By Noah Hickman
There are approximately 17.3 million ESPN brackets that were filled for the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Going into the Sweet 16, Anna Newbold was in a tie for having the 9th highest ranked in the NCAA ESPN's Men's Tournament Challenge.
She is a teacher at Saint Bridget Catholic School and a great friend to me, my sister Karly and so many others in my family.
I had the prestigious honor to do a Q&A with her and get her perspective on what this exhilarating moment has been like.
Q: Many people participate in March Madness for fun. As a long time participant, what has been your mindset?
A: My mindset every year is to always pick a few underdogs! There are bound to be a few teams who slip through and make it further than any of us expect!
Q: In a previous Q&A, you mentioned that you have filled out one bracket in each year prior to this one. Why the change in strategy?
A: This year I was invited to more bracket challenges, so that's why I made more! It only made sense to have three separate brackets to increase my chances of winning!
Q: One of the surprises I found in your bracket is that you accurately predicted an Iowa State-Miami Sweet 16 matchup (and the winner). The Hurricanes were predicted to finish 12th in the ACC and the Cyclones were 2-22 last season. Did you make that prediction knowing that a matchup between the two teams was as unlikely as it gets?
A: When I picked the Iowa State-Miami matchup, I didn't actually know I was picking it!!! I like (Isaiah) Wong on Miami and they are an ACC team so I wanted them to go far! I also had a Latin teacher in high school who went to Iowa State (rest in peace Mr. White) so I picked them to go far because of that!! The matchup itself was crazy but my reasons for picking them were just for fun!!!!
Q: As a teacher at Saint Bridget Catholic School, there must be a lot of reactions from students everywhere — especially yours. What do they think about this? Do they see you any differently?
A: I think my students just thought it was cool and wondered how I knew what to pick because it was that unbelievable! They definitely don't see me differently but it made for a fun Friday at school!!
Q: I remember on occasion I would help your mom, Penny, in predicting the winners of NFL games. In hindsight, it probably should have been you. Do you agree with my assessment or am I being too hard on myself?
A: I think that me and my mom both still need help on our NFL picks!!!!
Q: How have you been handling being the talk of the town?
A: It was definitely a fun 20 seconds of fame moment for me!! I was definitely tired by Friday afternoon trying to respond to all the questions people asked me and researching what teams needed to lose for me to keep hopping up!! I loved it all! But, hopefully next year I can finish it off better than this one!!
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