How to Master the NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracketology

As college basketball conference play dwindles down, the most anticipated time of the year looms ahead. The NCAA basketball tournament is perhaps the biggest sporting event of the year. Whether or not your favorite team will be playing in the tournament it's still not stopping you from entering a variety of office pools in hopes of scoring the big jackpot. The unique thing about the college basketball tournament, opposed to other championship series, is that everyone gets involved and everyone becomes a basketball fan for just a few weeks. There's a certain romance involved with racking up wins or having your bracket busted on your printed sheet. However, bracketology is now an art form and if you choose your brackets wisely, you could end up with the big prize and respect of your entire office. Here is a round by round analysis on mastering the bracketology:

First round.

This is the trickiest round and most bracket sheets are tossed into the garbage after the first round. Many of the mid-major schools are playing for respect, while the larger schools underestimate their opponents. This makes up for a deadly combination of shock and awe. Start out by adopting the theory that you're not going to pick every game right. There are going to be upsets, and if you can get half of them right then you're in great shape. Go with your gut feeling on the 8-9 and 7-10 matchups. Those tend to go either way and it's impossible to anticipate the outcome. I would also pick two 11 or 12 seeds to get an upset in the first round. History has shown that 11 and 12 seeds do well the first go round. If you want to give your bracket even more breating room, then pick an upset with a 13 seed. The reason this won't hurt your bracket too much is that any 4 seed that faces a 13 seed has a chance of getting knocked out the first day and they probably won't make a run at the National Championship anyway.