Brackets

With March Madness right around the corner I thought I would put together a little recent history of the final four so you know who to be paying attention to in the final weeks of the regular season. Over the last 5 years here is how the teams that made the final four ended up in the final AP poll…

Final AP ranking on Left and Bracket Seed on right
09
#2 UNC -1
#5 UCONN -1
#8 MICH ST -2
#11 NOVA -3

08
#4 Kansas -1
#2 Memphis -1
#1 UNC -1
#3 UCLA -1

07
#3 FLA -1
#1 Ohio st -1
#8 G Town -2
#7 UCLA -2

06
#7 UCLA -2
#11 Fla -3
#19 LSU -4
N/R G Mason -11

05
#2 UNC -1
#1 Illinois -1
#4 Louy -4
#15 Mich ST -5

As you can see, of the last 20 teams to make the Final Four that 11 of the 20 were ranked in the top 5 of the final AP poll. Of the 9 that were not in the top 5, 4 of them were in the top 10. so 15 out of 20 were in the top 10 of the final AP poll. So instead of looking for that 12 seed that will beat a 5 in the first round, spend you time on the top 10. Most bracket pools have points per round and the later the round the more the points. So lets concentrate on the teams that actually have a shot at making the final four. 50% of the time a top 5 AP team will be in the final four. And 75% of the time the team that makes the final 4 will have been in the top 10 of the final poll. (and twice the team was ranked 11th so you could say that 85% of the time a top 11 team will be in the final four)

So after you fill out your brackets check on how many of your final four teams finished in the top 5, and top 11.

Don’t be afraid to stay with the chalk most of the time. Don’t get caught up with trying to pick the upsets in the 1st and 2nd round. If you knew who the Cinderella story would be then it wouldn’t be a Cinderella.

CHECK THIS SITE OUT FOR SOME GREAT BRACKET HISTORY