Hear me out...Your definitive guide to bracket gold or bracket fire
March 15, 2017
It has been a crazy last three weeks but the NCAA men's basketball tournament starts tomorrow and I'm back to give you the best bracket advice in all of media.
Before jumping into my insights, tips and picks for this year's tournament, I have one housecleaning item to get to.
We need to get rid of these extra postseason tournaments. There should only be the NCAA and NIT. Every other postseason tournament is pointless. I understand that some of these teams want to keep playing basketball but too bad, win more meaningful games in the regular season.
Really it's only two postseason tournaments that need to go away, the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) and the College Insiders.com Tournament (CIT). The CBI has a few vaguely familiar teams but you'll still have to look them up on Google just to be sure. The CIT is a who's who of who the hell is that?
The only way we should all allow these tournaments to continue is if Google steps in as a major sponsor. They'll have to change the tournament name to "Google It" but unfortunately there can only be one. So the CBI and CIT can battle each other for their postseason lives.
Anything short of a Google It tournament is unacceptable and we in the sports nation should not put up with it.
Now on to the real tournament.
During the next three weeks there's going to be a lot on the line whether that's winning your office pool or grabbing the "I know more than you" championship belt from friends and family.
Some of what I say will be helpful in filling out your bracket, the rest will most certainly ignite your bracket into a blaze of glory.
It's up to you to figure out which is which, so good luck.
Take the No. 1-seeds in the first round
In most bracket pools you have one shot at filling out the winning bracket. While upsets are fun to hunt out, there's no need to look foolish taking a 16-seed to bring down a 1-seed. It has never happened and I know, I know the old adage of "never say, never" but it's not going to happen this year. All four 1-seeds have great guard play and are just overwhelming.
If you're weary of a 1-seed's chance have them get knocked out in the second round or Sweet 16 where it's more plausible. Just don't throw away easy points with a 16 over a 1.
Be wary of all non-Kansas Big 12 teams
I'm a Kansas fan and I've been burned by taking the other Big 12 teams deep too many times. What happens during the Big 12 season is that every damn team gives it their all vs. KU. Which overinflates these teams in my mind causing me to take them for deep runs in the tournament, only for them to flameout in spectacular fashion.
Stay away from those Big 12 teams not named Kansas; especially Iowa State.
Worry about the Final Four
There won't be any ESPN analyst in your office pool, so don't wring your hands over every pick. The Final Four is where the points, and the money, are at. There will be upsets but if your Final Four is intact after the first weekend or you have 3 of the 4 after the second weekend. You're in prime position.
Just like last season there isn't a dominant team in this tournament. Every favorite has a flaw; Duke, UCLA, and Kansas stink on defense, Gonzaga hasn't played a tough team in months, Villanova can't rebound and UNC lacks frontcourt depth.
Watch out for short-leash coaches
When things get tight against no-name schools these coaches tend to kick up their micromanagement, with weird rotations and wonky decisions. The top candidates in this category are Louisville's Rick Pitino, Kentucky's John Calipari, Baylor's Scott Drew, Villanova's Jay Wright and unfortunately Kansas' Bill Self.
If you ever hear an announcer say, "Wow, (player X) is getting more minutes than usual," and that player isn't lighting up the scoreboard. It's time to hit the panic button.
The ACC is trash
Before I go any further there are some good teams in the ACC but overall the league is overrated. Duke, Miami and UNC are the scary teams, everyone else shouldn't cause you to lose sleep at night.
Louisville is always an overrated team, UVA is one dimensional, Florida State has upset written all over them and Notre Dame doesn't have that "it" factor.
Pick your upsets but don't get wild with it
Probably the best part of filling out a bracket is picking the upsets correctly. One it's more ammo for telling your buddies you're always right, and two it gives you a little edge in your office pool.
Outside that don't go overboard with taking that 13-seed to the championship game. They're called Cinderella teams for a reason, at some point it ends and usually with a 20-point shellacking.
Defense wins championships but too much sends you packing
When it comes to basketball, I love defense and really do believe it wins championships. But you still need to score and if a team doesn't have a player that can create their own shot an early exit is on the horizon.
So don't take UVA to go far, while they play excellent, damn near beautiful defense, they're a bunch of bricklayers on offense.
Go with the best player
If you're having a hard time deciding between teams, side with the team who has the better player. This isn't a guarantee but team's that have the better player, or a hot hand, have a slight edge.
Experience is nice but it doesn't guarantee victory
Senior and junior heavy teams with tourney experience can make deep runs but it doesn't guarantee one. Case in point during last season's tournament a senior-loaded Northern Iowa team was up 12 on Texas A&M with 40 seconds left in the game. NIU blew the 12-point lead and lost in double-overtime and the craziest part was Texas A&M did not foul once when they tied the game up in regulation.
If you're really stuck
If you can't decide between two evenly matched teams here's a simple solution. Take the seed numbers of both teams, grab a non-basketball friend and ask them to pick between one of those numbers. Whatever number they choose that's the team you ride with, and I swear this has been a more successful method for me than anything else.
Thinking about it this might be a pretty damning fact.
If all else fails take the Jayhawks to win
That's right Kansas will take it all this season. Guard play is huge this time of year and the team with the best backcourt will go far; guess who has the best backcourt in the nation, the Jayhawks.
If this pick goes south, let this be a lesson to never go with your favorite team.
My Final Four picks: Kansas vs. UCLA, Villanova vs. Arizona
National Championship: Kansas over Villanova.