Bracket of Integrity

It's March Madness time and that means that offices across the country are holding NCAA bracket pools, where a bunch of people who wouldn't recognize  J.J. Redick  if he were standing next to them at the local Wal-mart will decide whether or not his team will advance to the Final Four.   And since luck is such a major factor in determining the bracket winner - very often the "better" team does not win in a single elimination game on a neutral site - anyone can win one of these bracket pools, which is probably why they have become so popular.  To me, it's a double-edged sword.  College basketball is on par with baseball and football among my fan interest, so I'm glad that we get so much coverage this time of year.  But it is disconcerting that I can lose a bracket challenge to some chick in accounting who doesn't even know how long the shot clock is (it's 35 seconds).

Which brings me to the great debate for serious fans come this time of the year.  Should you enter multiple brackets (with different winners) into different pools, or should your same bracket be used in all the pools you enter?   I have a friend who adamantly believes that you should only have one bracket - the so-called "Bracket of Integrity".  This would allow you to avoid conflicts in rooting during the game, which come up frequently with multiple brackets.  For instance, you could pick an Old Dominion upset in Round 1 of the tournament in one bracket, but then have Michigan State going to the Sweet 16 in the other bracket.  When Old Dominion is up by 10 with 5 minutes to go, who do you root for?   A single bracket clarifies rooting interest as well as providing you with the confidence to make your picks without a safety net.  Risky, yes, but also a bold move.

On the flip side, there is the "out by Thursday at 5" side of the argument.  And this happens more often than not to my friend with the "Bracket of Integrity".  You see, when you only have one bracket and your bold Final Four selection of 4 seed Boston College  gets waxed by the Quakers on Thursday afternoon, you can pretty much say goodbye to your bracket and wait until next year.  Unless of course you have a backup or two.  It may be a wimpy way out, but it certainly keeps your rooting interest a little longer to survive a string of first round upsets.

I always go with the multiple bracket strategy.  Despite my knowledge and fand0m of college basketball, I don't pick well, and with only a single bracket, I would be struggling to make it to the first weekend.  The last tournament pool I won was when Chris Webber called a timeout to give UNC the championship back in 1993.  Those were good times.  Since then, not so much... even when Syracuse won it all in 2003 and I had them picked to do that, someone else had picked them into the finals and I lost.  So maybe I should try the Bracket of Integrity strategy.  Not doing it certainly hasn't worked.  I think it's not a bad idea.

So without further ado, here's my 2005 Bracket of Integrity Final Four:
Illinois, UNC, Syracuse, and Louisville.  I won't give any more details but let's just say look for an Orange celebration come April 4th. 

Of course, I still reserve the right to put in a backup bracket or two.  I have until Thursday, you know.