Bracketology: Tips to Filling out Your NCAA Tournament Brackets

There are a number of things that a person will want to do in order to give them the best chance of winning their NCAA Tournament office pool or an online NCAA Tournament contest. Okay, maybe the statement “a number of things” isn’t the correct way to say it.

There are a few things, 4 precisely, that college basketball betting fans are going to want to remember before jotting down the names of the teams they like in their brackets. These 4 Tips are my tips. Other writers have other tips. Make sure to check out their tips as well because I don’t want to be “the guy” that caused you to miss out on winning your office pool!

Tips to Filling Out NCAA Tournament Brackets

1. Think like a gambler - - This is easier said than done. For instance, a gambler might bet Vermont to cover the 17 ½ NCAAB point spread as underdogs against Syracuse because a few good players are injured for the ‘Cuse, but a gambler wouldn’t bet Vermont to beat Syracuse straight-up unless only one current Syracuse starter was healthy and even then it would be tough to bet Vermont to beat Syracuse. By thinking like a gambler, I mean actually thinking whether or not a spread is fair. So, if you believe that it’s a fair spread for Syracuse to be favored by 17 ½, then obviously your not going to write Vermont in to make it to the 2nd Round of the tournament. If, however, you’re one of the 1 out of 1,000 who actually believes that Vermont is no more than a 3 ½ point underdog in this game, then you might want to take a chance and put them into the 2nd Round.

2. Be Logical - - Logic dictates that the higher seeded team is the one that should move on in the tournament. So, look towards those teams first when filling out your brackets, but if the higher-seeded team doesn’t match up well with the lower seeded team then logic dictates that the lower seeded team might have a shot at an upset. Also, look to my first tip, thinking like a gambler, in order to find upsets. Who would win a 2nd Round matchup between Maryland and Michigan State? Well, who would you make the favorite and by how much?

3. Give Love to the #1 Seeds but Never More than 3 of the 4 - - In other words don’t pick every single #1 seed to advance to the Final Four, but at least 2 is likely and possibly 3. Always put at least one #1 seed into your Final Four. This year, I like 2 out of the 4 #1 seeds to advance to the Final Four: Kansas and Syracuse. I believe that Kentucky is ripe for an upset because of their lack of experience and I don’t believe that Duke is a legitimate #1.

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4. Pick the Champion Based on the Past - - In the past 15 years 10 of the championship winners had won it before. So, don’t go for the new guy. That knocks out such contenders as West Virginia, Ohio State and Kansas State. All of the #1 Seeds, Kansas, Kentucky, Duke and Syracuse, have won the title before. Villanova is the only #2 Seed that has won the championship before. Georgetown is the only #3 seed to have won the championship. Maryland is the only #4 Seed.