March Madness Bracketology 101: Advice on filling out your bracket

It’s that time of the year again when the sweet smell of college basketball fills the air. As a college student, you try to find any excuse you can to not tackle the massive amount of homework you’ve been procrastinating since syllabus week. Well, as a die-hard college basketball fan, I’m here to help you have fun filling out your March Madness bracket, as well as avoiding homework at all costs. Even though your odds of getting a perfect bracket are 1 in 9.2 quintillion, I’m going to give you some fun and factual advice while filling out your sacred bracket.

Step 1: Don’t pick a #16 seed to win over a #1. This step is the most obvious one of them all. Everybody craves for a major upset, but a #16 seed winning has never happened before. Yet, history is made to be broken….

Step 2: Don’t pick a seed higher then #8 to win it all. The highest seed to ever win the tournament was #8 (Villanova).  But be careful, no #5 seed has ever won the tournament.

Step 3: Pick at least one #12 seed to upset a #5 seed. Throughout the history of the tournament, this is the most common upset. A #12 seed has defeated a #5 seed 25 of the past 28 tournaments.

Step 4: Pick a #1 seed to win it all. Even though it’s boring and almost frowned upon to pick a #1 seed to win it all, seven of the past ten championships, or 12 of the past 18 have been a #1 seed.

Step 5: Be crazy – have a double-digit seed advance to the sweet sixteen. At least two double-digit seeds have reached the Sweet 16 sixteen times in the past 20 years.

Now if you plan on just having fun with your bracket, here are a few fun tips on how to fill out your bracket.

  1. Be lame – Pick all the top seeds. Even though you will for sure catch some heat from your friends, don’t be afraid to take the analytic approach. They are the higher seeds because they’re better, right?
  2. Have your animal fill it out – You may be thinking that I’m joking, but I’m dead serious. Print out all the logos, and set each match up in front of your pet. Whatever logo your pet goes for, pick that as your winner. Plus, if your bracket is awful, it’s not your fault….
  3. Decide off of team mascots – Simply Google search each team’s mascot, and decide which one you like more, which would win in a battle, or has the coolest name.
  4. Choose based on school colors – Since the creation of the tournament, the most popular school color to win it all has been a shade of blue.
  5. Flip a coin – This easy task is time efficient and doesn’t require any basketball knowledge. Plus, you can count it as your daily workout.
  6. Pick all the upsets – Even though your bracket is going to do poorly; this makes watching the tournament more enjoyable. No matter what the sport is, it is always fun cheering for an underdog.
  7. Have Wisconsin go all the way. Who doesn’t want to see Bucky dance all the way to the Final Four again?

No matter your passion for March Madness, it is arguably one of the best months for sporting events. Coworkers, friends, and family get together to watch college athletes battle every night in a survive and advance tournament.

Happy March, and may the upsets be with us.