So far, the first actual day of March Madness is half way over and the big upset so far is Louisville falling to Morehead State. Only 4.7% of brackets on ESPN.com had Morehead upsetting Louisville. While this may have messed your bracket up (guilty as charged with Louisville in the Elite Eight), it’s good to know that most people in your bracket were affected as well. We also saw Richmond upsetting Vanderbilt setting up a 12 seed against a 13 seed for only the fifth time in the history of the tournament. Early matchups don’t hurt to bad, the main thing is to keep your eyes on the prize in the championship game.
When most people pick their champion, do they do it by who they think is going to win or pick their favorite team? Being from Pittsburgh, the buzz around here is that this is the best chance that Pitt has to make the championship game. Although a lot of people I have talked to feel that Pitt will play for the championship, they don’t believe Pitt will win it. Say you are big BYU fan and they make the title game. In that title game, BYU faces Ohio State and on your bracket, you have Ohio State winning it all. By doing the math, you find out that in order to win your office pool worth $10,000, you need Ohio State to win. How do you face this moral dilemma? Would you rather your favorite team win a national championship or would you rather win the money?
I think it depends on who your team is. If you like Florida or Kansas, it may be easier to see them lose and you win the money, given their recent success. However, if you are a fan of BYU or Pitt, who never reach the title game, would you rather lose the money and watch your team win the title? I’d personally rather see my team win, but I also think the saying is true that every man has his price. How do you feel about it? What would be your price to be rooting against your team in a championship game?
