Have you filled out your bracket yet? Do you think you’re going to win your office pool and take home bragging rights—and perhaps a healthy sum of scratch—for nailing your Final Four of all No. 1 seeds? Or are you going with that hot sleeper you’re going to tell all your friends you totally chose in your bracket before everyone else started picking them? Are you picking your bracket based on which mascot would win in a fight?
Really, how good is your bracket? If the answer is good, ask yourself this: Is it better than a five-year old’s?
That answer is probably, yes, as this five-year old picked some pretty big upsets in the NCAA Tournament this year. Here, take a look. (Here’s a higher res version.)
That is the handiwork of one Max Levy, who has been picking his NCAA Tournament bracket since before he could walk or talk. This is the eighth year one member of the family has put their childish love of random selection up against older and presumably wiser basketball pundits.
(Note: the “is your bracket better than…” series took off when young Zoe Levy, now 8, chose Butler to make her Final Four. The first time, when nobody had them going that far. A soothsayer, yes, but it turns out she picked them only because it meant she could say “butt” without being yelled at. Yes, as you can see, her brother picked up the Butler mantle this year. Congrats, Bulldogs.)
For those uninitiated with the short hand of a kindergartener, we’ll spell out the nuts and bolt’s of Max’s bracket. His Final Four is Maryland, Duke, Providence and Butler, with Butler over Maryland in the national title game. His upsets include, well, pretty much everyone. It’s not a very good bracket.
Zoe’s bracket this year is noticeably better, as she is going with Kansas, Oregon, Xavier and Michigan State, with Xavier topping Kansas for the title. (Here is a higher res version.)
And yes, there’s a reason for this, more than just the self-indulgence of posting a story of two cute kids making jokes about the teams in the NCAA Tournament.
For every pick Max gets right in the Final Four, his family (read: we) will donate $100 to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. We invite everyone to join Max in this bracket challenge, be it with his Final Four, yours or your own favorite little kid doing a silly bracket challenge him or herself.
For more information on Max, check out his story on the NBC Nightly News:
To join Max’s bracket challenge, click here.
For more information on hemophilia, CHOP or the bracket challenge, visit Hearts4Hemophilia.org
