NCAA Tournament: Busted Brackets from Busting Brackets

Before the start of the NCAA Tournament, many of the writers here at Busting Brackets participated in our very own bracket pool. Since none of us get paid (besides our tyrannical editors), we put nothing on the line except for pride, honor, and the unwavering respect of the FanSided community. It seemed like a fair exchange at the time. Instead of posting everyone’s bracket when they were new and shiny, and everyone seemed like a genius buoyed by nothing more than their own rational, we waited until after the first weekend.

Some of the brackets pictured below have gaping bullet wounds and first degree burns, but that’s why we fill out a bracket every year anyway. Everyone loves a train wreck, right? I thought so. So without further ado, these are the first weekend results of the Busted Brackets from Busting Brackets Staff Challenge.

Long name, but it’s catchy though.

Dan Tran’s Bracket

OK, Dan Tran is ruining the gimmick. His bracket isn’t exactly busted yet. He could potentially nail the entire Elite Eight if results go in his favor. Like most people, he had Iowa State in the Sweet Sixteen, but had them losing to Gonzaga which minimizes the bleeding. This bracket will look good once we start crunching numbers.

Hashim Hathaway’s Bracket

Hashim Hathaway went upset heavy, but didn’t nail the right picks. Valpo and Stephen F. Austin were good teams that drew bad matchups, but Hashim picked them anyway. There’s also some strong Midwest bias in this bracket. Notre Dame over Kentucky, Michigan State in the Final Four, Northern Iowa over Villanova, and an all Big Ten national championship game. Glad to see we took this seriously.

Jacob Rude’s Bracket

Speaking of hometown slappy’s, Jacob Rude admitted to me in confidence that in his original bracket, he had his alma mater (Indiana) advancing all the way to the Elite Eight before falling to Kentucky. However, because Rude is one of the two people that they actually pay around here, he’s forced to maintain some type of journalistic integrity. This bracket has Indiana losing in the…holy crap. He submitted the wrong bracket! This is classic. Indiana in the Elite Eight! When Rude gets fired for this, maybe the yeti will promote me to editor. Fingers crossed.

John Parker’s Bracket

John Parker‘s bracket still has some potential. He could potentially hit seven of the the Elite Eight, but missed on his upset reaches (Wofford and Eastern Washington). He did nail Dayton over Providence and Michigan State over Virginia.

Alex Piasecki’s Bracket

Alex Piasecki got busy on the left side of this bracket! He rode Georgia State one round further than he should have (sorry if you listened to the podcast). Other than that hiccup he was perfect on the left side of the bracket. Considering the fact that there isn’t a single perfect bracket in the world right now, nearly nailing half the bracket through one weekend is an incredible feat that belongs on a professional resumé.

Prad Tondamantham’s Bracket

I’ve never experienced what Prad Tondamantham is going through. Seeing your bracket go to hell during the first three hours of the tournament has to be a humbling experience. He put way too much faith in the Big 12, and saw a national finalist and an Elite Eight pick bite the dust without a single win. Sweet Sixteen runs for BYU and Providence didn’t turn out to be sound logic either. This bracket needs to be tossed into a dumpster fire…because it is a dumpster fire.

Rakesh Bi’s Bracket

Boring brackets can sometimes win bracket pools, but relying too heavily on logic can lead to a finish at the bottom of the standings. Rakesh Bi played it safe. He picked an obviously superior Texas team as an upset, but ignored the annual wizardry of Butler in March. He picked a 12 (Buffalo) over a 5-seed and an 11 (BYU) over a 6-seed, which is standard practice. Both picks were safe, but they were wrong. Now he faces tough times ahead with half of his Final Four already bounced from the proceedings.

Beaumont Rand’s Bracket

I’d like to start by saying that Beaumont Rand is one of the coolest names ever, and I hope the naming rights included a 10-gallon hat and tons of oil money. I feel like (oil tycoon and Oklahoma State booster) T. Boone Pickens would be friends with Beaumont Rand, and T. Boone is a great friend to have. As for the bracket, there isn’t much damage beyond an Iowa State Elite Eight appearance and Virginia being slotted in the Final Four. A Sweet Sixteen run for Stephen F. Austin was a lofty prediction, and it backfired (I’m shocked at how many people took this route).

Bryce Bennett’s Bracket

Bryce Bennett also attempted to ride Virginia and Iowa State to the Final Four, and the wheels fell off that particular wagon quickly. The certainty of at least three of the four regional finalists on the left side of the bracket (Kentucky, Wisconsin, Arizona, and a sacrificial lamb to be determined) is saving a lot of souls. The right side of this bracket is mortally wounded. It’s safe to say that a Virginia/Northern Iowa regional final will not be happening.

Chris Godfrey’s Bracket

My (Chris Godfrey‘s) bracket isn’t doing too hot at the moment, but seven of my Elite Eight teams are still standing, as well as my entire Final Four. If Wisconsin does in fact win the national title, I’ll be a contender for the top spot, and all will be right in the world.

STANDINGS

As an added bonus, the winner of the Busted Brackets from Busting Brackets Tournament Challenge (copyright pending) will also receive — a man’s hat.

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Allow me to explain. In college, my buddy Sam (a frequent contributor to my mailbag and a future member of the Order of Canada) would annually organize a bracket pool where the winner would receive a random item. For example, one year a stuffed rat was involved. It was our college basketball answer to the ridiculousness of rivalry game trophies in college football where teams play for random stuff all the time (boots, skillets, bronzed pigs, a slab of bacon, etc.). The most coveted item we ever competed for was a man’s hat. I can’t tell you why the hat meant so much. We literally found it on the ground outside of our apartment. However, I would have killed a man for that hat. It was our grand prize. It was a man’s hat. It was special. This year I nominate this snazzy number as the hat that will go to our winner.

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

I just spent the last 228 words talking about a man’s hat. I’m about 63% sure Tran and Rude edited out the entire thing, so let’s just move on to the current standings.

BRACKET TRENDS

Kentucky was the national champion according to seven brackets. Two brackets tabbed Wisconsin to win it all (Tran & Godfrey), and one bracket picked Michigan State as champion (Hathaway).
Kentucky was the only unanimous Final Four pick.
Half of the pool picked Stephen F. Austin to upset Utah. Every team that picked SFA over Utah also had them advancing an additional round into the Sweet Sixteen.
Arizona and Wisconsin were pitted against each other in the West regional final in 8 of 10 brackets. Arizona was a unanimous selection. Wisconsin was bounced twice in favor of North Carolina. Either Arizona or Wisconsin is the West Region’s Final Four representative in all ten brackets.
Half of the pool had Michigan State knocking off Virginia in the second round. The same amount of people called Wichita’s win over Kansas.
The East Region produced four different predicted Final Four representatives (Michigan State, Virginia, Villanova, and Oklahoma), the most of any region. Only two of those teams are still left in the tournament.
The UAB upset was not predicted in any of the 10 brackets. Surprisingly, four brackets included Georgia State’s upset of Iowa State in their projections.

Next: Who will make the Final Four from the East Region?

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