WSJ Blind Bracket Projections

I just finished this bracket.  Indiana beat Wisconsin in National Championship game.  Michigan made Elite 8 but lost to Florida.

some of these teams. Especially Michigan and OSU.

I had Florida beating St. Louis in the title game with Michigan losing in the Sweet 16 to Kansas. When I saw how they described Michigan I knew exactly who they were so I tried not to look at the description after that. Gonzaga and Miami were the other two in my Final Four. I think I'm going to have my six year old pick a bracket this year and see how he does against me!

Edit: Just got done having him fill out his bracket and I must say I'm feeling pretty confident in my braket winning. He will probably be the only person I beat though.

Yeah, I had some problems knowing who they were with the description. I just knew that Michigan was Linguine. My Elite 8 was SLU, MSU, Wisco, OSU, BLUE, Minny, IU, UofI. I make myself sick with homerism.

OP, you think filling out brackets takes the fun out of the tournament? Really?

I ended up with Gonzaga over Indiana with Michigan and Duke also in the final 4.

I had Michigan as far as the Elite Eight, but Memphis beating Duke and Georgetown beating Florida. I somehow managed to get a Louisville-St. Louis Sweet Sixteen matchup too, as well as Gonzaga and Ole Miss. 

Came up with an all B1G Final 4 with MSU over OSU and IU over Michigan. I didnt rwad the team descriptions till the Final 4 so there was no bias either.

The descriptions made it too easy to figure out which one Michigan was, which defeated the purpose of the whole thing.

Ended up with IU over Duke in the finals with Gonzaga and Kansas the other FF teams. The first couple rounds were pretty even with my regular bracket, but only IU was the same in both for me. Agreed many of the descriptions made it easier (Louisville, Miami, and Gonzaga were also easy to figure out).

I knew who Michigan was (come on, dynamic point guard on a team that struggles away from home?) which influenced me, but I had Michigan lose to Indiana in the Final Four and Indiana beat Duke. Considering my total fannish bracket has Michigan beating Duke to win it all, this actually makes me feel pretty good about my chances.

michigan v. indiana

msu vs. osu

michigan vs. msu in the final game

michigan won.

BOOK IT

Michigan v. Indiana

'Zaga and Duke

Michigan over the 'Zaga for the ship.

I'll admit that I may have realized it was Michigan, which perhaps swayed my voting. 

I had Gonzaga losing in the 2nd round, which is good cus I also have them losing in the 2nd round for real..

I had Miami vs. Gonzaga in the Championship game w/Kansas and St. Louis rounding out the Final Four.  Michigan losing to Kansas in the Sweet 16.

When your biggest upset pick was Sparty losing in their first game to Valpo.  

-Nostradamus over here..

and ended up picking VCU over Michigan. Woops. -_-

Also Wiscy in the Final Four and Indiana as National Champion. Yuck...

Not that it would shock me... tho obviously my non-blind bracket has Michigan winning it all. Queme los barcos!!!

Has adidas consulted with the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board and commissioned special jerseys for Michigan to wear in the South Dakota State game with Linguine across the chest?

I ended up with Bucknell, OSU, Louisville, and Michigan in the final four (although I knew who Michigan was) and then had Louisville over Michigan in the final. Knowing who Michigan was made it hard to be objective to say the least

without trying to figure out the teams from the descriptions.  Had UNC upset KU in the 2nd round which helps Michigan.  It could happen

I kept my screen scrolled so not to read the descriptions.  The result:  Gonzaga winning the NC. 

Problem with this blind bracket is that a team's strength of offense and defense are hard to measure independent of the competition they face.  Case in point, I don't expect Gonzaga would have had nearly the same numbers (and ratings, in this case) if they played in the B1G. 

So, to summarize:  Gonzaga won my blind bracket.  Gonzaga is falling in round 2 in my normal bracket. 

I did this after doing my normal bracket and I ended up with mostly the same picks. 14 of the sweet 16, 4 of the Elite 8, 2 of the Final 4, 1 of the championship contenders, and the Champion were all the same, so I'm glad for that at least. Now, I just need to re-evaluate the few differences to make sure I'm not missing something.

Oh, and the only time that I looked at the descriptions was when I was seriously stuck between VCU and Michigan. I figured out who they were pretty easily and picked Michigan, not because they were Michigan, but because Michigan will have home court and the turnover aspect. After that, I didn't look at the descriptions, so there was no bias.

I like the idea, I do think that the descriptions are somewhat biased by whoever writes them.  For example, I thought the description of Michigan's weakness was rather generous.  "Inconsistent away from home".  Nothing about our defense or rebounding woes.  I picked them losing to Florida. 

I did enjoy finding out I picked MSU to lose in the first round.  I am 50/50 on picking them to lose in my real bracket.  

it would be better if they actually randomized the games in each round. it didnt take long to figure out that the games were just being listed in order.

I wasn't interested until I read the part about the winner getting one of those WSJ dot drawings made of them.  I'm in!

I have decided to be totally biased and pick Michigan to win it all in every bracket I fill out.  I figured out who Michigan was by the description, and have them beating evil Duke in the final. 

My brackets always suck anyway, so I have nothing to lose by picking my favorite team to win it all.