Welcome back to my blog where I will be reviewing books selected from the American Library Association’s weekly planner for July 2023-December 2024. This book is for the Week of March 17-23. Here is the fifth book being reviewed of the semester, Bracketology: March Madness, College Basketball, and the Creation of a National Obsession by Joe Lunardi.
**SPOILERS AHEAD***
This is a timely book to read as today marks day two of the Round of 64 in March Madness. Luandi is the inventor of bracketology and did so in 1991. He combines art and science and natural luck when he goes and predicts which teams will win the tournament each season.
He is known for projecting the Mid-Majors who will have a successful run. The Mid-Majors are the conferences outside of the Power 5 (ACC, B1G Ten, SEC, Pac-12, Big 12), who also have automatic conference bids into the Round of 64.
Bracketology calculates the odds a team has from the Round of 64 through the National Championship and creates the hypothetical most likely brackets through countless stimulations. Luandi also includes insights from college basketball players, coaches and the media to see what they have to say about this process.
Using bracketoloy to predict your bracket is something used by most intense fans. I didn’t blindly follow bracketology but on my live show last Saturday the five of us used bracketology to discuss potential Round of 64 matchups before they were announced on Selection Sunday.
Hands clapping, source
The theme of the novel is about bracketology and how to integrate some science and math into the chaotic nature of March Madness. Luandi reflects upon how bracketology continues to shape March Madness and how future calculations and programming software will continue to improve some accuracy. He also mentions how it’s March, and any college basketball fan knowns anything can happen in March. It received many positive reviews on Amazon and many people enjoyed the historical and intellectual perspective.
This book is something I would usually choose to gain a deeper knowledge and appreciation of a sports topic. I would give this book 4.5/5 stars as Luandi really explains how bracketology came to be and the continuous impact it has on the NCAA and its fans who make brackets every single March. This is my most timely book and I hope you take some time aside from watching hundreds of both men’s and women’s basketball games this weekend to read and learn more about bracketology.