5% of People Fill Out Their Basketball Bracket Based on the Teams’ Colors & Mascots
The whole obsession over college basketball begins TODAY with the play-in rounds. So, it’s time to fill out your BASKETBALL MAYHEM BRACKETS to participate in Mad Rock’s contest (deadline is Thursday, before the first game)!
So, how do you fill out a bracket if you don’t really follow or know anything about college basketball?
Well, there’s no wrong answer – whether you know what you’re talking about, or you are selecting based on something random, like how handsome the players are.
In a new survey, 47% of people say they fill out their brackets based on a team’s win-loss record & 45% say they mostly go with their gut (which we all know is just another way of saying they’re totally GUESSING).
45% look at the teams’ seed numbers, 30% consider a team’s performance in previous years, 26% use “analytics”, 23% weigh their personal connection to the schools, 16% consider the conference and 15% look at projections.
Then, it gets a bit more interesting.
14% pick based on the name of the school or the team, 5% select a winner based on the teams’ colors, another 5% do it based on the teams’ mascots and 2% say it’s something else.
Overall, 27% of people plan to do a bracket this year AND put a little money on it, while 36% say they’ll do one just for fun, without wagering anything.
Among those who are putting money on it, the average bet is $60. 67% of people are planning to play it safe and keep their bets below $50. Other fans are really going for it. 4% said they’re going to drop more than $250 on their bracket.
For what it’s worth, the fans in this particular survey are high on Duke, Gonzaga, Auburn, and Baylor. And as for the Finals, they think Duke will face Gonzaga, with 25% believing Gonzaga will win, and 24% siding with Duke.
