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FRONT PAGE CAMPUS & COMMUNITY ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT FEATURES SPORTS OPINION BACK PAGE CONTACT US ABOUT USThe Badger Beat with Charlie Viana
It is the time of year that everyone loves, the time of year where anything and everything can happen: March Madness. Every Division One basketball team across the country has one goal at the beginning of each season, and it is to reach the big dance.
History has showed us (except the 16 seeds going up against the one seeds) that anything can happen once you get to the tourney. Teams that are overlooked throughout the year and even right before the tournament starts, tend to play at a level they themselves didn’t know they could reach.
The one question I have is this: Is there really a way to pick that “perfect” bracket that wins you the big money? Every year there are always the upsets and that one team that seems to have that magical run and shocks the world.
The week leading up to the tournament, every college basketball analyst breaks down every single match-up, every single player, and every single coach. Who better to listen to than these guys? Is listening to these analysts and following everything they say truly the way to get to that winning bracket? I still don’t know the answer, but maybe someone out there does.
Every year I fill out a bracket, hoping win the pool that I am in. This team has the size, this team has the speed, this team has the defense, and this team is just the team. With all that being said, it would seem that filling out these brackets the night before the tournament starts is a piece of cake. Wrong.
My favorite part of filling out the brackets is that no matter who is filling them out and who they are picking, every team they pick is the right pick. “No way are these guys losing.” “This will definitely be the final four.”
The first round goes by and for the most part everyone seems to be in the hunt to win it all. Then that dreadful round comes, the round of 32. This is just me, but this is the round that makes or breaks brackets every year. This is the round where the teams who should go deep in the tournament decide to ruin my bracket for yet another year.
The absolute worst part of the bracket might be having picked one of the two correct teams that make it to the championship game, while your other pick loses in that second round and destroys any chance you had to win your pool. One wrong pick could end the hope of winning the money.
In discussing the bracket issue with others, I gather that everyone fills out these brackets for the rush. Going over each match-up, pen barely above the paper, it’s a split second decision that you have to live with through each thrilling tournament game.
Maybe it’s not about winning all the money at the end; maybe it’s just that excitement of the whole 45 seconds it takes to fill out these brackets – the process of going over each match-up, trying to ignore the team’s seed in front of them, wondering who their best players are, and what their record is, all under a minute.
It’s funny (I do this myself); everyone fills out brackets as if it is a race against time. The night before when we all fill them out, we fill them out like a race to the finish. Is rushing the bracket the reason for losing? Is taking too long and over-thinking the match-ups not the way to go? It is a question that I think will never have an answer.So what I guess I’m asking is, how do you winners do it? Is it luck or is it analyzing each match-up?
Good luck to everyone filling out a bracket; who knows, maybe writing this article will actually get me a winner this year.