2008 Woodie Awards
Bracketology 101: How to dominate your NCAA pool, Brendan Clark-style
Brendan Clark
Issue date: 3/14/07 Section: Sports
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The bracket is out, and thus begins some of the most amazing two weeks in all of sports. I will not be making any predictions this week because as I had expected it is completely futile to attempt to pick winners of multiple games in college basketball. Instead, I am going to highlight some parts of the bracket in general that you might want to keep an eye out for while you fill yours out. And if you don't fill one out, it is time to start because it is always fun to gamble even if you are just trying to make a personal best. (aka lots of money)
There has never been a number one seed upset in the first round. However, this year during the regular season we saw Kansas lose to Oral Roberts (a 14 seed), Florida bite it against a very bad LSU team late in the year, and countless other mid major teams knock off very high seeded teams. This begs the question: Could this be the year that a number one seed goes down in the first round? Of course this scenario is far fetched, but I feel like this year is the most even the playing field has ever been. It could happen, and if you picked it in your bracket the glory would be unimaginable. And really, it's all about the glory.
The 12 seed has managed to knock off the 5 seed in 14 out of 40 tries in the modern NCAA tournament. That's a 35% chance that a 12 seed will emerge out of the first round. Therefore, you would be smart to pick at least one, if not two 12 seed upsets. I personally am picking 2, with Old Dominion knocking off Butler and Long Island State getting the best of Tennessee. Given the way my picks went in the conference tournaments, I advise you to pick the opposite of that, but try to get a 12 over 5 upset in there. The odds are with you.
For all of you who shy away from upsets, keep in mind that there has never been a final four with four number one seeds in it. So if you want to look at the rankings and always pick the highest rank, keep in mind that it is very unlikely this will happen. Also keep in mind that you are an extremely dull person who clearly has never watched an NCAA tournament game. For those of you who go crazy with the upsets, I will let you do your thing and give you mad respect, even if they don't pan out. However, I am going to give three games that have big upset potential.
1) Oral Roberts over Washington State. The men of Oral already knocked off Kansas this season and have a lot of underrated talent. Washington State is coming out of an overrated Pac 10 and lost to a marginal USC team in the tournament. 2) Davidson over Maryland. Being a hardcore Terps fan, I was not happy to see a match up against a sneaky Davidson squad with a nasty guard named Stephen Curry in the first round. I'm not saying I think it will happen, but if Maryland isn't on their game, Davidson will make them pay. 3) Texas A&M - CC over Wisconsin. Wisconsin isn't very good and Texas A&M - CC is a team new to Division 1-A athletics who is hungry to prove they belong.
Well there's some help for all of you out there. Good luck with the brackets; you're gonna need it. Also, come see the baseball team take on VA Wes this Saturday at the Dick in a big ODAC match up before you get your Irish on. Or get your Irish on while you watch the game! Slainte!
There has never been a number one seed upset in the first round. However, this year during the regular season we saw Kansas lose to Oral Roberts (a 14 seed), Florida bite it against a very bad LSU team late in the year, and countless other mid major teams knock off very high seeded teams. This begs the question: Could this be the year that a number one seed goes down in the first round? Of course this scenario is far fetched, but I feel like this year is the most even the playing field has ever been. It could happen, and if you picked it in your bracket the glory would be unimaginable. And really, it's all about the glory.
The 12 seed has managed to knock off the 5 seed in 14 out of 40 tries in the modern NCAA tournament. That's a 35% chance that a 12 seed will emerge out of the first round. Therefore, you would be smart to pick at least one, if not two 12 seed upsets. I personally am picking 2, with Old Dominion knocking off Butler and Long Island State getting the best of Tennessee. Given the way my picks went in the conference tournaments, I advise you to pick the opposite of that, but try to get a 12 over 5 upset in there. The odds are with you.
For all of you who shy away from upsets, keep in mind that there has never been a final four with four number one seeds in it. So if you want to look at the rankings and always pick the highest rank, keep in mind that it is very unlikely this will happen. Also keep in mind that you are an extremely dull person who clearly has never watched an NCAA tournament game. For those of you who go crazy with the upsets, I will let you do your thing and give you mad respect, even if they don't pan out. However, I am going to give three games that have big upset potential.
1) Oral Roberts over Washington State. The men of Oral already knocked off Kansas this season and have a lot of underrated talent. Washington State is coming out of an overrated Pac 10 and lost to a marginal USC team in the tournament. 2) Davidson over Maryland. Being a hardcore Terps fan, I was not happy to see a match up against a sneaky Davidson squad with a nasty guard named Stephen Curry in the first round. I'm not saying I think it will happen, but if Maryland isn't on their game, Davidson will make them pay. 3) Texas A&M - CC over Wisconsin. Wisconsin isn't very good and Texas A&M - CC is a team new to Division 1-A athletics who is hungry to prove they belong.
Well there's some help for all of you out there. Good luck with the brackets; you're gonna need it. Also, come see the baseball team take on VA Wes this Saturday at the Dick in a big ODAC match up before you get your Irish on. Or get your Irish on while you watch the game! Slainte!
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