I’m going to forgo railing against the selection committee for IU and Butler’s HORRIFIC seeding and the complete disservice they’ve done college basketball by putting North Carolina, Tennessee and Louisville all in the same regional. As millions prepare to fill out their bracket and try to outsmart their friends and co-workers, we thought we’d offer you some tips to keep your bracket un-busted this March Madness.

Tip #1 - Forget about the site. I’ve heard people talk a thousand times about where the regional is played and at the end of the day, it matters very little. The arenas where tournament games are played doesn’t closely resemble anything that could be considered a homecourt advantage so tread carefully before picking #10 South Alabama over #7 Butler just because the game is being played in Birmingham, a five hour drive up I-65 from Mobile.

Tip #2 - Forget about Cinderella. The number one biggest mistake that people make when filling out brackets is trying to pick the upset. It’s a fool’s errand. This season will be more difficult than most when it comes to picking games because of the parody that has plagued most of the team’s in college basketball all season long. I usually try to limit myself to two or three first-round upsets every bracket because 9 times out of 10 the upsets you pick and the upsets that the talking heads call for never come to fruition. You’d rather be surprised when Austin Peay upends Texas than busting your bracket when the Longhorns win the South Regional.

Tip #3 - Avoid conversations with friends and family about your bracket. Don’t let your best friend talk you into that “can’t miss” Cornell upset. Picking a good bracket is like taking the SATs, it’s always best to trust your first instincts. Until tip-off Thursday afternoon, avoid conversations about your bracket like the plague unless it’s with a clueless co-worker or your girlfriend who’s picking her bracket based on mascots, team colors and cool names.

BRACKET ETIQUETTE - One sheet to rule them all. Making a bracket’s about making tough decisions and ones you don’t feel particularly confident in. No one’s going to be impressed that you picked UMBC over Georgetown on your 16th sheet.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 17th, 2008 at 8:08 am and is filed under College Basketball, March Madness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.