Bracket Time

For the first time ever, I set up the bracket for the annual Heinisch family March Madness pool.  Cal normally does it, but he has been incredibly busy at work this week, so I offered.  It actually was a lot easier than I thought it would be and before the end of the day,  Grandpa and Cameron had been able to sign up without incident.  I was glad that we were able to keep the tradition going.

Although I thought that setting up the group bracket on the ESPN website would be the most challenging part of the tournament pool, it was actually filling out my picks that gave me the most difficulty.  Once I started, I realized that I really didn't know much about any teams outside of the Big Ten.  From the media reports, I knew that Alabama's star player was still a part of the team even though he had been involved in a shooting incident which left one girl dead.  I wasn't sure if that mattered to their chances of winning.  There were also rumors that Houston's number one player would not be able to participate in the tournament due to injury.  I had also heard from Bracketologists that UConn and Duke were on a hot streak right now, and that everyone was surprised that NC State made the tournament.  Dan had told us that Missouri was very good, but other than that, I had no idea who to pick.

In the end, I went with my gut.  I don't know if any of the upsets that I chose were good ones or if IU could really make it to the sweet sixteen, but I thought it was worth trying.  I don't have the knowledge that the rest of the basketball fans in our family have.  That may not matter anyway as Brett usually does well by picking the top seed in each match up until the Final Four where he picks the best overall team.  He talked about changing that up this year, but I'd be surprised as it has worked well for him in the past.  In all honesty, it really doesn't matter too much.  It's just fun getting everyone to sign up for the family pool and listening to the trash talking that ensues over the next few weeks.  It's what makes March Madness one of my favorite times of the year.