March Madness has arrived.
The NCAA Tournament gets off to a start with four opening round play-in games today. These games will not impact your brackets and you have until Thursday at noon to get your brackets completely filled out. So what should you have in mind as you prepare to fill in your bracket?
Should you be thinking about who came out on top in their conference tournament, with confidence at an all-time high? Probably. How about the top four #1 seeds, Virginia, Florida, Wichita State and Arizona. Will they all make it to the Final Four in North Texas? In this year’s wide open field, I highly doubt it. Will there be upsets that we don’t see coming? Yup. Without a doubt.
It’s time to fill in those brackets. This is your chance to brag to all of your friends. To tell everyone on Twitter that you are a genius and that you can see into the future. Or, like the majority of the country, it’s time to watch each of your round of 64 and round of 32 picks drop like flies from Thursday afternoon all the way to Sunday night, leading to you ripping your bracket into pieces.
The Madness is about to begin and your bracket awaits. Here is what you should keep in mind as you pencil in your picks.
1. Your Bracket Will Not Be Perfect
Sorry to break the news to you, but you don’t have a chance of winning Warren Buffet’s billion dollar challenge. No one has ever achieved a perfect bracket, and more than likely, no one ever will. You can get close though, so choose your definite picks and upsets wisely.
2. Do Your Research
Here are some quick stats going into the NCAA Tourmanent:
-There has never been a #7 seed or #10 seed in the Final Four
-2008 was the only time in NCAA history that all four #1 seeds advanced to the Final Four (Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina, UCLA)
-#15 seed Florida Gulf Coast took down #2 seed Georgetown in last year’s NCAA Tourmanent, and Lehigh took down Duke as a #15 seed in 2012.
-The Midwest Region is the Region of Death this year – #1 Wichita State, #2 Michigan, #3 Duke, #4 Louisville, #8 Kentucky
-Of the 35 national champions since seeding began, 31 of them were 1, 2 or 3 seeds. The other four championships were two by No. 6 seeds, and one each for No. 4 and No. 8 seeds. Villanova was that No. 8, the lowest to win the national title, in 1985.
3. Don’t Choose Any #16 Seeds
Guess how many #16 seeds have defeated #1 seeds in the NCAA Tourmanent? You guessed it right. Zero.
There are a whopping zero teams that have taken down a 1 seed in the first round, and that number will stay that way with Florida, Virginia, Wichita State and Arizona ready to advance. If you’re feeling lucky, then go ahead and choose a 15 seed. But for the 16′s, I don’t care if you attend that school or if your buddy plays there. You will ruin your bracket. Just don’t do it.
4. Think With Your Heart. Not With Your Head
This goes back to #1. Don’t put any pressure on yourself because it is statistically impossible for you to correctly guess the entire bracket. The best way to go about this is to make multiple brackets. But if you’re bold enough to make only one, just make sure you don’t use logic all the time. The madness defies logic, so think outside of the box for some of your selections.
5. Check Those Box Scores
Before you start filling in your precious bracket, make sure you check out the box scores of each team in the field. If you are on the quest for perfection (er, near perfection), then you have to check out those games that stand out on the schedule.
The crazy part about the NCAA Tournament is, all of these tips and advice may not help you at all. I hope it will, and best of luck as you navigate the Madness.
-Patrick Hazel (@pattywack25)
