When Memphis choked away the NCAA tournament to Kansas earlier this month, most people were happy to say goodbye to their shredded brackets and March Madness.  

Senior Rob Schroeder was not. Still clinging to a love of knock-out tournaments, he introduced his friends to April Anarchy — not in the form of a Memphis free throw brick-fest redux, but through a Connect Four Tournament.

And while Bill Self may have little interest in red and black checker pieces, Schroeder and 63 of his closest friends have taken to the tournament with a Gus Johnson level of excitement.   

“We sent out brackets,” Schroeder said. “And people started filling them out.”

Starting last week with the opening-round game, the single elimination tournament has seen games played everywhere from Hudson Street to the Terrace 3 study lounge, some games drawing crowds as large as 15 people. There have been upsets and blowouts, marathons and five-move wins, four in a rows by virtue of diagonals, horizontals and verticals.  

Some players are competitive, showing up 15 minutes early to get in their warm up games, while others are in it just because they had a politics paper to put off.  

The rules, however, are strict, as freshman Meg Malone found out. She asked if her game could be played outside in the sunshine. She was turned down and eight minutes later was out of the tournament.  

“It was nicer outside anyway,” she said after the loss.  

Schroeder hatched his Connect Four concoction on a Habitat for Humanity trip to New Orleans during spring break last month. With little going on after a full day of manual labor, he and his friends found themselves too tired for much of anything except a board game most of us stopped playing in middle school.

Since that week the game has made a comeback Hillary Clinton might like to duplicate.  

“It’s such a simple game,” Schroeder said. “And yet there really is a lot more strategy than people give it credit for.”

The road to the Final Four ends tomorrow night as a Champion will be crowned, and Schroeder expects a crowd decked out in red or black.  

If Terrace 3 on Monday night was any indication, players are in for an atmosphere that would have no trouble giving Bruce Pearl pit stains.

The tension was palpable. A soundtrack worthy of a Hollywood drama blared from speakers in the corner, while stadium seating surrounded the table.  

Hands shook and hearts pounded under the glare of a roomful of eyes. The pressure was real.    

That’s something Chris Douglas-Roberts can tell you all about.