Quote:
Originally Posted by dacman
Not usually, but people who pick too much chalk don't usually either unless its one of those rare tournaments that is mostly chalk. If you pick the right winner, having an upset or two picked correctly makes a huge difference. In the end, it's really more for fun / water cooler talk / bragging rights than anything. I did have GMU in the sweet sixteen that year (see it's started already!).
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It depends on the size of the pool. If the pool is small, picking the higher seeded team in every matchup (I refuse to say "chalk") gives you a decent chance to win. If you get cute and pick some upsets, odds are that you'll miss that upset, and miss another upset that actually happens.
Of course, if you submit a bracket to ESPN.com, you might as well be wacky, because the only way to win is basically to have a perfect bracket.
I wish there were more pools out there that rewarded picking upsets. Something like getting 1 point for picking a #1 seed, 16 points for picking a #16 seed, etc. I don't know how the math holds up if you did the rest of the pool like that (or if it would ever make sense to pick the favorite in that setup), but it's a start
But ya, regardless of the size of the pool, you have to pick some upsets, because reminding everyone that you picked GMU to get far is way more fun that actually winnning.