The March Madness Bracket

March Madness has got to be one of the most exciting tournaments in sports, college or pro. Even for someone only nominally interested in College basketball, the incredible upsets and meeting of two powerhouses many times over is incredible to behold. Even more is the bracket that comes in the newspaper which can be penciled in however you wish. You can have an eleventh seed make it to the final four ( it happened last year) or have a favorite out in the first round (Kansas). This can all be done just for fun, but if you decide to make a pool with your friends or even enter one of the big competitions (usually on the paper as well) you will want to do good as rewards could be waiting.

If you do decide that this time you will put your knowledge, or luck, to good use, there are a few important things you will want to know. I confess that I have never had a perfect bracket (come on, who has?) but after filling out brackets and watching the results for the last few years I believe I have made some interesting observations.

Even if you don't know a great deal about the tournament, don't simply pick all the top seeds to win every game, as that never happens. Not to say that you should have every 16^th seed beating every 1^st seed either, but make it interesting. For instance, most years a 10 seed will beat a 7, an 11 will beat a 6, and as far as 8 and 9's go, don't even bother looking at the numbers. Another very good, quick thing to do is to look at the games each team has won and lost. One reason is that if the teams have played each other before, it's a fair bet that the team that won before has a good chance of winning again, no matter what the rankings. Even if the teams haven't played each other, look at what high seeded teams each team has beaten. If one team has a far better record but has only been beating up on weak teams, whereas the other has taken down a few top 25's, the experience will definitely show.

After taking a peek at the games they have won and lost, take a look at the win or lose streak they are on. If a team falls into the tournament on only it's first half wins, this top heavy team will likely continue there losing ways soon in the tournament. Likewise, even if a team lost its first nine games in a row, if they then won the rest they might have clout over even a top seeded team who might have lost the last two or three.

Finally, take a look at the different strengths and weaknesses of each team. For instance, if one team has excellent three point shooters and the competitor has allowed three's to rain in all season, it's a likely bet that they will continue to do so and therefore lose. Also, don't get too excited with making upsets, as most years, except last, will have at least one of the number one seeds reach the final four.