Pick up your pencils, ladies and gentlemen. It’s gut check time. Time to fill out your NCAA brackets.
Every year, I make a pact with myself. This year will be better. I will learn from past mistakes.
But then I look at my brackets and that all goes down the chute.
I get greedy. I don’t want to pick just the national champion. I want to be the genius who knew that the No. 13 seed could and would upset the No. 4 seed. And I want to stand by “my” team – my alma mater Illinois – and pick them go to the Final Four so that when they do, I can say “I told you so.”
But then my brain gets in the way.
Last year was perfect. I could go with both my heart and my head. Illinois was the favorite and I didn’t have to feel too stupid when all was said and done.
This year is a little harder. I start thinking about the almighty Duke and UConn teams and how they couldn’t possibly lose before the Final Four. Never. Nope. Not gonna happen.
Could it?
You all probably have the same hang-ups I have. It’s OK. If you’re from Hollister, you want to pick former ‘Baler star Kyle Sharp and No. 12 Montana in a first-round upset over No. 5 Nevada in the Minneapolis Regional. (As it turns out, that happened). If you’re from Gilroy, you’d probably love to see Garlic City native and former Notre Dame standout Jessica Ross and the Pepperdine Waves – a true Cinderella team and a No. 15 seed – take down Bubba Paris’ twin daughters Ashley and Courtney (formerly of Piedmont High) and the second-seeded Oklahoma Sooners in the first-round of the women’s Boston Regional.
If you’re from Morgan Hill, you might root for the former TCAL stars as well. Or, if you can’t get past bitter rivalry, you’ll root against them. See how complicated this is?
To help me in my decision making, I try to ask others what they think. After all, knowledge is power.
“I’m going with Oral Roberts,” jokes fellow reporter Kristen Munson. “Because God is on their side.”
The Golden Eagles might have had God on their side, but they had Memphis not on their side.
Others offer a more logical approach: Look at the seedings, read what some expert sports writers think and then go with the gut instinct.
You want to know what I think? Of the No. 1 seeds, I think UConn (too unfocused) and Memphis (just a gut feeling) are most likely to get upset. I think teams would have to break J.J. Redick’s shooting arm off just to have a chance at beating Duke, no matter who else fails to show up and play for the Blue Devils. I think people should be more afraid of Indiana and North Carolina. I think the Hoosiers will beat Gonzaga in the round of sixteen.
Have I successfully made you feel insecure about your picks? Good.
Here’s the thing. Don’t think. It hurts too much and doesn’t help you any.
You can do what I do, which is fill out multiple brackets differently. That way, you get more chances to be right. However, I must warn that the rewards of this method are somewhat empty.
So good luck to you all in filling out your brackets. Let me know if you come up with the sure-fire recipe for success.
For now, I will submit to the ideal that there’s no way to accurately predict a sporting event that has “madness” in its title.
Ana Patejdl covers sports for South Valley Newspapers. She can be reached at
ap******@gi************.com
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