Picking brackets based on mascots is nothing new. It's a fun, frivolous way to fill up those extra slots on the Tournament Challenge app that takes 5-10 minutes and usually has some awesome hypothetical matchups near the top. This year, a typical Final Four with this strategy may have featured the a clash between tigers (Missouri) and buffaloes (Colorado) on one side, and gators (Florida) and dragons (Drexel) on the other.
As you can see, this strategy probably wouldn't have worked out too well. Missouri lost in the first round. Colorado made it to the Round of 32 where they were trounced by Florida State. Florida was upset by Oral Roberts in the second round. And Drexel never stood much of a chance against No. 1 Illinois.
However, this mascot-matchup strategy works a little bit better... if you select teams from the perspective of a dog.
I would hazard a guess that Satchel has beaten someone in Rigdon's pool, considering he was casually in 26th place on the ESPN app on Monday, though it has since dropped a fair amount.
Rigdon broke down his methodology on the website he writes for, Awful Announcing, and it relies heavily on dog/wolf mascots and animals with which Satchel would enjoy "being friends or chasing or barking at or whatever." And when looking in the Sweet Sixteen, you've got a fair share of those beasts — the Bulldogs of Gonzaga and the Ramblers of Loyola Chicago along with some ducks, beavers, wolverines and more. You even have the Syracuse Orange, chosen because the mascot "resembles a big ball," a.k.a. every pup's dream.
Though Satchel is down a Final Four team — the UConn Huskies lost in the first round — the bracket looks pretty good right now. Is it a tad disheartening that a dog is more than 100 points ahead of my meticulously researched picks? Yeah... a little. But it couldn't have been a nicer dog that's responsible, so it's not all too bad.
LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM App
Follow RADIO.COM Sports
Twitter | Facebook I Instagram