There is no exact science to filling out a bracket. So much ends up being a result of gut feeling, intuition (male or female) and good, old fashioned luck. So what we have here are tips to the novice bracket filler-outter.
1. No No. 16 seed has ever beaten a No. 1, so just forget about those games altogether and advance the No. 1s on to the second round.
2. Don't go putting all your No. 1 seeds in the Final Four. They might be the best teams on paper, but since 1979, it has never happened. The closest it ever came was in 1993, when three No. 1s and a No. 2 made it.
3. Pick your upsets carefully. It's inevitable that a No. 12, 13 or 14 seed will win in the first two days, but trying to pick which one is almost impossible. Look for a team that has a veteran starting five. A No. 12 seed with four seniors and one junior will be more likely to reach the Sweet 16 than one that has a bunch of sophomores starting.
4. There is no such thing as "Team X is due." Just because Washington State has never won the NCAA Tournament, it doesn't mean they are going to run through the bracket and win it all.
5. Watch out for injuries. If a team's star has a serious injury, it would be wise to keep that team out of the Final Four. In 2000, Cincinnati didn't have Kenyon Martin but was still awarded a No. 2 seed. The result? The Bearcats lost to Tulsa in the second round.
6. OK, we know you are a big Texas A&M-Corpus Christi fan. You love your Islanders and are excited they are in the NCAA Tournament. That's great. Now, don't be a homer and have the Islanders facing UCLA in the final. Be objective.
7. Don't underestimate the familiarity factor. If two teams already played this year, take a look at what happened between those two teams in the regular season and whether or not they faced off in their conference tournament. It's rare that a team can beat another three times in the same season.
8. Have fun. This is the NCAA Tournament! The greatest sporting event in the history of sports!
And if all that fails, close your eyes and pick a team -- you never know, you might end up with the two that end up squaring off the championship game.
Monday, March 12, 2007
More Tourney FYIs...
Your best chance to knock off top seeds comes in the Final Four, where they are 19-17. They are 214-26 in the first three rounds.
You have a 1 in 5.7 billion chance of correctly predicting every game in the NCAA Tournament.
69 percent of No. 1 seeds make the Elite 8, but only once has the Final Four had three No. 1 teams.
11 times two No. 1 seeds have reached the Final Four
Never have all four No. 1 seeds advanced to college hoops' Mecca.
No. 2 seeds are 80-4 in Round 1, but 55-29 in Round 2
Of the 20 No. 2 seeds in the tournament since 2002, nine have been upset by a No. 7 or 10 seed in Round 2.
You have a 1 in 5.7 billion chance of correctly predicting every game in the NCAA Tournament.
69 percent of No. 1 seeds make the Elite 8, but only once has the Final Four had three No. 1 teams.
11 times two No. 1 seeds have reached the Final Four
Never have all four No. 1 seeds advanced to college hoops' Mecca.
No. 2 seeds are 80-4 in Round 1, but 55-29 in Round 2
Of the 20 No. 2 seeds in the tournament since 2002, nine have been upset by a No. 7 or 10 seed in Round 2.
Tourney FYIs...
Since 2002, on average, 9.2 upsets per year (games in which an underdog knocks off a team at least four seeds higher) have occurred.
Two 12-seeds or higher have advanced to the Second Round in 20 of the past 21 years.
No No. 16 team has ever toppled Goliath, although four No. 15 seeds have been giant killers and advanced to the Second Round. Although, Patrick Ewing wakes up in cold sweats over Princeton.
Since 1985, two No. 11 seeds (George Mason and LSU) have advanced to the Final Four, but there has never been a No. 7, 9 or 10 seed make it in that time.
The No. 11 seed is 26-63 in the first round and 11-15 in the second.
The bottom seeds, seeds 13-16, have faired poorly in the tournament, having won a meager six second round games in the past 22 years (1985-2006). Cleveland St. in 1986 and Chattanooga in 1997 are the only 14 seeds that have reached the Sweet 16.
Thoughts to control the March Madness...
As you prepare to fill in the rest of the blanks, here are a few facts to keep in mind.
1. 14 of the past 16 champions have been either a 1- or 2-seed.
2. Since 1979, at least one No. 3 or higher seed has made it to the Final Four.
3. Since 1997, 12 No. 10 seeds have made it to the Sweet Sixteen.
4. Only three times since 1985 have three No. 1 seeds made it to the Final four.
5. Since the inception of the Coach's Poll 15 years ago, the No. 1-ranked team before the start of the postseason has been in the national championship seven times and has won the championship five of those times. Ohio St is currently ranked No. 1.
6. 87 percent of Final Four teams come from the top four seeds.
1. 14 of the past 16 champions have been either a 1- or 2-seed.
2. Since 1979, at least one No. 3 or higher seed has made it to the Final Four.
3. Since 1997, 12 No. 10 seeds have made it to the Sweet Sixteen.
4. Only three times since 1985 have three No. 1 seeds made it to the Final four.
5. Since the inception of the Coach's Poll 15 years ago, the No. 1-ranked team before the start of the postseason has been in the national championship seven times and has won the championship five of those times. Ohio St is currently ranked No. 1.
6. 87 percent of Final Four teams come from the top four seeds.
March Madness is here...
Reminder....LOHD is conducting and sponsoring a College Basketball Pick'em Contest. LOHD has chosen to use Yahoo Fantasy sports for the scoring and so forth. But the winner will get a prize from LOHD. Maybe the top 3 will get a prize but we will get into that later on. First thing you need to do is sign up. Go to http://fantasysports.yahoo.com and sign in or sign up. From there choose to participate in the College Pick'm contest. You guys can follow instructions I hope. But you need the Group ID # which is 53193. Enter that and the password which is -- carolina
Also make your picks by March 15th.
Also make your picks by March 15th.
Poor Tigers...
Clemson started the basketball season 17-0, yet when the time came to play the games that count they were shooting "air balls." Clemson is the first BCS conference team in history to start a season 17-0 and miss the NCAA tournament.BUT
Clemson University's men's basketball team received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Sunday night and will play host to East Tennessee State in a first-round game Wednesday.
The game will start at 6 p.m. at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Clemson (21-10), which is headed to the NIT for the third straight year, harbored NCAA ambitions to the end.
The Tigers started the season 17-0, but finished by losing 10 of their final 14 games, then lost to Florida State last Thursday in the opening round of the ACC Tournament. The Tigers were not one of the seven Atlantic Coast Conference teams named to the 65-team NCAA tournament field.
Clemson is seeded first in the South Regional of the NIT. If the Tigers continue to win, their first three games would be at home.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Friday Trivia III
1. How many NCAA Baseball Tournaments has South Carolina been to?
2. Who won the Battle of Hastings? When? Where was he from? What was he known as there?
3. What high school is portrayed in the movie "Hoosiers"? What is the real high school the story is based on?
4. How many companies make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average?
5. How many counties are there in South Carolina?
6. On Seinfeld, why can't George Costanza carry pens in his pants pockets?
7. What / where is the lowest point in the United States?
8. When was the 1st income tax in US history?
9. When was the last ACC basketball title South Carolina won?
BONUS: When was the last one Clemson won?
10. Who caught Doug Flutie's hail mary pass against Miami.
2. Who won the Battle of Hastings? When? Where was he from? What was he known as there?
3. What high school is portrayed in the movie "Hoosiers"? What is the real high school the story is based on?
4. How many companies make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average?
5. How many counties are there in South Carolina?
6. On Seinfeld, why can't George Costanza carry pens in his pants pockets?
7. What / where is the lowest point in the United States?
8. When was the 1st income tax in US history?
9. When was the last ACC basketball title South Carolina won?
BONUS: When was the last one Clemson won?
10. Who caught Doug Flutie's hail mary pass against Miami.
LOHD College Basketball Pickm Contest...
Dear readers....LOHD is conducting and sponsoring a College Basketball Pick'em Contest. we have chosen to use Yahoo Fantasy sports for the scoring and so forth. But the winner will get a prize from LOHD. Maybe the top 3 will get a prize but we will get into that later on.
First thing you need to do is sign up. Go to http://fantasysports.yahoo.com and sign in or sign up. From there choose to participate in the College Pick'm contest. You guys can follow instructions I hope. But you need the Group ID # which is 53193. Enter that and the password which is -- carolina
From there name your team and the first of next week you will need to make your picks after they are released on Sunday.
Any questions? Now go sign up! LOHD will be blogging about it on this site so check back soon! We will release our predictions for the final four and losers of games....should be fun but first thing is to register your team!!!
First thing you need to do is sign up. Go to http://fantasysports.yahoo.com and sign in or sign up. From there choose to participate in the College Pick'm contest. You guys can follow instructions I hope. But you need the Group ID # which is 53193. Enter that and the password which is -- carolina
From there name your team and the first of next week you will need to make your picks after they are released on Sunday.
Any questions? Now go sign up! LOHD will be blogging about it on this site so check back soon! We will release our predictions for the final four and losers of games....should be fun but first thing is to register your team!!!
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