March Madness... and Politics

I have to say, this is the best method i have ever seen to fill a bracket for the NCAA tournament:

ESPN Page 2's entry by Jeff Merron

This year, the Diane Chambers method wasn't going to cut it. I'm still feeling the sting of the November election – I'm a card-carrying liberal (except on many issues), and my team got stomped, electorally-speaking.

It's payback time.

So here's my method:

Round 1: Seeds one and two win (lllinois, Oklahoma State, Washington, Wake Forest, UNC, UConn, Duke and Kentucky). The reasoning here is simple: I don't want you guys to think I'm another Muhammed "They're coming to surrender!" Saeed al-Sahaf. I may be silly, but I'm not completely nuts.

All other games are won by the team that plays in the state that's "more blue" – meaning either Kerry won the state, or lost by less, by percentage.

For example, in Chicago, 12th-seed UW-Milwaukee beats No. 5 seed Alabama, because the Dems won Wisconsin, and got trounced in Alabama.

Some exceptions: I'm picking UNC, the last of my five alma maters, to go all the way.

When two teams are from the same state, I'm going with sentiment: Therefore, NC State, where my niece goes to school, beats Charlotte, where I have no family members to answer to, in the first round.

Gonzaga is ready to show everyone there's more than one team out West.
In the Sweet 16, UCLA beats Gonzaga. Tempting to go with the sentimental choice, which for me is Gonzaga. But California is bluer than Washington State (slightly – both went Kerry), and Los Angeles County is very blue. Although I want to make it perfectly clear that I'm not in bed with the Prius-driving, Lear Jet-flying hyper-liberal Hollywood star crowd.

The main problem with this method, as much as I can tell, is that it's quite idiotic, at least until the Final Four. At that point, it becomes brilliant. Except for George Washington.

TRANSFERRED FROM TAO OF APU, ORIGINALLY POSTED ON MARCH 17, 2005