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The Dos and Don'ts of the Maize n Brew Tourney Challenge 2012

By Zach Travis

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Five Million is a lot of cash. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-US PRESSWIRE
Five Million is a lot of cash. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-US PRESSWIRE

Do: Sign up for the Maize n Brew tournament challenge here.

Don't: Wait until Friday to do it. That's too late.

Do: Join the Maize n Brew group by choosing the "join group" option, entering the league ID (126589), and password (brew) so that you can compete against your fellow Maize n Brew readers and authors for bragging rights and some prize that we have yet to settle on here at MnB headquarters.

Don't: Pick all chalk in your bracket because A) you aren't going to win that way and B) what fun is that?

Do: Pick Michigan to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. If we will it, then it will be so.

Don't: Feel bad for picking North Carolina in the third round. Just because we expect loyalty doesn't mean it has to be blind.

Do: Spend your time researching teams, poring over KenPom statistical profiles, and looking at common opponents and top-100 RPI records.

Don't: Be surprised if this doesn't help you at all because March Madness is a cruel mistress that loves to torment us all with the random and inexplicable. A team nobody is talking about will beat a team that everyone is projecting to make a deep run, and rest assured that you know someone who will eventually luck into picking the "upset of the tournament" correctly whether through blind luck or user error in filling out the bracket. This won't matter as he will proclaim himself the smartest man alive and talk about the pick until sometime in May.

Do: Use personal bias, connection to the school, or affinity for the mascot to break particularly close ties when filling out your bracket. Picking the perfect bracket is about skill, research, and knowledge, but mostly it is pure dumb luck. The dumber your reasoning, the better your odds.

Don't: Get mad at your girlfriend when she beats you employing only this strategy.

Do: Sign up! Seriously. You could win 5,000,000 dollars. Five million dollars. Fifty thousand one-hundred dollar bills. Five-hundred million pennies. 417950000 Japanese Yen. 63135500 Mexican Pesos. 58651500 Estonian Kroons. 104200000000 Vietnamese Dong (HAH!). And its free to sign up.

Don't: Spend it all in one place.

If you missed that link, it is here.

See you on the other side.

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