot at the NCAA Tournament or the big conferences are trying to make one final impression on the committee (not Lunardi).

But the talking points for the announcers during these game are all about the what the latest results in another tournament might mean to Lunardi’s projections. Joe? Joe, are you there? We must know!

It’s all Lunardi, all the time. And then Sunday comes along and you can’t find him with a GPS. Seriously, see if ANYBODY brings up Joe Lunardi starting Monday. He falls off the basketball map, if not the real one.

Back to his mom’s basement.