Our Top 9 Tips for the Perfect NCAA Basketball Bracket

One of our favorite times of the year is just around the corner; the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament! Hooray!  If you’re like us, you’ve been plotting for months on how to fill out the perfect NCAA bracket to win the company pool and beat all of your coworkers.  And if you’re like most of us, you have no idea what you’re doing.  That’s why we combined our My Brands brain power to create a list of tips that we think will bring us to victory! You may notice that none of the following tips have anything to do with the athletic ability or record of the college basketball teams. If we’ve learned anything from past NCAA tournament heartbreak, the stats don’t matter! That’s what puts the madness in the March. So we are skillfully basing our tips on cold, hard superstitions.  Take notes.

1. Do not, under any circumstances, do any research. Remember, there is nothing predictable, rational or fair about the tournament, so what’s the point? Just listen to our awesome advice.
2. Go with your first gut reaction. When you’re staring at the two teams on paper, go with your instinct and pick the first one that jumps out at you. No hesitation! Bonus: it cuts down on time!
3. Pick the pretty colors. When you look good on the outside, you feel good on the inside. And then you win! Makes sense to us.
4. Go for the meanest mascots.  Pick the mascot that, in real life, would be tough to beat.  Who do you think would win in a fight, a Kansas Jayhawk or a Michigan Wolverine?
5. Make it personal. If you have any (any!) connection to a team, we suggest you pick them.  Your childhood neighbor’s dad went to Ohio State? Pick them.  You always wished you had a butler? Pick Butler. 
6. Pick the team playing closest to home.  Nothing beats a good night’s sleep. You can bet the team that had to travel farthest with be the sleepiest.
7. It’s all in a name – If you have never heard of the team before, odds are no one else has either. That includes the good players coming out of high school. Seriously, if you were a hot shot basketball recruit would you choose Arkansas-Pine Bluff or Duke University? 
8. Call the ultimate shot! – A 16 seed has never beaten a 1 seed in the men’s tournament. Never! So, it is bound to happen at some point. Isn’t it? It’s super fun to brag after predicting an upset, so increase your chances by picking them often.
9. Have fun. You can drive yourself crazy trying to pick the perfect bracket.  Just do it for fun and en joy watching the games with family and friends. At least that’s what we’ve been telling ourselves.

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