Bracketology is becoming almost an art. There so so many different ways to choose your Brackets for March Madness, although the one from the Wall Street Journal is probably the most ingenious I’ve seen.

The Wall Street Journal Vegetable Bracket: Midwest Region

There are of course other ways to choose who moves through to the Final Four, you could use the ‘let my wife choose her favorite mascots’ approach. This year my wife has Bulldogs vs Bulldogs for the NCAA Championship. You could be like Andy Wheeler from CBS Philly and choose several different ways, including my favorite, The Moron. An article from several years ago offers up ‘How to Choose a Bracket Like a Girl’.  AddictedtoQuack created a rating system for picks and here’s a look at what would happen if the teams were to meet on the football field.

However you choose to pick your teams – in some cases the close your eyes and point method may work best, you have to have at least some knowledge of what your doing, or not. It’s up to you.

Fansided’s look at the Midwest Bracket

mgoblog.com

To further assist in your Bracketology  every team always has a shot…at least on paper. Your shot at a perfect bracket…is not very good.

From Fansided, some interesting stats…

There are 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 possible brackets (9.2 quintillion)
That’s the number nine follow by eighteen zeros!
That’s ONE MILLION times bigger than 9 TRILLION!

Some examples of just how big this number is:

If everyone on the planet each randomly filled out a bracket, the odds would be over ONE BILLION to 1 against any person having a perfect bracket.

If one bracket per second was filled out, it would take 292 BILLION years to fill out all possible brackets (that’s 20 times longer than the universe has existed).

If all the people on earth filled out one bracket per second, it would take over 43 years to fill out every possible bracket.

If all possible brackets were stacked on top of each other (on standard paper), the pile would reach from the moon and back over 1.1 million times.

All possible brackets (on standard paper) would weigh 90,000 times more than every man, women, and child on earth combined.

Even if a person had a 90% chance of winning each game he picked, his odds would still be 763 to 1 against picking a perfect bracket.

68 vs. 64 teams:
The calculations above assume a 64 team bracket – if expanded to consider 68 teams, multiple the figures by 4.

so if you are thinking of having a perfect bracket….and I know your an optimist, Good Luck.

More Links to Help You Decide

Teams on a roll to end the season and going into their respective Conference Tournaments could be Primed for a Run in the NCAA Tournament.

What Does Vegas Think of All the Madness? (Oregon is 100/1)

Predictors are somewhat silly when it comes to the Tournament. One says the Ducks have a 0.30 percent chance of making the Final Four. 

Here’s one of the coolest breakdown’s I’ve seen – tweeted from @DuckFootball – Each team broken down by the coolest person that went to school there.

Print out your bracket and get set for March Madness, or join us for the CNNSI Bracket Challenge. Sign up and Follow the AutzenZoo Group, the password for entry to the group is AutzenZoo.

If your into Social Media, you can follow the Tourney Teams on Twitter.

Feeling Nostalgic? The U of O Dusted This Off….

and lastly, from the University of Oregon, video from the 1939 NCAA Championship.

 1939 NCAA Championship : Tall Firs

 Oregon Ducks This Week:

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March 7, 2013; Boulder, CO, USA; Members of the Oregon Ducks react from the bench late in the second half of the game against the Colorado Buffaloes at the Coors Events Center. The Buffaloes defeated the Ducks 76-53. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Oregon is among five Pac 12 teams that are predicted to be in the Tournament this week including Arizona, the 5 seed in the East(Washington, DC) playing first round games in Salt Lake City. Round 1 vs 12 Seed Bucknell. In the second round, the Wildcats could face 12 Seed Akron or 4 Seed Marquette. Staying in the East, Colorado comes in as the 10 Seed facing 7 Seed Notre Dame in the First Round in Dayton, Ohio. Second round could see the Buffs going against 15 seed Florida Gulf Coast or 2 seed Ohio State.

In the South Region(North Texas) 6 seed UCLA is rising and could face either Kentucky or LaSalle in the First Round in Auburn Hills. The second rould for the Bruins could be 14 Seed Harvard or 3 Seed Michigan State.

Finally in the Midwest(Indianapolis), Cal makes an appearance as 9 seed and takes on 8 seeded Missouri in Round 1. Possible 2nd round matchup for the Bears, 14 Seed Liberty/LUI Brooklyn or 1 seed Indiana.

Jerry Palm’s Bracketology from CBS Sports(their Bracket guru) has 8 seeded Oregon playing in Philadelphia in the first round against 9 seed Memphis. In Round 2, Oregon would face a play in game winner, Norfolk State/Liberty or #1 Seed Duke.

Of course, none of this is set in stone and is very fluid. It is just something to consider as we head towards Selection Sunday, which is this upcoming weekend.

Oregon needs to have a strong finish being as low as a ‘predicted’ 9  seed. Of course, tournaments across the country will likely have some upsets. The Ducks need a strong finish for themselves to build some confidence, and maybe for the NCAA Tournament Committee to show that they belong.

The Ducks did get some good news from the Pac 12, on Monday Head Coach Dana Altman was named Pac 12 Coach of the Year.

Oregon Ducks This Week: 

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Day two would have the Ducks playing either 15th seed Montana or the more likely #2 seed Michigan out of the Big Ten.

Jan 12, 2013; Colorado Springs, CO, USA; Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Other teams from the Pac 12 seeded in Lunardi’s list include UCLA facing Oklahoma in the Midwest(Lexington, Kentucky). The second round match for the Bruins would be either 15 seed Niagara or 2 seed Louisville.

In the South region, Cal, a 10 seed would face Butler in the first round in Philadelphia. Round 2 would feature either 15 Seed Princeton or 2 Seed Georgetown.

The West Regional(Los Angeles) features the most Pac 12 teams potentially in the field of 64. Of course, this is where Oregon would like to end up, as they would play closer to home. Teams projected in the West include 5 Seed Arizona facing off with 12 Seed Middle Tennessee in San Jose. 2nd Round matchup could feature either 13 seed Davidson or 3 seed Syracuse. In the Dayton Regional 11 seed Colorado would meet 6 Seed St. Louis. Round 2 looks like 15 Seed Long Beach State or 2 Seed Florida.

None of this is set and stone and will change as we get closer to next Sunday, Selection Sunday. From the looks of it the Pac 12 will have five teams in the NCAA Tournament. I find it interesting that of the Pac 12 teams in the brackets, Arizona has the highest seed at 5, followed by Oregon at 7 ,  UCLA at 7, Cal at 10, and Colorado at 11.

Oregon needs to win Saturday at Utah to win the Pac 12 Regular Season title, then set their sites on the Pac 12 Tournament. One game at a time from this point. They could still end up playing anywhere in the country, but as I’ve said before expect a few upsets in the upcoming Conference Tournaments across the country, and hope the Ducks aren’t a storyline in an early Pac 12 Tournament exit.

Oregon Ducks This Week: