Sports

10 Tips to filling out your March Madness Brackets

By March 11, 2013June 18th, 2018No Comments
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march-madness-hoopsIt’s almost time to fill out those brackets! This Sunday the selections will be made for the NCAA Tournament and computer printers will be putting out more ink than an NBA tattoo artist. Some people fill out brackets for fun, some people do it for money, some do it for the love of the most exciting tournament in sports. Regardless of why you do it you are going to need some help in filling them out. That’s why I’m going to give you 10 tips to help you fill out your brackets.

  1. Who is the hottest team playing right now? Two years ago UCONN made one of the best runs anyone has ever seen in the tournament. Did I pick them to win it all? Of course not. I picked my favorite team for some reason. See #2.
  2. Do not pick your favorite team just because they are your favorite team. This is a big mistake that many people make and can cause you to shred your bracket to pieces.
  3. Seeds 11-14 and sometimes 15’s are dangerous. I’m talking Wilford Brimley diabetes dangerous. North Carolina fans will never forget Weber State or Harold “The Show” Arceneaux.
  4. Watch the conference tournaments, it will be some of the best played ball all year because some teams’ only chance of getting in will be by winning their conference tournament. Remember Syracuse in 2006? They where a #9 seed in the Big East Tournament and no where near getting into the NCAA tournament, but Gerry McManara went CRAZY and led the Orangemen to a birth by winning that tournament. It’s a good way to see who is hot, but more important, if a higher ranked team gets upset, that’s great fuel for going into the the big dance.
  5. Look back at team history in the tournament. Kansas and Florida are both good and have both won National Championships, but to me it seems they are dangerous picks to go far. They can make your bracket look worse than a Phil Spector hairdo, quickly.
  6. Never underestimate Tom Izzo. He is better at getting his team tournament ready than Hugh Hefner is at getting 18 year old blonde girls to take their clothes off.
  7. Just because Dick Vitale will talk highly of Duke from now until the tournament begins, it doesn’t mean anything. He does every year. Dude is Courtney Love type crazy. Lehigh last year. I rest my case.
  8. If your Father is a basketball fan, compare notes with him. You may have not listened to him when he told you not to smoke pot or to never sleep with a stripper, but take some advice from him on this one. Trust me.
  9. Going with your gut can be a really good thing, like the time I went with my gut and smoked pot and slept with a stripper. Too many times I have talked myself out of picks because of what I’ve heard from ESPN analysists and my bracket ends up looking like a 2 year old told me what to put. Those guys at ESPN still get paid no matter what. They’re blowing hot air most of the time. If you’ve kept up with teams all year. Go with that gut instinct.
  10. My Wife always fills out her bracket based on the colors of the teams uniforms, and her bracket was way better than mine last year. There you go, ladies.

This year could be a year of many upsets, so no matter what guys have fun with this, it only comes once a year. Do any of you out there have special tips that you use when filling out your bracket? We at Bacon sports would like to know.

John is a stand up comic that regularly performs at Side Splitters comedy club in Knoxville, TN. If you are in the area check him out. 

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John Upton

John Upton

John Upton is a stand up comic from Tazewell, TN. He has performed with Harland Williams, Brian Posehn, Guy Torry, Tammy Pescatelli, and many more. You can catch him on stage or at the bar watching sports at Side Splitters Comedy Club in Knoxville, TN.