I prefer March Book Madness to March Madness but I do enjoy filling out brackets to see how I do. I know pretty much nothing about college basketball although I have had years where I watch neary every game in the tournament and those years, I do get to know a lot about teams, players, coaches, etc.
My husband takes the NCAA bracket choices VERY seriously. Data, Numbers, Decisions. etc. It might be his favorite time of year.
I fill out the bracket because it makes watching the games far more fun. And I’m not competitive so I could care less if I win and if I discover I love a team that is winning with some upsets, I would rather they win than get more points on my own bracket. But I have won once or twice(much to everyone’s surpise–especially my own!)
I like to have fun with it. And I did have a little fun with filling them out this year. So, for non-sports fans, I thought I’d share some new things I am trying this year. I filled out 4 brackets. 2 for a charity I care about and 2 with groups of people I know. For the last 2, I decided I needed to have some fun, so I tried 2 things. I filled out Round 1 games of the one bracket by comparing mascots. It took a little more time than I thought, looking up each mascot and choosing the one I liked best. It was kind of fun getting to learn about some of the more unique mascots (as well as some that need a redo..).
For my last bracket, for Round 1 games, I picked the team that had the most letters in common with my first name. When there was a tie, I just picked based on the order of the letters, etc. You’ll not be surprised to know that in that bracket, I have Florida for the win.
Feel free to use any of my strategies for your own bracket (you have until noon today I think). I have no expectation of winning but having the brackets does make watching the tournament a bit more fun. I enjoy the games and the upsets and the stories of the players etc. And this year, these were some fun ways to go about the brackets even though my husband (who takes this very seriously) was not as amused as I was.
A(nother) Year of Reading 
Surely there is nothing more “Franki” than choosing teams based on the mascots!!!! (thanks for the morning giggle)
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Love the varied strategies for your bracket choices. I prefer to not spend a lot of time on the men’s choices. I agonizing over the women’s brackets every year.
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Great strategy selections. I tend to pick colleges I either took courses at or colleges I thought a semi-famous teacher attended! It worked during Syracuse and U Conn seasons very well!
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OMG — we had a conversation in our house about having a “Fun” bracket challenge where everyone has to fill it out with a specific strategy and present it! For example, favorite colors, cutest coach, very similar ideas!!
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What fun! I love your strategies for filling out brackets. Sounds like a lot less pressure, too!
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