Let The Madness Begin…
Year after year after year, the entire country makes their predictions on which college basketball team will win the tournament, with half of them never having watched a game all season long. Bets will be made with friends, family, and co-workers and well…not much work will get done on Thursday or Friday, bosses already know that. There are an endless number of ways to fill out your bracket and what makes it fun is that you can lose to somebody who has no idea what they’re even doing. To prevent that embarrassment from happening again, here are a few things you might want to consider. As usual, chaos is anticipated, but you can rise above it by following these do’s and dont’s.
Do’s:
Look Up Some Basic Stats
Go to ESPN, Fox Sports, NCAA, and many other sites to browse stats, predictions, articles, etc… to keep things in so you avoid making stupid mistakes.
Follow Your Head Instead of Your Heart
Of course, you want your team to win the national championship, but try making a more decision when deciding how long they’ll enjoy the Madness. Luckily for us in the State of Utah, none of the universities made the tournament so we shouldn’t have to worry about this.
Pick a No. 1 Seed
Okay, you don’t want to send all four of your No. 1 seeds to the Final Four, so don’t get ahead of yourself. However, you probably do want to have your national champion be a No. 1 seed as they have won 20 of the last 33 National Championships.
Have a Strategy
This goes completely against what I just explained above and picking a No. 1 seed, but your bracket will need to be different from the rest of your competition. Find you a dark horse that’s a No. 3 or No. 4 seed and put one of them in the Final Four.
If you follow these simple steps above and below, you could be very successful in your office, family, or friends bracket.
This video is a few years outdated, but the value of it still holds true. Watch for some more helpful hints.
Dont’s:
Pick a No. 16 Seed to Beat a No. 1
Just don’t. It’s never happened!
Advance a No. 14 or No. 15 Seed Into The Sweet 16
Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 only three teams seeded 14th or 15th have reached the Sweet 16. If you decide to pick a 14 or 15 seed to win in the opening round, understand that it’s a high-risk prediction. If you’re going to pick one, only pick one and don’t advance them too far ahead.
Pay Attention to Seeding Between No. 5 through No. 13
Remember the phrase “Any Given Sunday,” and in this case any given Thursday or Friday. Teams in this area are approximately as good as every other team they’ll be up against in the first round, so don’t let the ranking be your only guide.
Advance Those “Cinderellas” Deep in The Tournament
Pick upsets in the first two rounds, after that turn to the heavyweights.
Put Four No. 1 Seeds in The Final Four
Only once (2008) have all four No. 1 seeds made the Final Four. The odds of it happening again are very rare.
And most importantly…
Don’t Overthink
March Madness comes down to matchups, confidence, and a little luck. Shoot, I’ve lost to my brother who picks his entire bracket by flipping a coin. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than smart.
With all of that in mind let’s take a look at the agony of defeat and the thrill of winning it all in last years “One Shining Moment” recap.
TUNE INTO THE NIGHT SHOW WITH KEV WEEKDAYS FROM 7 PM-MIDNIGHT.
