BRACKETOLOGY
By: Ryan Welte
The odds of creating the perfect bracket from the beginning are very slim. The lottery is a better bet if you are feeling lucky. Actually, the exact chances of making a perfect bracket are one in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 (that is one in over 9.2 QUINTILLION). As you could tell, I wasn't the lucky perfect bracket maker this year.
You probably don't have a perfect bracket still either. That is largely due to the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. The Eagles made history last weekend becoming the first 15 seeded team in Men's NCAA history to make the Sweet Sixteen. According to ESPN.com's brackets, only 2.3% of people had FGCU just going to the round of 32.
The biggest hit my bracket took was Georgetown losing to those FGCU Eagles in the Round of 64. I had them in my Final Four. I will say that I am pleased with the overall success of my bracket as three of my four final four picks are still in it and both of my Championship game teams are alive.
One of the most talked about players in this tournament is Marshall Henderson, star guard for Ole Miss. Henderson is known for his over-the-top antics after he hits a clutch shot. People either love him, or hate him if you know what he is about.
I'm fine with his celebrations because I will admit that I get a little excited after I make a good play on the court with my buddies at school. I think he is overall good for College Hoops and Ole Miss basketball because he generates more discussion than anyone has in a long time in the sport. People go back and forth on whether he should enter the NBA Draft or spend some more time in collegiate sports. I'm on the side that believes that he would benefit with more time on the college level. He could polish his skills and get a clue that his crazy antics may not be liked very well by his opponents, or teammates for that matter, on a professional level.
What I can say is this has been an incredibly exciting tournament and we have just started! I have never been into March Madness because I had never done a bracket until this year. It makes the games a lot more important and I actually care about each and every matchup. Some people give up on watching though, after teams like Georgetown and Gonzaga mess up their bracket. That is why I propose an idea that people do a new bracket after every round, so that their picks can continue to be relevant.