While this information is extremely critical to know and assist many bracket filler outers...I usually just guess.
NCAA Bracket Facts...
- Thread starter dahliaclone
- Start date
One thing I do is, if I can't decide on a game, I pick the team that has the most senior guards starting. If both teams have the same number, I choose the team whose guards combine for the highest scoring average.
It's worked well for me. Guard play matters in the NCAAs.
It's worked well for me. Guard play matters in the NCAAs.
Everybody and their dog is picking Murray State for the 12 5 upset. Could help win your bracket if Marquette wins and you picked it.
One of the sites where I pick brackets, I did a completely random generated one.
Kansas wins the natty by taking down the NCC/NDAKST winner.
Kansas wins the natty by taking down the NCC/NDAKST winner.
Exactly why I was glad that we didn't get the winner of a play-in game.
Just an FYI on Marquette. Howard did sprain his shooting wrist.
Bracket Fact:
Ctown has ISU winning it all, beating MSU in a rematch of that fateful game lo those many years ago.
In other news, neither of my kids have really been sleeping through the night as of late, and I'm averaging about 4 broken hours of sleep a night for the past week or so.
Ctown has ISU winning it all, beating MSU in a rematch of that fateful game lo those many years ago.
In other news, neither of my kids have really been sleeping through the night as of late, and I'm averaging about 4 broken hours of sleep a night for the past week or so.
Anybody see an all-name team yet? Any Ruben Boumtje Boumtje’s in the field?
Me, too. It can depend on which play-in winner you get, but it seems almost 50-50 an 11 play-in wins at least one game. (I picked Belmont to Sweet 16 this year).
Only thing I can find is a preseason all-name list. Based on that, a few I like:
Admiral Schofield, Tennessee
Eyassu Worku, UC Irvine
Tacko Fall, UCF (gimmie)
Even though Temple is out, Shizz Alston Jr. is a good one.
For an 'average' size pool, definitely need to keep a good share of chalk and pick upsets around the edges. Don't go too bonkers with first-round upsets and try to hit home runs there. Distribute some upsets throughout each round.
Most pools you need to pick the champion correctly to be in the running, so that could be the initial step. Determine a final four first, based on regions, then work from the front end to get there. Then choose champ from the final four teams.
And of course, I rarely do it that way.
This is why I prefer the format where you are awarded upset points in the first round. So if a 10 beats a 7 you get a point for the correct pick plus 3 bonus points for picking the upset. The extra first round points help to devalue the chalky safe brackets.
I've done that type of setup for our official pool for several years. But I do a weighted system every round, so people can't lean on upsets only in the first round, you can get credit for taking the underdog throughout (assuming those teams advanced), but chalk teams can still accumulate more points overall.
Basically something like this:
round 1: 1 x seed
round 2: 2 x seed
s16: 5 x seed
e8: 10 x seed
F4: 25 x seed
Champion: 50 x seed
Every year we add two brackets to our family pool; it gives perspective to our individual selection methods.
"Top seed" is pretty obvious: it goes with the higher seeded team in each of the games, with the net result of the #1 top seed winning the tournament.
The other is "coin toss". For each game, we flip a coin. If it's heads, the higher seed moves on; if it's tails, the lower seed moves on. There have been years when the totally random coin toss bracket beats the top seed bracket by a wide margin.
The "coin toss" brackets usually look a lot like the brackets that some of our grandkids turn in.
"Top seed" is pretty obvious: it goes with the higher seeded team in each of the games, with the net result of the #1 top seed winning the tournament.
The other is "coin toss". For each game, we flip a coin. If it's heads, the higher seed moves on; if it's tails, the lower seed moves on. There have been years when the totally random coin toss bracket beats the top seed bracket by a wide margin.
The "coin toss" brackets usually look a lot like the brackets that some of our grandkids turn in.
I'm probably part of the herd with some choices this season, like assuming LSU gets bounced early due to circumstances. I'm sure a zillion others are thinking the same way. So, sure as s***, LSU will go to Elite 8 or something.
I have Nova going quite a ways - E8 or even F4, even though I don't tend to trust 6 seeds for deep runs (*hope ISU proves me wrong there*) --
It's a gut feeling, it appears Villanova started to get in sync later in the season, maybe gravitating a little toward its preseason projection.
It's a gut feeling, it appears Villanova started to get in sync later in the season, maybe gravitating a little toward its preseason projection.
I'd say the same, if they weren't playing Marquette in the first round. That's a tough draw.
Markus Howard is bound to go off for 40 himself.
I feel like a lot of people are picking Nevada after last year to go decently far. I'm on the opposite train when looking at their stats... SOS, vs. Top 25, etc. I know they have a lot of good seniors, but they haven't played anyone and have a chance to get punched in the mouth by good competition.
