Tips for Filling Out Your Bracket

The college basketball season is officially over the NCAA tournament bracket has been officially filled. I'm not here to argue which team doesn't deserve to be in the tournament or what team got screwed. I'm here to give you advice on filling out your bracket. Filling out brackets is highly random scientific and has been researched for many years. I've done my own research and here are my tips for filling out a tournament bracket.

Always Bet On A 12th Seed Advancing: You always see experts saying that at least one 12 seed will advance to the 2nd 3rd round. And it's absolutely true. You see there's always a 12th seed that is underrated and a 5th seed that is overrated. Looking at the match ups this year, I would definitely bet on Wisconsin losing to Ole Miss. Wisconsin is one of those teams year in and year out that always loses in the 1st 2nd and 3rd rounds. I have a reason why I don't bet on Wisconsin. That's the next tip.

There Are Certain Coaches Who Shouldn't Be Trusted: Either a coach is just plain unlucky (Jamie Dixon) or they're just bad in-game coaches that get exposed in the tournament (Vanderbilt) but they make it every year. The coaches I don't trust this year are Bo Ryan (Wisconsin), Mark Few (Gonzaga), Steve Alford (New Mexico), whoever the Missouri coach is because that school is unlucky, and John Beilein (Michigan). I wouldn't bet on these teams making it into the Sweet 16.

There Are Coaches To Be Trusted: On the flip side, there are coaches who you can absolutely trust to at least advance to the Sweet 16. Tom Izzo is at the top of that list. Depending on the team, Coach K is there. Ditto for Bill Self. I trust Thad Matta in the west bracket than any other coach there.

There's Always An Upset In The 1st 2nd Round: There's always an upset, but it's never the team the "experts" say it is. A couple of years ago Belmont was all the rage and then they lost in the 2nd round. When you hear Bilas or Dickie V talking about a Belmont type of school, immediately bet against them and take a chance on another low seeded school. The way Florida's season ended, I would maybe take a chance on Northwestern State.

More Likely Than Not, Your Bracket Will Bust: There isn't a more random event than the NCAA tournament. Yeah there are years when the number 1 overall seed wins the tournament, but the rest of the teams make the tournament a complete crapshoot. What you know or what the experts know, it's probably wrong. You know nothing about the tournament because it's a single elimination tournament.

So enjoy the college basketball tournament and good luck with your bracket.