There are several theories on picking a winning March Madness bracket for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. We are not talking about favorite colors or states you’d like to visit. Instead, we are thinking about strategies and theories to show trends or anything else that can be gleaned from years of experience coupled with current matchups, injuries, etc. We are not a proponent of picking chalk (the favorites). After all, we have seen a 1 seed lose in the first round along with a handful of 2 seeds, and several 3’s and 4’s.
So what is an effective format to employ in picking a bracket for an office pool, or even to utilize in specific games or regional champion bets? As we see it, there are three basic criteria that comes into play:
Final Four Coach: obviously every coach that wins the tournament has to get a first Final Four. But having said that, look at this list of active coaches that have made it to MULTIPLE Final Fours: Coach K, Roy Williams, Tom Izzo, Jim Boeheim, John Calipari, Bill Self, Jay Wright, Bob Huggins, Lon Kruger. If you are in doubt on a pick for your bracket, see if any of these names are coaching. They are proven winners in March.
Great Guard Play: Typically speaking, this comes down to having a great point
guard, but can also be a great shooting guard. Historically speaking, teams that have a great point guard have advanced further than teams with solid overall teams. Most of this can be explained with X’s and O’s with dribble/drive, etc. The point is, players you have never heard of can take over a game, especially with one of the coaches above guiding them.
Tournament success: One other component of Tournament Success is ... Tournament Success. Take a look at the two most recent UCONN championship teams. In 2011, they were picked to finish 10th in the Big East, yet they won the Maui Invitational. They finished the regular season 9th in conference. But, they had a Coach who has won a championship before (Jim Calhoun) and great guard play (Kamba Walker). They won five conference tournament games in five days to win the Big East Tournament and ultimately won the National Championship. The 2014 UCONN team had many of the same characteristics. Coach Kevin Ollie had played for Jim Calhoun and was an assistant on that 2011 team, and they had great guard play with Shabazz Napier. This team won the 2k Sports Classic and ultimately the National Championship as a 7 seed.
When filling out your bracket, make sure to give consideration to these criteria when unsure. And now that you have the framework for picking a winning bracket, make sure to buy a Dr. of Bracketology shirt at https://www.ebay.com/str/steelcityclothingcompanyllcto show everyone! Thanks for reading. #shootersshoot
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