I told my advisor in the last meeting that I am ready for 2022 March Madness after the first round. I usually do well in the first rounds and predict poorly on final four, but this year is an exception.

I did poorly on everything.

You know why? Because I really had a strong faith in Big Ten teams this year. Maybe it is because of my Big Ten bias as a fan of the Wisconsin Badgers, so I root for all the Big Ten teams as long as they do not play Wisconsin.

This influenced my decision who to pick for my bracket, and that was clearly a disaster after the first round. To be honest, all these Big Ten teams, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio State, and Purdue were capable of making it to the final four. I even throw Wisconsin and Michigan State (ouch) into that category.

Only one team, Michigan made it to Sweet 16. The disastrous performance of Big Ten started with Michigan State losing to the University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA). And this team, UCLA became the highlight of March Madness.

UCLA beat No.1 seed Michigan and almost beat Gonzaga. The teams that lost in the first round of the Final Four ended up winning five games in the tournament to make it there.

What about Oregon State? As a 12th seed, there is always a chance for an upset in the first round. But not many of them go to the Elite Eight.

Oh, don’t worry Oral Roberts. I am saving you for the last. No. 15 seed Oral Roberts is another team that became Cinderella this year after upsetting No. 2 seed Ohio State and No. 7 seed Florida to make it to the Sweet 16. By the way, I had a difficult time to choose between Florida and Ohio State, but I should not have.

In the end, it is always fun to fill out brackets every March. Maybe I will try to be more harsh on Big Ten in my bracket, and they will end up doing much better. Regardless of their performances, I always root for Wisconsin and Big Ten.