GABE BARNARD
The March Madness tournament is approaching, and it is time for many basketball fans to begin completing their brackets for the competition. Before rushing into creating a bracket, here are a few tips that may help result in success.
- Looking at a bracket, it is sometimes easy to decide that if one team is ranked higher than the other, they are obviously going to be victorious. However, this is not the case
, a team that is ranked at ninth can easily beat a team ranked at a higher location. Therefore, while making a bracket, do not let the rankings of the teams strictly determine the ending of the game. - Sometimes, it is easy to go along picking the favorite teams or powerhouses from last year to win games. Teams gain and lose key players every year, and these lineup changes can affect a team’s performance, making it better or worse than the same team that participated in March Madness last season. Try having a little faith in the underdogs that didn’t achieve much success last year because upsets are common in a tournament as big as the one that is about to be played.
- Going along with the previous point, it is good to take risks sometimes when picking teams for the competition. In the event of an upset, a risk taken can pay off very well, especially for those who are involved in a pool with friends or coworkers.
For a better chance at winning a pool, create a wide variety of different brackets that don’t predict the same results. Project a mix of expected victors as well as unexpected ones, and may the odds be ever in your favor.
