The field of 65 is a reality. The pairings are set. Now, on with the brackets!
Where do I start? What do I do? How will Temple and Villanova do? Should I treat them as a fan, and pick with my heart, or an analyst and pick with my head? Can I root for them to win if I pick them to lose (the answer is yes, you just won't be able to use your pool money to fund your parade beverages)? Is Robert Morris a player, or a team? Can UNLV beat Northern Iowa? Can Cinderella take the road to the Final Four? Do I go chalk, or upsets, and if upsets, which ones?
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Relax, chill, Jolly is here to help.
1. When picking the brackets if you are not a big college basketball fan, or if you have no idea about the particular teams in said game, utilize the collective opinion of the people of the world. What?
Folks, you can go by seedings if you like. These are the opinions of nine committee members, athletic directors who set the brackets. The collective opinion of the world is known as the point spread. It is set by the betting public, and these people bet real money on the games. The line (or point spread) is the number that gets fifty percent of the bettors on each side of the bet. Why would you want to rely on nine people not risking their money on the games when you can rely on everyone who is, and it's free! Here is a simple example. In the East region, Clemson is the seven seed, and Missouri is the ten seed. If you are not sure what to do, pick the higher seed, right? Well, in Las Vegas the game is pick'em. In other words, the game is rated even, Clemson is not even favored by one point. Why not pick the lower seed here (Missouri) when far fewer people are on your side, and the betting public has judged you to have an even chance?
2. Do not pick against number one seeds in the opening round. Why? No one has ever lost. Someday, that might change. But it has never happened. Don't lose a top seed to a goofy pick.
3. Look hard at teams that play different styles than their opponents are used to seeing. John Chaney's Temple Owls used to play a defense called a matchup zone. Few others did. When a team from another part of the country would face Temple, often they would be confused, and Temple could pull an upset. Teams that slow the ball down like Wisconsin, press for forty minutes like Missouri, or play very physical defense like Pittsburgh are possible examples of quirky play that might help their cause. Remember when Princeton beat UCLA in the first round? UCLA had never seen the Princeton offense. Now, lots of teams play it. Like the Sixers, and, well,.......forget it.
4. Upsets are point spread upsets. See point one. When Missouri beats Clemson, it is not an upset. The world has rated the game even. Sometimes, lower seeded teams are favored over higher seeded teams. Again, it is never a shock when favored teams win.
5. If you have never heard of the school, please do not pick them to spring more than one upset. If Wofford wins more than one game, please call my show and call me a moron.
6. Pick your favorite teams to win when you think they can win. If you think they will lose, pick against them if you like money. Picking against them does not mean you are not able to root your heart out for Temple or Villanova, or another team that you love.
7. Many pools have rules that cater to picking the champ, or having a great Elite Eight or Sweet Sixteen. Be careful of upset teams you pick to go a ways. If you lose a team in the first round, that is fine. If that was your selection to win it all, fine might not be the word you utter as your team leaves the floor.
8. Pick Kansas to capture their second national championship under Bill Self. They will beat Duke in the final.
9. Go Villanova! Go Temple!
10. Take everything I just told you with a large grain of salt, this is all about opinions.
Have a great three weeks of March Madness!
MARCH ON
If you were to ask a sports fan to pick the month of the year on the sports calendar that excites he or she the most, February is a response that you would be unlikely to hear. It is sports' dog days, the one month that seems to have little going on (except snow, and more snow, and more snow, and more snow, and......).
Ok, you could be from New Orleans, and that might change your opinion, I get it. The Super Bowl is in February, albeit the first week, but that is about it. Once every four years, we have the Winter Olympics, and the hockey was fantastic, but that is the exception and not the rule.
Let's take the major sports, one by one. In football, after the Super Bowl (and before it for every other team than the two participants), there is the glum reality that months down the road is the next time your team will line up. The draft is two months away, free agency has not started yet, and really there is nothing going on except for the combine in Indy. As I said, really there is nothing going on, unless you are fixated on how high Tim Tebow can jump or how fast Jim Schlegmaier of Porcupine Valley State is.
Sure, Brian Westbrook was released by the Eagles, but, really, was he? No, not really. The announcement was made, but no moves may be made until the league year starts on March 5. In my opinion, this and similar moves are made public as a favor to the players, to help them get a job when the dealing begins. As of March 5, lights, camera, action. Free agency is here, and the bluffing turns into reality, with Andy Reid and his contemporaries starting to set the table for 2010. Fans love it.
In baseball, the first half of February means, well, nothing. Most everyone has found a home, and news is scarce. Then around the middle of the month, pitchers and catchers arrive in Clearwater, and the countdown starts. However, no games are played. Who is this year's Chris Coste? Is Cole going to throw his curve effectively against live hitting? Gotta get a look at Doc Halladay in pinstripes, on a mound, pitching for us! That, folks, starts March 3rd, this evening, as JA Happ takes the mound against the Seminoles of Florida State. Play ball!
In the NBA, February is the Mojave Desert (or Sahara, or name your own desert, I am writing this, and I picked that one). There is nothing but sand in our sights as it is too far to look ahead to the playoffs, or would be if our team was going to participate in them. It is also too far ahead to start counting ping pong balls. Is it me, or does February seem to have endless, meaningless games where no matter who is playing who, the score is 110-93 and no one cares. In March, the scent of the playoffs begins, Sixer fans. Just not for you. Hopefully, that changes soon. However, March brings the news that AI will be out for the season to care for his young daughter. A long tale has probably come to an end, and I wish AI nothing but the best. Happy trails, Answer. May your daughter be healthy and happy always.
Where are the Flyers? Back on the ice, yeah! The Olympic Games were fantastic, but Flyer fans are chomping at the bit to see if Peter Laviolette's bunch is for real. Will Homer wheel and deal before 3 o'clock today and trade for a defenseman? Or a goallie? Is Michael Leighton the answer now that Ray Emery has had hip surgery? Can this team lift Lord Stanley's magical Cup. With 21 games left, after last evening's 7-2 rout of Tampa Bay, the Flyers have won 5 straight. The schedule is daunting, with 15 games left in March, and then April's sprint to the tape. Let's get it on! By the way, congratulations on Olympic Gold to Mike Richards and Chris Pronger, and on a Bronze Medal won by Kimmo Timonen as well.
In February, there is bracketology. In March, there are brackets. There is madness. Good luck to Villanova and Temple, and to all fans playing the pools!
