March Madness 2011: 8 Elite Tips for Acing the NCAA Men's Bracket

March Madness is finally here and it’ll be nothing but college basketball for the next few weeks. We are a mere five days away from Selection Sunday, and I can’t wait to see where the chips fall.

This year when you go to fill out your bracket, you’ll be faced with all the same questions you were faced with last year, the year before and the year before: Which upsets should you pick? Which team is streaking? Who’s a contender? Who’s a pretender?

Look at the stats—no one ever gets a perfect bracket, so what are you doing wrong? You might not be doing anything wrong per se, but it’s a question to ponder ahead of the actual selection announcements, not after the Elite Eight has ended.

So before the actual brackets are released, keep these eight tactics in mind when you fill out your piece of paper next week.

8. Pick the Loser, Not the Winner

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LAS VEGAS, NV - JANUARY 05: Oscar Bellfield (L) #0 and Tre'Von Willis #33 of the UNLV Rebels try to trap Jimmer Fredette #32 of the Brigham Young University Cougars during their game at the Thomas & Mack Center January 5, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. BYU w

This is a favorite strategy of mine, because sometimes it’s easier to figure out who will lose rather than who will win.

I watch enough college basketball that I head into March Madness with a list of teams I think are flawed and won't fare well in the end.

Whether it's BYU's sex scandal or Georgetown's injury concerns, a legit reason to doubt a team makes picking an upset completely justifiable.

It also doesn't hurt if you know a team can't play defense or beat top teams.

7. Your Conference Foes Don’t Always Suck

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COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 06: Jared Sullinger #0 of the Ohio State Buckeyes reacts after a first half dunk while playing the Wisconsin Badgers on March 6, 2011 at the Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Let’s be honest here—it’s hard to back a rival team in your alma mater’s conference.

I went to UMass, so I would naturally be inclined to tell you that Temple and Xavier suck wicked hard dude, and that’s still debatable, but only because they aren’t top-seeded teams.

It’s those of you who went to BCS conferences that can get yourselves in trouble. I’m looking at you, Michigan fans. Ohio State is not going to get bounced in the first round no matter how much you want it to happen.

Don’t pick a team to lose just because you hate them.

6. Your Alma Mater Does Suck

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This is the exact opposite of No. 7. 

Just because you went to Indiana State doesn’t mean it will one-up its 1979 magic and cut down the nets in Houston.

But hey, it’s your money. I’ll take it. Pick them to win.

5. Who Cares Where the Games Are Played?

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SAN JOSE, CA - MARCH 18: Forward Gordon Hayward #20 of the Butler Bulldogs goes up for a shot against the UTEP Miners during the first round of the 2010 NCAA men's basketball tournament at HP Pavilion on March 18, 2010 in San Jose, California. (Photo by

It doesn’t really matter where a game is played in the tournament. Sure, Syracuse didn’t mind going to Buffalo last year, but they were a No. 1 seed, so that didn’t matter anyway.

If you look at the more competitive games, you’ll see some outcomes that show no bias towards the team that plays closer to its neutral location. Examples include Butler winning in San Jose, Gonzaga winning in Buffalo and Cal winning in Jacksonville. 

That’s a good sample size, and it’s only from one round of the most recent tournament.

4. The Number 9

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ATLANTA - APRIL 02: Marreese Speights #34 of the Florida Gators celebrates after defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes during the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship game at the Georgia Dome on April 2, 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Gett

The 2008 season was the only time in the history of the NCAA tournament that all of the No. 1 seeds made the Final Four. It can happen again, but the odds are against it.

So if you are incapable of picking upsets or are the type of person who picks teams based off uniform colors, here’s a trick for you:

Over the past 10 years the average sum of the four Final Four teams' seeds rounds out to nine. Not seed—sum.

Break that out however you like:

3: Backcourt Plus Experience Equals Win

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NEW YORK - MARCH 11: Gerry McNamara #3 of the Syracuse Orange holds up the Big East tournament trophy after defeating the Pittsburgh Panthers 65-61 in the Big East Men's Basketball Championship Final at Madison Square Garden on March 11, 2006 in New York

This is a simple equation when you think about it, because you won’t find a recent national champion that didn’t have a solid backcourt with experience.

Championship backcourts are so good that out of the past 10 teams to win it all, 15 out of 19 starting guards (Nolan Smith is still at Duke) made it to the NBA.

Syracuse was the rare exception of having neither guard make it to the NBA, but Gerry McNamara and Kueth Duany did play in the NBA D-League, where Duke’s Jon Scheyer is playing right now. Florida’s Lee Humphrey plays overseas.

2. Kenpom

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SAN ANTONIO - APRIL 07: Head coach Bill Self of the Kansas Jayhawks celebrates by cutting down the nets after defeating the Memphis Tigers 75-68 in overtime during the 2008 NCAA Men's National Championship game at the Alamodome on April 7, 2008 in San An

Ken Pomeroy’s (kenpom.com) rankings are very useful for when you’re looking for something a bit more comprehensive than matchup meters and goofy basketball icons representing which team is better on defense.

Kenpom is all about in-depth stats. He adjusts offensive and defensive numbers based on conference and strength of schedule. Then he’ll dig deeper into stats with such ditties as turnover percentage and even effective height.

Finally, he’ll predict every game for you and assign it a confidence score. Basically he provides you with all the raw data you could possibly want and then ranks every one for you.

Considering that he only has 8,000 followers on Twitter, some of you may not be in the know about his site. Check it out.

1. Go with Your Gut

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INDIANAPOLIS - APRIL 05: Confetti falls as the Duke Blue Devils celebrate after they won 61-59 against the Butler Bulldogs during the 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 5, 2010 in Indianapolis,

It’s called the gut, but it’s really your brain’s way of telling you it knows the right answer.