There are a number of cognizant and logical methods in creating a March Madness bracket. For the event—a tournament between multiple NCAA Division 1 basketball teams—eager fans meticulously craft their brackets in an attempt to accurately predict the winning team. By following along with updates and upsets in college basketball, as well as paying attention to the seed number of the 16 teams per each of the four regions, it seems that it would be easy enough to create a winning or near-winning bracket.
But, of course, every year without fail there are surprises when lower-seeded teams unexpectedly defeat their higher-seeded, supposedly-more-formidable counterparts. With this in mind, it appears virtually impossible to predict which team will defeat the others and take home the victory. I, however, would like to argue that there is one method in creating a bracket that is far superior to any other method. It is a method so fantastic and so fool-proof that one might completely overlook it as a possible bracket-creating process: the power of pretty colors.
Personally, I know virtually nothing about college basketball, or basketball in general. My basketball knowledge spans as far as intramural 5 v. 5 with my equally clueless friends. In other words, my understanding is zilch. But, what I do know is that I love pretty colors. So, as my other friends were carefully calculating their next pick based on player performance, I was comparing the reddish hue of San Diego State to the rugged maroon of Charleston. I continued with this color comparison throughout the preliminary 68 teams. And, I have to say, my results were pretty spot on.
For example, when I predicted that the Furman Paladins would defeat the Virginia Cavaliers, my friends thought I was absolutely off my rocker. After all, Virginia earned fourth seed in the South Region, whereas Furman was seeded 13th. As someone who has family who lives in Virginia, I knew I was betraying UVA fans entirely. But, the contrast of the navy blue and heinous orange is objectively God-awful—Furman’s deep purple and white is much more palatable. I would go so far as to say that the purple tone is majestically delightful. In this case, pretty colors prevailed as a winning strategy in predicting an unpredictable outcome.
But, I must admit, my bracket has had a few downfalls. In fact, I was in accordance with the rest of the world that Purdue would undoubtedly triumph over Fairleigh Dickinson University. Well, for everyone else, they thought that the number one seed team in the East would certainly beat the 16th (last) seeded team—after all, only once before in the history of March Madness has a 16th seeded team defeated the first seeded team in a region (might I add that it was UMBC that defeated the then number one seeded Virginia in 2018—the heinous color combo strikes again). In my case, however, I thought that the gold and black of Purdue was a much more attractive combination than the bright blue and red of Fairleigh Dickinson. The striking difference between the red and blue is like a primary color nightmare from hell.
Despite my Purdue downfall, even my hot takes about colors have carried me to victory on occasion. The Princeton win over University of Arizona was an outrage for most viewers. Arizona’s number two seed—as opposed to Princeton’s 15 seed—was an apparent and sound choice for any logical ball viewer. But, although this might sound a little crazy, I actually preferred Princeton’s electric orange over the University of Arizona’s overly patriotic red and blue. So, for me personally, Princeton was the obvious pick—although I understand how this could be a controversial color choice. I’m sure Princeton did phenomenally in the game (I did not actually watch the game due to the fact that, yet again, I do not watch college basketball).
Now, you may all be wondering who my pick is for the winner of the entire tournament. After all, I have hyped up my bracket-curating system pretty heavily. After long and thorough consideration, I predict that the University of Connecticut will win March Madness this year. Now, I know what you’re thinking: UConn is the highest seeded team in the final four. But, that is not why I’m picking it as my personal winner. For me, the navy blue paired with white just screams classic elegance. But who knows—there are lower seeded teams clad in handsome hues that could work their way to the top. Ultimately, players make mistakes. Pretty colors don’t.