re: Why is the women's bracket easier to do well in than the men's?

Higher seeds were 31-1 in the first round and 13-3 in the second round (with two of the three being 5s over 4s).

Instead of picking a wild 68 team tournament, you are basically picking a 24 team tournament, every year.

The mens tournament - higher seeds were 21-11 in the first round. Thats a significant difference. Last year higher seeds were 25-7 in the first round, but 7 of the Sweet 16, and 7 of the Elite 8 were off-seed.