It’s the most wonderful time of the year again. No, not the holiday season — although these days should most definitely be holidays. It’s time to fill out those brackets and watch March Madness wreak havoc on them.
The NCAA Tournament is a mere few days away, which means we’ll all be filling out our brackets in the hopes of taking home bragging rights. But with so many teams in the mix and upsets sure to take place, how does one go about filling out a bracket?
Sure, you could use your “basketball knowledge,” but where’s the fun in that? Here are 10 fun ways to fill out your NCAA Tournament bracket so you can blame the system over your decision-making.
1. All Chalk
OK, let’s get the least fun of these fun ideas out of the way. You can strictly pick the favorites, which, given recent history, probably isn’t a bad strategy. And while it may be a little boring, it’s fun not having to overthink things. It may not be exciting, but winning is fun, and favorites still win more than not despite the litany of Cinderella stories.
2. All Underdogs
Now here’s where the fun really kicks in. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this option, given that No. 1 seeds have been making a living heading to the Final Four and the fact that no 16 seed has advanced even one round to date. However, there’s nothing more fun than rooting for the underdog, so why not pick every underdog? Plus, a 16 is bound to defeat a 1 at some point, right? Right?!?
3. Jersey Colors
Here’s the one you’ve heard about forever. Some person in your office pool liked a certain team’s colors over another, which is how said person picked that absurd upset. It may be cliché, but it’s certainly a fun way to get your fashion sense on. Plus, it’s as good a strategy as any. The only hiccup comes when two teams face off with identical or nearly identical colors.
4. Team Names
There sure are a lot of teams nicknamed the Wildcats — so why not pick all cat-related teams to win? There is not shortage of ideas on this one. Maybe only pick exclusively non-animal mascot teams. Or all-animal mascots. Perhaps nicknames you have no idea what they actually mean are more up your alley. Whatever the case, you can let the nicknames do the deciding for you.
5. Schools Someone You Know Attended
This may be tricky if you have a small family, few friends and don’t leave the house much. But if you know a good number of people who attended a wide spectrum of colleges, this is a fun way to familiarize yourself with your friends’ and loved ones’ alma maters. Plus, you get to bond with those folks by joining them in rooting for their schools. Fun, simple and a way to build comradery with that quiet co-worker.
6. Schools No One You Know Attended
Conversely, you can do the exact opposite. Don’t know anyone who attended Gonzaga? Pick them. Never even heard of Iona? Sounds like a Final Four team to me. There are plenty of schools out there, so no matter how popular you are (or not), there’s no shortage of teams to pick to fill out your bracket.
7. Schools You Know Where They’re Located
Geography can be difficult, but any self-respected basketball fan knows Duke and North Carolina are a stone’s throw away from one another off Tobacco Road. Since you know that, pick them. If you have no idea where, say, Fairleigh Dickson is, stay away. Stick with the Wichita States of the world instead.
8. Schools You Don’t Know Where They’re Located
Again, picking schools you exclusively know where they’re located isn’t your cup of tea, perhaps the opposite may work. Have no clue where Austin Peay me? Me neither. Let’s pick that school to advance. This one may eliminate schools named after where they are, but it will help you brush up on your geography afterward.
9. Regions
Perhaps you’re partial to the West Coast or Northeast. If so, it may be fun to root for your region and only pick teams from that area. Or, for a twist, you can exclusively pick schools located in states you’ve stepped foot in or visited. Heck, you can even do the opposite. Never been to Oregon? The Ducks are a top 10 team. There are almost infinite ways to slice this up, but picking by region can add a little spice your bracket.
10. Coin Flip
What’s more fun than a game of chance? That’s why casinos are in business after all, and who doesn’t get excited for a trip to the blackjack table? Instead of thinking, let the coin do the picking. Heads for one team, tails for the other … and just keep flipping until the bracket is full. Plus, you can decide which team is heads and which is tails any number of ways: heads for favorites/tails for underdogs and vice versa, regions, locations — heck, any of the previous ways to fill out your bracket mentioned above can be used to decide heads and tails. Just make sure to let the coin do the actual picking, because games of chance are fun.
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Boasting a 62-44 record in the NL Central, the Chicago Cubs are still searching for a way to pull ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers took sole possession of first place in the division from the Cubs in an 8-4 win on Monday. Chicago will get its chance before the three-game set is over, but if the Cubs should fall to the Brewers, the trade deadline will be viewed as essential for their World Series chances. Several rumors of Chicago’s interest in starters, relievers and third basemen have swirled nonstop. And while they have shown interest in several quality names — Mitch Keller, Eugenio Suárez, MacKenzie Gore — some of their other trade targets are less than ideal. Among their worst sources of interest (if not, the worst) is struggling Braves reliever Raisel Iglesias, who is in his walk year. Hiding behind his shining 2.99 career ERA is a rather shocking, career-high 4.97 ERA, to which he has pitched this season. He is still a strikeout pitcher, having accumulated 46 Ks in 41.2 innings, but his run prevention capabilities have seemingly deteriorated. It was only last season when Iglesias posted a stellar 1.95 ERA. Since then, his home run total doubled, from surrendering just four last year to eight so far this year. His opponent batting average has also jumped, from .160 to .250. Iglesias is no stranger to success. He threw to ERAs south of 3.00 in eight of his 11 MLB years. However, this season, he just doesn’t appear to have it. Any team that trades for Iglesias in the last year of his contract would be betting that he can return to elite form before the season is over. Taking a risk on a pitcher like Iglesias in his current condition, especially when there are several other more reliable arms on the market, would be ill-advised. And for the Cubs, who are in a win-now position, having secured one guaranteed year of Kyle Tucker, taking a gamble on Iglesias could easily risk everything they worked for this season.
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