March Madness Is Upon Us!

Selection Sunday was only a couple days ago, and we're fully enveloped in the throes of March Madness. Admittedly, I am much more of an NBA fan than I am a college basketball fan, but I do try to pay as much attention to college as I can (given than many of the good players from college will be going into the NBA one day). This year I've probably played the least amount of attention to basketball in general, simply because I've been so busy this semester and last, which encompasses the entire basketball season. Yet, usually with minimal information, I've been able to create some pretty accurate brackets over the past couple years. I remember last year I had the highest scoring bracket out of all my friends on Facebook, but then again a lot of that was luck. However, there are a few proven facts that I've come to accept, through watching ESPN and my own analysis. Here are my top 5 tips.

5. Upsets are called upsets because they're unexpected; don't bank on them.

A lot of people get too upset happy when they fill out their bracket. Only pick an upset when one or more of the reasons below is fulfilled. Otherwise, don't bet on all the 13 seeds taking down the number 4's, because it's just not gonna happen. Don't fall in love with names like Kentucky, George Mason, or Villanova unless you have good reason to.

4. Look for flat teams to lose early.

What do I mean by flat? I mean teams that come into the tournament either on extended losing streaks, or early losses in their conference tournaments. Even though you would think these teams have something to prove in the tournament, more often than not, they fall flat and lose out in the first or second round. Especially watch out for second-tier seeds (ie 4-7) to fall prey to this. Watch out for Notre Dame, Louisville, and Purdue in this case.

3. Go with the hot team

Very similar to point 4, but exact opposite. Those teams that had great runs to their conference tourneys are much more likely to carry over that momentum into the tournament. Heads up regarding Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, Drake, and even Georgia.

2. Always go with quality smalls over quality bigs

This one is simple; quality bigs won't play well without quality smalls. A lot of the turnovers in college basketball happen either when the ball is being brought across midcourt, or during the entry passes into the post. Thus, a strong guard like Ty Lawson, D.J. Augustin, Derrick Rose, or Jared Bayless will affect the games much more than guys like Roy Hibbert, Tyler Hansbrough, or Brook Lopez.

1. Don't pick against Number 1 seeds; they're number 1 for a reason

Yes we had a couple flukes a couple of years ago, but they're just that, flukes. The only teams that UNC, UCLA, KU, and Memphis have even a chance of losing to are the 2 and maybe a couple 3 seeds. Otherwise, don't bank on them not making the final four. Look out for dangerous 2-3 seeds like Tennessee and Texas, because they're the only ones with a real shot at taking down the top 4.


Oh yea, and don't fill out your bracket until the last possible second. Filling out your bracket early is about the dumbest thing you can do, because then you have a built-in bias when you try to edit your picks later.

I really do enjoy the NCAA tournament, not only because of the unpredictability, but because the games are so memorable. I'm also a huge sucker for those sappy "One Shining Moment," montages that they have at the end of each tournament (I'm a sucker for montages in general, but that's another story for another time). I watch the one from 2007 from time to time, and it's awesome because they have some of the famous calls, like when VCU beat Duke, when Ohio State came back against Xavier, and when Jeff Green nearly traveled and banked in the game winning shot. I remember where I was when I watched each game, and how I reacted. And that makes a beautiful segway into the 2007 One Shining Moment montage for this day's video. Enjoy this season of March Madness.