Tips to Filling out the Winning NCAA Tournament Bracket

The NCAA Tournament is on us already. However, if you are placing wagers in Vegas or just trying to win the office pool it is very important to know the best tips that gives you the best chance to bring home the office crown or quite a bit of money in your pocket from the sports book you decide to use. Now, what will help you out the most is to use the best tips to help you in getting the bracket ready to go and bring home a winning bracket.

Start At The Title Game

Okay, this is very odd to say, but look at the teams you think will make the title game. Do you think Duke can do it all? If you do then pencil Duke in on the title line and follow them back to the first round. Do the same for the team that will finish second. Doing that allows you to find the way your bracket needs to shape out. Just remember when you are reaching the first round games make sure you check who you have beating who further down the line to help guide your choices even more.

Check Out The Seeding

The seeding is typically done by people who know way more about the sport than you or I will ever know. Not to mention, the complex formula that is used definitely is something that I would never understand. While the matches on the seeding definitely shows some bias, like a 16 vs 1 seeding. It does help you find some easy wins early on. So make sure you look at the seeding and remember to find some good quality upsets, like the 5 vs 12 slot always seems to be a good one.

Add Variety To Your Picks

When is the last time that you remember when all the number 1 seeds made the Final Four?  Well, personally I have do not remember the last time it happened, but Google was helpful and it has been 12 years since all 4 made the Final Four. With that in mind, you need to make sure you add variety to your picks. Will the number 1 seeds make the Sweet Sixteen? Most likely, but after that it gets challenging and can have quite a few upsets in the games that are being played.

Look For The Upsets

Upsets happen all the time in college basketball and with some of the projected higher seeds this season it could definitely happen. However, this does not mean your bracket should run the gamut of just upsets all tournament long. Instead, try to find a solid 10 upsets for your bracket, but look at history and you will see some of the tourneys can even reach 16 to 20 upsets. So try to find a good balance for your picks and it will make your life a lot easier than being a bracket that is only favorites.

Defense Does Not Always Win Championships

The defense may have been the winning path last year for Virginia, but that does not always mean the best defense will win the title. Their have been many seasons when some of the early exits for the title have been from a great defensive minded team. So try to find a team that has a good defense, but also an offense that is able to keep pace in high scoring games if the defense fails them.

Look At The Mascot

While this may seem like a very odd prediction factor to use, it is very important to realize some people bet on the mascots of the teams. When you do this one thing that you may want to do is bet on teams that have names like Wildcats over Bulldogs, think Kentucky vs Gonzaga.  However, what is really interesting is the dog nicknamed teams have dominated the cat nickname teams and have not really looked back in the way they have controlled the games.

Avoid Picking Really Low Ranked Teams

When is the last time you had a good laugh? If you say it has been a while, then just tell the office pool that you are picking a 16th ranked team to win it all. You will have a good laugh and so will everyone in the office. No number 16 team has made it past the first round in the bracket and it is highly unlikely  to change anytime soon.