It's that time again! It's time for March Madness.
Like everyone year, I fill out a bracket for the NCAA's Tournament. Although, the circumstances in this year also put a damper on the traditionally fun sports season. I did watch more basketball this year, but still not nearly as much as pre-pandemic levels.
Anyways, here are my takes for this year. I filled it out at ESPN.
As you can see, I do have biases against the SEC. In particular, teams such as Alabama and Auburn. While I picked them as upsets by lower seeds, they very well could come out on top and even go deep in the Tournament. That's the beauty of it. These games are all about who can be the most consistent in their performance. I would have chosen Gonzaga to go deep, but the odds are usually against the team with a stellar record.
Of course, being a Villanova fan, I have inherited a certain pride about the teams in Big East. I believe they are good enough to go deeper than their seeds suggest. After all, some of the lowest-seeded champions and runner-ups came from that conference. It does bother me, however, that Villanova is a 2 seed. Their performance tends to be questionable the higher seed they receive. These are feelings based on past trends.
Wish I could say the same for BYU's performance. At least they still have winning records. Hopefully, after they transition into the Big 12 for some years, they might get better. Nah, they aren't gonna go far in the NIT either.
I felt it was appropriate to have Baylor as the champion this year. Is it the right choice? Time will tell. I never cared too much for the final scores of these games, so I made them up based on nothing.
The little basketball I did watch this season wasn't enough for me to have a strong conviction about the higher-seeded teams. Who knows? I could be way off base and we might have Arizona as the champion this year. Or, Gonzaga may finally take one home after being so close several times this past decade.
Anyways, enjoy the Madness. The first two rounds are when we see how hilariously wrong we are about our choices.