After reporting what strategies three students used to fill out their March Madness brackets, Torch now presents the results. When forming their brackets, students used strategies ranging from selecting logos they liked to consulting season statistics for a variety of results. To gain additional insight into the best way to pick a winning bracket, Torch turned to ESPN researcher Saige Smith. Responses have been edited for length and clarity. 

The Logo Lover: 

“For the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, I kind of wanted to pick underdogs. I knew there would be a lot, but I think I chose too many. So I kind of went with the bad teams, but it kind of backfired.”

– Junior Emma Firsel

The Casual Strategist:

“I feel like I used to be better at making selections. I feel like this year … I was in first place by a lot for a pretty long time, and it just changed really quick. I feel like everybody just kind of got messed up this year.”

– Junior Sylvia Ugarcovici 

The Researcher: 

“There is a lot I have to think about. Next year, I think I’m just going to pick the teams that people say are good and that beat good teams. I am not going to pick as many upsets as this year.”

– Sophomore Nate Fridman 

The Expert: 

“In reality, the best strategy is probably to use an understanding of how common it is for certain seeds to advance, or fail to advance, to different rounds of the tournament. Picking four double-digit seeds to reach the Final Four has never proven to be a winning strategy in the past. Top seeds most definitely do not always win – if they did, they would just call it March Basketball – but they have a better chance of doing so year in and year out. At the end of the day, though, no person has ever won their bracket pool without a healthy amount of luck. So my best advice is to make your picks with pride, then sit back, relax and enjoy the Madness.”

– ESPN researcher Saige Smith