Apologies for getting this posted a little later than normal. I usually have it up shortly after the brackets are announced on Sunday evening, but it was a busy weekend and then when I went to go find my files from last year on the old laptop, it didn’t want to boot. And I was tired and didn’t want to mess with it.
Anyway, same as previous years: download the ESPN Tournament Challenge app on your phone or go here to enter your brackets:
Group name: SDMB Bracketeers
Password: cecil123
There is a limit of three brackets per player. Brackets are locked at the start of the first game on Thursday morning. Good luck everyone!
Normally I create a “dream” bracket in which the Florida Gators win the championship and another more-realistic bracket where I pick the team I think will actually win the tournament. This year the “dream” and “realistic” brackets are one and the same, so I only need to create one bracket this year.
I usually have a “Kansas Wins” and a “Kansas Tanks” bracket, because most years you never know which Kansas is going to show up to the tournament. But this year I will definitely NOT be doing a “Kansas Wins” bracket.
Given the parity in college basketball and the fact that a team has to win 6 single elimination events in a row to win the title, the NCAA tournament is a treacherous and often shocking venue for even the most highly regarded teams. My “formula”, if it is even worthy of that designation, is to pick teams that seem to be peaking given the results of the last quarter of their seasons and their conference tournaments. I like teams with depth and teams that have a versatile scoring format. Sounds impressive, but I’ve suffered my share of blood baths, believe me. LOL
I feel your pain. The 2020 Kansas squad was one of Coach Self’s best, having lost just three games that season, all to ranked teams. They went 17-1 in the Big 12 and were on a 16-game winning streak when the season came to a screeching halt.
Having said that, do NOT pick the 2025 Jayhawks to win one game in the tourney. They will lose to Arkansas today.
Apparently only one of my three brackets got submitted, and it was the “what I’d like to happen” version, so I probably won’t be going far. The other 2 had Duke and Houston winning…anyway, Go Ducks! (As I write, it’s an hour into the tournament and one of my Final Four picks is struggling to pull ahead of a 13 seed. Good times!)
Edited: Also, one of my regional finalists is down by 15 at the half. Good grief.
I have 2 favorite teams: Michigan State Spartans and whoever is playing ‘The Other School’.
So GO UC San Diego Tritons!!!
Obviously I’m biased but I believe the Michigan State Spartans with Cassius Winston, Xavier Tillman et al would have won the 2020 NCAA Championship. Damn shame that none of these teams had a chance to live their dreams.
As far as the Louisville-Creighton game, the young man wearing #5 for Creighton, Jeremya Neal (sp?) was on fire and had a career game.