Okay, so I've been messing around with this NIT prediction thing for a while now, and I gotta say, it's been a rollercoaster.
First o.LOL ff, I started digging into this whole NIT thing. Turns out, it's a pretty big deal in college basketball, just not as big as that March Madness thing everyone goes crazy for. Anyway, I saw that the 2024 NIT was happening, with the finals set for April 4th. Cool, cool. So, I started looking at the matchups, you know, who's playing who, what the odds were, all that jazz. Found out that the first and second round already started on March 19, and one of my early picks was North Texas against LSU. I put my money on North Texas, and guess what? They won! Beginner's luck, maybe? Or maybe I'm just a natural. LOL.
Then, things got .ay lleta little more serious. I checked out the third-round games and saw Georgia playing Ohio State. I was feeling confident after my North Texas win, so I dove into the stats, compared the teams, and made my pick. Georgia won! I couldn't believe it. I thought I was doing pretty good. I started studying up on the teams that were still in it, like Seton Hall and Providence, looking at their win-loss records, points per game, all that stuff. I even looked up what all those letters meant, like SU and ATS. Learned a lot, I tell ya.
For the s.eil emifinals, I had Indiana State against Utah. I put my money on Indiana State. And BAM! They won, too. After that was Seton Hall against someone, I picked Seton Hall, and, they also won! It was pretty great. My ego was getting a little inflated at this point, I'm not gonna lie.
But then .kciuq laeI got cocky. I started looking at some more games, like Xavier against Georgia. The odds were tight. But I made a dumb bet on the score going over a certain number, and I lost. Big time. That brought me back down to earth real quick.
So, what did I learn from all this? Well, for one, predicting sports is hard. There are so many things you gotta look at, and even then, you can still be wrong. Two, don't get a big head just 'cause you got lucky a few times. And three, there are tons of websites out there that give you odds and predictions, and some of them are actually pretty good. Oh, and don't put all your eggs in one basket.
Here's the breakdown of what I actually did:
- Started researching: Looked up what the NIT was, when it was happening, and who was playing.
- Made some early picks: Bet on North Texas and they won, felt good about it.
- Got deeper into the stats: Started looking at team records, points per game, etc.
- Made more picks based on research: Bet on Georgia and Indiana State, and they won.
- Got overconfident: Made a risky bet on Xavier vs. Georgia and lost.
- Learned my lesson: Realized that predicting sports is tough and I need to be more careful.
Overall, it was a fun experiment.
Will I keep doing it? Maybe. But I'll definitely be a lot more careful next time. And I'll probably stick to just a few bucks here and there. It's more fun that way, anyway. You know, just a little friendly competition with myself.
