Last year, according to an MSN survey, sixty percent of people said they would fill out a bracket for March Madness. It’s a fact that Americans live and die for this time of year to see if their teams they pick can survive and advance all the way from the first round of games to the championship game.

Americans have bracket contests in their offices, colleges, and with their friends, and usually bet money or just play for fun.

Let’s take a look at ways of filling out your bracket if you want to be funny, or just want to do it for fun.

First off, if you’re a fan of small school, or a small state that is jubilant that your team went dancing, you might pick them to win a national championship. Pick South Dakota for example. You are a student, diehard, or just love supporting your state. Plus, you couldn’t be more proud of your state for going dancing in the NCAA tournament. Don’t worry I’m not trying to poke fun at South Dakota; it is my home state, too.

Second, you pick your bracket based off the best mascot. As always there are some great team nicknames. There’s the St. Louis Billikens. What’s a Billiken you may ask? It’s a charm doll created by an American art teacher and illustrator from St. Louis that supposedly saw a mysterious figure in a dream.

There’s also the Creighton Blue Jays, Albany Great Danes, Wichita State Shockers, Syracuse Orange, Bucknell Bison, San Diego State Aztecs, Akron Zips, Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, or the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

Third, this one is for girls usually, but you could pick a championship team based off the best color.

Fourth, pick all upsets and hope one turns out to be big for you. Remember when George Mason or VCU made the Final Four? They were both 11 seeds.

Just don’t pick a 16 seed to beat a one see. It’s never happened.

Fifth, it’s usually the person who hasn’t watched a single minute of college basketball all year that does really well. It’s the office receptionist, or maybe your aunt for instance that knows you watch countless hours of college basketball every year.

Sixth, let a six year old pick your bracket. Remember the AT&T commercials from last March Madness. A little kid thought Duke could win it all because they could make deals with the other team and some people make deals with the devil. You know because they are the Duke Blue Devils right?

Seventh, put names on a dartboard, and just start throwing darts at teams and see which team is the last one standing.

Eighth, pick your bracket by asking yourself could a Ram beat a Tiger? This is the eighth seed, Colorado State vs. the ninth seed, Missouri in the Midwest Region if you are wondering.

Ninth, just do your research. Hope that all your watching of countless hours of the regular season and conference tournaments pays off.

Anyways, best of luck, and may the odds ever be in your favor.

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