March Madness Brackets: Mascots to Magic 8-Balls

With 68 teams, the NCAA tournament is a near month-long event that is the marathon of basketball. Acting as a symbol of American pop culture, March Madness brackets are completed by everyone despite being a sports fan or not. The tournament brackets are fueled by the loads of excitement and upsets each round of the tournament possesses.

The top four seeds for the 2018 tournament are the University of Virginia in the South, Villanova University in the East, University of Kansas in the Midwest and Xavier University in the West. March 22-24 is the tournament’s Sweet 16, where 4 teams from each of the South, East, West, and Midwest regions will play for spots in the Elite Eight. Already, the top seed from the South has been eliminated from the tournament. This is an example of what makes the bracket prediction tricky and rewarding, as many Cinderella’s have been crowned over the years. While the majority of the season fans act as casual observers of sports, brackets provide a tangible interest of the sports world. Going beyond winning, filling out a bracket adds to the passion of and devotion of the tournament.

Based upon the innate human desire to win, the NCAA bracket has independently spawned an entire industry. From bracketology courses to online analysis sites, everyone is searching to have the perfect bracket. Ranging from basic online courses and blogs, to undergraduate college courses based on algorithms, the education surrounding bracketology is unlimited, and solving the outcome to the tournament is the ultimate goal.

Despite the analytical approach some take to filling out their March Madness bracket, others take a more nonsensical and mad approach when they complete theirs. Below are a few ideas I have on making the exhausting bracket decisions:

Mascot--Pick the cutest mascot between the teams.
Team Colors--Blue your favorite color? Pick all teams with blue uniforms.
Vacation Destinations--Pick each winner based upon the best vacation destination of the university's location.
Coin-flip--Heads higher seeded team advances; tails and the lower seeded team advances.
Find a child--Snatch the first child you see--that you know--and have them pick the winning teams.
Let the pet pick--Fido and Fluffy can paw at the teams of their choice, if you cut out the lists for them.
University Academics Ranking
Total season wins--Pick the teams with the greatest season game wins.
Magic 8-Ball--Reach into the future by shaking the Magic 8-Ball, and ask will one team beat another in the tournament.
Random Draw/Lottery--Have a random list based on computer generated results.
Ask Grandma--Have pie and coffee with Grandma, and let her share her wisdom with you.
Opposite of Significant Other/BF--Snatch a copy of another's bracket, and make yours the opposite.
Roll a die—If the die lands on an even number, then then the higher seed team wins; if it lands in an odd number, the lower seeded team wins.
Phone a Friend--Call up an old jock friend, and record their answers.