For the past three decades or so, I've printed out a blank bracket on Selection Sunday to fill out as the NCAA tournament is announced. I used to hem and haw over my selections for days, and it never worked out, so now we're taking tinkering out of the process and revealing my bracket picks ... instantly.
Nothing is really changing in the next four days anyway, right? This might be a bad year to say that, given the spate of injuries that occurred during Champ Week. But the larger point stands -- the games, the evaluations, the statistics, the data we need to make our picks is all in.
So here's my true instant bracket, filled out (by hand!) as the field was announced. And I promise not to make any changes. No second-guessing here!
Jump to: South Region | East Region | Midwest Region | West Region | Final Four
First Four (Dayton)
SOUTH REGION
No. 11 North Carolina Tar Heels 71, No. 11 San Diego State Aztecs 64
No. 16 Alabama State Hornets 74, No. 16 St. Francis Red Flash 72
EAST REGION
No. 16 American University Eagles 62, No. 16 Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers 59
MIDWEST REGION
No. 11 Xavier Musketeers 81, No. 11 Texas Longhorns 78
South Region (Atlanta)
FIRST-ROUND PICKS