Although March has ended, and the Madness seems to have fizzled out- the pride and glory of winning a March Madness Bracket never leaves a winner.

This year around 18 teachers competed in a teacher March Madness Pool. The Commissioner of the pool was Mr. Bachman, who works in the IT department. To enter one must pay ten dollars.  Previous winners of the pool include Mr. Shubert and Ms. Marees. The reigning champion of the 2016 March Madness Teacher Pool is Mr. Brewer.

In previous years, Mr. Brewer says “I did not fare that well because I was going off of what I felt were the powerhouse schools, but this year I really looked at pattern and went against my gut instinct.” For Brewer, rebelling against his instinct went well.

The key to Brewer’s strategy was “to pick teams that most people wouldn’t pick, but wouldn’t hurt me in the long run because most people didn’t have them going far in the tournament any way. So a lot of those early upsets is what helped me.”

For those who are not as knowledgeable about men’s basketball than others, Mr. Brewer has several tips, although he does not want to give all of them away: “The good thing about March Madness is that anybody can win on any given day because there are so many upsets, but again there are different patterns.”

One of the patterns Brewer says “is that the number one overall seed hasn’t won the championship for three years. That’s why I didn’t pick Kansas. Also look at conferences. Look at which conference has performed well, like ACC did really well this year. And also look at the team and how it’s built. Teams that have seniors generally tend to make it further.”

From my personal experience of winning Mackie Garwood’s 18’ “Fun Pool”, being one out of two girls out of 38 students, walking away with $380 feels pretty good. Here are some tips that helped me come out on top.

First, one has to look at the statistics. I looked at the shooting percentages of each team, and the team that had the higher shooting percentage I tended to go with. Also, check out how many points the team normally allows the other team to score. Third, when in doubt, go with the team that has the cooler mascot. The statistics in the long run helped me gain lots of points, which ultimately put me in the lead.

Rushton Roberts 18’ came in third place in his pool. Roberts encourages people to “pick the teams that you like and that have done well in the past. Also, always make sure you include some upsets, so you can receive more points.”

Although Brewer has to give the trophy to the winner of next year’s pool, he will always have the pride and glory of winning the 2016 March Madness Teacher Pool.

For Mr. Brewer, he cherishes his March Madness Trophy. Currently, Brewer has his trophy in his room. He gets to “keep it for a year I carry it around routinely, so everyone knows. My students have to pay respect to it when they see it. It’s one of those things you get bragging rights for for a year.”