Call in sick for work on Thursday and Friday now because the 2018 NCAA tournament bracket has arrived.
Even with online brackets readily available, there's nothing quite like having your sheet printed out and in your hands as you mark it up and follow along in this year's bracket pool. With that in mind, here is a look at an easy-to-print sheet with this year's field, as well as some tournament tips that will help you win your pool this time around.
Or at least help you avoid last place.
Bracket
B/R's printable bracket with all teams entered can be found here at NCAA.com.
Here is a look at the entire bracket:
Tournament Tips
Don't Pick a No. 16 Seed
It's dangerous in sports to assume the unbelievable and improbable can't and won't happen. After all, Hail Marys are completed, full-court buzzer-beaters somehow fall through the hoop and the Chicago Cubs even won a World Series.
But one thing has never happened—a No. 16 seed beating a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Many have tried and all have failed, and there is no reason other than the "it has to happen sometime" approach to think that will change this year.
Sure, you would have ultimate bragging rights in your office pool if you correctly picked this, but it is far more likely you will be watching the likes of Villanova or Virginia continuing to rack up wins as No. 1 seeds as your chances at winning the bracket pool disintegrate.
Don't go overboard with your upset picks; advance all four No. 1 seeds to the second round at the very least.
Don't Trust Nos. 4 and 5 Seeds
It would make sense if No. 4 and 5 seeds had a favorable history in the NCAA tournament since they are considered within the top 20 teams in all of college basketball for the given season by the selection committee.
However, Brian Mull of NCAA.com noted only the 1997 Arizona Wildcats won the national championship as a No. 4 or No. 5 seed. Arizona was a No. 4 seed and beat No. 1 seeds in the Sweet 16 (Kansas), Final Four (North Carolina) and championship game (Kentucky), proving its mettle against some of the best programs in college basketball history.
History suggests the fourth and fifth seeds aren't threats to win the whole thing, and those filling out brackets should be aware of picking them to advance even past the first round.
Mull noted No. 13 seeds have won 20 percent of the games against No. 4 seeds, while No. 12 seeds have won 36 percent of games against No. 5 seeds. According to OddsShark, No. 12 seeds have won at least one game in 16 of the last 18 NCAA tournaments and are 19-21 in the last 10 years when facing No. 5 seeds.
Since the No. 16 seeds are not in play, look no further than the No. 12 and No. 13 seeds when attempting to find Cinderella stories.
Don't Advance the Cinderellas too Far
Don't fall too in love with those Cinderellas, though, because history suggests their NCAA tournament runs will be limited.
Mull noted only Cleveland State (No. 14 in 1986), Chattanooga (No. 14 seed in 1997) and Florida Gulf Coast (No. 15 seed in 2013) have advanced to the Sweet 16 from the group of Nos. 14 and 15 seeds since the tournament expanded in 1985.
What's more, Mull also pointed to work from Davidson math and computer science professor Tim Chartier. Chartier looked at data gathered since 2002 and realized only five teams seeded 10th or lower have ever won three games in a single tournament, and none of those teams were seeded lower than 12th.
The clock always strikes midnight for Cinderella in March Madness, as the No. 8 Villanova Wildcats in 1985 were the lowest-seeded team to ever win the tournament.
There are going to be upsets in this year's tournament like there always are—just don't expect the teams pulling off those upsets in the early rounds to still be around come Final Four time.
from Bleacher Report - Front Page http://ift.tt/2p77FiJ
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