The GOP primary is a lot like the NCAA tournament

No, really!

Chris Christie vs. Rand Paul
(Image credit: John Munson/Star Ledger/Corbis, Alex Wong/Getty Images)

This much is clear: The Republican nomination fight will look more like the rigid, bracketed NCAA men's basketball tournament than a free-for-all scrum.

People can talk all they want about the dramatically different foreign policy philosophies of Chris Christie and Rand Paul, but that's getting ahead of ourselves. Before that fight will happen in earnest, each man must win his "bracket." For Christie, that means defeating Marco Rubio. And for Paul, this means dispatching Ted Cruz.

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Matt K. Lewis

Matt K. Lewis is a contributing editor at TheWeek.com and a senior contributor for The Daily Caller. He has written for outlets including GQ Politics, The Guardian, and Politico, and has been cited or quoted by outlets including New York Magazine, the Washington Post, and The New York Times. Matt co-hosts The DMZ on Bloggingheads.TV, and also hosts his own podcast. In 2011, Business Insider listed him as one of the 50 "Pundits You Need To Pay Attention To Between Now And The Election." And in 2012, the American Conservative Union honored Matt as their CPAC "Blogger of the Year." He currently lives in Alexandria, Va.