Funny. I didn’t watch one second of college basketball all year long but I picked 40 games in the NCAA tournament correctly, which is four more than anyone else in my pool. I also picked Louisville to win it all. If Michigan beats Syracuse, I am guaranteed second place. I am already guaranteed third place. My methodology was pretty simple. Since I had little to go on other than prior knowledge of which programs were strong in the past, the reputations of certain coaches, and the seeding of the teams, I picked very few upsets. I knew Louisville was widely considered the best team in the country. It worked quite well because, aside from Wichita State, the teams that had big upsets were generally beaten in the next round. That meant that the strongest teams generally got through and got me points. The biggest dings I took were when Miami lost (because I had them going to the Final Four), and when Kansas lost (because I had them going to the finals). Unsurprisingly, my only competition is from a woman who picked Syracuse to beat Louisville and from a man who picked Ohio State to beat Syracuse. I can still lose to either one (or both) of them if Syracuse wins tonight and then wins the championship game on Monday night.
Of course, I won’t enjoy rooting against Michigan if they win tonight. But I’ll find a way since a Michigan championship would cost me about 200 bucks.