Filling out your brackets: Any good tips?
March Madness has us all in its grips, squeezing the picks out of us. Every year I sweat and swear as I fill out my bracket, knowing all along that my first round picks will be decent and then my bracket will go to sh-t. Its all I can do to have even just one team in the damn Final Four. So I was wondering if you all have any interesting ways of picking "toss up" games or filling out your backets in general.
One interesting tidbit I found on Yahoo is this"
Make difficult picks using the "mascot fight" theory
Two of the hardest games to pick in last year's first round were UCLA-Michigan State and Vanderbilt-Richmond. They were veritable toss-ups. But looking at these games in retrospect, they were all too easy to pick. Bruins vs. Spartans? Hmm, a vicious bear or a person who shuns the conveniences of modern living? I saw "Grizzly Man." I know how that story ends.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/fill-2012-ncaa-tournament-bracket-024636059.html
(I deleted the reference to "Friends" in that blurb because, well, "Friends" and NCAA basketball should never be uttered in the same discussion.)
Fork over your secrets!
March 12th, 2012 at 11:07 AM ^
I use a combination of RPI(s), KenPom and gut upset picks to inevitably come up with the worst bracket ever.
Some teams deserve higher seeds because they won their conference or beat a couple of good teams, but aren't necessarily that good when you watch them. I try to spot those teams for upsets.
By round 3, I am usually disgusted with myself for being so stupid.
much stock into KenPom and RPI as I do a president who says he is going to "bring change." There are lies, damn lies, and then statistics. Come tourney time, those numbers don't mean a damn thing, literally nothing.
Stick with these: 1. Wisconsin will go further than you think, 2. Purdue will not go as far as you think 3. Coaching beats athleticism every time 4. Barring a miracle, Michigan State will be in the Final Four, and 5. Fergodsakes, never pick Villanova to win anything, does not apply this year, but it is a rule to live by.
Agreed about their meaninglessness, but I know I will inevitably put too much stock into the numbers and end up with a terrible bracket. It's tradition.
Wisconsin chokes every year in the tourney (they've made it to the sweet 16 twice since 2005 despite having 3-5 seeds most years). MSU is a hot team right now, but so is Mizzou. I watched them play a couple times, and they are a legit team.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:09 AM ^
The one year I won, I picked Florida to beat OSU in the finals because that's what happened in football that year. Is LSU even in the bracket this year?
March 12th, 2012 at 11:30 AM ^
Because I live in Ohio and I'm the only person that picks OSU to lose. It's always 15 other brackets of Ohio winning the national championship.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:57 AM ^
....I just moved to Kentucky :)
1. Pick Kentucky to Elite 8/Final 4
2. Watch Kentucky choke
3. ??????
4. Profit because this entire state picked them to go all the way
March 12th, 2012 at 10:10 PM ^
in the NIT. #3 Oregon hosts #6 LSU at 9:30 Eastern tomorrow on ESPN. Winner plays the Dayton/Iowa winner.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:09 AM ^
Base all of your picks on these two key components:
The teams school colors and the teams mascot.
Girls use that philosophy and I swear they win the pool every year
March 12th, 2012 at 11:22 AM ^
What the girls who win don't tell you is that their boyfiend or best guy friend told them who to pick for upsets. Then they pick the rest based on the above.
March 12th, 2012 at 12:59 PM ^
I actually know a guy who had a perfect bracket that season. He needs to replace Doug Gottleib on ESPN.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:10 AM ^
Best tip: Michigan will win it all.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:11 AM ^
March 12th, 2012 at 11:12 AM ^
Is there anywhere we can insert a write-in candidate? They were my sleeper!
March 12th, 2012 at 11:11 AM ^
I'm not qualified to give bracket advice.
I used to love filling those out every year. But every year, my bracket was already shot to hell by the time the Sweet 16 started. I think I'm going in to early bracket retirement.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:14 AM ^
I have Detroit going all the way to the Elite 8. Macallum (sp?) is really good.
Are you talking about the coach or son?
March 12th, 2012 at 11:14 AM ^
There was one year when I broke down every single team based on every stat available, style of play, star oriented or team effort and I ended up with a busted bracket because offensive anemic UNI took down UNLV and Kansas. I could have saved a lot of time by just flipping a coin.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:17 AM ^
1 seed always beats a 16 seed!
March 12th, 2012 at 11:18 AM ^
I will never pick them to win a game in the tournament ever again.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:19 AM ^
At least Pitt isn't in the tournament, otherwise I would pick them to do well again. And they would get upset early again. Which Big East team will let me down this year? Syracuse? Marquette? I'm looking forward to another team messing up my bracket this year!
All of them will fail you.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:22 AM ^
Pick the teams that you think will win each game to advance into the next round
March 12th, 2012 at 11:22 AM ^
Don't put too much stock in either Kansas or Vanderbilt. They give me high hopes every year and then end up losing to a random mid-major that I've never heard of. Oh, and more than half the Big East tourney teams normally suck.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:24 AM ^
I wish you would have posted this 10 min ago, before I submitted my work bracket with Kansas as my eventual champion.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:35 AM ^
I have Kansas beating UNC because after UNC beats Michigan I'll need some sweet schadenfreude that my girlfriend's team didn't make into the final four.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:58 AM ^
I know they made the Elite Eight a few years ago, but Rick Barnes underachieves the most during tourney time.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:22 AM ^
Step 1: Get hilariously drunk.
Step 2: Fill out bracket
Step 3: ??????
Step 4: Profit.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:22 AM ^
The team that always seems to get me in trouble is Georgetown. Like Wisconsin, they seem to be perpetual tournament under-achievers.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:26 AM ^
Last year I knew nothing about what was going on in basketball. I took President Obama's bracket and just switched it so Michigan advanced to the Elite 8.
I did fairly well with that method.
Also Esquire Magazine came up with these basics:
1. Advance all number-one seeds to the second round.
2. And the third round.
3. And the regional semifinals.
4. Find the mid-major team you've never heard of and put it in the Elite Eight.
5. Your alma mater goes to the Elite Eight, no matter what.
6. When in doubt, Big Ten.
7. Do not ask for rule clarifications from the commissioner.
8. Do not refer to the office-pool coordinator as "the commissioner."
9. If you make your assistant fill out your bracket, your assistant gets the winnings.
10. Trash talk shall be confined to the urinals.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:27 AM ^
I have Michigan over Kentucky in the final. Got $2,000 riding on this one. Let's Go Blue!
March 12th, 2012 at 11:59 AM ^
Why not use the $2000 to fly to nashville and watch UM play?
March 12th, 2012 at 12:02 PM ^
March 12th, 2012 at 11:29 AM ^
Win-Win
March 12th, 2012 at 11:31 AM ^
...just go with the seeding and don't pick any upsets. Most of your competition (friends, coworkers, etc.) will manage to shoot themselves in the foot.
March 12th, 2012 at 12:04 PM ^
While I generally agree a little more chalk helps more than it hurts in most cases, and people try and be too smart and kill themselves, I've kept track of how all chalk would do in my pool, and show it along with everyone else's point total, and not once would going all chalk have won the money. Good for a nice average score, but not if you want to profit.
...it depends on your competition. I've actually won twice doing that and have been a victim of it another time.
you need mostly chalk with a little differentiation from the rest of your pool.
Far more often that last year's miracle runs, cinderellas only go a round or 2. Any upset I pick I cap them at jsut that upset and have them lose next round.
This gives me some variance from others, but also limits downside.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:32 AM ^
Avoid Vandy like the plague!
March 12th, 2012 at 11:44 AM ^
I never take chalk all the way but this year I also don't have any outside teams (a la VCU of 2011) getting into the final four. I'd say pull all the 1 seeds into the elite 8, and that's where they tend to be upset.
EAST:
Florida State is really really good and matched up well against the top talent of the ACC. I have them going to the final four after beating Ohio State and Syracuse.
WEST:
Sparty over Missouri after beating New Mexico. Yuk.
SOUTH:
Baylor over Kentucky after getting by Duke. I think this is the toughest one for me to call. Duke is a good basketball team, but I hate Duke, so I have them losing to Baylor.
MIDWEST:
UNC has a tough bracket and I see them getting by Michigan just because they play above the rim and Henson will be back and we have no answer for him inside.
I have Michigan facing Temple in the second round. This game is interesting for me if it winds up happening since its both of my alma maters (MS is from Temple). I won't be pulling for Temple. I have Kansas beating UNC out of the Midwest after beating SDSU.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:34 AM ^
In all my years of bracket-picking, win or lose I've only found one really good ironclad rule that works every time: When in doubt, never ever ever bet on Oliver Purnell.
Sadly, he's not in the tourney this year, so I'm on my own.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:36 AM ^
When I picked the Fab Five to face Duke in the finals. My homerism hasn't really done well for me since.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:36 AM ^
Texas and Notre Dame are Final Four locks.
March 12th, 2012 at 11:39 AM ^
not sure if serious
March 12th, 2012 at 11:43 AM ^
My bracket was so bad after the first 2 rounds I stopped following it. However, when it was all said and done, my bracket won! I was the only person in the the contest to have at least 1 team in the final 4. It really is all about luck!