I filled out a bracket on Sunday night and shared it with my kids, as they are both in bracket challenges at their schools. Those brackets went 26-6 in the 1st round, which is very good, particularly considering no logical person would have picked Oakland over Kentucky and Samford was robbed of a chance to win at the end. I’ll take 26-6, with all Final Four choices intact, every time.
I, on the other hand, decided to wait on turning in my bracket, in order to listen to what the experts on ESPN’s “Bracketology” had to say. I had recorded it and figured I’d improve my bracket as they watch a helluva lot more basketball than I do. In fact, someone who never watches is very close to what I am, so these guys had to know more.
Well, I listened to them. I listened to Jay Bilas, Jay Williams and Seth Greenberg. In fact, I watched Jay Bilas’ second program, his “My bracket is better than yours” show on Monday too. I believed them when they told me Mississippi State was a “dangerous team” and could “do some damage.” I had chosen Michigan State to beat them based on my perception of Tom Izzo’s long record of tournament success. What do I know? They’re the experts.
I ended up changing seven of my 1st round picks, which also altered some 2nd rounders. I lost on all 7 of those games. Yes, by listening to the experts, on those particular games, I went 0 for 7.
My kids sat at 26-6 after the 1st round picks. Well, my son did, and he’s in 1st place in his class pool. I think my daughter changed a couple of mine, as that’s her personality, but she’s in 2nd place.
Me? I didn’t go 26-6 with my picks. I went 19-13, my worst record in 40 years of doing this. My fault. Why would I ever think that successful players and coaches, who watch all the games, would help me?