Growing up in a soccer-centric household, basketball, let alone March Madness, was never a big deal to me. I entered my first March Madness bracket competition sophomore year and although I didn’t do too well, it opened my eyes to the thrilling world of college basketball during March and early April. While some spend hours studying tape and breaking down player stats to craft their “perfect” bracket, I have always taken the more relaxed route by focusing on vibes. Everyone has heard the stories of brackets winning when chosen based on which team has the cutest mascot or the color of their jersey. That route has always seemed the most appealing to my low basketball IQ. Using this strategy I maximize ease of choosing and minimize the stress of caring about the outcome. I am able to back up my wins with the blind confidence of “trusting my gut” but I am detached enough from my choices to brush off the losses as a slight vibe oversight. While obviously, my bracket was far from perfect, I successfully won our Hoofprint staff bracket challenge against some of the biggest sports fanatics I know, using my nonchalant, low-emotional-investment approach.
About two days before the tournament began, I scrambled to come up with my dream bracket. Sitting in S-7, scrolling through the 32 matchups of 64 teams on the ESPN website, with some teams I recognized from previous years and others completely unheard of. Things I considered when picking: do I know anyone who goes/went there, vibes of mascots, random clips I’d seen of pre-tournament games, or various facts thrown about by those also choosing their brackets at the time.
For starters, I had Tennessee going to the final four because it’s my dad’s alma mater. They held strong until I had them beating Purdue in the Elite Eight, in hindsight a major misstep. JMU was in my sweet sixteen because my friend Jane is on their top tier climbing team so I assumed that skill would translate into basketball. While that choice wasn’t the smartest as I had them beating Duke to get there, it at least helped my accuracy in the first round. The only time vibes really let me down was with Kentucky. My great-grandfather Bill went there for journalism (extra vibe points for Newspaper) so I had high hopes and placed them confidently in my elite eight, only to get out in the first round. I spent the entire month holding a grudge against UK after that initial blow to my max points.
A lot of good circumstances were involved in the eventual victory of my bracket. Many people lost points when Alabama unexpectedly beat UNC, but due to the randomness of my picks and lack of logic, I had them winning and the Red Tide boosted my score and dropped my competitions’ by a good chunk of points. My winner pick was purely thanks to my circumstances as it was the influence of those around me that led me to have UConn as the victor. Going in with practically no prior knowledge or research would not have gone as well as it did if my peers hadn’t convinced me of the Connecticut team’s superior hooping abilities enough to put them as my winner.
When the final game ended, I was shocked by my standing in the bracket. I knew I wasn’t going to come in last and face the dreaded newspaper suit punishment, but with only one of my final four correct and my final game predicted as Tennessee vs. UConn I wasn’t too confident that I had secured any type of win. Lo and behold, UConn won the final and in turn, I won the Newspaper bracket challenge. Since my strategy won this year, I don’t see any reason to change and I highly recommend this chill approach to anyone dipping their toes in March Madness.