Bracketaster: A Bracket Disaster
How's my bracket random Sports Center host? Gee, I don't know. But since when I created the bracket I had yet to have my Screech Powers struck by lighting and go clairvoyant moment (who remembers that episode?) let's just say: I chose, poorly.
Then again, who chose wisely out there? I'd love to meet the person who's got a near perfect bracket going (there can be no perfect bracket this year). Then I would love to take said man, head to Vegas and go all 'Rain Man' on some blackjack. Honestly, who saw any of this coming? Last night wrapped up the Sweet Sixteen and still alive are a four seed, a five seed, two two seeds, a three seed, an eight, an ELEVEN and only one number one seed. The eleven is represented by VCU who had to beat USC in the 'first round' to even make the part of the tournament people care about.
This has been, without a doubt, the craziest tournament I've seen. The first weekend was packed with amazing last second games and upsets. Both have continued so far into weekend two with Arizona, Kentucky, Butler and VCU all advancing in upsets. So what does that mean for us gamblers?
Nothing good that's for sure. The above picture probably says it all. After an underwhelming 30-18 record in the first weekend, I went 1-7 in the sweet sixteen. ONE AND SEVEN!!!!!!!! I've never had a round that bad. I'm about to throw on the creamsicle and start calling myself the '76 Bucs. Of my final four teams (Pitt, San Diego State, Ohio State and Kansas) only one is alive. Hell, Kansas is the only team still alive in my entire bracket - Syracuse, Duke, Notre Dame and BYU all bowed out long ago. There's so much black on this thing it looks like a heavily redacted C.I.A. intelligence document. From checking the online stats of the pools that I'm in, this seems to be the norm. I mean, most people didn't have a disaster 1-7 record in the Sweet Sixteen, but I'd imagine that most of those who took the time to craft a bracket have since shredded, burned, or otherwise destroyed it...
And isn't it great? I'm struggling to stay at .500 right now and loving every second of it. It's what makes this tournament so much fun. The games are phenomenal, the upsets are exciting and the possibilities are endless. I mean, there's a halfway decent chance that an eleven seed could make the final four. Everyone's darling from last year, Butler, has a chance today to punch their ticket to the final weekend in even more stunning fashion than last year. UCONN looks to continue an incredible run behind Kemba Walker after winning five games in five days to win the Big East Tournament. And two largely young teams with fantastic coaches (Kentucky and UNC) will match up for the right to represent their region in Houston. As a gambler you might not love where you are right now with your brackets, but can you deny that you've loved watching every second of the road to get there? What a tournament. Happy Brackets everybody. Happy March.