Spring Break
You picked who? Unusual ways to fill out your bracket
Marc Gauthier
Issue date: 3/19/09 Section: March Madness
It might be one of the most celebrated Sundays in America. For many, it's the culmination of months and months of hard work. For others, it's just the beginning of a long, exhausting road.
No matter how it's sliced up, Selection Sunday is what nearly all college basketball fans look forward to.
By 7 p.m. Sunday, nearly 200,000 college basketball fans had already filled out their NCAA Championship brackets on ESPN.com.
Many had picked No. 1 seeded North Carolina to win it all. Others had No. 1 Louisville.
But there are unique ways people use to fill out their brackets - ways aren't based on how talented a team is, or how good they've been this year. These are ways that are conceived from everything that isn't basketball-related.
Crystal Taylor, a 4th-semester environmental science major, based her entire 2008 bracket on which team had the best school colors. Taylor used a system that gave any team with the color yellow an automatic win over its opponents, and in the case of a tie, the team with the best mascot won.
"I don't follow basketball," Taylor said. "But I like to get involved and make people mad who fill out their brackets seriously."
In her bracket last year, Taylor was doing very well, that is, until the Elite Eight, she said.
"Usually people don't see me as a threat," Taylor said.
But in light of the Huskies' six-overtime loss to Syracuse, Taylor will use another, new method this year when she completes her bracket - the Orange have to lose.
"Now I hate Syracuse, so they're automatically losing in my bracket," Taylor said. "No matter what."
Other people are using methods that aren't as superficial as team colors, but are still nonetheless unique.
Abigail McGlinchey, a 4th-semester literature major at American University, usually picks her bracket on teams that she knows play well. This year, she's basing the bracket entirely on her loyalty to teams she's associated with. Nonetheless, McGlinchey has American winning its first National Championship in school history.
No matter how it's sliced up, Selection Sunday is what nearly all college basketball fans look forward to.
By 7 p.m. Sunday, nearly 200,000 college basketball fans had already filled out their NCAA Championship brackets on ESPN.com.
Many had picked No. 1 seeded North Carolina to win it all. Others had No. 1 Louisville.
But there are unique ways people use to fill out their brackets - ways aren't based on how talented a team is, or how good they've been this year. These are ways that are conceived from everything that isn't basketball-related.
Crystal Taylor, a 4th-semester environmental science major, based her entire 2008 bracket on which team had the best school colors. Taylor used a system that gave any team with the color yellow an automatic win over its opponents, and in the case of a tie, the team with the best mascot won.
"I don't follow basketball," Taylor said. "But I like to get involved and make people mad who fill out their brackets seriously."
In her bracket last year, Taylor was doing very well, that is, until the Elite Eight, she said.
"Usually people don't see me as a threat," Taylor said.
But in light of the Huskies' six-overtime loss to Syracuse, Taylor will use another, new method this year when she completes her bracket - the Orange have to lose.
"Now I hate Syracuse, so they're automatically losing in my bracket," Taylor said. "No matter what."
Other people are using methods that aren't as superficial as team colors, but are still nonetheless unique.
Abigail McGlinchey, a 4th-semester literature major at American University, usually picks her bracket on teams that she knows play well. This year, she's basing the bracket entirely on her loyalty to teams she's associated with. Nonetheless, McGlinchey has American winning its first National Championship in school history.
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