It's not quite March Madness, but the MIAA state tournament gives us own bracket-filling fix.
The MIAA released the postseason tournament fields on Saturday. The last two years of the statewide tournament, I've challenged myself by filling out brackets and posting them on social media. This year, with New England Basketball Journal, I'll be including them all here — with a quick peek at my thought process for each bracket. I've done alright in the past. Last year I picked three of the five champions correctly with 17 of 20 correct Final 4 picks. In 2023, I went 4-for-5 on title picks and 16-for-20 on Final 4 selections.
Those hit rates sounds great, but they say more about how accurately the playoff seedings typically shake out. In three years of statewide tournaments, only one No. 10 seed has reached the Final 4, along with one No. 8 seed and two No. 7 seeds, among 60 teams. I unpacked the consistency a bit more during last year's tournament. I also won't pretend I've watched every single team to make a confident choice — that's logistically impossible. But I have looked at past bracket trends, season schedules, power ratings and more to give my best guesses.
Below are my filled-in brackets. Feel free to use them as bulletin board material.
