Let your favorite MLB players help you put together your March Madness bracket
Do you need help filling out your March Madness bracket? Time is running out, but luckily, you've got a crack team of advisers on your side -- your favorite MLB players! Let them tell you how they make their picks, and who this year's Cinderella teams will be.
How do you pick your bracket?
I think just coming from the SEC, I'm a little biased when it comes to that. Pretty much two top-heavy teams with Arkansas kind of a distant third. I'm an Arkansas guy. I like the way Duke is playing. I'm not the biggest Duke fan, but [when] it comes to brackets and winning, I'm going to have to put Duke in the Final Four. I think my pick this year is going to be Kentucky or Kansas. I like the Jayhawks. I'm a big Bill Self fan. Michigan's hot, though, too -- winning the Big Ten. There's multiple teams that have a chance to win. … My choice, I can't really say … because I want to beat some other guys. We'll keep that lock-lipped.
Cinderella pick?
I haven't checked too much. My early favorite -- I like Michigan. I like their coach, I like the way they play. They've had numerous NBA players drafted the last couple of years. And I think for mainly a football school, it's been quite the surprise the last three or four years the amount of talented guys they've had some through there.
Reporting by Brian McTaggart.
What goes into filling out a successful bracket?
A lot of hope and praying. I didn't really follow college basketball much this year. Hopefully I can write down some good ones. My wife will fill one out and hers will probably win because she has no idea what's going on.
I picked a couple of more upsets than I normally do. I think North Carolina is really good. I have North Carolina winning it all. They're really good. I watched them beat Duke the other night. They look like an NBA team in a college game.
Cinderella pick?
I heard through the grapevine Rhode Island might do something. Butler seems to always surprise some people. Being from Indiana, it'd be pretty cool to see them make a little bit of a run.
Reporting by Mark Sheldon.
How do you fill out brackets?
I wouldn't say I watch a lot of college basketball, but probably more than others. I'm not very good at [bracket pools]. Eight Spring Trainings now, and I haven't won one. … I'm usually top five or top 10 the first couple days, but I'm one of those guys that has all the No. 1s or No. 2s in the Final Four.
Cinderella pick?
I always pick Iowa State to go far. Usually they're good, so they're not a huge underdog. They're a 5 seed, but I've got them going to the Final Four.
Reporting by Todd Zolecki.
How do you pick your bracket?
Every March Madness, I sit here and root for the upsets so much, but I have a tough time picking them in my brackets, personally. I get a few in there every year, but it's hard for me to take that 13 over a 4 or a 15 over a 2. But at the same time, I want to see them happen.
I've got my Boilers winning first round against Nevada. Then I have them losing against Iowa State. But with this, I really think Duke and Kansas are going to make runs.
I think Duke has a relatively easy path to get to the Final Four, and I watched Kansas all year, so it's tough to go against Frank Mason and what Bill Self can do for them. So, I have Kansas beating Duke in the National Championship game.
Cinderella pick?
This year, some of the upsets I have are Xavier beating Maryland -- I'm pretty confident in that one. That's an 11 beating a 6. My other one is Middle Tennessee State beating Minnesota. I hate going against the Big 10, though.
What's your strategy on picking games?
I always pick with my heart, which is why I always put UVA as far as I can. And I will continue to do that, always putting them at the top. I guess strategically, I always enjoy the upset like everybody does, so maybe I dig a little too deep for some of the upsets. Sometimes I watch a lot of mid-major games just so that I maybe try and find an upset.
Most of the time the crowd is right. Most of the time the favorite is the favorite, and when you overthink, that's when the bracket busts. … One of the guys on the team, their son won the bracket league just because he was picking random teams because he liked their mascot.
Cinderella pick?
If I guess if I had to pick a Cinderella team to go to the Final Four, I like Notre Dame a lot just because they're a little bit of a lower seed. I think they may be underseeded, and I like their draw to get to the Final Four. I like the way they play. If I had to pick a really low seed that I think can make a run, I'll go with Seton Hall. I think if Seton Hall can play some element of defense, which they've kind of struggled to do throughout the year, they have a chance to make a push.
Reporting by Rich Dubroff.
How do you pick your bracket?
I've tried to do strategy before, and it never works out. I usually go with the teams I like. I'm a big Wake Forest fan. This year my teams are North Carolina and Oregon. I think Oregon is going to make a run.
Reporting by Jeffrey Flanagan.
What is your bracket strategy?
I go through it and do it as quickly as possible. I feel like I watch enough college basketball to have an idea, especially this year. There is really no dominant team this year. I try to do it as quickly as possible, not to overthink anything and to live and die by some upsets. I'm rooting for UCLA -- I think they got a tough bracket as a 3 seed. Where they're located, that's a team I grew up watching and rooting for.
Cinderella pick?
I expect Rhode Island to win a couple games. I don't think a 16th team will win. I think there'll be some 15 seeds -- definitely some 14 seeds will win too.
Reporting by Mike Nabors.
Take [us] through your bracket science.
First and foremost, I make sure UNC is not winning any of the national championships, or any of [my] four brackets. The 1 seeds or the high seeds are favored early on, and I try to mix up my upsets in each of the four brackets. I give myself a pretty good shot. I don't do as much homework as I should. It's all on pure feel alone. If the heart's right, the heart's right. But you know, not much brainpower's going into this one.
Cinderella pick?
It seems like Kansas State and Creighton are moving pretty well through the brackets. Also, St. Mary's makes it to the Elite Eight in mine. Other than that, I like a lot of 10 and 12 seeds. Kansas State, Middle Tennessee -- I have them making it to the Sweet Sixteen.
How do you fill out your bracket?
KU, all the way to the end. That's the only one I know that I'm doing, and obviously, picking all the 1s over the 16s.
I've always told myself, if they have even a shot to win it, I'm picking them, because I don't want to not pick them in the year they win it, and I say, 'Great, I went against my team.' I could have won a bracket.
How did you pick your bracket?
All [outfield coach Lorenzo Bundy and bench coach Tim Wallach] talk about is the NCAA championship for North Carolina. I'm just going to go against them, and I'm going to pick Gonzaga to win. I don't know that much about it. I know my positive thoughts, my positive vibes are going to go to Gonzaga. And my negative vibes are going to go to North Carolina.
I just feel like Lo and Wally always talk about them, and I'm pretty tired of it.
Cinderella pick?
I have [Purdue] winning it all. I've been texting back and forth with
Reporting by Joe Frisaro.
What do you look at when you're filling out your bracket?
What's big for me is how you finish the season, like during the last 12 games. You've got some teams that start the season hot and then kind of fade. I think [looking at how they finished] gives you a better direction of the way they've been playing. It's an interesting year, because there are a lot of good teams, a lot of great teams, and no one is more dominant than the other.
I don't think I picked many upsets. I picked Middle Tennessee State to beat Minnesota because I saw what they did last year and they've got pretty much that same core back.
Cinderella pick?
I think Rhode Island will give people some difficulties. You look at their resume and it's a pretty good resume, especially with how they played some of the Top 25.
Reporting by Mark Bowman.
How do you pick your bracket?
I did see a stat the other day that 40-something percent of No. 1 seeds make it to the Final Four or the final game, one of the two. Then 20 percent of No. 2 seeds make it to the Final Four. I'm going to play my odds right there. I have three No. 1 seeds making it. Play the percentages, right? That's what we do when we shift.
Cinderella pick?
Oklahoma State, for sure. I think they're going to win the first round. The second round's going to be tough -- Louisville, if we win -- after Michigan in the first round, which is going to be tough. I've got to go with my alma mater, though.
Reporting by Adam Berry.
How do you pick your bracket?
I go by sheer gut feel. I saw some of the East Coast teams play early in the year, but once spring starts you sort of lose watching these guys play down the stretch. And that's when you really want to see them play. You know the schools that put together good teams and stuff like that, and you mix in a few upsets. There's always an 11 or 9 that goes a ways. So, I mix In a couple of those and put Florida in the Sweet Sixteen, like usual, then go from there.
Cinderella pick?
I don't know. I'll look at records, but you know something crazy is going to happen and you just hope you're the one that guesses the craziest thing that is going to happen. Then if it does, you look really, really smart.
How do you pick your bracket? (Important note: Seager went to the University of North Carolina.)
Both brackets that I fill out, it will just happen to line up that Carolina is going to win. That's just the way the matchups lead me. I look for UNC, then I just fill in the rest.
Cinderella pick?
UNC. They actually have a tough bracket with UCLA and Kentucky. It's going to be tough. But I just think Carolina is going to win.
Reporting by Greg Johns.
Cinderella pick?
I have Nevada beating Iowa State. Other than that, Middle Tennessee is probably my best Cinderella.
Reporting by Ken Gurnick.
How do you pick your bracket?
I kind of just look at them and go by feel. Michigan is my favorite team and I'm pulling for them big-time. But any team can beat any team. That's what's crazy about March Madness. You just go with what you feel. You don't know what's going to happen. So I don't go to extremes like researching all the teams. It's tournament time. It's a different animal. Now this is it, it's make or break.
Cinderella pick?
They're not really a sleeper, but I do see SMU going pretty far. East Tennessee State could be a sleeper. Duke vs. Troy could be an interesting game. Florida Gulf Coast can surprise people. I'd have to say Rhode Island could be sneaky. A really crazy one that I might just put into some of my brackets … I could see Jacksonville State beating Louisville.
Reporting by Doug Miller.
How do you pick your bracket? <o:p>
[I'm a] big Louisville Cardinals fan, so I just pick them to win it all every year regardless and try to get all my other picks right. I'm not a huge upset guy. I pay attention to the 12-5s because obviously there's usually two of those -- they're like 50-50 over the past 10 years. The problem is, if you don't pick the right two and then you miss four, is it safer to pick all the 12s or pick all the 5s? So I try to think about it statistically.
I kind of go chalk a little bit, I make safe picks. I stick to the good teams. I watch a lot of games so I know which teams are better. … I usually have a pretty boring Final Four. <o:p>
How do you pick your bracket? <o:p>
Because I almost went there, I want UCLA to be good and win. <o:p>
I mostly go off what I've seen and what I catch on [TV] randomly … I'm not really too much into upsets because I'm looking at the bracket, and I'm like, "Even if I haven't seen you, am I really going to think a 15 is going to beat a 2? Probably not." If I'm feeling risky and go out on a whim, I might throw one in there, throw a couple in there. But I'm not taking it too seriously.<o:p>
Cinderella pick? <o:p>
This isn't a real Cinderella pick because I'm pretty sure they're ranked third in the bracket but I'm just going to say, "Go Bruins." If they pull it out, I called it first. So quote me on that if they win. <o:p>
Reporting by Jamal Collier.
How do you pick your bracket?
I watch games a lot, and I look for transition, how they play defense. Defense wins games. And they have to have those guys that can definitely put up those double-doubles. I look for that, and who is consistent on the team with their game-to-game play. If I see that in a team, I'm probably going to lean on them.
I've got UCLA winning it, to be honest. I could be wrong. We'll see.
Cinderella team?
Iowa State. They're very versatile. Their fast break game and their defense are pretty good.
Reporting by TR Sullivan.
How do you pick your bracket?
I get caught up in picking the team that I like instead of picking the team that I think is going to win. It never ends well. Usually, I do a personal-favorite bracket and then I do a what-I-think bracket. I like Kansas a lot. And I don't think they're going to win.
Cinderella pick?
I think it's going to be like a Butler or something like that. All they have to do is play really well against somebody and then [the other team] plays badly, and that's it.
Reporting by Chris Haft.
