March 19, 2015 by Charlie Eisenhood in Livewire, News with 6 comments
Above is my NCAA March Madness bracket that selects each matchup based on its men’s college ultimate analog.
A few things to note: This is in no way original — I’ve seen a few people online already doing something like this. This is also obviously not my official bracket, which I will share only if I win the ESPN Challenge. This was done thoughtfully, but without a great deal of research into small teams that I haven’t seen play.
There were some tough picks! I think first of all it is a brutal draw out West, where Oregon and UNC meet in the sweet 16. How do you pick that game? The teams haven’t faced off this season, but I gave Oregon the edge because I think the team is playing just a bit better right now.
I’m very compelled by that Georgetown/Iowa matchup in the elite 8; I think that game goes down to the wire with both teams so motivated by that shot at reaching the final four.
Some other fun games: Iowa State/Iowa (for obvious reasons), Maryland/Texas (Maryland would be a live dog in that game!), and Wisconsin/Oregon (they played a great game at Stanford Invite during the regular season).
By the way, I think you could make a great case that Georgia would have a shot at the title. Just look at the path of Oregon to the final (Oklahoma State, Wisconsin, UNC, Arizona, Texas) v. Georgia (Michigan State, Virginia, Oklahoma, NC State, Iowa). Would Oregon’s small roster be taxed by the much tougher path to the final? It wouldn’t be a slam dunk victory for them, for sure, but we still like their talent and chemistry on balance.
