Okay, so I’m gonna spill the beans on how I tackled the whole “sleepers” thing for the NCAA tournament this year. It was a wild ride, lemme tell ya.
First off, I started by admitting I know squat about college ball. Like, zero. So, I figured I needed data, and lots of it. I dug up some historical tournament data, focusing on teams seeded, like, 8 through 12. These are the usual suspects for “sleeper” potential.
Then I looked at the teams’ regular season records. I wasn’t just eyeballing the wins and losses, though. I went deeper. Stuff like points per game, points allowed, rebound numbers, the whole shebang. You know, the kinda stats that the real analysts drool over.
Next up, I checked out the conference they played in. A team that dominates a weak conference might not be as tough as their record suggests. I tried to weigh the strength of each conference to get a clearer picture.
Alright, now for the gut feeling part. I watched a few highlight reels of some of the teams that looked promising. You can kinda get a sense of their style and energy, you know? Do they seem hungry? Do they have that “it” factor?
After all that, I narrowed it down to a few teams. I had my sleepers! This year, I was high on a particular team, I won’t name it in this post but I will in a future one.
Of course, I totally biffed it on a couple of my picks. That’s March Madness for ya. But hey, I nailed one, and that’s all that matters, right?
The biggest lesson? Data is cool, but sometimes you gotta trust your gut. And always, always expect the unexpected. It’s why we love March Madness.
