9 Tips To Filling Out The Perfect NCAA Tournament Bracket
It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
Everyone has their strategy to filling out the perfect bracket every year. There’s also that bizarre group of people that think ‘this is our year’ when there is no way in hell their team is even sniffing the Sweet 16.
People have those teams that consistently make the dance and they ride or die with them every year and of course the morons that won’t pick their school’s rival. But let’s not forget something, bracket season is serious business and it’s about one thing, uh, winning.
So, let’s get to it, here are 10 tips for you to fill out the perfect bracket this year. This is totally fool-proof, by the way.
9. Pick a team and ride with ’em. They just can’t be a top two seed, that’s a rule. Maybe you haven’t seen one second of Minnesota basketball this year, but they just jump out at you. Take ’em and let it ride. Maybe you drove through Johnson City, Tenn. once and saw ETSU’s campus. You didn’t stop in Johnson City because why the hell would you do that, but maybe the ‘Bucs are just speaking to you. That’s what all this stuff is about. You’re not winning ESPN’s bracket challenge, don’t take yourself that seriously, but shooters shoot, so shoot.
8. No, this isn’t the year of the 16-seed. It never has been and that isn’t changing this year. And yes, that includes some stupid upset you have in your mind about Gonzaga losing to South Dakota St. because the ‘Zags always ‘Zag.
7. While we’re on the topic of possible upsets, always pick at least one 12-seed to beat a 5-seed. Everyone seems to be really high on MTSU to beat Minnesota, so that means stay far, far away from that one. Princeton over Notre Dame is the 12–5 upset this year, go ahead and book that.
6. Let’s get into the game of nerds which features Northwestern and Vanderbilt. Northwestern has the story on their side with this being their first ever trip to the tournament while Vanderbilt is the first team to ever get an at-large bid with 15 losses. Here’s something interesting, SEC basketball is horrific and Big Ten basketball isn’t. Northwestern walks away with this one.
5. Florida Gulf Coast is back in the tourney. They’re good at dunking. They play Florida State in the opening round. It’s a little big brother vs. little brother action in a sense. Big brother is better, a lot better than little brother actually. FSU is currently a 12-point favorite and that’s too low.
4. Let’s talk about the two-seeds for a little bit. If you are making your picks and all of the sudden you realize you have three №2 seeds sitting in the final four, don’t be nervous. If Louisville is one of those №2 seeds however, start over.
3. For those that are looking for a team that is coming into the tournament on fire, look no further than Michigan. The Wolverines have won five straight and beat up on Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game. Don’t let the №7 seed fool you because Michigan is hooping at a high-level and they could make one of those crazy-ass runs we see every year. That’s the pick you make then subtly show them your bracket after they smack Louisville in the second-round.
2. UCLA and Lonzo Ball, you know about them, but this is going to be their coming out party x 1,000. The basketball gods will give us the UCLA-Kentucky sweet sixteen matchup we all want and deserve and then let us see Kentucky lose to the Bruins twice in one year. Ball’s broken jumpshot will take down the Cats.
1.Don’t be the person with all four №1 seeds in the Final Four. Sure, it could 100% happen, and it’s pretty likely even, but where is the fun in that? You can have them all in the elite eight, that’s cool, but have some fun and pick an upset. Feel some emotion, take some chances. Oh, and of course, Gonzaga won’t win it all.
You’re welcome.
