Post by 01- PirateDave on Mar 18, 2015 8:16:20 GMT -6
N.C.A.A. Bracket Conundrum: To Pick Kentucky or Not to Pick Kentucky?
MARCH 18, 2015 Photo
Kentucky, with players like Karl-Anthony Towns, is the big favorite, although less than half of Times readers are picking the Wildcats to win the title. Credit Joshua Lindsey/USA Today Sports, via Reuters
Participants in our interactive N.C.A.A. bracket, which rewards correct picks based on their overall popularity among readers, have reached a consensus: Not surprisingly, Kentucky is the team to beat. More than half of Times readers pick the Wildcats to reach the national championship, and 41 percent have chosen them to win the title.
In fact, given Kentucky’s unusual strength this year, you can think of every bracket as falling into one of two groups: those that have Kentucky winning and those that do not.
If you have a feeling Kentucky will lose, you need to answer two questions: Who will beat them, and who will win the title? (The answers can be identical, of course.) You will get a large reward in our game for getting either of those two questions right. In Kentucky’s region, the Midwest, you could pick the Wildcats to lose to Notre Dame or Kansas in the Round of 8, West Virginia or Maryland in the Sweet 16, or even Cincinnati or Purdue in the Round of 32.
Continue reading the main story
RELATED COVERAGE
The Case for Kentucky as College Basketball’s Greatest Defensive Team
If these bets pay off, you can afford a few mistakes elsewhere in the bracket. As my colleague Josh Katz has noted, if we had used a market-based approach with our bracket contest in 2011, a correct pick for V.C.U., then the No. 11 seed, to go the Final Four would have been enough to get you very close to the top of the table even if you misfired on the teams that made the final.
But you’ll still need a champion. Among our readers, Wisconsin is the second-most-popular choice, followed by Duke, Arizona, Villanova and Virginia.
On the other hand, if you pick Kentucky to win, you’ll need to separate your bracket from everyone else’s. That means picking upsets. Because of our market-based approach to this year’s bracket, we think some teams may be worth a second look.
MARCH 18, 2015 Photo
Kentucky, with players like Karl-Anthony Towns, is the big favorite, although less than half of Times readers are picking the Wildcats to win the title. Credit Joshua Lindsey/USA Today Sports, via Reuters
Participants in our interactive N.C.A.A. bracket, which rewards correct picks based on their overall popularity among readers, have reached a consensus: Not surprisingly, Kentucky is the team to beat. More than half of Times readers pick the Wildcats to reach the national championship, and 41 percent have chosen them to win the title.
In fact, given Kentucky’s unusual strength this year, you can think of every bracket as falling into one of two groups: those that have Kentucky winning and those that do not.
If you have a feeling Kentucky will lose, you need to answer two questions: Who will beat them, and who will win the title? (The answers can be identical, of course.) You will get a large reward in our game for getting either of those two questions right. In Kentucky’s region, the Midwest, you could pick the Wildcats to lose to Notre Dame or Kansas in the Round of 8, West Virginia or Maryland in the Sweet 16, or even Cincinnati or Purdue in the Round of 32.
Continue reading the main story
RELATED COVERAGE
The Case for Kentucky as College Basketball’s Greatest Defensive Team
If these bets pay off, you can afford a few mistakes elsewhere in the bracket. As my colleague Josh Katz has noted, if we had used a market-based approach with our bracket contest in 2011, a correct pick for V.C.U., then the No. 11 seed, to go the Final Four would have been enough to get you very close to the top of the table even if you misfired on the teams that made the final.
But you’ll still need a champion. Among our readers, Wisconsin is the second-most-popular choice, followed by Duke, Arizona, Villanova and Virginia.
On the other hand, if you pick Kentucky to win, you’ll need to separate your bracket from everyone else’s. That means picking upsets. Because of our market-based approach to this year’s bracket, we think some teams may be worth a second look.
good luck to all!