March Madness: NCAA Basketball Bracket Assistance

What is March Madness you may ask? It is a special time of the year, mid-March through the first week of April, when a selected group of male and female college basketball teams will compete in a championship tournament. The madness ensues when a team that is expected to advance to the next round, loses by one or two points with 0.05 seconds left on the clock. These games are bananas and are exciting to watch. Last year was awesome!

Also, besides just watching the games, people around the world enjoy pressing their luck to see if they can determine the winners out of the 68 teams. This is where creating a bracket is key, so that you can earn bragging rights at work or with your friends. The more teams you select that actually advance to the next round, the more points you will receive as a whole. The bracket player that receives the most points is crowned the winner.

Creating a bracket is free and there is no money involved. I like to play for fun and test my math skills and research knowledge. It’s all about a game of chance. Statistics have proven that it is nearly impossible for anyone to have a perfect bracket. Meaning, no one will be able to correctly pick all of the winning teams round by round, all the way to the end of the championship. To prove this theory,  Warren Buffet (third richest man in the world) was willing to give away one billion dollars for a perfect bracket. Sadly, you have one in a billion chance of winning.

I respect the men’s teams, but I’m focusing on the women taking the NCAA by storm this year. Whether you consider yourself an advanced player or prefer to remain on the novice level, here are some beginner tips to help you get started.

Step 1: Selection Sunday is March 17

This date is critical. The NCAA committee will finalize the 68 teams that will compete and enable you to begin filling out your bracket. You can watch the reveal live on CBS, on NCAA.com, or on the March Madness Live app. Once the final teams have been chosen, you can begin step 2.

Step 2: Print the bracket

Visit the site NCAA Bracket website to print out a hard copy so you can review the individual rounds. Some prefer to pick teams digitally on the computer, but I like looking at a hard copy first. Writing my selections on paper makes me feel better.

The Women’s First Four begins March 20-21 and the First Round begins March 22-23. Therefore you have only have a few days to complete your bracket. Once your selections are made, you can compete with a March Madness group at work, with celebrities, or against family and friends. Yahoo.com or ESPN.com are great places to start filling out your brackets online. You can also win some fun prizes if your picks are really good.

Step 3: Research

This is another critical step. If you’re not much of a college basketball observer in the sense where you keep up with teams throughout the year, you need to do some research. Then again, if you’re not a competitive person this step is not for you. Some people like to choose teams for their bracket based on color or mascot. This process is cool and fun but not my total method of choice.

It is wise to break down the teams by their distinctive regions. I like to look at one region at a time and examine the team’s statistics for the first and second rounds. Then I allow myself to review the whole bracket to match-up my decisions.

One place in particular where you can gain some valuable insight on your picks is by viewing this NCAA Washington Post article. The Washington Post provides a thorough analysis on each of the teams competing in the tournament.

Overall, the main goal is to have fun and enjoy the experience. As a female, I take pride in playing against males that feel I have no clue of what I’m doing. It’s comical to see their faces in utter shock when my score surpasses their ego.

Each year my first and second round picks have been stellar. Once I enter the third round my bracket slowly begins to fade into a nonexistent dimension.

Social media is also hilarious due to memes and videos that are created when a bracket is dismantled. If you have never played before go ahead and give it a try. You just might enjoy it.