While the team at Aronson Advertising Inc. works hard to optimize your site, grow your social media accounts, and create winning paid search campaigns, we also enjoy our yearly March Madness office pool. Over the years, weâve refined strategies, developed ideas, and created superstitions to develop a winning bracket, and would like to offer a few suggestions as to how you can win your office poolâŚor at least not come in lastâŚagain.
Donât Be Afraid to Go Out on A Limb
Do you have a 15-seed knocking off a 2-seed in your bracket? Only eight 15-seeds have knocked off two seeds since 1991, but itâs happened four times in the last six years. Weâre not saying itâs going to happen, but watch out for the Arizona/North Dakota match up.
Twenty-one 14-seeds and twenty-six 13-seeds have managed to pull off first round upsets since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Finding the one or two upsets among these games is where office pools are usually won.
A one-seed has never lost to a 16-seed, and no one in the office was so bold as to make a prediction for that happening, but Gonzaga faces a âtougher than it looksâ matchup with South Dakota State.
Be Careful With 8/9, 7/10, and 6/11 Games
Notoriously tough to predict, these twelve games can make your bracket a success or leave it in ruins. The eight seeds appear stronger on paper this year, but that usually means the nine seeds will be there to bust your bracket.
Wichita St. is a popular sleeper pick, and theyâre a 10-seed. The 11-seeds also appear strong, but that largely depends on the winner of the Kansas State/Wake Forest and Providence/USC play-in games. Should Wake Forest and USC win their First Four matchups, they could turn out to be bracket wreckers.
Should Villanova Be Counted on to Repeat?
Only one team has managed to win back-to-back national titles in the last 25 years, so itâs not likely that the Wildcats will repeat this year, but donât let that scare you away from powerhouse schools. A non-power conference school has won the whole tournament exactly once in the last 52 years. That was Texas Western in 1966, and they were an independent.
Whoâs In My Final Four?
While this is subject to change until my final bracket is due, I really like Duke in the East, Notre Dame in the West, Kentucky in the South, and Kansas in the Midwest.
Do you want to join our contest next year? Take a look at our current job openings and send us a resume if you think you are the right fit for the growing team at our advertising agency in Schaumburg, IL.
