College Hoops Q&A: Joe Lunardi

Joe Lunardi, Mr. Bracketology himself, has taken time out of his post bracket vacation to answer a few quick questions about Bracketology and this year's bracket. Enjoy.



JCMJ: How exactly did you get started with Bracketology?

JL: When I was at Blue Ribbon [a preseason yearbook], we used to go to press with a tournament preview issue the same night the brackets were announced. This was before the Internet, so you're talking about 1,500-word previews on all 64 teams that had to be ready to go at a moment's notice. That took a lot of anticipation, because we had to keep costs down, and we couldn't afford to pay people at 100 schools to do stories just so we could have the final 64. So I did a lot of analysis and got pretty good at predicting which teams would get in. Within a couple of years, I was assigning [stories on] less than 70 schools and coming up within a school or two of the final 64. I was just trying to save us some money, and look what it turned into.


JCMJ: Between Bracketology, studio appearances on ESPN and ESPN Radio, writing articles for ESPN.com, calling games for St. Joseph's, and your job with St. Joseph's University, when exactly do you sleep January through March?


JL: I usually go about 6am-12midnight on a typically day, doing Bracketology before work in the morning and again after dinner (or after a game, if we're playing). Sunday nights are when I really do the most work and writing for a given week.

JCMJ: Adding on to the previous question, do you have access to some sort of time portable to get from Philadelphia to Bristol that often? Seriously, how do get around that quickly?


JL: It's not a very long trip by car (about three-and-a-half hours). But I prefer to take the train from Philly to New Haven so that I can sleep and/or work while traveling at the same time.


JCMJ: How would your rate your performance on this year's bracket compared to some other seasons?

JL: Average. The committee is looking at new and different factors every year and, frankly, becoming more arbitrary. This is probably a good thing for college basketball but a bad thing for the accuracy of bracketologists!


JCMJ: You give a team a #2 seed and their fans feel like they are a #1.....how many angry fans can you expect in the inbox? Also, what fanbase is the most obsessed with it's seeding?


JL: My emails (not all angry) run into the hundreds each week, and a typical ESPN.com chat session will exceed 1,000 questions as we approach Selection Sunday. The fans who seem to complain the most would have to be UConn and Maryland. I'm not sure why, but fans of these two schools are very hard to please.

JCMJ: How surprised were you that Syracuse didn't make the tournament?

JL: Extremely surprised. Not because Syracuse was especially deserving or undeserving, but because their treatment from the committee was a real departure from past practices.

JCMJ: Final question, it's the Monday following Selection Sunday, where can we expect to find you?

JL: Finishing up segments for ESPN News and ESPN.com, then driving home to see my family. I'm really missing them by then and anxious to become a "fan" of the tournament instead of an "analyst." The best years, though, are when St. Joe's is playing in the NCAAs and we get to pack up and be part of the madness!!