March Madness: Start the Insanity

By Jimmy Egeland, Creative Services Manager

Now that March is here I have officially succumbed to the Madness. I’m talking of course about the Big Dance, the Tourney, the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament. Whether for money or fun, office notoriety or bragging rights among old college buddies, filling out a bracket and following the tourney can be an awesome experience—even if you don’t like basketball. Don’t believe me? Check out these surefire ways to populate a bracket and stay glued to the games all month long.

The Mascot Method
Forget the stats, the rankings and the records—this method relies purely on which mascot would win in a real-life battle. Only the most ferocious or tactful mascots will survive. Bears, Gators, Trojans and Lions all duke it out in a gladiator-esque showdown and you decide who advances. Are you not entertained?!?

Alma Mater Matters
Do you bleed burnt orange? Did you paint your house Carolina blue? Picking your favorite school to win it all (and your rivals to lose in the first round) gives you something to root for. Sure, Virginia Poly Tech may not be the odds-on favorite, but just imagine how cool it would be if your favorite team wins…and you called it!

A Cinderella Story
It’s fun to root for the underdog. Unfortunately, the fun promptly ends after four quarters. Since 1985, when the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams, 16-seeds are a paltry 0-108 against 1-seeds. That’s right—not one measly win for the little guy. A few dogs have come close, most recently the 1996 Western Carolina (16) squad that lost 73-71 to Purdue (1). If you don’t have the gall to call the first ever first-round upset, the 15-seed vs 2-seed matchup offers slightly better chances. 15-seeds are 4-104 all-time. The odds aren’t in your favor, but calling the upset of the century instantly makes your bracket look like a winner.

Copy and Paste
Inevitably your bracket will match up with someone else’s in certain spots. There are only so many combinations. Why not take chance out of the equation and simply duplicate the picks of a favorite celebrity or public figure? President Obama went a very respectable 43-20 last year, although he failed to pick any of the final four teams. Every year there are droves of celebs publishing their picks online for the year’s madness and thanks to Twitter, you can just ask them for it. Target your favorite celeb, make contact and get copying.

Top Dog
Since seeding began in 1979, all four 1-seeds have made the Final Four in the same year only once (2008). Still, history shows that teams ranked by the loneliness number are pretty good at making a run at the title as the 1-seed has won the tourney 16 times since 1985. Even if they don’t end up winning it all, they still get pretty close. There’s only three seasons where a 1-seed didn’t make the Final Four—1980, 2006 and 2011. As far as winning it all, no seed lower than 8 has ever won the National Championship. The one and only 8-seed to do it was the Villanova Wildcats in 1985.