March Madness bracket tips 2016

Samantha Axon, Reporter
@SAxonCourant

Selection Sunday is this weekend, which means yet another year with a bracket that has more red marks on it than my last AP World test. Since the nature of March Madness is unpredictable, I have compiled a list of my 5 best tips on filling out your 2016 March Madness bracket:

1. Be wary of the Hawk

Currently, the Kansas Jayhawks are projected to receive a number 1 bid in the tournament. They have a strong offensive presence and even though the team is on the younger side, they can compete with even the most experienced of teams. The only problem is that the Jayhawks have not performed their usual best in recent March Madnesses.

For the last two years, Kansas has been ranked the second seed in the Midwestern division. Despite this, they lost in the Sweet Sixteen to number 10 Stanford and number 7 Wichita State. For the last few years, the team has been expected to make it far in March Madness, but have failed to perform to expectations.

While the Kansas seems like a team that could do very well, history shown that is not always the case for the Jayhawks. Regardless, I will still have them do very well, but history is not on their side in this instance.

2. Include at least one number one ranked seed in your final four, but only one or two

Since 1979, only three Final Fours have not included a single number 1 seed (1980, 2006, and 2011). Therefore, there is a good chance that this year will include at least one team ranked this high. But, only once has all number 1 seeded teams reached the Final Four. In 2008, Kansas, Memphis, UCLA and UNC were all competing for the title. This is the only case of all four teams reaching the Final Four in all of the years that the NCAA tournament has occurred. Therefore, a good bet would be to have one of two number 1 seeded teams in your Final Four.

3. Bet on Kentucky‘s strong March Madness performances

Over the course of the last 5 years, Kentucky has made an appearance in the Final Four 4 times. Kentucky is a team that usually outperforms post-season in comparison to the regular season or continues their win streak into the postseason. Even as a lower ranked team, the Wildcats have been able to utilize their abilities.

The team’s rankings have varied from 1st to 7th during seasons with Final Four appearances. Kentucky is a team that will certainly perform well regardless of their ranking. But this year the team is composed of much younger players than in past years, which may alter their overall performance.

4. Watch out for the top 25 upsets

This season has been filled with upset after upset. Just ask Duke. There has been a large number of surprising results in the regular season, which will amount to an even more unpredictable postseason. While it is difficult to predict such upsets, there are some teams that have chances to fall through the cracks. Teams that won their respective division are actually less likely to make the Final Four history has shown. It is usually teams that finish second in their division that end the season on a high note.

A team that has the ability to deliver upsets is the Texas Longhorns. They are a ranked team, but have not been recognized as one. The team either has really good or really bad games. Throughout this season, the Longhorns have upset UNC, Iowa State, Baylor, Oklahoma, and West Virginia. They were able to win against the West Virginia Mountaineers twice. The team has actually gained more losses from unranked teams than those in the top-25. Texas just lost in the Big 12 tournament to Baylor, but still has the chance to create massive upsets in March Madness.

5. The Big 12 has its name for a reason

The Big 12, which consists of 10 teams mainly from the Midwest, has had arguably the most difficult conference this

season. The division contains top-ranked teams such as the Kansas Jayhawks, the Oklahoma Sooners, the West Virginia Mountaineers, the Iowa State whatevers, and the Baylor Bears, just to name the very best of their teams. To prove the difficulty of this conference, the Oklahoma Sooners have only lost games within this conference (6). In addition, all 10 teams (with the exception of TCU, Texas and Oklahoma State), have only lost 2 or less games this season against opponents that are not in the Big 12.

Every team has only lost a maximum of 4 games against teams not apart of the conference. These teams in the Big 12 are very capable of making it far in March Madness, but they have not been able to demonstrate their potential by playing in a difficult league.

Again, the nature of March Madness is so unpredictable that it is difficult to say which teams will do well, but take my advice and you will have a better chance at beating your Uncle Joe in your family bracket.