March Madness Personalities: Which One Are You?

March Madness is in full swing and millions of brackets are being filled out by hopeful individuals who are looking to win their pool and have bragging rights for the rest of the year, or maybe just until fantasy baseball starts… Although it is not certain which team will have their one shining moment, you can be sure to come across these people as this mad month of March progresses.
Which one are you…?

The Outsider:

This is the guy at work that knows very little about basketball and is not widely accepted by the majority of his peers for his lack of sports knowledge. He keeps to himself and doesn’t say much but would like to be noticed and part of the group, so he joins the pool. His picks are predictable. All of the higher seeds move on with maybe a 9 beating an 8. Because he plays it safe he finishes in the middle of the pool. His attempt and an average finish make some of the guys at the office more accepting.


The Cute Girlfriend:

This pretty and put-together girl knows even less than The Outsider and has just finished watching Sex And The City 2. But she joins her boyfriend’s pool to show him and his friends that she too can be “one of the guys”. Her picks are solely based on the schools’ colors and mascots. Believe it or not, she almost always finishes towards the top of the pool and in front of her boyfriend, who gets a razzing from his friends every week she advances with more points than he. When the tournament is over and she gets her money back, the boyfriend and his friends swear that they will use the same method in next year’s tournament… That never happens.

The Statistical Guru:

This fan is too informed. They will buy every magazine and go to every online source to analyze every matchup solely based on statistics. The team’s coach, conference, character have no pull in their decision making. They usually finish in the middle of the pool.

The Tool:

A pain to deal with, the Tool is the least liked amongst his friends. He knows more about ball than the average guy but thinks he knows a lot more. He will enter seven pools with different picks for each to almost ensure he wins at least one pool. Throughout the tournament he will regurgitate the ideas he hears on the TV from the experts and pawn those thoughts off as his own. While with a group his bracket is doing poorly in, he will constantly talk about his “one other bracket” that is doing great. While with the group that his bracket is successful in, he will gloat about how knowledgeable he is in this subject and rejoice in the success of “this, his only bracket”.

The Delusional:

The homer or alumni is not a fan of the sport, but a delusional fan of their school. They can tell you the height, weight, hometown and major of any player on the team but knows little about the opponent. Their team, a 12 seed, managed to beat a top-ten-team in the regular season and they believe it will happen six straight times in the tournament. Which means once their team loses in the first or possibly second round, their bracket will fall apart as a result of their other uneducated guesses.

The Informed:

Having a healthy relationship with the sport, the informed fan usually has the best chance of winning their pool. They have a favorite team, but are not delusional about the team’s talent. They pay attention to other teams and have a good idea of what the competition is like. Trying to outwit their friends is not their priority. They do not over-analyze stats or take days to fill out their bracket because they just can’t figure out if that 7 will beat that 10. They stick with what they know, which is more than the average bracket maker, and they are confident about their picks. They fill out no more than two or three competitive brackets because they are comfortable enough with their fanhood that they can handle not winning this season. They are well liked by their peers because of their healthy balance of confidence, competitiveness and sportsmanship.