The Eternal Optimist

I decided I should give you my final results from my NCAA tourney brackets, even though I’m about two weeks late on posting it. So, here are the much-anticipated final results:

My A-game bracket
45 of 63 games picked correctly.
110 of 192 possible points earned.
Finished in 4th place out of 13 (based on points).

My alternative bracket
47 of 63 games picked correctly.
143 of 192 points earned.
Finished in 4th place out of 41 in my pool and in the 92nd percentile overall on Yahoo.

My “dream” bracket
44 of 63 games picked correctly.
119 of 192 points earned.
Don’t know final standings because my pools were deleted already.

So, in the end, my “A-game” was still the worst. The alternative jumped ahead since I picked Florida to win in that bracket. And if Kansas had won, I would have finished in 1st or 2nd in my “A-game” pool. Lessons to learn for next year.

I’m was shocked by my ranking in my “alternative bracket” pool when I check tonight. So I figured I should blog before Friday’s games (when I’m likely to fall).

My A-game bracket
39 of 52 games picked correctly.
62 of 80 possible points earned.

My alternative bracket
40 of 52 games picked correctly.
63 of 80 possible points earned.
Tied for 2nd place in the pool, as of its last update.

My “dream” bracket
36 of 52 games picked correctly.
51 of 80 possible points earned.

Okay, this is looking more like it should. In other words, the “dream” bracket isn’t happening so much anymore. And I expect it to continue having some problems. My other two are fairly close and decent, although I already lost two teams I had picked to win on Friday. We’ll see what the next round brings.

Also, I have to say that I suspected the Kansas/SIU game would be fairly close and a good game to watch. I had predicted a Kansas/SIU match-up in all my brackets, and I had SIU winning the game in one of them.

Yesterday’s games didn’t help my brackets much. But, I was glad SIU won, and I’m looking forward to seeing them play Kansas. Here’s where I am:

My A-game bracket
I picked 35 of 48 games correctly.
I earned 46 of 64 possible points.

My alternative bracket
I picked 36 of 48 games correctly.
I earned 47 of 64 possible points.
I’m in 5th place.

My “dream” bracket
I picked 34 of 48 games correctly.
I earned 43 of 64 possible points.

I must be getting luck from somewhere because at this point I’m pleased with how my brackets are doing. Of course, I realize that is a guarantee things are about to take a turn for the worse. But, after half the second-round games, my brackets stand as follows:

My A-game bracket
31 of 40 games called correctly.
38 of 48 possible points earned.
(Unsure of ranking in pool.)

My alternative bracket
31 of 40 games called correctly.
37 of 48 possible points earned.
(Currently in 6th out of 30-some people.)

My “dream” bracket
31 of 40 games called correctly.
37 of 48 possible points earned.
(Currently ranging from 3rd out of 8 to 50th out of 322 people as this bracket is part of multiple pools.)

So, I’m much happier since my A-game appears to be doing the best (for the moment). I’m a bit bummed since the only game I missed in the West bracket so far was Kentucky-Villanova. And, I’m excited because I called the Butler win over Maryland.

I’m less hopeful about keeping the current speed for today’s games, though. I think I called a few that might be tough.

I’m in a few NCAA basketball tournament pools this year, so I made different brackets for each. After one day of games, the results are less than stellar. Here’s what it looks like so far:

My A-game bracket
This bracket was supposed to be my “best.” I spent time researching some of the teams, as well as the experts’ opinions on them, and these were the teamsI thought would win. As it turns out, I probably picked too many upsets. After one day of play, this bracket is 11-5 (11 points).

My alternative bracket
This bracket was similar to the first, but I switched the winners in some games that I was torn about. It didn’t seem to matter too much yet, as this bracket is also 11-5 (11 points).

My “dream” bracket
This was my topsy-turvy, going-with-my-heart-instead-of-my-head bracket. I still used a little bit of logic in it, but I mostly chose the teams I hoped would win because 1)I liked them, 2)I wanted to see a certain match-up, or 3)I wanted to see an upset (they’re always fun). After the first day, this bracket is 12-4 (12 points).

Hmm … so far, the results are telling me I should ditch the thought process and pick randomly with my heart. We’ll see how the rest of the tourney shapes up.