Take your pick: Friendly advice to fill out a bracket
From picking teams based on mascots or color schemes to the guy actively studying, everybody has their own way of filling out March Madness brackets.
But if you really want to beat Gary in accounting or Lisa in marketing or you just don’t want to finish in last place, here are tips to help you win:
Don’t let Cinderella stay out too late: Only four doubledigit seeds have made the Final Four, one of them being Syracuse last year. While your pool might have more points awarded for upsets, be wary of how long you let Cinderella dance.
Early bird gets the worm: Since the NCAA went to the eight-team play-in game format in 2011, a qualifier has gone on to win at least one more game and in three of the six years a team has made it to the Sweet 16.
Understand your bracket scoring: Are upsets weighted more? Do correct picks multiply each round you’re right? Know the scoring system so you can avoid hate-picking your alma mater’s rival to lose too early.
Raining threes: Since 1987, only six teams have shot less than 35% on three-pointers and won the title. Villanova shot 37.1% last season.
Will this be the year a No. 16 seed upsets a No. 1 seed? No.
Taking charity: Since 1985, when the tournament went to 64 teams, only eight winners have shot less than 70% at the free throw line and only one team has shot better than 78%. Villanova was 79.4% from the charity stripe last season.
March Madness blues: Louisville (2013) is the only champ in the last 13 seasons that didn’t have blue as a school color.
How sweet it is: Since 1985, Duke has the most Sweet 16 appearances with 23, followed by North Carolina (21), Kansas (20), Kentucky (18) and Louisville (14). All five are in this year’s tournament.
AC-see ya in Glendale? An ACC team has made the Final Four in eight of the last 15 years.
Won by one: Since seeding began in 1979, there have been only three tournaments in which a No. 1 didn’t make the Final Four. But only in 2008 did all four No. 1s make it.
There’s nothing wrong with
silver: In the last 38 tournaments, a No. 2 seed has made the Final Four 26 times.
How important is a conference championship? The last three national champs didn’t win their conference tournament.