So much more sense this way
March 19, 2013 8:29 AM   Subscribe

"Our brackets have culled out all of the superfluous information and reduced the [NCAA] tournament to what matters most: colors and logos."
posted by Iridic (17 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
This is wonderful. A much better methodology than my previous one of trying to randomly select, slightly favoring the 3 or 4 teams I know.
posted by DoubleLune at 8:37 AM on March 19, 2013


Periodically, I help my father choose winners for his NFL pool, and I always base it on some combination of team name and whether I like the city, plus some decision making on the size of the spread. I usually come in the top third or so.
posted by jeather at 8:38 AM on March 19, 2013


Alternately, here's Nate Silver's analysis
posted by ultraviolet catastrophe at 8:54 AM on March 19, 2013


Here's how I did my first bracket ever:

1) Have my girlfriend's alma mater beat all the other teams and win the championship.
2) Choose other teams based on stats
2a) Except where step 2) conflicts with step 1)

Go Zags!
posted by A Bad Catholic at 9:04 AM on March 19, 2013


I always did brackets strictly by seed, except for having my alma mater go all the way.

Sadly, that latter scenario won't be in play this year. *sigh*
posted by kmz at 9:10 AM on March 19, 2013


I'm rooting for Butler, just so Blues II & III can run on the court at the end of the games.
posted by pxe2000 at 9:16 AM on March 19, 2013


I would like to do brackets based upon which mascot would win in a fight. For example, the Florida Gators would obviously beat the Minnesota Golden Gophers because a gator would eat a gopher (sorry, Goldy).

Slate does have the "Mascot Bracket", but it's just a picture of the mascot. Some of the mascots are obvious (I see an angry Cardinal and a Blue Devil) but some are kind of a mystery to me. Bear in a Panama Hat? A pioneer wagon? An orange thing?
posted by Elly Vortex at 9:18 AM on March 19, 2013


There is no mascot, human or animal, fish or fowl, that could not best a duck in a fight to the death.

It does not bode well for me.
posted by Danf at 9:19 AM on March 19, 2013


I dunno, Danf, I'd say that the duck would be able to peck away at an Orange (Syracuse) if you give it enough time.
posted by Elly Vortex at 9:22 AM on March 19, 2013 [1 favorite]


Indiana.......it feels like its about time

Crimson and Cream, classic colors, candystripe warm-ups from the 50s, and a mildly derogatory slang term for the state residents in place of a stupid animal.
posted by C.A.S. at 9:27 AM on March 19, 2013 [1 favorite]


Bear in a Panama Hat?

That's Ole Miss's Rebel Black Bear, a bear who fights to preserve slavery. You'll note that Cy, the Iowa State cardinal, grew an enormous anthropoid arm just for the pleasure of punching said bear out of the Elite Eight.
posted by Iridic at 9:28 AM on March 19, 2013 [1 favorite]


I entered a combined colour + mascot bracket in my brother's March Madness pool last year. I didn't come in last... but I did come in second-last.

(I had Crimson Tide going all the way, because, come on, best team name ever.)
posted by snorkmaiden at 9:51 AM on March 19, 2013


My system this year:

1. Indiana for the win (okay, I may be a teeny bit biased)
2. Figure out how they get there
3. Pick everything else.
posted by SisterHavana at 9:55 AM on March 19, 2013


I'm going to try the Coldwell Banker Bracket of Affordablity (article, Filled in bracket in PDF form). It has one simple heuristic:
Each year we fill out the NCAA Tournament bracket using the median sales price of homes in the towns of each school that’s part of the tournament field.
Which will be the only way to explain a 16 beating a 1.
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:29 AM on March 19, 2013


It pains me to say it, but go Crimson!.
posted by madcaptenor at 11:16 AM on March 19, 2013


My school's the first Canadian university in the NCAA — but apparently our team name isn't going over well in the US — the SFU Clan.

(The university was named after a Scottish explorer — everything's scottish themed, down to the Gung Haggis Fat Choy event for Chinese New Year.)

On the bright side, looks like our women's basketball team is doing well.
posted by wenat at 11:21 AM on March 19, 2013


Ha, thanks for the link, madcaptenor. I think I might be able to do OK in the first round, but after that it may get rough, as Indiana's the only 1 seed I have making the sweet 16; Louisville, Gonzaga, and Kansas just don't have strong enough math departments to keep going once the smaller schools are out of the picture.
posted by escabeche at 7:24 PM on March 19, 2013


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