
Tourney Time is Izzo Time!!!!
March Madness!! Brings back memories of taking Thursday and Friday off, meeting Pete and Pat at the Gathering Place, lining up pitchers of whatever sounded good on tap and watching lots of basketball.
Of course, it's also that time of year when everyone fills out their brackets and follows the tourney. That is until a couple of their Final Four picks bite the dust and they are mired way back in the standings in the pool.
Can't say I follow college basketball very much. I watched the Spartans a bunch this year and some other B1G games but that was about it. Every once in awhile I would go over to Ellis' deck and pretend to watch the Tar Heels play - but I spent most of the time knocking back some Red Breast and catching up on things. Got to admit I didn't pay much attention to the games. Turns out UNC actually made it to the tourney. Who knew? Guess I should have paid more attention.
That said, I usually do OK in my pools at least until the MSU gets bounced. I always take at least one bracket and have the Sparties winning it all. I never want to be in a position where MSU wins it all and I'm left sheepishly stammerring that I took some one else.
Of course, it's also that time of year when everyone fills out their brackets and follows the tourney. That is until a couple of their Final Four picks bite the dust and they are mired way back in the standings in the pool.
Can't say I follow college basketball very much. I watched the Spartans a bunch this year and some other B1G games but that was about it. Every once in awhile I would go over to Ellis' deck and pretend to watch the Tar Heels play - but I spent most of the time knocking back some Red Breast and catching up on things. Got to admit I didn't pay much attention to the games. Turns out UNC actually made it to the tourney. Who knew? Guess I should have paid more attention.
That said, I usually do OK in my pools at least until the MSU gets bounced. I always take at least one bracket and have the Sparties winning it all. I never want to be in a position where MSU wins it all and I'm left sheepishly stammerring that I took some one else.

This is what happens when you start picking upsets
So, like the rules for picking the Bowl Games here are some tips
to stay in contention longer in your pools
1. Pick your Final Four first and work backwards. Starting in the opening rounds and working forward inevitably leads to leaving you with some unintentional Cinderella going to Atlanta
2. Take a few upsets if you want (especially an arch rival – Michigan is always biting the dust for me) in the opening rounds but take them out in the second
3. That said the chances of a top four seed getting bounced in the first round are pretty slim. Since 1985
a. No. 1 seeds are 88-0
b. No. 2 seeds are 82-6 – You’ll hear stuff about 15s upsetting 2s and it did happen twice last year but from 2002-2011 it didn’t happen at all
c. No. 3 seeds are 78-10
d. No. 4 seeds are 69-19.
4. The chances of a low seed winning it all are also pretty slim. Since 1998 every tourney winner has been a 3 seed or higher.
5. Of the last 48 Final Four teams 41 have been top 4 seeds and 4 of the remaining seven were 5 seeds. Only three Final Four teams in the last 12 years have not been a top 5 seed – Butler, VCU and George Mason. And since 1985 only seven teams in the Final Four have been 6 seeds or lower.
6. Keep an eye on location as playing at “home” can be a huge advantage – Louisville, MSU, Kansas
State, Ohio State, Cal, Michigan, and Kansas open in their back yards.
7. Be careful not to take teams fading down the stretch. This year that would include Creighton, Syracuse and
Miami
So factoring it all in I went with a lot of high seeds this year. Here is one of my brackets for this years
tournament.
GO JUMBO!! Oct 26th at the LVH Hotel
to stay in contention longer in your pools
1. Pick your Final Four first and work backwards. Starting in the opening rounds and working forward inevitably leads to leaving you with some unintentional Cinderella going to Atlanta
2. Take a few upsets if you want (especially an arch rival – Michigan is always biting the dust for me) in the opening rounds but take them out in the second
3. That said the chances of a top four seed getting bounced in the first round are pretty slim. Since 1985
a. No. 1 seeds are 88-0
b. No. 2 seeds are 82-6 – You’ll hear stuff about 15s upsetting 2s and it did happen twice last year but from 2002-2011 it didn’t happen at all
c. No. 3 seeds are 78-10
d. No. 4 seeds are 69-19.
4. The chances of a low seed winning it all are also pretty slim. Since 1998 every tourney winner has been a 3 seed or higher.
5. Of the last 48 Final Four teams 41 have been top 4 seeds and 4 of the remaining seven were 5 seeds. Only three Final Four teams in the last 12 years have not been a top 5 seed – Butler, VCU and George Mason. And since 1985 only seven teams in the Final Four have been 6 seeds or lower.
6. Keep an eye on location as playing at “home” can be a huge advantage – Louisville, MSU, Kansas
State, Ohio State, Cal, Michigan, and Kansas open in their back yards.
7. Be careful not to take teams fading down the stretch. This year that would include Creighton, Syracuse and
Miami
So factoring it all in I went with a lot of high seeds this year. Here is one of my brackets for this years
tournament.
GO JUMBO!! Oct 26th at the LVH Hotel