Day 1&2 Bracket confessions and mea cuplas: own thy errors
I can't stay up any longer (but I expect Wisc to complete their gak in R1) so it's time to confess. I broke multiple cardinal rules with this year's bracket:
- do some research: Seth, you crushed it as always, but I didn't pay attention enough and it led me to...
- never trust Pitino Piccolo in March: despite New Mexico seeming under-seeded I should have known better (this is the Rick corollary, as in never trust Rick Barnes in March, which is adjacent to the UT theory which is never trust a coach that ever worked at Tennessee - nice work, Bruce)
What R1 mistakes are you grieving and what core tenets do you have to share?
March 22nd, 2024 at 11:19 PM ^
My mistake was believing (and stating at some length) that Michigan should fire Jim Harbaugh.
However I have passed the grief stage and am now at bargaining. The bargain is this: I accept that the basketball tournament is not quite as exciting as it can be because my team is not in it, but I am ok with this because Michigan's football team also made the tournament for the national title and won the thing.
brb gonna watch Blake score a TD in the Rose Bowl again.
March 22nd, 2024 at 11:21 PM ^
watch these four in succession
PSU TD to ice game
OSU TD after Zak injury
Bama TD in overtime
Washington TDs to put the game away
March 22nd, 2024 at 11:34 PM ^
I noted this in my diary after the Washington game: we're going to talk about Blake clinching the biggest games of the 2023 season with superlative touchdowns for the rest of our lives. The OSU and Bama TDs are as big a pair of plays as there have been in Michigan history. This is the stuff of legend.
Take us home, Blake.
March 22nd, 2024 at 11:40 PM ^
That wasn't the question, professor.
It may not be *the* right answer, but it is *a* right answer.
SRJK, if it's any consolation i have long forgiven you for your harbaugh 'sin'. see, MT 18:22. you have lived a life of redemption.
Although your comment is at least partially tongue in cheek, I have to say that I think about your long "It's Over" post semi-frequently and I respect the fact that you own that you were wrong. Many of us could have written something about it being over (circa 2020) and been just as wrong but you, one of the more prolific commenters on this board, did so.
Move your token ahead 3 spaces from Bargaining to Acceptance. Cheers.
March 22nd, 2024 at 11:38 PM ^
I’m going to share something familiar. My wife has never done a bracket before and doesn’t know a thing about college basketball. I have done a bracket every year for 30+ years and know a decent amount. You don’t need me to tell you how we differ in the bracket standings. For all of the great research that exists out there, why has no one figured out why this happens over and over and over again?
March 23rd, 2024 at 11:30 AM ^
I find I do better than those who don't watch in many years, but not every year. Picking the better team often works better, playing the correct odds often works better, but the wrong upsets can throw a big wrench in things.
This year I'm not doing well so far, but it's early and I didn't watch much regular season because I was trying to pretend it didn't exist. My biggest one I wish I had chosen differently is that I had NC State going out and that was a mistake. I think they could go on quite a run.
March 23rd, 2024 at 11:31 AM ^
saw a humorous article that fits:
March 23rd, 2024 at 12:13 AM ^
Ok! I'll talk!
In third grade, I cheated on my history exam. In fourth grade, I stole my uncle Max’s toupee and I glued it on my face when I was Moses in my Hebrew School play. In fifth grade, I knocked my sister Edie down the stairs and I blamed it on the dog…When my mom sent me to the summer camp for fat kids and then they served lunch I went nuts and I pigged out and they kicked me out…But the worst thing I ever done — I mixed a pot of fake puke at home and then I went to this movie theater, hid the puke in my jacket, climbed up to the balcony and then, then, I made a noise like this: hua-hua-hua-huaaaaaaa — and then I dumped it over the side, all over the people in the audience. And then, this was horrible, all the people started getting sick and throwing up all over each other. I never felt so bad in my entire life!
This is one of the most LOL true confessions ever. I certainly hope that you feel better now that you've said it all out loud.
March 23rd, 2024 at 12:18 AM ^
I love the tournament when my team isn't in it since I'd rather be a Michigan fan today than a Wisconsin fan. Buh bye, wieners!
As a Dayton grad I am okay with my bracket being a smoldering crater. That comeback against Nevada gives me nothing to complain about (besides maybe going down by 17 points in the first place).
I do have two cardinal rules: 1) Always take Purdue out early, and 2) Always take Wisconsin out early. Wisconsin is gone. Purdue I have going out to TCU (oops) but Utah State will work just fine too.
Not a single bracket on ESPN’s platform made it out of the first round perfect.
I won my first office pool bracket ever back when Danny Manning and Kansas beat Oklahoma in an unpredictable fashion. I had an early lead, but only won in the tiebreaker, when Kansas upset a team known for high scoring games by running up the score
I was immediately an expert bracket picker.
Every bracket since then, has been a dismal failure.
No brackets this year
UCLA in 1995 was my first bracket win - the O'Bannon brothers and Tyus Edney were quite the team to watch.
I'll start by saying I picked Yale to upset Auburn. I'll end by saying I'm last in my family's bracket pool, and I had Kentucky going to the final 4. Mixed feelings so far.
i am the bracket-master for our family and friends group. we've got a low score of 15, then a 16, but most are in the 20-22 range. 24 out of 32 is our leader after R1.
as for me, my not-so-great picks were: NEV, UNM, and mcneese.
my pat-self-on-back picks were JMU and G.canyon.
my hate-myself pick was sparty making it out of R1.
happy that northwestern advanced. go wildcats.
I tend to give power to MSU opponent. Had Miss st go to final 8.
Just woke up from a long evening at Soaring Eagle Casino. This has never happened to me before, but I hit an 8-team parlay at +18265. Shout out to JMU and UAB for helping to make that happen.
As far as brackets go, I went 23-9, so meh. I did take Oakland to beat Kentucky, but nothing else really great.
so, ah, ufer, how much did you bet and what time should we get to wherever soaring eagle is for the big party?
March 23rd, 2024 at 11:17 AM ^
Mount Pleasant
Congrats! Now get yourself to the Green Spot or The Bird to celebrate!
Very nice win! I hope you put a lot on that parlay bet! In 15 years of sports betting, I've won a 6-team twice and an 8-team once. They don't come around often, for me anyway.
The 8-team parlay that I won paid like +26000. But I only put $1.50 on it and won about $392. I wish I put $100 on it, in hindsight of course.
As usual I OD’d on chalk.
Which is a big reason why I don’t put much into brackets. A man’s gotta know his limitations.
I went 4-0 in the 12/5 matchups, and 0-4 in the 11/6 matchups. 🤷♂️
March 23rd, 2024 at 11:32 AM ^
That's honestly really impressive
I picked Auburn to the national championship, oops. This is what happens when Michigan is bad and I watch no college basketball.
March 23rd, 2024 at 10:46 AM ^
I only picked Auburn for two games, but ... yeah. They were also my sleeper pick in a pool where each of 8 participants get 8 teams, no duplicates. So, damn.
But yeah, not watching much basketball this year really hurt the old "gut feel" meter for me.
I had Kentucky in my elite 8 and Auburn in my final 4. That's what I get for trusting the SEC.
I also have Kansas beating Purdue cus i picked it before their guard got hurt, but fuck it shooters shoot.
March 23rd, 2024 at 10:55 AM ^
I did absolutely no research, let ESPN auto-pick based on the favorites and then picked a few upsets, This means my bracket doesn't look that bad at the moment, but it'll get worse. I expect to end with an amount of success commensurate with the effort I put into this.
Oakland over Kentucky was absolutely not one of the upsets I picked.
March 23rd, 2024 at 11:05 AM ^
My core tenet is probably using KenPom for any games I don't have familiarity with the teams, and then picking about 6 or 7 upsets, and maybe picking a champion that other's aren't (this year UConn is the most popular). My grieving would be Tech Tech and BYU whom I had in the sweet-16.
March 23rd, 2024 at 11:32 AM ^
Ditto. Also had McNeese beating Samford to go to the S16. And Auburn winning it all. Oops.
When Michigans in it I always pick them to go far which has been very reliable. Without Michigan in it I don’t have that safety net to go to. My bracket is fucked this year.
March 23rd, 2024 at 11:19 AM ^
I didn't do a bracket this year for the first time in awhile, because I end up rooting against the upsets I didn't pick (plus I tend to not watch a lick of basketball till March anyway).
I'm enjoying the hell out of it.
March 23rd, 2024 at 11:52 AM ^
Picking all Big 10 teams to win and then chalk for other games. Has only paid off once (Trey had a clean block)
March 23rd, 2024 at 11:55 AM ^
Also did one with all chalk and it’s in the 62nd percentile on ESPN TC. Didn’t do a more quirky bracket which might have done better.
Caleb Love is pretty good at basketball. Lucky for him that UM admissions didn't let him transfer here this year
I didn't even make a bracket. I lose interest once Michigan gets knocked out...which was in, like, December.