How To Win Your March Madness Pool

By: Monte Perez

The greatest sports lie ever told to the American public is… Cinderella has a chance to win March Madness.

Every year we see Dick Vitale dancing screaming, “Cinderella is dancing baby!”

Calm down Dickie V… Cinderella has no chance of winning The NCAA Tournament.

In the history of March Madness, only one No.8 seed has won the National Championship. The 1985 Villanova Wildcats defeated Patrick Ewing’s Georgetown Hoyas, 66-64.

Five No. 11 seeds went to the Final Four – 1986 LSU, 2006 George Mason, 2011 VCU, 2018 Loyola Chicago and most recently, UCLA in 2021. None of them made it to the National Championship Game.

If you want to pick upsets your best bets are No.12 seeds over a No.5 seeds and there have been 31 No.13 seeds beating the No. 4 seeds over the past 36 years.

Below is a list of National Championship winners since 2010.

2010… Duke
2011…Connecticut
2012… Kentucky
2013… Louisville
2014…Connecticut
2015…Duke
2016…Villanova
2017…North Carolina
2018… Villanova
2019… Virginia
2020… Canceled due to Covid.
2021… Baylor

If you want to have success in your office pool, you must pick at least two No.1 Seeds. The list of National Championship winners above is a who’s who in college basketball. Do not believe the media and your friends when they tell you to pick a No.13 seed to make it to the Final Four. It is not happening. Teams will get upset in the early rounds but at the end of the day, “Go Chalk” and pick the higher seeds. They always win the National Championship while Cinderella gets left out in the cold every year.