Chimes 2021 March Madness bracket, formed by yours truly, had the Michigan Wolverines as the victor and featured a lot more red (for incorrect predictions), than green (for correct predictions). The tournament reached its end this past Monday with the Baylor Bears defeating the favorite Gonzaga Bulldogs to be crowned as the 2020-21 NCAA Men’s Basketball champions. 

Our bracket finished off with a score of 580 points, landing in the 31st percentile of all ESPN users. As a result, this bracket finished in the bottom four of all groups it was put in, except for the Chimes staff tournament, in which it placed second out of three participants.

In the opening round of 64, I only predicted the correct outcome 18 for 32 times. The worst region by quite some margin was the Midwest, where the only redeemable choice was the Houston Cougars making it to the Sweet Sixteen. Every other aspect of this region is filled with red.

Of the teams to qualify for the Elite Eight, I only correctly predicted four, and of these teams only one went on to make the Final Four. My predicted Final Four lineup was Michigan vs Gonzaga, and Arkansas vs Illinois. The bracket collapsed at every possible juncture.

The most surprising team of the tournament was clearly the UCLA Bruins, who went from having to compete in a play-in game in order to be in the tournament to making the Final Four and almost reaching the title game in historic fashion. The most disappointing team of the tournament for me was Illinois University. After winning the Big Ten Tournament, I thought they had the proper momentum and depth to make a deep run during March Madness, but they bounced out in the second round due to Sister Jean’s Loyola Ramblers. 

Overall it was a very exciting tournament, with unexpected outcomes at every turn. Hopefully next year can provide the same amount of parity.