For the first time in the history of the universe, Selection Sunday – the day Americans celebrate the beginning of March Madness – occurred on the same day as Palm Sunday – the day Catholics celebrate the beginning of Holy Week.

Since 1982 – the year CBS gained the rights to the NCAA Tournament – CBS has been televising the selection show in which teams are placed into brackets and first learn of their opponents and schedules. In the 27 year history of the show, Selection Sunday has never been later than this year’s March 16th telecast. And in those 27 years, Palm Sunday has never been earlier than this year’s March 16th either. In fact, it won’t be this early again for another 152 years. (I think it has something to do with full moons and equinoxes and vampires). Regardless, it looks like the stars – or moons – were aligned for this year’s special Sunday.

And when you think about it, it actually makes sense for the two days to be celebrated together. Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, the final week in the life of Jesus which started with triumph and jubilation and ended shortly after his agony in the garden. Come to think of it, that actually sounds more like last week for Georgetown. But what I’m trying to do is compare Holy Week to this upcoming week of basketball.

I know it sounds blasphemous, but let’s look into it a little bit. Holy Week is all about Jesus’ passion and resurrection. This week in college basketball is about as passionate as you can get in the world of sports, and many teams are thrilled that their seasons have just been brought back to life after losing in their conference tourneys.

In Holy Week, Thursday and Friday are pretty big days, so important that they get their own names: Holy Thursday and Good Friday. In sports, there is nothing that can compare to the thirty-two games played on Thursday and Friday, many of which will inevitably be upsets and several that will end on a last second shot. If there are any days in sports worthy of their own names, it is those two days. And after ESPN has bombarded us with “Rivalry Week,” “Judgment Week,” and “Student Spirit Week,” I don’t think it’s such a bad idea to call the first week of the tournament “Holy Week.”

So, you see, it’s not too far-fetched to combine the two Spring events. March Madness is already being pushed well into April, and Easter has been so commercialized that most people associate it with Peeps, plastic grass, and PAAS. I bet Jesus would prefer college hoops to the Easter Bunny any day.