Even More Bracket Advice

We've reached our third year of me giving really terrible advice for people about to fill out their NCAA brackets. I wasn't going to write this post again, but became inspired yesterday afternoon after hanging out with one of my nieces. She was picking teams based on which names are the most fun to say. Other than having Davidson and Mississippi go a lot farther than I would, she seemed to have come away with a fairly sound Final Four. I mean, I just heard a guy on ESPN tell the world he thought Vanderbilt was going to the Final Four, so how crazy could the picks of a three year-old truly be by comparison? Anyway here are a few things to keep in mind when filling out your brackets...

-First off, do it in pencil. I understand this has nothing to do with helping you determine who will win, I just think it is the best idea. Leave yourself a bit of wiggle room should you want to change your mind before the games start. It is much better than having to trudge back to the printer in front of the whole office because you had a change of heart about South Florida going on a VCU-like run. Besides, no one likes the people who have irrational levels of confidence. Filling out your bracket in pen is only slightly less-annoying than doing the crossword puzzle in pen. Oh, so there is no way it is even possible you could be wrong? When I see people who have done that I start pouring over their answers while rooting for spelling mistakes. Don't be that guy.

-If you aren't sure a team can win their bracket, don't make them the champion. Ever since the brackets were released Sunday afternoon, I have kept hearing people say the same thing, "Well, if this team makes it out of their region they will be the best team still standing." I understand the logic, but say the first part of that sentence again. There is something to be said for looking at the big picture. Sure, I think Kentucky is the best of the #1 seeds and if they get that far I would not be surprised to see them win the whole thing, but I also think they have the toughest bracket. As a result I am certainly not going to confidently have them as the champion. You can't hypothetically beat a team in the Final Four if you lost in the Sweet 16.

-Never underestimate the power off a pissed-off teenager. Every year there are a couple of teams left on the outside looking in. What inevitably follows are analysts talking about which teams should have been left at home instead. Even if they might be right, it is no fun to hear that someone on national TV tell you that you have been given something you don't deserve. That means in the case of a couple of these teams, they will have spent 4 or 5 days hearing how much they don't belong in this tournament. People tend to forget that most of the kids in this tournament are 18 or 19 years old and if all the child psychology books are to be believed, teenagers hate being told what to do. Now, with some of these kids it will break them and they will start to believe it, but with others it is just going to make them want to go out and prove all the 'experts' wrong. Don't be surprised when one of the 'Last Four In' is playing the second weekend.

-Make sure your eventual champion's best player is eligible to play. Here is a rather timely lesson. This afternoon Syracuse's Fab Melo, their sophomore center and best rebounder, was ruled academically ineligible for the second time this season. As a result he will not play at any point in the tournament and didn't even travel with the team. This is a big blow for Syracuse, because he controls a lot of the game, as evidenced by the fact that their only regular season loss during the season came when Melo missed three games earlier in the year. Going in a lot of people had Syracuse easily making the Final Four (including me), but this dramatically changes all that. (This is also why I made point #1.) Maybe we shouldn't all be in such a hurry to fill out brackets Sunday night.

-However, don't go overboard the other way. A lot of people began taking erasers to their brackets when news of Melo's ineligibility broke. Like I said, totally understandable given how many people had Syracuse cruising through. But now some people are circling the game saying this could be the time when a #16 seed finally takes down a #1. Let's not get carried away here. Syracuse still went 31-2 on the season and have very good players. Melo's suspension puts a serious hit on their National Championship dreams, but his absence doesn't suddenly make them incapable of winning a game in the NIT either. If you had the 'Cuse winning it all you may have to go back a round or two and rethink your strategy, but it doesn't mean you need to start over from scratch.

So, there are just a few things to keep in mind as you prepare for four of the greatest days on the sports calendar. Enjoy the games, everyone!