Kevin Williams’ Guide to Filling Out a Bracket

There’s a pretty decent chance that wherever you work there is some type of office pool involving the NCAA Basketball Tournament which officially began last night but really doesn’t count until tomorrow for those playing in a pool.

The most common way for those who think they are experts as well as those who don’t know a Villanova Wildcat from a Kentucky Wildcat to have a stake in the tournament is by filling out a bracket sheet. The goal is to pick as many winners as possible in the 63-game, 19-day event which concludes with the national championship game on Monday, April 4.

Knowing the teams clearly will help your chances of winning but a lack of hoops knowledge does not preclude you from playing because there’s always a little bit of luck involved and sometimes knowing less can pay off. By the way, most office pools are legal as long as the person running it pays out all the money meaning he or she does not keep any for themselves. Bottom line is nobody is bothering you over a $5 or $10 pool except your boss if you’re spending too much time on it.

So as an annual public service to those that know nothing about the 64 teams that will begin tomorrow with the dream of cutting down the championship net let me offer the following:

• The tournament is broken down into four 16-team regions…East, Midwest, South and West. Next to the teams on your bracket sheet you will see a number from 1-16 which is their “seed." Bottom line is the lower numbers are considered the better teams. So if you want to pick favorites then stick with the teams like Kansas, North Carolina, Virginia and Oregon because they all have #1 next to their name.
• There will be upsets and they are most likely to occur in the first two rounds and usually the key to winning your pool is hitting one or two of those. However I have a feeling there won’t be as many early shockers as usual although teams like Duke, West Virginia and Utah could make early exits.
• Regardless of upsets the final four teams will be mostly chalk. I like Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Michigan State. However watch out for Miami, Purdue and Texas A&M as teams that could surprise.
• In my entry into the Townsquare Media Group $1 million Staff Bracket Challenge I have Michigan State beating Kansas in the final so you can take it to the bank that won’t happen.