The Waves may not have made it to the Big Dance (aka the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament) this year, but the WCC conference did have three other teams represented: St. Mary’s, BYU and Gonzaga. But all three of them dropped out within three rounds — not a great confidence booster for any team in the WCC, Pepperdine included.
However, aside from the unfortunate 14 ranked team domination of No. 3 Marquette over No. 14 BYU, and No. 2 Ohio State over No. 7 Gonzaga, upsets have been the name of the game this year. This includes No. 10 Purdue’s three-point victory over No. 7 St. Mary’s.
In total, 10 teams were upset within the second round of games. The only division to escape the unpredictability was East Boston, though No. 6 Cincinnati did muster up a win over No. 3 Florida State in round three.
Every win counts. Not only to the schools playing, but also to the fans who have drawn up brackets in an attempt to guess the winner. It’s become a large game across the nation as groups of people download phone apps and keep a close eye on ESPN to stay updated on the scores.
“I’ve been filling out brackets for the past five years,” sophomore Jeremy Ueki said. “I’m playing with a group of people from [my hometown] Hawaii, and people from my work as well. It’s a lot more fun when you play with friends.”
Another student, senior Reyn Oyadomori, says he has also taken part in the March Madness tradition for about five years. He has participated with friends and the Pepperdine Math Department.
Although some pick teams based off gut feelings, favorite schools or historically famous programs, Oyadomori picks relying only on the few games he watches each year. For this year, at least, his tactics have worked.
“My brackets are generally doing okay,” Oyadomori said. “Nothing is too bad or too good. One year it blew up in my face.”
On the other hand, there are more strategic “bracket fillers,” such as Ueki, who studies the game and conducts some intense research prior to penciling in his selections.
“I usually research by looking at trends from past NCAA tournaments regarding the win percentages between the different seeds that play each other,” Ueki said. “For example, the No. 1 seeds are 108-0 against the No. 16 seeds, and only 11 times have the No. 1 seeds won by single digits, with the last time being in 1997.”
Ueki also does additional, simpler examination, as he explains:
“I also look at each team’s stats, especially toward the end of the year to see if a team has a lot of momentum going into the tournament. For example, when I saw North Carolina shut down a young Duke team, I didn’t see Duke going very far, and I saw that North Carolina could go pretty deep. I have North Carolina winning the whole thing.”
To a casual fan, it can seem like a lot of research for predictions that could be blindly guessed. In fact, Ueki’s brackets haven’t exactly reflected the amount of research he did beforehand, yet there is still hope for him to redeem himself.
“Let’s just say that my upset picks didn’t pan out the way I thought they would,” Ueki said. “However, the two teams I got going to the championship game, Louisville and North Carolina, are still in it so my bracket isn’t completely done yet.”
The teams left in the tournament represent strong programs. Ueki’s picks of Louisville and North Carolina are ranked No. 4 and No. 1 respectively. Potential Cinderella teams — though they probably aren’t ranked low enough to earn that title — are No. 13 Ohio, No. 11 North Carolina State and No. 10 Xavier.
The Big Dance concludes at 9 p.m. on April 2 in New Orleans.
