The 2015 March Madness Thread

[Inactive01 5,299]

 

Welcome to the 2015 March Madness thread! Here, you can discuss all things about the annual ritual that is the single elimination college basketball tournament! 

 

To celebrate the occasion, us peeps are going to predict who will win this year's March Madness Tournament. Make your pics by clicking on the ink below. If there is a password, it's "ponies" or something like that.

 

Anyway, good luck to you all, and have fun making predictions! 

 

http://games.espn.go.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/2015/en_CA/group?groupID=368475

[Wingnut 7,005]

All I know for sure is that Villanova is in the big dance as a number one seed.    Of the local college teams, they're the only ones to make any kind of headway in March Madness.  Can they recapture that energy that led to a national title in '85?  Time will tell. 

 

Go Wildcats!   

[Inactive01 5,299]

Who are you guys cheering for in this year's tourney? If FSU were there, I'd have cheered for them, but since they're not, I'm just cheering for my bracket!

[Bhending the Rules 697]

I'm a Wisconsin fan, so I've had plenty to cheer about both last year and this year. I've felt good about my team all year, but they got a really tough draw in the West region. (Advanced analytics have confirmed: the West is the toughest region in this year's tournament.)

 

I'm VERY worried about the likelihood of running into Arizona in the Elite Eight again, and North Carolina and Oregon (our likely matchups before that) will be no slouches either.

 

Kentucky, by comparison, got a very favorable draw (as if they needed it...) and is likely to romp pretty decisively to the Final Four.

[Inactive01 5,299]

What do you guys think of Notre Dame and Gonzaga? In past tournaments, I've known them to be teams that botch things up in a major tournament, but do you guys think they'll go far this year?

 

With regards to my picks, I honestly have no idea who will win it all this year. I certainly didn't pick Kentucky under the assumption that a perfect win record will get them overconfident and out. I nevertheless have them going to the Final Four. 

 

I nevertheless opted to pick Duke because of Jahlil Okafor.

[Bhending the Rules 697]

I think this is Gonzaga's year to break through and have a great run. This is their best team in school history. I know we keep saying that every year, but it's true. They have scorers all over the floor, they have enough size to go toe-to-toe with Kentucky, and they defend well, unlike a lot of previous Gonzaga teams.

 

The same is not true for Notre Dame. They have a great offense, and their shooters make them a threat to beat any team. (They shoot 51% from the floor as a team, which is just... insane.) But they don't defend. Their defense ranks 112th in the nation in efficiency, per Ken Pomeroy's rankings, which is easily the worst defense of all of the highly seeded teams. I have them winning two games before getting knocked out by Wichita State in the Sweet 16.

[Bhending the Rules 697]

THE MADNESS HAS BEGUN. WOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[masterchaoss 27]

Go how the mighty have fallen yeah the ucla Bruins are my team and man they have been disappointed with them last five years or so. Still hoping they can do something magical and win it all probably won't make it past the second round though.

[skbl17 200]

RIP brackets. My (nonexistent) bracket is still perfect, though. 

[Shady23 175]

I joined up with the same bracket I filled out for the roosterteeth community. I have Virginia vs Arizona with Virginia winning it all. I actually have Maryland beating Kentucky. They have to choke eventually... I hope lol. By the way my bracket is Shadylegend 2

[Inactive01 5,299]

My bracket shall rest in peace now. I'm in the bottom 2% right now. That's how bad it is. I predicted the wrong upsets.

[Shady23 175]

My bracket shall rest in peace now. I'm in the bottom 2% right now. That's how bad it is. I predicted the wrong upsets.

I'm with you bro I had Iowa state in the sweet 16 and have lost 3 other games already Pretty sure we are the bottom two lol.

[Inactive01 5,299]

I'm with you bro I had Iowa state in the sweet 16 and have lost 3 other games already Pretty sure we are the bottom two lol.

LOL I was hoping Texas would be a Cinderella team. I also had an inkling to knock Baylor out, but I let them progress! What was I thinking?!

[Shady23 175]

LOL I was hoping Texas would be a Cinderella team. I also had an inkling to knock Baylor out, but I let them progress! What was I thinking?!

 

I had Texas winning first round. Only good thing going for me is my final four is in tact but not sure how long that will last...

[zombienixon 331]

I filled out a bracket for the first time at work (there's a pool to win $500 tax-free, and it cost nothing to enter). I know absolutely nothing about college basketball, or any other sports, honestly.  My predictions haven't been going so well. I think about 4 out of 5 have lost. The guy at the desk next to me (who knows a lot about basketball) picked Wisconsin to win it all, but I went with Kentucky because Fried Chicken > Cheese. Seriously, that's the reason.

[Bhending the Rules 697]

LOL I was hoping Texas would be a Cinderella team. I also had an inkling to knock Baylor out, but I let them progress! What was I thinking?!

 

I wish I could have warned you about Texas. I wish I could have warned EVERYONE about Texas. I told a friend of mine "Don't take Texas. They are awfully tempting, but they will give your bracket herpes". Everyone who has followed Texas closely this year knows that they lose games. It's just what they do.

 

I took five losses yesterday (I picked SMU, Iowa State, Baylor, Ole Miss, and Purdue to win those games), but my Elite 8 is still intact so I'm okay as long as Gonzaga/Arizona/Kentucky go deep.

[Shady23 175]

I wish I could have warned you about Texas. I wish I could have warned EVERYONE about Texas. I told a friend of mine "Don't take Texas. They are awfully tempting, but they will give your bracket herpes". Everyone who has followed Texas closely this year knows that they lose games. It's just what they do.

 

I took five losses yesterday (I picked SMU, Iowa State, Baylor, Ole Miss, and Purdue to win those games), but my Elite 8 is still intact so I'm okay as long as Gonzaga/Arizona/Kentucky go deep.

Same games I lost along with Texas I just need Arizona, Kansas, Virginia and Duke make a run. I have Louisville in the elite 8 and they're only up by 2 at half I'm a little worried.

[Frostgage 7,978]

I had Iowa State in the final four, so I'm pretty much screwed xD

 

I felt good about them, given the chance I would pick them again, just how these things go I guess. The rest of my bracket is okay although I did miss all my upset picks so far.

[Magic Note 2,752]

I had Iowa State advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Welp, that didn't work out. I had the brackets busted on the very first day. I also had Southern Methodist in the Elite Eight, and that didn't come out to be either.

 

It's incredible how many brackets got destroyed in just a span of two days.

[DubWolf 17,638]

 

I wish I could have warned you about Texas. I wish I could have warned EVERYONE about Texas. I told a friend of mine "Don't take Texas. They are awfully tempting, but they will give your bracket herpes". Everyone who has followed Texas closely this year knows that they lose games. It's just what they do.

 

I took five losses yesterday (I picked SMU, Iowa State, Baylor, Ole Miss, and Purdue to win those games), but my Elite 8 is still intact so I'm okay as long as Gonzaga/Arizona/Kentucky go deep.

 

Being from Texas and from someone who went to most of the games, I couldn't agree more with you. Texas was such a wild card team. Despite their occasional good wins (almost never), they shouldn't have been projected to get past the 1st round, although it was a bad game. A predictable bad game.

 

Also, all 5 Texas teams were knocked out from the tournament in a day :c .

Edited March 21, 2015 by SparkWolf

[Shady23 175]

I'm still in this even though round one hasn't been so great.

[Bhending the Rules 697]

Being from Texas and from someone who went to most of the games, I couldn't agree more with you. Texas was such a wild card team. Despite their occasional good wins (almost never), they shouldn't have been projected to get past the 1st round, although it was a bad game. A predictable bad game.

 

Also, all 5 Texas teams were knocked out from the tournament in a day :c .

 

 

There's no way a team with the talent Texas had should have lost that many games and bowed out in the first round. But sometimes a team plays lesser than the sum of its parts. Winning and losing are habits, and unfortunately that Texas team was one that knew how to lose.

 

The biggest shame of the Texas state losses was SMU. Because horses.