March Madness Lessons: How to Win Your Next Bracket

We get it—your bracket is busted.

You had no idea Florida Gulf Coast University would be the second coming of the Showtime Lakers. You figured Georgetown was a dark-horse Final Four team this year, and yes, you absolutely loved Wisconsin.

But fear not—hope is on the horizon!

While you may be cooked this year, even in defeat there are plenty of valuable lessons to be learned.

Sure, your girlfriend may have picked more winners than you, and your friend who doesn't watch sports is on their way to securing bragging rights—but next year, you will take the throne back. You once again will reign supreme as King of the Madness.

But how can you achieve this? Simple. Take these valuable lessons learned from tournaments past and assemble your winning bracket.

Always Pick a Shooter to Carry His Team at Least Once in the Tournament

The first rule of any bracket is always trust a big-time shooter in the first round of the tourney.

Think Stephen Curry and the 10th-seeded Davidson way back in 2008. A kid who could shoot the lights out helped guide his team to a major upset over Gonzaga in round one. After that Curry buried Georgetown and Wisconsin on his way to the Elite Eight.

While Marshall Henderson wasn't quite the shooter or star Steph Curry was—the outlandish Ole Miss guard did provide enough fireworks on offense to strike fear in the hearts of his opponents.

And even if you loved Wisconsin this year, you had to figure in the back of your mind that Marshall Henderson's range and ability to score the basketball would create major problems for the Badgers all night long.

That's why the first lesson in assembling a winning bracket is simple—always pick a shooter to carry you in the round of 64.

Always Pick North Carolina

The University of North Carolina is one of the most decorated and storied basketball program's in all of men's college basketball.

From Michael Jordan to Vince Carter to Ty Lawson—the Tar Heels have always given us high-quality talent to watch at the next level.

Another thing UNC has given us over the years is at least one win in every NCAA tournament that they've played in. Since 1985, the Tar Heels have only lost one time in the first round. That's right—one loss for the baby-blue wearing powerhouse program.

That's why, bracketologists, when you're sitting in your bed trying to convince yourself that Villanova is going to beat an "overrated" UNC team, please remember that the Tar Heels do not lose in the round of 64.

Always Pick a No. 12 Seed to Upset a No. 5 Seed

By now this rule shouldn't be much of a secret. When filling out your next bracket, always and I mean always pick at least one No. 12 seed to upset a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Think about this for a second. Since 1985, a 12th-seeded team has beaten a fifth-seeded one 41 times. Outside of the 1988 and 2007 tournaments, a No. 12 seed has gone on to celebrate at least one victory in March.

This year we got to watch Oregon, California and Ole Miss carry on the legendary 12 over five tradition.

In the case of Ole Miss, if you apply this rule with the "always pick a shooter” rule from slide one, by no stretch of the imagination should you have chosen Wisconsin to beat the Ole Miss Rebels.

Always Count on Coach Calipari

Over the course of his illustrious coaching career, John Calipari has proven to be a masterful recruiter and one heck of a winner.

His blue chip, game-changing freshmen classes have always dazzled on the floor (outside of this season when Nerlens Noel fell victim to a brutal knee injury).

Here's a quick statistic for you: In his 14 NCAA tournament appearances, John Calipari has only lost once in the first round.

Whether you love the guy or can't stand the living sight of him, the dynamic persona of Coach Cal and his highly-touted teams have always shown up come tourney time.

With one of the most decorated recruiting classes of all time coming into Lexington next year—you would be wise to pencil Kentucky in for another deep tourney run in 2014.

Always Stay Away from UNLV

Gone are the days of UNLV's dominance. In the late '80s to mid-'90s, the Runnin' Rebels were considered to be a powerhouse program—fast-forward to present day and the once legendary school has become the definition of disappointment.

The Runnin' Rebels have been bounced from the first round of the NCAA tournament the last four years in a row—a streak that should be taken into consideration when deciding whether or not to pick UNLV to advance in your bracket.

For the sake of history, let's hope the Runnin' Rebels can turn things around and rekindle their glory days. But for the time being, your best bet is to pass on UNLV come tourney time.

Always Believe in the Mid-Major Schools

What makes March Madness so spectacular is that any team can win on any given day. Unlike college football where the powerhouse programs reign supreme, college hoops is always wide open.

Outside of legendary programs like Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville and Ohio State, the beauty of the sport is that it runs so deep.

Just look at any of the so-called "mid-major" schools. From La Salle to Oregon to teams like Xavier, these mid-major programs have been fantastic on a regular basis.

When picking your bracket don't be scared of these teams. Because time after time they continue to exceed expectations and make deep runs into March.

Coaches like Brad Stevens of Butler and Shaka Smart of VCU have showed the world that you can never discount hard work, great game-planning and the sheer will to win.

College basketball is a perfect storm of heart, talent and luck. That's why we can't get enough of it—that's also why Tina from Human Resources won your office pool last year.

Well, there you go folks; you now have the basic formula to creating a winning bracket. Enjoy the rest of this year's tournament.

And oh yeah—long live March Madness!