April 15, 2008
Bracket Contest Winner: Tim Hart
CHN Staff Report
The person who won College Hockey News' first-ever Bracket Contest, didn't just win — he cleaned up.
Tim Hart picked all 15 NCAA tournament games correctly, taking his favorite team, Boston College, all the way through the national championship game.
"I can't believe this," said Hart, a religion teacher at his alma mater, Central Catholic in Lawrence, Mass. "After the first weekend, when all the games were done, I said to myself, 'They're going to think I hacked in.'"
The most difficult games to pick were in the West Regional. Only two percent of our entrants selected Notre Dame to go to the Frozen Four, but Hart thought the regional was pretty even.
"I figured as the four seed, they didn't have a lot of pressure on them and had a lot to prove," Hart said. "That bracket was pretty even I thought, top to bottom."
Other regions, like the East, weren't as thought out, proving that a combination of luck and skill was needed.
"Clarkson and St. Cloud, I knew nothing about either of those teams this year," Hart said. "I thought Princeton wouldn't beat North Dakota, so I figured (an ECAC team has to win a game), so I picked Clarkson."
Picking Boston College was a combination of loyalty and prognostication.
"I would say I hoped they were going to win it all, and I picked them all the way because they're my team," Hart said. "I was worried about Miami, beating them a third year in a row and they were so good this year.
"We beat Miami three in a row, then North Dakota three in a row, so I was worried we'd lose the championship game for the third year in a row."
Hart said he's been going to BC games since the mid-'80s.
"It's a fun tournament (the NCAAs)," he said. "Even when BC is not in it, I'll watch anybody."
And now we'll all be watching for his picks next season.
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