Category Archives: Bracketology

Don’t overreact to the outcome of one game. This is just good advice for life, given how passionate college basketball fans can be—which is a good thing, mind you. But it’s especially pertinent advice for bracketology. There’s a natural tendency, either in the thrill of victory or agony of defeat that transpires in the timeContinue reading “Bauertology: 2/9/26”

Boy, an NCAA Tournament region with all of Duke, Illinois, Kansas, and Florida in it sure would sound like an absolute madhouse, wouldn’t it? Huh. Well, would you look at that. Today’s formation of the proverbial “Region of Death” allows me to touch on yet another important bracketing principle: regional balance! When it comes toContinue reading “Bauertology: 2/6/26”

Congratulations, you’ve made it to the point in the season where the bubble is an absolute disgusting mess. It happens every year, I assure you, and yet it still takes me by surprise every time when the hammer finally drops. You think you’ve got it all figured out, you’re happy with your most recent seedContinue reading “Bauertology: 2/2/26”

When was the last time that the projected bracket was so darn top-heavy? It’s been observed a number of times on social media that the teams ranked inside the AP Top 25 polls this season just aren’t losing. The current top-10 teams have a collective 14 losses at the regular season’s two-thirds point; that’s 10Continue reading “Bauertology: 1/30/26”

How much does history matter when it comes to building the bracket? In bracketology, it’s very easy to get muddled in the idea of precedent, simply because that’s what bracketology is mostly based on: analyzing data from previous years’ brackets to help determine what measures the selection committee most values, and apply that backward-looking analysisContinue reading “Bauertology: 1/26/26”

…Or instead of waiting until the end of January or beginning of February to start up Friday Bauertology, I could just start right now. Believe me, I was not planning on doing twice-a-week brackets this early! Apparently, I didn’t even start multi-update weeks until March last year, let alone February. This is uncharted waters we’reContinue reading “Bauertology: 1/23/26”

It’s time to take a little peek behind the bracketology curtain! In my humble opinion, one of the most valuable assets that a bracketologist can exhibit is transparency. After all, if you’re not able to adequately explain the thought process behind your own decisions, then what good are they? That’s part of why I alwaysContinue reading “Bauertology: 1/19/26”

Rules, rules, rules! Aren’t they just so much, fun? Well, kinda. For anyone who’s brand new to this whole bracketology thing, or for anyone who’s always had an interest in how the NCAA Tournament bracket and its matchups are created but never fully understood it, the key point is this: rules, pre-established by the tournamentContinue reading “Bauertology: 1/12/26”

How does a little Bauertology to start the new year sound? It’s officially 2026, and as previously promised, it’s high time for me get back into the bracketology habit: countless hours of poring over tiny names and numbers, often splitting hairs about a nanometer thick time and time again, for about two-and-a-half months nonstop. AndContinue reading “Bauertology: 1/5/26”