Mar 14
My NCAA Men’s March Madness 2022 Bracket
Potentially the worst bracket you’ll see.
Here is my March Madness 2022 bracket. Because I’m not a college basketball pundit, all of my picks are based on any random connections I have to the school, city, or state. You’ll see what I mean below:
1st Round: West
1 Gonzaga vs. 16 Georgia State: We’re starting with an upset. I have no connection to Gonzaga, Spokane, or Washington. We went to Atlanta a few years ago and had a blast. Atlanta over Spokane all day.
8 Boise State vs. 9 Memphis: I have no connection to Memphis, but I don’t want Boise to win because I went to Fresno State and Boise was a rival. Memphis, why not? They won’t last long in my bracket.
5 UConn vs. 12 New Mexico State: Easy one. No upset here. My girlfriend (The Girl Who Loved Nick Pivetta) has family from Connecticut and I have no connection to New Mexico other than a road trip memory where my dad got a speeding ticket.
4 Arkansas vs. 13 Vermont: No connection to either school or place, so I’ll go with the higher seed. But they won’t last long.
6 Alabama vs. winner for 11 game: No connection to any of the three potential schools. Going higher seed.
3 Texas Tech vs. 14 Montana State: Despite being from Virginia, I know multiple people (three?) who went to Texas Tech. Weird. I’ll go with them.
7 Michigan State vs. 10 Davidson: I’ll go with Davidson because it’s a liberal arts school and I went to a liberal arts school after transferring.
2 Duke vs. 15 CSU Fullerton: Despite actually having a small connection to CSU Fullerton, I won’t be stupid here. Duke will win this game.
1st Round: East
1 Baylor vs. 16 Norfolk State: It is supremely stupid to pick two 1 vs. 16 upsets as it has only ever happened once in March Madness history, but my Dad lived in Norfolk for a long time. Oops.
8 North Carolina vs. 9 Marquette: No connection to either, but North Carolina borders my home state of Virginia. It’s a stretch, but it’s all I have.
5 Saint Mary’s vs. winner for 10 game: Who cares? I’ll go higher seed.
4 UCLA vs. 13 Akron: Going for my southern California roots, (I lived in San Diego for three months).
6 Texas vs. 11 Virginia Tech: Not only did I predict that Tech would win the ACC Championship, but, spoiler, I’m having them win the whole thing here. I grew up right down the road from Tech at the height of Beamer Ball and will always have a soft spot for them. Plus, basically everyone in my family who went to college went to Tech. Well, except for me.
3 Purdue vs. 14 Yale: Don’t care. Higher seed. They’ll lose to Tech in the next round anyway.
7 Murray State vs. 10 San Francisco: I really like the movie The Last Black Man in San Francisco. I’ll go San Fran.
2 Kentucky vs. 15 Saint Peter’s: Kentucky will win this game.
1st Round: South
1 Arizona vs. winner for 16 game: My grandparents live in Arizona. Done.
8 Seton Hall vs. 9 TCU: Don’t care. Flipped a coin and got Seton Hall. I’m gonna have Arizona go far anyway.
5 Houston vs. 12 UAB: I had a layover in Houston once. I liked the airport.
4 Illinois vs. 13 Chattanooga: Both words seem easy to spell until it’s time to actually type them. Illinois beats out.
6 Colorado State vs. 11 Michigan: I have family in Colorado.
3 Tennessee vs. 14 Longwood: I think my aunt went to Longwood. I’m not sure, I’ll have to ask her. I need an upset anyway, so I’ll go Longwood.
7 Ohio State vs. 10 Loyola Chicago: No connection. I’ll double up on Illinois teams.
2 Villanova vs. 15 Delaware: We vacation in Delaware every year. I’ll go for the upset because I’m an idiot. I’ll probably have them go really far too because I love those vacations.
1st Round: Midwest
1 Kansas vs. winner for 16 game: My 8th grade English teacher went to Kansas. I don’t know why I remember that.
8 San Diego State vs. 9 Creighton: I didn’t get into San Diego State. Fuck them.
5 Iowa vs. 12 Richmond: Gotta rep VA here.
4 Providence vs. 13 South Dakota State: Don’t care. Higher seed.
6 LSU vs. 11 Iowa State: LSU is faster to type. LSU.
3 Wisconsin vs. 14 Colgate: Can you tell this is a tough division for me? Higher seed.
7 USC vs. 10 Miami: West Coast, best coast!
2 Auburn vs. 15 Jacksonville State: Auburn will win this game.
West: Round of 32 through Elite 8
At this point, you know all of my secrets, so let’s hustle through this.
Georgia State wins another. I really liked my Atlanta vacation. I discovered my favorite band there.
UConn makes it far because The Girl Who Loved Nick Pivetta deserves a pick.
I’ve got Duke winning the Region, mainly because I want them to lose to Virginia Tech again.
East: Round of 32 through Elite 8
I told you, Virginia Tech is going all the way. They’ll whoop Duke again to make the Final game.
South: Round of 32 through Elite 8
A 14 seed against a 15 seed in the Sweet Sixteen? I’m a madman. But I gotta rep VA and Delaware. DMV baby!!
But my grandparents’ home of Arizona has to win out.
Midwest: Round of 32 through Elite 8
Might as well do two #1 seeds going head to head since I’m being so ridiculous everywhere else.
Final Four
I already said I wanted to see Duke lose to Tech.
And I love my grandparents very much.
Championship Game
I already told you my plan. Go Hokies!
Bonus points if you can tell me how I got this final score. Tip: I wasn’t very creative.
Thanks for reading this stupidity. Let’s see how this goes.
Want to chat sports? Email me: theboywholovedjoekelly@gmail.com
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