FSN 2012 NCAA Bracket Picks
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Just a few thoughts on this years bracket selections... First of all, I'm tired of going with chalk (#1 seeds)... No matter what happens, you lose... If the "chalk" makes it all the way to the FINAL FOUR, everyone just points a finger at you and says... "Well Mr. Captain Obvious, how hard was that"?... There's no satisfaction in it... Also, IF, you go with chalk (& you're in a $$ tournament ~ where a bunch of other players also take chalk, it's just going to come down to those few points in the first round game where one team is sleepwalking & another comes to play...
You have NO CHANCE of winning any bracket tournament unless your ultimate champion wins (because the way the points are weighted towards the end)... So my formula is to work BACKWARDS... IOW ~ pick your horse for the entire tournament, then fill in the rest... This year, my horse is going to be the KENTUCKY WILDCATS (which is, in fact, chalk), which means to differentiate "points" in a bracket tournament, I've gotta try to HOPE for some other upsets to occur along the way in the previous rounds... My guess is that at least HALF of the people filling brackets will have Kentucky as the eventual champion...
Other thoughts (working backwards)
- I don't like having 4 #1 seeds in the Final Four (it rarely happens)... My favorite of the other #1 seeds is North Carolina... So the rest of the brackets, I have to find a way for the #1 seed to go down...
- This year, I like a lot of the "chalk" in the first round (which is usually where everyone likes to try & score upsets)... I'm going to avoid that...
- A classic story is that a #12 seed upsets a #5 seed... I can't find any of those that I like... Last year, you had two #13 seeds upsetting #4 seeds... That's more of a rarity than anything else, so I'm avoiding that too.
- If you think a #15 or #16 seed is going to knock off a #2 or #1, you need to have your head examined...
- OOPS... I just checked my picks & saw that the Purdue/St. Mary's game I left blank... I like PURDUE there, they usually get at least one win (& they're still a little miffed that they had some injuries which bounced them out of contention last year)... (fixed)
- The problem with the brackets this year is that there are a lot of teams who will really have to take a step up in class (if they win in round 1), to even make it to the Sweet 16... So basically, whoever plays Syracuse, North Carolina, Kentucky, or Michigan State in rd 2 gets bounced... Also, as early as a few days ago, Ohio State, Kansas, & even Duke were in the running to be #1 seeds...
- There are a lot of #3 seeds that are better than you think... (Baylor, Georgetown, Marquette, & Florida State [which might be the best of the #3 seeds])... There are a lot of #2 seeds that aren't as good as you think (Duke, Missouri)... Syracuse could be a #2 seed & I still wouldn't think they were very good...
- Probably the biggest longshot I see having the chance to go deep is #11 NC State... The biggest longshot I'm taking to actually make to the FINAL FOUR is #8 Memphis (which I'm taking a BIG chance with, as they'd play Michigan State in the 2nd round)... If they can pull that upset, my brackets will start looking very sweet indeed...
One of the reasons I'm doing this is that I'm a big believer in FATE... IF Calipari (KY) is going to win his first NCAA Championship, I believe he has to face old foes to do so (Memphis being the nominee here)...
Good luck to everyone in their bracket tournaments... I'll be putting the "O-BOMB-a" bracket up when it comes out... He always goes with chalk... Had "Pitt" in the Final Four last year ~ lol...
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| (click to see the entertaining "6yo" selection) |
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Fantasy Sports Nation 2012 Calendar
January ~ NFL Picks through Superbowl
February ~ Oscars Picks
March ~ NCAA Bracket Picks
April ~ NFL Draft Notes & Start of Fantasy Baseball Roto
May ~ Kentucky Derby Picks/Champions League
June ~ Continuing Fantasy Baseball Coverage
July ~ Preseason NFL Picks & Fantasy Notes
August ~ NCAA & NFL Picks
Sept - December ~ Weekly NCAA & NFL Picks
