Recently, I sent out a Google Form to the entire AMHS student body (twice!) to submit their March Madness brackets. After receiving a multitude of responses (4), I have decided to analyze the brackets sent to me and determine how successful their brackets are doing now and in the future. Go to the bottom of this article to see all brackets ranked!

Embre Slack:

First Round Accuracy: 24/32

Although Embre’s bracket had a lot of upsets, I found that she actually picked the wrong ones, such as having Colorado State, South Dakota State, and Loyola advancing past the First Round. I think it is impressive that she was able to predict both the Miami and Memphis games correctly. This bracket would have been extremely successful if they got the UConn and Kentucky games correct.

Second Round Accuracy: 9/16

This is a pretty decent follow up to Embre’s very good First Round picks. I think her downfall here was taking Baylor and Tennessee too far. Getting the Houston game correct was crucial to the success of her bracket.

Looking Ahead:

Looking to the Elite 8 and beyond, I think Embre’s bracket is just okay. Putting Auburn in the championship game and having Baylor and Tennessee in the Elite 8 were not the best choices in hindsight.

Boris Pekar:

First Round Accuracy: 19/32

Especially in the first round, I felt as if Boris tried too hard to play it safe, and this really did not work out well for him. For example, Boris really fell short in the Boise State, Alabama, Seton Hall, and San Diego State games. Also, the upsets that Boris did pick were pretty much just wrong, like when he chose Davidson over Michigan State and Virginia Tech over Texas. Like many other brackets, Boris did not predict the UConn or Kentucky losses.

Second Round Accuracy: 11/16

Boris really had some better picks in the Second Round than in the First Round. He had a perfect Sweet Sixteen in the West, and was also able to predict crucial games such as Houston over Illinois and UNC over Baylor. But Boris’ picks in the Midwest Region was really his downfall.

Looking Ahead:

The latter half of this bracket certainly did not age well. Boris could not have picked a worse Championship game than Tennessee vs Kentucky. Because of this, I do not think this bracket will be doing well past the Second Round.

Carter Limbert:

First Round Accuracy: 23/32

Of all the brackets I analyzed, Carter’s bracket definitely had riskiest picks, and in the case of the First Round these picks paid off. The most impressive part of this bracket was predicting the upset against UConn but sadly he did not predict the Kentucky upset. Carter also tried to add some creativity by predicting Davidson, Marquette, and Virginia Tech to win, but these picks ultimately backfired on him. I will also say Carter did very well in the Midwest Region, as he predicted South Dakota State, Creighton, and Iowa State winning, just to name to a few.

Second Round Accuracy: 9/16

I was not as impressed with these Second Round picks as I was with the First Round. Carter picked too many lower seed teams, such as Notre Dame and Murray State, moving on to the Sweet Sixteen. There is also room for improvement in the Midwest, since Carter only predicted one correct team moving on.

Looking Ahead:

Overall, I think Carter’s Elite 8 picks are pretty good, if you take out the entire Midwest Region. Personally I am not sure if Duke will be able to go all the way to the championship game, but I do definitely think Arizona has the ability to win it all this year.

Elaina Seymour:

First Round Accuracy: 21/32

Like many other brackets, Elaina too could not get the UConn or Kentucky upsets. I think she also just got kind of unlucky with some of these picks, such as the USC and Alabama games. Overall, although this bracket did decent in the First Round, a lot of these picks felt safe to me and Elaina definitely needed more upsets to be more successful in her bracket.

Second Round Accuracy: 7/16

After a decent First Round, these Second Round picks from Elaina were pretty disappointing. I thought that she had teams like Alabama, LSU, and Auburn going too far in her bracket. But I do applaud the many upsets that Elaina chose in the Second Round, even if many of them were not necessarily correct.

Looking Ahead:

Elaina has an overall decent Final Four, I just wish there was more creativity and upsets past the Second Round in her bracket.

Overall Rankings (factoring in the First Round Accuracy, Second Round Accuracy, and Looking Ahead categories) :

4: Elaina Seymour

3: Boris Pekar

2: Embre Slack

1: Carter Limbert

Thank you to these four for actually answering my Google Form and continue to read The Talon for more March Madness updates!