I know almost nothing about basketball. Seriously. I know that you can’t move the ball without dribbling, and that it goes into the hoop. That is about the extent of my expertise when it comes to the sport. However, every March something magical happens.
I somewhat begin to care about basketball.
This phenomenon can probably be explained by several different factors: my friends and roommates are watching, a school I am a fan of (go Vols) seems to be doing well at it, or even most recently, the Lady Bulldogs become regional champs of the Gulf South Conference. However, the most compelling reason is probably the March Madness tournament.
I have grown to enjoy this particular event in basketball due to the simple reason that literally any team can end up taking home the national title, and everyone seems to care. Sure, during football season, people play fantasy with their coworkers; or, when the World Cup rolls around, everyone and their mothers become obsessed, including paint-the-American-flag-on-my-belly folks who can’t name three players on the national team. When it comes to March Madness, though, anyone (expert or not) can create a bracket and begin to enjoy the game, no matter what team he or she is rooting for.
I believe the reason for this is that people find it incredibly entertaining to see if they can accurately predict how the games in the tournament are going to go, even if they aren’t die-hard fans. Of course, the probability of getting a perfect bracket is impossibly low. Based on current statistics, you are more likely to die by a vending-machine related accident or by a coconut falling on your noggin before you make the golden bracket.
It’s still fun to try though.
So, I am going to examine a couple of the most common bracket-crafting strategies, and then give you my expert opinion on them (disclaimer: I am not an expert).
Method One: The Research and Statistic Searching Method
Of course, if you have a lot of time and really want a good guess on who is going to play best, you can always study how teams play and research their stats including average points per game, percent of free throws made, and defensive efficiency.
Who has the time for that?
In an Instagram poll I created a couple nights ago asking this question, 34% of those who participated answered that they do spend time researching the teams playing. Noah Agee, sophomore communication studies major and avid Auburn fan, is one of those people. Agee gave me a few seemingly simple tips on how to create a good, well-researched bracket.
“My strategy is picking the best team,” says Agee.
On the bracket, each team is ranked based on how well they have played all season in their specific conference.
“You would just pick number one because they are ranked higher,” says Agee. “However, sometimes you have teams like Creighton and Kansas State, who are ranked number 8 and number 9, so you may want to pick upset teams, which is when a higher ranked team beats a lower ranked team.”
The purpose for this strategy is due to the complicated point system that is used when scoring brackets that I am not even going to pretend to understand (I am sure you can Google it if you really want to know). Simply put, when an upset team wins, and you have chosen that team on your bracket to win, you get some good points.
“This is why it is called March Madness; it is actually nuts,” says Agee. “Who you think is going to win doesn’t always win. The upsets are what make it fun.”
After explaining all this to me, I asked Agee who he thought would win it all, based on his research method of designing a bracket.
“North Carolina, an upset win.”
Method Two: Favorite Colors and Mascots
I know that this method sounds superficial, however, 66% of those who participated on my Instagram survey said that this is the method they choose when filling out their brackets, and it is very surprising how often this actually works for some people. One of the people who swear by this method is Molly Hauss, a Union University alumna and annual participator in March Madness bracket predictions.
“I like to look up each school’s mascot and see which one [is] the most appealing to me,” Hauss says. “If that doesn’t work, I just think of where I would like to travel to. No rhyme or reason to it. No research.”
No rhyme or reason indeed. However, this strategy of choosing a mascot, or supporting your favorite color seems to be doing just fine in her household.
“I usually beat my husband, Stephen,” Hauss says, “and he researches for like three hours, looking at records and player stats.”
This is further proof that anyone can participate in creating a bracket for March Madness, and end up doing well, even when they don’t know anything about any of the teams playing.
***
When it comes to creating a bracket for the annual NCAA national championship, there really doesn’t seem to be a perfect way. You can put a lot of time and effort researching, studying, and examining the stats of each team, however, when it comes down to it, the odds of your bracket being accurate are just the same as the person who chose Tennessee because Smokey is a cute dog. This is what makes March Madness unique, and overall incredibly entertaining year after year.
So, with that in mind, happy bracket-filling to all. I’m pulling for Duke.
