NCAA Tournament Picks: Athlon Vs Randomly Ridiculous Prognosticators

The idea is simple: take a group of seasoned sports experts (we're talking about us, by the way) and pit our knowledge of college basketball against some of the greatest prognosticators known to man. See how Athlon Sports editors stack up against a psychic, a Magic 8 Ball, a quarter, and a pooping chicken in predicting the NCAA Tournament's Elite 8, and ultimate National Champion.

Magic 8 Ball
Methodology: We named the top seed in each match-up and then asked the Magic 8 Ball if they'd win. Near the end, we named one team in the match-up and asked if they'd win. Of course, we cursed and shook the 8 Ball violently every time it told us to "Concentrate and ask again." Thoughts on the picks? Shockingly, they're not too bad.

Psychic Hotline
Methodology: We called a psychic hotline and spoke with Nancy, who said she was a "certified psychic." And yes, we laughed when she said it. After several minutes of her telling us she didn't know anything about basketball, we told her to "put up or shut up" on her psychic abilities and start picking some teams. Upon further reflection, we probably should have told her the names of some teams. Thoughts on the picks? We love that she kept saying Kansas over and over, but then picked the Seahawks to win it all.

A Chicken
Methodology: Uh, we know someone with a chicken. We had the chicken poop on the winning team's college logos. Surprisingly, it didn't take long. Apparently, chickens poop a lot. Thoughts on the picks? They seem like a longshot. But if they turn out right, we're buying this chicken and moving to Vegas.

Coin Flip
Methodology: Basically, the top seed was heads, the other was tails. Near the end, we just named one team in the match-up and said "heads they win, tails they lose." We flipped until there was a winner.

Athlon