AUGUSTA — It’s a busy month at the Kennebec Valley YMCA, what with the undergraduate basketball tournament going on in addition to all of the other activities the complex regularly hosts.

Staff members Erica Fredrick-Rock and Mike Griswold still found enough time during their own March Madness on Wednesday to play a little basketball and fill out their brackets for the real March Madness. They joined millions of Americans, from the most die-hard basketball junkies to novices who haven’t watched a game all year, trying to predict how the NCAA basketball tournament — which starts in earnest today — will unfold over the next three weeks.

Fredrick-Rock finished her first bracket (which she says is just for fun, not money) by mid-afternoon, and had Xavier, Michigan State, Duke and Kansas in her Final Four, with Kansas winning the championship.

“I usually do two or three. In one, I usually have Duke winning just because they are my favorite team,” Fredrick-Rock said.

Laurie Ficker, of South China, lists Wisconsin as her favorite team, but won’t let her personal biases go too far when filling out her bracket.

“I’m a huge Wisconsin fan,” Ficker said. “I don’t think they’re going to go as far as they did in last year (losing in the championship game to Duke), but I do have them as an upset (over second-seeded Xavier) in the second round.”

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Ficker is a basketball junkie from South China and keeps a close eye on both the men’s and women’s games all season and is entering multiple (for fun) pools for both. In the men’s tournament, she has Michigan State winning in two, West Virginia in another. She weighs a number of factors in arriving at those conclusions.

“I don’t always necessarily look at the stats,” Ficker said. “A lot of times I think about how they play together. I also sometimes look at how they react to the bracket when it comes out (on CBS’ selection show). If I see two teams and one doesn’t look all that excited, I’ll usually put them down as the one that’s going to lose.”

“I look a lot at past tournament history,” added Fredrick-Rock, who played basketball at Cony High School and University of Maine at Augusta. “So if Butler’s playing, I usually pick Butler in the first round. I always pick Gonzaga in the first round. I usually end up going with some of the previous Cinderellas because I know they can handle the tournament.”

Winning a pool can be a lot of fun, but many amateur “bracketologists” get just as much of a thrill out of picking the winners no one else sees coming.

“To me, it’s more fun to find the upset. What team is really going to bring the fire and create the upset?” Ficker said.

“I hear that the No. 11 seeds are the most dangerous teams in this tournament,” Griswold said. “I picked No. 14 Buffalo, I think, to at least get to the second round. I saw how they won their conference and I was like, I might as well go with a little bit of a Cinderella.”

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Women’s basketball fans like to get in on the action, too. Ficker filled out several brackets for the women’s tournament, and while the University of Connecticut is the overwhelming favorite, she only has them going all the way in one of her brackets. Picking an upset on the women’s side might be even more fun than the men’s.

“I have (UConn) obviously going to the final,” Ficker said. “I watch them play, and they’re such a good team. But I’m kind of rooting for the underdog. So, I’m looking to see who can beat them and I put Baylor over them in the final.”

Outside the Augusta Civic Center on Wednesday night, Chad Clark of Belfast was among dozens of fans lining up to see the only sure thing in basketball, the Harlem Globetrotters. He said he hadn’t filled out his bracket yet because he hadn’t found a replacement since a friend gave up running a $5 pool after several years. Asked if he’d do one just for fun, Clark scoffed.

“I go fishing for fun,” he said. “I’ll watch the Globetrotters for fun.”

Whether it’s for fun or high stakes, March Madness pools can be addicting, even if the championship is elusive.

“I’ve been doing it for about four years. It started with just one, and then, of course, you get interested to see if you can get one as close to possible to perfect, which never happens,” Ficker said.

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“I just do it for fun,” Fredrick-Rock said. “I do ESPN’s huge tournament (contest), and that’s fun for me. Sometimes, I’ll do things with friends. Honestly, I’m better at fantasy football.”

Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638

rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @RAWmaterial33


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