My Louisville-fueled sorrow hasn’t allowed me to bring myself to fill out a bracket just yet, but I will. You probably will too.
When we get there, here are the ruled we’re following (or at least keeping in mind) for 2021:
1. Believe in at least one power conference underachiever.
One of the longest active March Madness streaks that isn’t discussed enough is that a power conference team seeded 9th or worse has reached the Sweet 16 in every NCAA tournament since 2008.
Teams that fit that description this year:
Missouri (9)
Wisconsin (9)
Georgia Tech (9)
Maryland (10)
Virginia Tech (10)
Rutgers (10)
Michigan State (11)
UCLA (11)
Syracuse (11)
Georgetown (12)
Oregon State (12)
So choose your favorite sort of underwhelming big brand program and take the farther in your bracket than they probably have any business going.