2011
Ten years ago, I made my first-ever #GiantBracket, inspired by the Mid-Majority:
And what a year for it, as it turned out!
2012
I couldn’t find one photo showing the 2012 #GiantBracket in its final, post-championship form, but here are a few photos that collectively show most of it.
Heading into the Sweet Sixteen:
Heading into the championship game:
After the title game:
The “2-year-old overlord” comment refers to the fact that our middle daughter won my office pool that year, with Kentucky’s championship clinching her win.
Also in 2012, we did a #GiantBracket for the women’s tournament, which (unlike dad’s bracket) the girls had free rein to draw on:
2013
The first major #GiantBracket subplot in 2013 was the LaSalle “Explorers” earning the fandom of one Dora the Explorer:
Also, Harvard fought fiercely — and won!
But then Wichita State became the big story, first by making me sad (beating Gonzaga), then by making me happy (with another Mid-Majority run to the Final Four).
2014
A year later, Wichita State wasn’t a Cinderella surprise, but an undefeated #1 seed. Bally was excited!
And this wasn’t just any mid-major dream season. The Mid-Majority’s 10-year run was ending whenever the last mid-major played its last game in 2014, and Wichita State was clearly the best hope for #TMM to “end in a win.”
So the Shockers’ loss in a second-round thriller to regular-season underachiever and eventual Final Four team Kentucky, a.k.a. the most talented 8-seed ever, was one of the more heartbreaking of the #GiantBracket era.
With Wichita out, the #GiantBracket’s lonely eyes looked to Dayton:
But alas, it ended — as always — in a loss.
2015
I don’t have as much to say about 2015, but here’s that year’s final bracket:
2016
The most memorable bit of the #GiantBracket in 2016 was the bipolar ride of Northern Iowa. First, exquisite joy:
And then, unfathomable sadness:
The final bracket:
2016 also saw another very colorful #GiantBracket for the women’s tournament:
2017
In 2017, the #GiantBracket left Colorado for the first time, as we were on spring break in Puerto Rico during the tournament’s second weekend. So I rolled it up, brought it on the plane with us….
We were back home in time for the Final Four, and Gonzaga’s first championship game appearance.
But alas…
2018
This was probably the most memorable #GiantBracket of all-time, and if you remember what happened in the first round that year, you know why.
And then the #GiantBracket boarded an airplane again (for Final Four weekend this time), to Mexico.
Also, I was so damn excited about the Notre Dame women’s buzzer-beating national title, it, uh, sort of took over the championship line on the men’s bracket… 🙂
2019
Like 2015, the 2019 #GiantBracket was a comparatively boring one, so I’ll just post the final bracket:
2020
This, of course, was the saddest #GiantBracket ever.
Last in the evening on March 9, realizing that the tourney was in jeopardy, I made this whiteboard:
And then on March 12…
2021
This year, I debuted the #GiantWallOfBrackets for the conference tournaments:
And then…