Using a 28-year streak to pick a March Madness bracket champion
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Everyone has their own trick to picking what they hope is a winning NCAA Tournament bracket.
There's a reason they call it March Madness, though. It's not at all predictable. Well, except for one very blatant geographic trend that, if you follow it, will either create an incredible jinx, or give you a much better chance of getting your national champion pick right.
Here's the thing: Every national champion since 1998 has come from the eastern half of the United States.
If you draw a line right down the middle of the contiguous 48 states, you won't find any champions in the last 28 years on the left side of the line.
Seriously:
Don't even think about a West Coast team in your bracket 🤣 pic.twitter.com/fxr3ZuWOpj
— BetMGM 🦁 (@BetMGM) March 16, 2026
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Baylor and Kansas push the limits a bit, but other than that, it's really almost all in the eastern third.
There have been some impressive teams on the other side of that line.
But there haven't been titles one in that span from Arizona, or Gonzaga, or UCLA, or Houston.
This year, it's particularly pertinent to Arizona, Gonzaga and Houston, all impressive squads that could make deep runs.
Arizona is a No. 1 seed and the Big 12 champ. They'll get picked to win the bracket by a lot of people.
So can they buck the trend?
That's the fun of the NCAA Tournament. You can't predict it, even when you think you can.