Need Help Filling Out Your Bracket?

If you haven't filled out your bracket you better get started. We are just under 10 hours before the first game tips off at 9:15am. The game will be between the #5 West Virginia Mountaineers and the #12 Clemson Tigers, who won their play-in game against the UAB Blazers on Tuesday.


It doesn't matter if your a basketball fan or not, a lot of Americans will fill out a bracket and see how they do against the rest of the country. This will be my seventh year filling out my bracket and every year I feel that I have a chance to get everything right. Well okay, not everything right but I like to believe that I can. My best bracket I have ever filled out was in 2007. I correctly picked 46/63 games. However, I am coming off my worst bracket of my life last year. I was under 50% for the first time ever going 29/63.


This year I have watched a lot of college basketball. In fact, I might have watched the most college basketball this year, then any other year thanks to online TV websites. I feel I have a good understanding on this years bracket and looking forward to win a few pools.


Here are 10 tips I use to fill out my bracket.

1. No #16 seed has ever beaten a #1 seed. So just move the #1's to the round of 32.
2. Look for a team that is playing good basketball at the right time. If a team is 8-2 or 7-3 in their last 10 games and are a high seed, they could be a good bet to go far in the tournament. 
3. Be aware of flukes. Every now and then there will be an average team win their conference tournament and get an automatic bid. Most of the time those teams will have nothing left in the tank and lost in their first game. 
4. Home Court advantage. Even though all the games are play on neutral court, their a lot of teams that play in their home state. Most of the time they will at least win one game. Also, look for teams traveling a long way.
5. 5 VS 12 upset. Every year we seem to get a #12 seed upsetting a #5 seed. Their should at least be one this year. Look for a 12 seed that can control the tempo and have a lot of senior leadership.
6. Returning players. If there is a team with  good returning players, they might be poised for a deep tourney run. Experience is a huge thing in the tournament. 
7. Coaching Experience. If there is a coach that has been to the Final Four then they have the potential to go far. In this type of tournament the more experience the better.
8. No such thing as team X. Just because Vanderbilt has never won the National Title don't think their due to go all the way. It's only college kids playing basketball so the kids that are playing in the games sometimes don't know the tradition in the tournament. 
9. Don't be a homer. Your a big UC Santa Barbara fan. Your team is in the tournament for the first time since 2002. But please don't have them in the National Championship game facing Ohio State. 
10. Have fun! March Madness is the greatest sporting event every year.

Here is my bracket that I filled out this year. I hope it's a winner.

I think this could be a very good tournament this year. They're a lot of teams that think they can go all the way and win it all. In addition there will always be that Cinderella that surprises us all. This is March Madness though, nothing should surprise us. This isn't the most open bracket that we have ever seen but the tournament should be a fun one to watch.