STOP THE MADNESS!
The Final Four Dos and Don’ts of Bracketing
DO look for a talented depth pool. Of course, not every national champion team is going to have three bonafide NBA players on its roster like Florida did last year. But if you’re expecting a team to make it to the Final Four without a single top prospect, tell Tattoo we said hello because you’re living on Fantasy Island. Depth, especially skilled depth, gets squads far into the brackets. Memphis (with Chris Douglas-Roberts, Derrick Rose and Robert Dozier) and North Carolina (Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington, Ty Lawson) probably have the most future pros on their teams. That’s not to say teams like Kansas and Duke don’t have the legs for a long stretch of dancing, too.
DON’T pick big upsets beyond the first weekend. Last year only four games were won by teams that were more than one seed lower than their opponent. Simple translation: Don’t load your board with upsets. Don’t get us wrong though. We know that things sometimes happen if a school is named Valparaiso or Gonzaga. That said, there are two basic rules for picking upsets: 1) Don’t do anything crazy beyond the first weekend. Teams that are supposed to win usually do by the Sweet 16; 2) In the first round, go with a No. 11 over a No. 6 upset (this year the Kansas St/USC and Baylor/Purdue games sure look tasty) not the 13/4 or 12/5. And whatever you do, never, ever, ever, ever pick a 14, 15 or 16 seed to win… unless you’re the president of said institution.
DO seek out a team that has a strong interior presence. Though point guards are a school’s engine, the centers and big forwards are the radiator—without it cool at the right times, the whole thing can blow up. Last year’s Final Four was absolutely loaded with skilled giants: Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert, Ohio State’s Greg Oden and Florida’s Al Horford. This March’s top bigs are Hansbrough, UCLA’s Kevin Love, Indiana’s D.J. White and Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody. The Irish haven’t gotten much ink on these pages because Harangody doesn’t have a lot of help (See the first paragraph).
DON’T always follow the crowd. If announcers Billy Packer and Jay Bilas are gushing over the Mountain West champ possibly upsetting the third-best ACC team, don’t just take their word for it. By all means, check out the squad’s regular season out-of-conference record. And while we’re on onside influences, put a filter on what you internalize from the in-office chatter. We can just hear that know-it-all at the water cooler now: “Those Volunteers are gonna rise from their late February shakiness in the tournament.” He could be right. But even if you follow his lead, it won’t help your case all that much because you two will have the same bracket. The dough is in doing your own thing.
The Final Four Dos and Don’ts of Bracketing
DO look for a talented depth pool. Of course, not every national champion team is going to have three bonafide NBA players on its roster like Florida did last year. But if you’re expecting a team to make it to the Final Four without a single top prospect, tell Tattoo we said hello because you’re living on Fantasy Island. Depth, especially skilled depth, gets squads far into the brackets. Memphis (with Chris Douglas-Roberts, Derrick Rose and Robert Dozier) and North Carolina (Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington, Ty Lawson) probably have the most future pros on their teams. That’s not to say teams like Kansas and Duke don’t have the legs for a long stretch of dancing, too.
DON’T pick big upsets beyond the first weekend. Last year only four games were won by teams that were more than one seed lower than their opponent. Simple translation: Don’t load your board with upsets. Don’t get us wrong though. We know that things sometimes happen if a school is named Valparaiso or Gonzaga. That said, there are two basic rules for picking upsets: 1) Don’t do anything crazy beyond the first weekend. Teams that are supposed to win usually do by the Sweet 16; 2) In the first round, go with a No. 11 over a No. 6 upset (this year the Kansas St/USC and Baylor/Purdue games sure look tasty) not the 13/4 or 12/5. And whatever you do, never, ever, ever, ever pick a 14, 15 or 16 seed to win… unless you’re the president of said institution.
DO seek out a team that has a strong interior presence. Though point guards are a school’s engine, the centers and big forwards are the radiator—without it cool at the right times, the whole thing can blow up. Last year’s Final Four was absolutely loaded with skilled giants: Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert, Ohio State’s Greg Oden and Florida’s Al Horford. This March’s top bigs are Hansbrough, UCLA’s Kevin Love, Indiana’s D.J. White and Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody. The Irish haven’t gotten much ink on these pages because Harangody doesn’t have a lot of help (See the first paragraph).
DON’T always follow the crowd. If announcers Billy Packer and Jay Bilas are gushing over the Mountain West champ possibly upsetting the third-best ACC team, don’t just take their word for it. By all means, check out the squad’s regular season out-of-conference record. And while we’re on onside influences, put a filter on what you internalize from the in-office chatter. We can just hear that know-it-all at the water cooler now: “Those Volunteers are gonna rise from their late February shakiness in the tournament.” He could be right. But even if you follow his lead, it won’t help your case all that much because you two will have the same bracket. The dough is in doing your own thing.
My Final Four Picks
: Stanford, Kansas, UNC and UCLASweet 16 Surprises
: Kansas State and Baylor
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