NCAA Tournament Bracket 2015: Biggest Mistakes to Avoid for Your Office Pool

With the start of the 2015 NCAA tournament comes the opportunity to not just win money, but more importantly stick it to those around the office who dominate the sports conversation around the water cooler.

There may be college basketball aficionados in the office whose brackets will be tough to top, but the non-experts can help to even the playing field by keeping it simple and avoiding a number of key mistakes that can be hard to ignore for those who don't have years of bracket-filling experience under their belts.

With that said, the Big Dance is a time for catastrophic upsets, unlikely Final Four runs and the most unpredictable of outcomes, which gives anyone who puts in the effort a chance to win the office pool.

In order to help you do so, let's break down the biggest mistakes to keep from making after a look at the recently released bracket.

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Biggest Mistakes to Avoid

Picking a No. 16 Seed over a No. 1 Seed

Mike Groll/Associated Press

This one seems obvious for bracket experts, but failing to pay attention to NCAA tournament history could leave you playing from behind from the opening weekend on.

There have been a fair share of close calls over the last decade, but it still stands in the record books: No 16th seed has ever toppled a No. 1 seed. That stat takes on a lot more water when considering how many upsets grace the tournament year in and year out, even somewhat regularly from No. 14 and 15 seeds.

With the consistent prowess of many No. 1 seeds, Chuck Culpepper of the Washington Post sees no change forthcoming in this year's tournament:

Last season brought an opportunity for this to be tested when undefeated Wichita State had plenty of doubters, but the Shockers still breezed past their first opponent. It's become even tougher now for No. 16 seeds to pull off the feat, with two having to win first-round play-in games just to get there.

Top overall seed Kentucky may not break a sweat until the Sweet 16, and Duke, Villanova and Wisconsin all had to overtake some incredible competition from other worthy top seeds.

The top row of the bracket is more stacked than it's been in recent memory, which means No. 16 seeds will be out of luck.

Putting More than 2 No. 1 Seeds in Final Four

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

Conventional wisdom used to suggest that picking all No. 1 seeds to advance to the Final Four was foolish. Now, picking even two of them to make it to Indianapolis could be a shot in the dark.

Ever since the 2008 tournament that saw all No. 1 seeds advance, only six of the 24 Final Four spots have been filled by teams on the top row. In each of the last three tournaments, only one No. 1 seed has been involved in each of them. Back in 2011, none made the Final Four.

The top seeds are stronger than usual this season, but the fine line between some No. 1 and No. 2 seeds should worry those going chalk as well.

Gonzaga sits in Duke's bracket, while Virginia and Oklahoma could dethrone Villanova in the East and Wisconsin has its hands full with Arizona out West.

Of course, with the prestige of the No. 1 seeds in this year's tournament, at least one top seed—perhaps two—will make it to Indianapolis. That much may be inevitable, with Kentucky taking a 34-0 record into the Big Dance and playing its best basketball to close out the season.

But recent history doesn't lie.

With so many dangerous low seeds capable of muddying up these top seeds' roads to the Final Four, it would be a shock to see more than two No. 1 seeds advancing to Indianapolis.

Ignoring the 1st-Round Play-In Teams

USA TODAY Sports

A field of 68 makes the NCAA tournament, but two opening-round games played in Dayton, Ohio between No. 11 seeds that barely made it off the bubble can easily be overlooked.

It can be all too simple while filling out your bracket to pencil in the No. 6 seed favorite instead of having to rely on a team that has to win a game just to get there. But that would be against what the last two years of the NCAA tournament have taught us.

Last season, 11th-seeded Tennessee started with an overtime win over Iowa and not only advanced to the Sweet 16, but did so easily before almost toppling Michigan.

In 2013, La Salle went from the No. 13 seed play-in game to upset Kansas and Ole Miss to make it to the Sweet 16 as well.

For this year's bracket, Ole Miss and BYU both got off the bubble in exciting fashion and will be geared up for Tuesday's game, per SEC Network:

The winner of Tuesday's Ole Miss-BYU contest will face Xavier in Jacksonville, Florida. The Rebels have the guard play to not only stifle the Musketeers, but potentially give third-seeded Baylor a scare in the next round. BYU can do the same, with Kyle Collinsworth regularly putting up triple-doubles.

The other matchup between Boise State and Dayton isn't as enticing, but whoever advances from that game will face a Providence team that has lost two of three to close out the season.

Playing on the bubble down the stretch of a season can give teams unnecessary pressure, but nothing invigorates a team more than a NCAA tournament berth that once seemed unlikely.

Expect one of these teams to hit their stride starting in Dayton as a first-round team threatens to make the Sweet 16 for a third straight year.