The most fun way I can think of to track my (probably) lousy Smarch Madness bracket is to look at the scores before I actually look at my bracket. After all, I didn’t do any research before I made my picks… so what’s more fun than a stream-of-consciousness blog where I check the scores and then check my bracket, one by one?

5 Notre Dame 60, 12 Princeton 58. I started to write Princeton on this one but I thought better of it. Not the right 12-over-5 upset, though we know they always happen. RIGHT

5 Virginia 76, 12 UNC-Wilmington 71. The dream of a perfect bracket is over. WRONG

4 Butler 76, 13 Winthrop 64. I got this one but I’m still depressed that I only lasted two games here. RIGHT

1 Gonzaga 66, 16 South Dakota State 46. Hooray, my championship pick is still in it! (As if there was any doubt.) RIGHT

4 West Virginia 86, 13 Bucknell 80. So… four for five so far having done absolutely zero research. I’m a little surprised, but to be fair, most of these were probably gimmes. RIGHT

4 Florida 80, 13 ETSU 65. Money. Why didn’t I enter my fantasy football league’s bracket pool? Stupid. RIGHT

12 Middle Tennessee 81, 5 Minnesota 72. YES! YES! I FINALLY GOT A 12 OVER A 5 RIGHT AND IT HAD TO BE THE YEAR I DIDN’T ENTER ANY POOLS. RIGHT

8 Northwestern 68, 9 Vanderbilt 66. These games are always a toss-up, and I tossed ’em up right here, I guess. RIGHT

11 Xavier 76, 6 Maryland 65. Could have sworn I picked Xavier but the scans say otherwise. WRONG

1 Villanova 76, 16 Mount St. Mary’s 56. Well obviously. It’s a 1 seed. RIGHT

4 Purdue 80, 13 Vermont 70. I mean… basketball state versus kind of not a basketball state. Easy choice. RIGHT

7 St. Mary’s 85, 10 VCU 77. Not to be confused with Mount St. Mary’s. But could you imagine that matchup? How many people do you think, in a Buffalo Wild Wings-fueled stupor, would accidentally pick the wrong team and lose money on that game? RIGHT

3 Florida State 86, 14 FGCU 80. I feel like basketball is the only reason I was aware of Florida Gulf Coast University before today, but it didn’t convince me to make the wrong pick here. RIGHT

8 Wisconsin 84, 9 Virginia Tech 74. I have a buddy who went to Wisconsin. Through this connection, I have a Wisconsin basketball T-shirt. It is too small for me. RIGHT

5 Iowa State 84, 12 Nevada 73. I can’t believe I picked three different 12s to pull off the upset. No wonder I finally got one right. WRONG

2 Arizona 100, 15 North Dakota State 82. I have Arizona getting to the Elite Eight, so this is a good start. RIGHT

FINAL RESULTS: 13 correct out of 16; 2 incorrect 12-over-5 predictions; one really strong twinge of regret for not entering this bracket into a money pool