Unorthodox methods win Mount Carmel’s first March Madness bracket challenge. 

As late March approached, the Mount Carmel Student Government desperately needed an idea for a student activity. They landed on a March Madness bracket challenge that would have a grand prize of $500. Whoever predicted the most games correctly would win the prize. 

But it wasn’t the college basketball fans who came home with the prize. Rather, it was who basketball fans are calling “the dumb bracket-makers” that came away with the large reward.

Several unorthodox strategies were used by these “lucky” bracket pickers that led them to victory. The most common of them was choosing which team had better colors. Did the odds matter at all? Nope. Students simply chose which school had the better combination of colors on their jerseys. 

“I’ve never even watched a game of college basketball,” said senior Anthony Aguilar when asked how he was able to come to a top ten finish in the school-wide challenge. “I just thought that Wisconsin had pretty boring colors.”

Senior Mateo Atilano came home with the first-place prize, having a near-perfect bracket until the third round. His strategy looked at the mascots and picked the team whose mascot would win in a fight. This did lead to some confusing debates with teams like the St. Louis Billikens and the Furman Paladins in the field of 64.

“All I did this year was watch college basketball and get prepared for the tournament,” junior Marty Fiske said when asked about his March Madness “ball knowledge.” “How in the world did I come in dead last?” Fiske’s “perfect bracket” ended up lasting a total of 1 game, with his championship team losing in the first round.

Other students who finished in the top 5 in the competition used strategies such as letting their cat pick and choosing which school they’d rather attend for college. It’s safe to say that when next March rolls around, don’t make your picks on which team is better at basketball. It’s called March Madness for a reason.