WSJ Blind Bracket Projections
I stopped filling out brackets years ago, because I felt like it took the fun out watching the tournament. I will root for my favorite teams and for upsets everywhere else, but I enjoy doing the WSJ Blind Brackets to see who I would pick if I simply looked at objective analysis. I don't know how to embed, but here is the link.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014241278873238696045783665037174051…
Have at it, and Go Blue!
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.
Did you figure out all 7 B1G teams or was your ridiculous homerism subconcious?
The B1G teams were pretty easy to figure out - I recognized Michigan, MSU, Ohio, Indiana and Minnesota quicklly.
March 18th, 2013 at 11:52 AM ^
Illinois is garbage
March 18th, 2013 at 11:13 AM ^
I'm trying the not-filling-out-brackets thing this year, just to see what it is like. It certainly has an up side of not having to root for teams you don't care about.
March 18th, 2013 at 12:24 PM ^
Sports are so much less fun if you don't care about them. I always thought the point of a bracket was to give you reason to be emotionally invested in something that would otherwise be just ten people throwing a ball around. Or maybe I am unique in enjoying pointless stress.
Beyond the first round everyone is just shooting in the dark. Years back in our pool we had a Rheesus Monkey pull a bracket and it usually finished, as one would expect, in the middle of the pack.
March 18th, 2013 at 12:59 PM ^
This is the same reason that I stopped doing fantasy football too.
March 18th, 2013 at 10:25 AM ^
I ended up with Gonzaga over Indiana with Michigan and Duke also in the final 4.
March 18th, 2013 at 10:44 AM ^
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.
March 18th, 2013 at 10:47 AM ^
March 18th, 2013 at 10:51 AM ^
The descriptions made it too easy to figure out which one Michigan was, which defeated the purpose of the whole thing.
March 18th, 2013 at 10:57 AM ^
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).
March 18th, 2013 at 12:01 PM ^
March 18th, 2013 at 11:12 AM ^
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.
March 18th, 2013 at 11:12 AM ^
michigan v. indiana
msu vs. osu
michigan vs. msu in the final game
michigan won.
BOOK IT
March 18th, 2013 at 11:32 AM ^
I almost had this final 4 in my real braket but ended up deciding duke will beat msu. I can't remember a tournament where I felt like a final four of all teams from one conference was as likely as it is this year.
March 18th, 2013 at 11:41 AM ^
A couple years ago I thought the Big East had a real shot at it. I'm pretty sure I had an all Big East Final Four that year in my bracket. I just can't remember the teams.
March 18th, 2013 at 12:26 PM ^
I also think we will lose to Florida in the elite eight but couldn't bring myself to pick against Michigan. I have Michigan beating Indiana in the Final 4 and Losing to Duke in the Finals.
March 18th, 2013 at 11:25 AM ^
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.
March 18th, 2013 at 11:28 AM ^
March 18th, 2013 at 11:30 AM ^
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.
March 18th, 2013 at 11:53 AM ^
When your biggest upset pick was Sparty losing in their first game to Valpo.
-Nostradamus over here..
March 18th, 2013 at 12:17 PM ^
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!!!
March 18th, 2013 at 12:23 PM ^
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?
March 18th, 2013 at 12:29 PM ^
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
March 18th, 2013 at 12:57 PM ^
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.