Help With Your NCAA Basketball Bracket for You Non College Basketball Fans

 

This is a bracket...

The calendar is quickly marching into late March and you know what that means… we basketball fans nationwide are gearing up for the annual weeks-long party that is March Madness. Regular season schedules are winding down and seeding for the conference tournaments is being cemented. Finally, my friends, the Big Dance will begin once again.

And that means NCAA basketball bracket pools. Tons of bracket pools. Office pools. Friendly pools. Online pools. Even billion dollar pools. Enough pools to submerge a small country. They’re so popular even non-basketball fans get in on the action.

So if you’re a non fan looking to join the office pool, and you can’t tell a Jayhawk from a Tar Heel, or a Villanova Wildcat from a Kentucky Wildcat, filling out your brackets can be a difficult and daunting task. And since this is supposed to be fun—and a great way for non fans to get in on the excitement—here are a few tips to fill out your bracket, and not look like you have no idea what you are doing. Or come in last, behind Sally, that intern with the weird bangs.

Tip 1: Pick The Top Seeds
Yeah, this is the lazy man’s way of getting through the brackets, but no matter what your sports-stat-spewing buddies tell you, this is probably the most popular way to pick your brackets: simply pick whatever seed is higher. While this may seem unimaginative and almost like cheating, if you don’t really know what you are doing it’s almost fool-proof. After all, the guys who do the seeding know maore about the teams’ strengths than you do.

And although many upsets do occur—and you will get burned by them—the fact remains that the higher seed usually had the stronger season, and statistically has a better chance to win. So overall this gives you the chance to stick around in your office pool through at least the first couple of rounds.

Tip 2: Expect Upsets
Like I mentioned in Tip 1, upsets are going to happen. So another way to fill out a bracket is to take advantage of that fact and pick some of the popular upsets. Now, a 2 seed will most likely beat a 15, a 3 will usually beat a 14, and so on. BUT, there are certain matchups that are always good for an upset. Like a 6 seed vs. an 11 seed, or a 7 vs. 10. And 8 seeds battling a 9 seed routinely deliver great games that many times end up in favor of the lower seed. If you pick a 1, 2, 3, or 4 seed to win in the first few rounds that's a pretty safe bet, but games that involve seeds 5-12 always end up busting a few brackets. Stay ahead of the curve, expect the upsets, and pick a few.

Tip 3: Do Some Research
Finally, fire up your laptop and do some research. After all, there’s money at stake here. And pride. So put in a couple of hours online soaking up some stats and opinions. And holy crap will you find opinions… All of the major sports networks are crammed with hot takes, videos, stories, point/counterpoints and endless predictions that give advice on how to pick your bracket. They’ll tell you the top teams, the bottom teams, as well as teams that could pull off an upset.

With the amount of coverage that the NCAA tournament draws, it’ll take you no time to skim a few articles and make more educated picks this March. For example, a great tool to take advantage of is CBSSports.com March Madness coverage, which combines traditional television viewing with comprehensive real time statistics and tournament news.

This time of year is one of the most exciting in sports. Not only for those of us that love the game but also for those of you that haven’t watched a college basketball game ever. But regardless of where you stand, filling out brackets has become a tradition for many in March, so you might as well join us, and fill yours out will some idea or strategy. Otherwise, you’re Intern Sally’s bitch until next March.