Rules to fill out your NCAA Basketball Bracket

Hey everyone, happy St. Patty’s day. I’ve always enjoyed this holiday. At my staff meeting today, someone asked why everyone was wearing green and we told him it was St. Paddy’s Day. He said he was Jewish and couldn’t participate. I told him I’m Black and I was still wearing my green tie.

Of course, this always leads to the Black Irish joke, which I don’t mind at all.

This day also reminds me of one of my first college campus visits as a high schooler, when my tour pulled into Georgetown on this day and this incredibly attractive blond woman comes up to us and in a drunken state tells us to go there. We proceeded to have a fun night, no drinking at that level, we were too young, but it was still a good vibe.

OK, on to the purpose of this post…the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

First..

Music to listen to: Coma Pony by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez



So chilled, I love this type of music right now, puts me in a reflective mood.

I love the Tournament, you love the Tournament and the most enjoyment you get out of it is making brackets and placing predictions on who you think is going to win.

Now, not to brag, but I’ve done well on more than one occasion on these brackets because I follow a few simple steps which I will share with you now. After that, I will fill out my own bracket here so you may witness my methods in effect.

Rule 1: Business is business

Save your emotions for your children or a puppy.

Rule 2: Loyalty is for losers.

My favorite team is Vanderbilt. It’s my alma mater, love the place, proud to be a Commodore. However, I have no problem picking them to lose to Murray State if I see it happening. In fact, if it will ultimately help me win a pool, hate to say it, but Go Racers!

Rule 3: Biases are for suckers

I don’t like Duke and I despise Tennessee with a passion. However, if Duke looks like they’re going to win a national title, I have no problems projecting that. If I think that Tennessee finds a way to make a run to the Elite Eight, then it shall be.

Rule 4: Beware of the overvalued BCS school.

If there is a battle between a top mid-major school and an average or below-average team from say the SEC or Big 10, the mid-major school is going to win the majority of the time.

Now, the only three mid-majors that don’t apply this season are Butler, New Mexico and maybe Gonzaga.

Matchups like this that I see at first glance of the bracket include San Diego State v. Tennessee, BYU v. Florida, Utah State v. Texas A&M, Siena v. Purdue, Old Dominion v. Notre Dame.

Rule 5: Beware of the “hot” conference tournament champion

A few years ago, I remember seeing Syracuse win the Big East Tournament in 2006 by winning four games in four days, including upsets over Connecticut, Georgetown and Pitt. All of the games were decided by four points or less. Everyone was hyped that they would make a run in the NCAA’s accept for me. I picked them to lose to BYU in the first round and they got smoked, just like I predicted.

This happens for two reasons. First, if a team had to win that many games in a few days, its physically taxing on them, I don’t care how young the legs are. Second, after the euphoria of winning the conference tourney, they have to go back to campus, get everyone patting them on the back, then get back to work without feeling too high about themselves. That’s a lot to ask from 18-22 year olds.

Victims of this for the Tournament may include Houston, San Diego State, Georgia Tech, Ohio State, Wofford, West Virginia, Notre Dame and St. Mary’s

Rule 6: Guard play is important but post play is just, if not more, crucial

We’re all excited to see guys like Collins out of Kansas, John Wall from Kentucky, Evan Turner from Ohio State, Schyer and Singler from Duke, Butler from West Virginia and other perimeter guys do their thing, but the reason that Kansas and Kentucky are probably going to meet in the finals while the other guys would be fortunate to reach the Final Four is post play.

Kentucky and Kansas both have post players who can get points inside and can give you solid rebounding. The thing that happens in the Tournament is that the pace slows down and rebounding becomes paramount. Keep this in mind when doing your bracket.

Rule 7: Beware of the One-Man Gang

I’m looking right at you Ohio State. Not since Danny Manning with Kansas in 1988 has one player alone led his team to a title. If Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant, Michael Beasley, David Robinson, Grant Hill at the end at Duke, John Wallace, etc. couldn’t do it, then its not going to happen for a while.

Rule 8: Upsets are cute for the first round but it’s a marathon

It may be cool to pick North Texas over Kansas State but if the Wildcats win and make it to the Final Four, you aren’t going to win your pool. Its pretty much mathematically impossible. If you love to pick upsets for fun, stick to 5 v. 12, 6 v. 11, etc.

Rule 9: Don’t get silly with your picks

You may like their uniform, have a girlfriend that went to the school, had a good time in the city the school is in, know someone that knows someone who had a cousin take classes there, you get the idea.

Don’t be stupid with this, accept for which mascot would win in a fight, because that’s an awesome debate.

Rule 10: Don’t trust Crappy Big 10 basketball

I love to pick on the Big 10 because their sports suck. Football, basketball, baseball, you take your pick. They never do well nationally on this stage accept for Michigan State basketball and I’m not so sure about them this year. Purdue was a legit national title contender, no joke, until Hummel went down and now they aren’t as good but they have a reason. Avoid ALL Big 10 schools.

Rule 11: Only do one bracket

Just fill out one bracket, don’t look at it for about 20 minutes, take a deep breath, review your picks and submit them. None of this five “different” brackets with various outcomes. Don’t be a pussy, be a man.

Rule 12: Coaching matters…to a degree

Coaching is important but at this stage, talent usurps most. When all else fails, take the team with the most talent.

Rule 13: Don’t listen to experts

I don’t look at other people’s brackets unless by accident. It muddles my thoughts. You start playing this game. I think that Washington is going to beat Marquette but everyone on ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Twitter, etc. has Marquette. So now you doubt yourself and take Marquette only to see Washington cruise to a win. Even if you lose with your pick, at least it was yours and not influenced by anybody. Trust your own instincts.

Finally…

Rule 14: This is unpredictable

You’re placing your hopes on 18-22 year old men. I don’t know about you but when I was that age, a girl could look at me funny and it would place me in a funk all day. I could have gotten a bad grade and it would ruin my night. Point is, its not a rational age to expect consistency. All it takes is for one guy to be mad at something, lose focus and ruin things for his entire team.

The team that wins a title has to win six games in a row in three different locations. If your national title team hasn’t shown the ability to win consistently, than its probably not going to happen now.

OK, on to my picks…

Midwest:

First round “upsets”: San Diego State over Tennessee and Northern Iowa over UNLV

Sweet 16 teams: Kansas over Michigan State and Georgetown over Ohio St.

Regional Final: Kansas over Georgetown

West:

First round “upsets”: UTEP over Butler

Sweet 16 teams: Syracuse over Vanderbilt (yes, I have Vandy there, and I’m nervous about it) and Kansas State over Xavier

Regional Final: Syracuse over Kansas St.

East:

First round “upsets”: Cornell over Tempe, Wofford over Wisconsin, Missouri over Clemson

Sweet 16 teams: Kentucky over Cornell, West Virginia over New Mexico

Regional Final: Kentucky over West Virginia

South:

First round “upsets”: Utah St. over Texas A&M, Siena over Purdue, Old Dominion over Notre Dame, St. Mary’s over Richmond

Sweet 16 teams: Duke over Utah State, Villanova over Baylor

Regional Final: Villanova over Duke

Final Four: Kansas over Syracuse, Kentucky over Villanova

National Championship: Kansas over Kentucky…of course, I could be wrong