I’ve Found How I’m Picking My NCAA Tournament Bracket Next Year

By No Guts, No Glory • March 26, 2010

With your NCAA tournament bracket being in the dump after the first weekend, it may be time for us all to rethink this whole “picking your bracket” thing. It’s obvious that picking “favorites” just isn’t working. Even if that favorite has been ranked #1 at some point in the season and their opponent has dudes that you have never ever heard of. It just aint working.

So in short, I’m out of ideas. Maybe I should just start picking my bracket based on mascots. I wonder if there are any statistics showing which mascots win the most games in the NCAA tournament. Actually, I don’t wonder if someone has complied something like this because you and I both know someone has. And you and I both know, I’m about to hit you with them. Take notes.

Here’s a question to distract you from the annoying IT guy leading the office pool because he liked Northern Iowa’s colors: What type of mascot performs best during March Madness?

Answering this query reveals the strength of reptiles and amphibians—the Florida Gators and Maryland Terrapins own three NCAA tournament titles—and the embarrassment that horses bestow on the animal kingdom (the Murray State Racers have a .143 tournament winning percentage despite this year’s first-round upset). By tallying tournament results since 1985 and classifying schools by the origin of their current nickname, we determined which groups were strongest.

Yeah, yeah. I’m sure you’re gonna dismiss this. Like you’ve been doing so well on your own. Suit yourself.

Reptiles and Amphibians Rule March Madness (WSJ)

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