I've been having trouble trying to make sense of how my bracket could be so bad. I had Davidson losing in the first round. St. Joe's was my Cinderella.
And on top of it all I'm trying to muster the brainpower to solve practice LSAT problems. (Test day is in just a couple more months.)
Needless to say, March Madness has left me dazed and confused. How can I improve my logic skills when everything that's happened in the past two weeks has been so, well, illogical?
I thought it's probably a good idea to do some more practice. Let's get started.
Question 1: Eight teams (Memphis, Texas, UNC, Louisville, Kansas, Davidson, UCLA and Xavier) all fight for the top eight spots in the NCAA Tournament. Place the teams in the appropriate order based on the following restrictions:
Tyler Hansbrough has to make it to at least the Final Four. If he doesn't, he'll likely go crazy (as if he isn't already), break glass, punch a wall and somehow put your life at risk.
There is at least one school in the finals with an enrollment of 5,000 or less.
Both of the coaches in the finals will have slicked back, greasy hair.
If Davidson wins, so does UCLA. But if UCLA loses, Kansas will also lose.
Answers:
a. UNC beats Kansas in the finals; the rankings of the other six teams are irrelevant.
b. UCLA beats Xavier, then Memphis, then Davidson, as long as UNC loses to Davidson in the Final Four.
c. (1) Bradley (2) Tulsa (3) Ohio (4) Houston, (5) Valparaiso (6) Virginia (7) ODU (8) Richmond.
d. Whatever Bob Knight, Dick Vitale and Digger Phelps say.
e. I don't care -- my head hurts already. Let's go onto the next question.
Question 2: Roy Williams used to coach Kansas. In 2003, Williams left Kansas and accepted the head coaching job at North Carolina. Though the teams aren't known to have a long-standing rivalry, there will surely be plenty of bad blood when the two teams meet in the Final Four.
Which of the following must be assumed in order for the author of this statement to come to his conclusion?
a. Kansas will beat Davidson, which of course can't happen because Davidson is the best thing to happen to March Madness since George Mason..
b. Bill Self, the current coach of Kansas, would break Roy Williams' ankles if they ever played one-on-one.
c. "Bad blood" will come from the mouth and nose of Tyler Hansbrough, in much the same way it did when Hansbrough took an elbow from Duke's Gerald Henderson last March.
d. UNC will be able to find its way out of North Carolina -- a state it hasn't left since March 1, and in which it has played every NCAA Tournament game thus far.
e. This statement is true regardless of who is playing -- it's the Final Four.
Question 3: Whenever the Virginia basketball players start to play poorly, coach Dave Leitao stomps his feet. Last Wednesday there was a small earthquake in California. Clearly, sometime that night, the Virginia basketball players were playing poorly.
Which of the following statements would most strongly support the previous line of reasoning?
a. Virginia lost to a subpar, mid-major team (like Bradley) that day.
b. Why does it matter? Virginia didn't even make the NIT.
c. Leitao spent most of the CBI hunched over with his head in his hands.
d. There was actually a small earthquake in California March 26.
e. Virginia made it into a postseason tournament?
Question 4: A Blue Devil, Wildcat, Hurricane, Hoya, Tar Heel, Musketeer, Bruin and Mountaineer all like to dance. Every March, there is a dance-off in which each of the aforementioned plus 57 other animals/people/weather incidents will participate. They will be evaluated and ranked based on how well they perform. Place them in the appropriate order based on the following restrictions:
A Hurricane is not an animal or person and thus cannot dance.
The Blue Devils always disappoint, so they will not do well.
Tar Heels have a tough time moving around.
All dancing will take place on a court, with two baskets and one round ball.
Answers
a. Not enough information. The best solution is to make a bracket and declare a champion that way.
b. Not enough information. We don't know what type of music they are dancing to.
c. Not enough information. It's possible that there could be unpredictable results, like a Wildcat beating a Hoya.
d. Not enough information. How can you dance with a ball, two baskets, three animals, a hurricane and a devil?
e. Not enough information. This question makes absolutely no sense.
Hopefully by now, everyone feels my pain. Best of luck with the rest of March Madness.
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