BigHoppa

I love March. I love college basketball. I love brackets. You could give me a bracket of the worst smells ever and I’d gladly participate. If you know me, you know I love sports. However, I do not get more excited for anything sports related more than I do for March Madness. So starting in 2016, I decided to keep track of my March Madness bracket picks on an annual basis.

Rules

I only have a couple basic “rules” that are pretty universal. First, the first four games MUST be picked. Second, FULL bracket has to be filled out by 11:59 PM Wednesday night. Lastly, against logical thinking, correct picks are highlighted in orange, incorrect picks are highlighted in green. This stems from my dad highlighting it this way for whatever reason. It is something that will stay in the Hopwood family. Another quick note, I keep my bracket along with a “key” that gets stapled and updated with the actual results each year. I date the day I complete my bracket picks so that if I’m ever doubted, I can take my brackets to a forensic ink analyst in order to clear my name. I’m actively looking into notarizing these for fear in being called a phony.

Bracket Pick History

Record by Year

  • 2016: 35-32
  • 2017: 35-32
  • 2018: 29-38
  • 2019: 41-26
  • 2020: Depression
  • Overall: 140-128 (52%)

Record by Round

  • First Four: 10-6 (62%)
  • Round of 32: 85-43 (66%)
  • Sweet 16: 32-32 (50%)
  • Elite 8: 10-22 (31%)
  • Final Four: 3-13 (23%)
  • Championship Game: 0-8 (0%)
  • Champion 0-4 (0%)

I have no shame in those last two. It’s very difficult to properly pick those teams.

Best Round by Year

  • First Four : 2016 and 2018 (3-1)
  • Round of 32: 2017 (24-8)
  • Sweet 16: 2019 (11-5)
  • Elite 8: 2019 (5-3)
  • Final Four: 2016 (2-2)

Record by Region

  • East: 31-29 (51%)
  • Midwest: 35-25 (58%)
  • South: 28-32 (46%)
  • West: 36-24 (60%)

Interesting Things to Note

  • I’ve never picked a perfect Round of 32 in any region. Meaning, in one region I’ve never picked all 8 Round of 32 games correctly. However, I’ve had 2 instances (Midwest Region and South Region in 2017) of picking 7 of 8 games correctly.
  • Never had a perfect region, obviously based on the above.
  • My champion has lost in the Sweet 16 or sooner every year.
  • I’ve picked Michigan State to win it all in 2 of the 4 years. (Including 2016 when they lost to 15 seed Middle Tennessee State)
  • I have correctly picked the Sweet 16 in 1 region (2019 MIdwest).
  • Biggest Upset Correctly Picked by seed difference: 14>3, SF Austin>West Virginia (2016)

You can get my knee jerk reaction to Selection Sunday and some best bets, here.

Picture of the 4 years of brackets on my couch.