March Madness is approaching fast and on Sunday, we found out what the NCAA Tournament would look like. But before you start your bracket, you must ask yourself, “What type of bracket personality do I have”. In this post, we will look at the some of the most ridiculous strategies that people use in order to win their pools. Hell, perhaps you’re even on this list.

1.       “Of course a #1 seed will beat a #4!”

Maybe, you’re “that guy”. A guy who ends up with a perfect bracket; and no, it does not mean you picked every game right. What it means is you were able to use logic and perfectly pick your bracket. Somehow you ended up with a bracket that has no upsets at all. Your bracket looks exactly like something that a person with no knowledge about college basketball made by taking the easy way out and selecting the higher seeds. Get ready to be laughed at by your office pool.

2.       “Why do you have a #10 seed and #14 seed in your Final Four?”

Perhaps, you’re this guy, the guy who was way too overzealous about a particular team. The guy who believes that he has somehow uncovered the next George Mason (do your research people). Maybe you somehow got that pick right in the early rounds, you know, the huge upset that destroyed everyone else’s bracket; and then fell in love with that team. Maybe it was a #14 seed from a Central Florida University that you never heard of. You can imagine these kids going into the tournament, hungry for the title,  with no one believing in them except themselves.  But thats all they need, because once they get there they will have pulled the biggest upset in college sports history. You can picture the joy on their faces, and imagine a compilation the team going up to the podium, the “freeze frame” the coach holding the trophy above his head, teammates surrounding him, joy and pride on their faces. End scene. There’s only one problem, this isn’t Hollywood. Be respectful towards the upsets, some people dreams have been crushed.

3.       “Did your 4-year old son pick your bracket?”

It’s understandable for people to not have a great amount of knowledge for college basketball. But honestly, not all of the games are a coin flip. Don’t be the guy whose bracket looks like you threw darts to make your decisions. Especially, if you have two #11 seeds and a #14 seed all advancing to the Sweet 16. Also, don’t pick teams just because you like their name. Just because Xavier reminds of Professor X from the X-men doesn’t mean they’re going to Final Four.

4.       “Did you know….ughhhhhhh!”

It’s possible that you are this person, or have met this type of person: The Statistic Man! Don’t we all love the person who thinks he is so much smarter than everyone else that he can’t help but tell you some ridiculous fact about something you didn’t even care about in the first place? This person probably doesn’t change around March Madness. They’ll probably come up with a fact about how Louisville hasn’t lost a game in the NCAA tournament when the game location is less than 800 miles away from Louisville since 2005. Are you kidding me? Look, it’s nice to know some facts (pretty much every tournament has had a #4 or #5 seed defeated in the first round) and play towards them, but there are “facts” out there that are ludicrous. So don’t base your decision on any fact that looks like this; “Duke has only won the national title when they were ranked #1, #5, #7, #12 in the nation, but only when they were seeded #1, #2, or #4 in the NCAA tournament and wearing their slightly darker blue jerseys (probably not true)”. If a “fact” sounds outrageous, it probably is, use common sense, don’t follow it.

5.       “Dicky V FTW!”

Sometimes we can’t always make our decisions for ourselves. Occasionally, we need some advice. Especially when that decision is who going to win between an #8 and #9 seed (I hate those games). This is when ESPN and the internet become your best friend. You spend countless hours searching for picks that “experts” have made. But, you eventually end up on some blogger’s site and that writer convinces you that a #5 seed is going to win it all (by the way, a #5 seed has never won the NCAA tournament). So be careful, listen to the “real experts” and follow your gut. Or better yet, listen to a friend of yours. At least if they make a bad decision, you can berate them about it. It’s better than smashing your computer, and more fun too.

6. “I’ve been up for 62 hours straight… JUST FILLING OUT MY BRACKETS”

When it comes to March Madness, let’s all be honest, we all fill out multiple brackets. If you’re like most people, maybe you’ll fill three or four solid brackets, with a handful of brackets that are filled with predictions that didn’t pan out. Perhaps you’re a little more hardcore, and you filled out 10-15 brackets that you think are awesome. Then there’s the guy who thinks he has the time to pick every conceivable bracket in the realm of the universe. This guy has made so many brackets that he has killed a tree….by himself. This guy has made so many brackets that he has forgotten what human contact feels like. He has made so many brackets, that he would put Jaime Madrox to shame (comic book reference). By all means, fill out as many brackets as your heart desires. But I can assure you, you are most likely not going to be able to fill out enough brackets to get that fabled “PERFECT” bracket.

So whoever you are, and whichever type of bracket personality you may have, we still love you at Sportchaser and remember to enjoy the Madness of March Madness. It’s one of the best times to be a sports fan. We wish you all the best of luck in all of your pools and leagues.

– Jon