Welcome
to the iSportsLinks Bracket TIPS page, where
you can find the resources to win all your March Brackets!
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I've released a pdf version of my spreadsheet giving you a nice breakdown of the brackets numerically. Purchase the spreadsheet for $5 - email link below. |
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I made it into the USA Today Newspaper! They did not list iSportsLinks, but at least I made it!
. The technical approach: Being an engineer by trade, I have a massive spreadsheet where I download the Sagarin computer rankings, as well as Mike Greenfield's Power Ranking and use my own formula to calculate the optimal bracket. . (Look) for teams with the elite guards or the very best players surrounded by a decent team. . Look for teams which are 3 time zones away. Historically they don't do well." - Scott O, Coldwater, Mich.
Here goes my strategies:
- Being an Engineer by trade, I like numbers. I compare the Sagarin ratings and the Greenfield numbers (shown below) and dump them into a massive spreadsheet, which I hope to post this year. I crunch the numbers to help pick the tough 8/9 picks and to locate potential upsets.
- Build at least 6 different brackets with different winners in each. With most contests with over 100 entries and high points for later rounds, you can't win unless you pick the winner. Along the same lines, pick a variety of Final Fours.
- You've got to pick a few upsets. Instead of picking the weakest high seed to fall, pick the strongest lower seed to win. For example, pick the strongest #12 to beat a #5 seed.
- Enter as many contests as possible from Sunday night to Wednesday night. I entered at least 40 in 2006. I always take of Monday as a vacation day to build my brackets. I normally make 6 brackets, but this year I'm going to try 12, but then pick a different winner to cover as many possibilities as possible. Enter all the Free ones, then try the $5 contests, etc until you are out of money or out of time!
- Use the Bracket Tracker® to organize which brackets you've entered and which strategy you used. I also finished 6th out of 493 in my own pool using Bracket Brains last year!
- This is what it takes on Monday morning:
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OfficePool64 - Page 1
OfficePool64 - Page 2
OfficePool64 - Page 3 |
In his blog, Steve gives great tips beyond the normal analysis. For example, Don't pick a #1 seed to be one of the last four teams, let alone the national title, if the school wasn't in the playoffs the previous year. In the iSportsLinks Bracket Challenge, I'll pick one bracket using as many of his strategies as possible and see what happens. |
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This great site gives you
an unbelievable amount of reports on all aspects of the NCAA mens
basketball tournament. From Team to individual records, this site
compiles more information than anywhere! |
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How did the iSportsLinks Contest winners
make their picks? Follow the link to find out. |
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Tie Breaker
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This is iSportsLinks analysis
of the total score for the championship game over the last 10 years.
A majority of contests use the total score for the championship game,
so we give you the details of the last 10 years. |
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The Score Card is Coleman and Lynch's initial effort to develop a formula to predict the results of NCAA Tournament games using the same information that the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee has at its disposal when determining at-large bids. Thus, in the process the authors identified those factors that the Selection Committee has included on its Nitty-Gritty report that have the most relevance when it comes to performance of teams once they get into the tournament. |
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There are 2 great pages
of strategy, worth a look. |
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- Field of predictions
Leading up to the tournament, see what the bracket could look like.
- DeCourcy's Tournament Watch
Twice a week Sporting News' college hoops expert Mike Decourcy will provide tournament insight.
- Team Previews of All 65 Teams
Find out the scoop on every team. Does that 16 seed finally have a chance? Probably not, but we'll tell you if they do.
- Expert Picks Brackets
Like beating people who think they know more than you? So, do we. See how you compare against the people who spend more time than you following college hoops.
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Here is Jeff Sagarin's
College Basketball home page. His computer rankings are reported
in all the major newspapers, but the link to the left goes directly
to his site where much more detailed information is listed. |
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Mike
Greenfields' Power Ranking
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Mike Greenfield gives another massive
amount of ranked information from their record against the top 25
to their record in the last 10 games. Their record in the last 10
games is a good indication of momentum entering the tournament. An
extremely useful resource. |
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A great list of 4 or 5 great strategies. |
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Ken Massey compares all the rankings from the various computer ranking sites. He averages all the ranks. Also very interesting is his Game Graph Connections which shows a connection between any two teams - who beat who. An example of Ohio State and Duke - Ohio State should Beat Duke!
2005-11-28 @ Ohio St 69 Virginia Tech 56
2006-02-25 @ Virginia Tech 72 Florida St 61
2006-03-01 @ Florida St 79 Duke 74 |
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RPI Ranking
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This site by Jerry Palm displays the
RPI Index and Jerry gives his input to what he thinks the bracket
should look like. |
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Great site with some interesting interactive bracket building technology. |
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More older, but still
good tips. |
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ePicks
Strategy Guide
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This site has not been updated in a while, but the strategy
guide is still useful. |
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Keep track of all the
contests that you entered. 99 listed so far in 2009! |
WHY THE PERFECT BRACKET IS IMPOSSIBLE - there are 9.22 quintillion possible
outcomes -- that's billions of billions. The number does drop quickly based
on the strength of the teams, but still, it's really high!
