As March Madness gets underway, I figured I’d show off the four brackets (my father and) I filled out, complete with their own Friends-y names. I won’t waste your time with the whole brackets, but here are the highlights.
Disclaimer: I have never watched an episode of Friends of my own volition.
The First One
Final Four: Kansas, Syracuse, West Virginia, Duke
Cinderella: Siena to the Sweet 16
The One With Second Guesses
Final Four: Kansas, Pittsburgh, Kentucky, Villanova
Disappointment: Both Texas A&M and Baylor lose in Houston
The One Dad Filled Out
Final Four: Kansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisville
Dad typically throws caution to the wind with his picks, but never like this. And it all went to hell after the first game of the day. Never bet against a man named Jimmer.
The One With Money On the Line, or The One that Counts
Final Four: Kansas, Syracuse, West Virginia, Baylor
Cinderella: Cornell to the Elite 8
Disappointment: Duke loses to Texas A&M in Sweet 16
I entered this last bracket into my Dad’s office pool against his colleagues from India and Namibia. Easy money? We’ll see. It could be a trap, like the blonde who picks based on cuter mascot or whatever. Baylor and Texas A&M aren’t exactly the most trendy picks for the Elite 8, but the home court advantage in Houston cannot be denied. A&M and Baylor are good enough to beat Duke and Villanova, respectively. In that regional final, it simply boils down to who is the better team, and if you paid attention to the Big XII even poorly this year, you know that Baylor is better than A&M.
You’ll notice that in every circumstance (my father and) I picked Kansas to come out on top. That’s not an unreasonable assumption, because since a small (large) contingent of college basketball fans believe they have the best unit in the nation and can beat any of the 63 other teams in the field (Tennessee on line two), should we really pick against them? Probably not. And it doesn’t hurt that 68% of NCAA champs have worn blue. Thanks, SportsScience!
-Sam
Posted by Sam Feeley 
