The year was 2008. The Midwest region saw 4, double-digit seeds win their opening-round matchups. Later, in the second weekend, Mario Chalmers and Kansas would defeat a Steph Curry-led Davidson to go to the Final Four. In the Final Four, we had all the 1 seeds and an ALL-TIME CLASSIC National Championship game. Since then, March Madness has been my favorite part of the sports calendar.

Over the years, March had always been just a twinkle in my eye. A fleeting memory of brackets past. That’s why in 2016, instead of ripping my bracket in disgust after picking Michigan State to win it all, I decided to keep my busted bracket. As a symbol to be better. To know more. I vowed to my Polish ancestors that I would be better. I kept that bracket and every bracket since. Along the way, I’ve studied and kept in-depth stats of my bracket history. Here are some of those:

• All-Time Record of 244-225 (52%)
• Best year: 41-26, Worst year: 29-38
• Best Region is the West at 65-40, Worst Region is the East at 49-56
• I have picked Michigan State to win it all twice.
• Biggest upset correctly picked by seed differential- Stephan F. Austin (14) over West Virginia (3) in 2016.

Record by Round

• First Four: 14-14 (50%)
• Round of 32: 147-77 (65.8%)
• Sweet 16: 56-56 (50%)
• Elite 8: 17-39 (30.3%)
• Final 4: 7-28 (25%)
• Championship Game: 2-12 (16%)
• Champion: 1-6 (14%)

Bracket for 2023

Please enjoy brackets of the past below!

Key (Before you look, I know. It’s my dad’s fault, deal with it)-

Orange/Yellow=correct pick

Green=incorrect pick

Shoutout to the 2023 UCONN Huskies for making me a winner for the first time in a long time. The question now becomes… Can I do it again? We’ll find out in a year.