NCAA Bracket 2018: Tips, Info and More for Top March Madness Games

I have a love-hate history with any pool or bracket challenge game. My first one was in 2000, when I somehow won thanks to picking Michigan State to win the Division I men's basketball tournament in a year where two No. 8 seeds made the Final Four. I didn't even follow the sport outside of my home-state Seton Hall Pirates.

Of course, I've failed to win in the 18 years since, even though I started to become a real fan in 2001 (winning money will do that to you, I guess).

I've lost to a dog, family and friends who don't watch and literally everyone in a company pool in 2015. Like every year, though, I think this is finally the time I break through again. I'll probably have that hope for approximately four hours on the first Thursday of the tournament.

Anyway, read on for two pieces of advice for March Madness contests, as well as the NCAA tournament schedule (and locations).

Round-by-Round Dates: NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament

Sunday, March 11: Selection Sunday (6 p.m. ET on TBS and live-streamed through NCAA March Madness Live)

Tuesday, March 13: First Four in Dayton, Ohio

Wednesday, March 14: First Four in Dayton, Ohio

Thursday, March 15 and Friday, March 16: First-round games

Saturday, March 17 and Sunday, March 18: Second-round games

Thursday, March 22 and Friday, March 23: Sweet 16

Saturday, March 24 and Sunday, March 25: Elite Eight

Saturday, March 31: Final Four

Monday, April 2: Championship

1st- and 2nd-Round Locations

First- and second-round games will take place in the following cities: Pittsburgh; Wichita, Kansas; Dallas; Boise, Idaho; Charlotte, North Carolina; Detroit; Nashville, Tennessee; and San Diego.

Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four Locations

Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games will take place in Omaha, Nebraska (Midwest Regional); Los Angeles (West Regional); Atlanta (South Regional) and Boston (East Regional).

The Final Four will be held at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

TV Information

CBS Sports and Turner Sports will once again combine to televise the tournament, as games will take place on CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV.

Bracket Advice

Follow the Path of Least Resistance When Picking the National Champion

As Hickory High School head coach Norman Dale said in the movie Hoosiers, "There's a condition in tournament play: Do not talk about the next step until you've climbed the one in front of you."

As obvious as this sounds, it's important to keep in mind that the national championship team needs to win a minimum of six games (and in the case of a First Four team, seven) in order to cut down the nets.

Therefore, when picking the national champion, take a look at each step in the bracket for your team of choice and see if there's a potential trap.

Look at Villanova last year, for example. The Wildcats were defending national champions and named the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. However, their regional was brutal, featuring a No. 8 seed (Wisconsin) that was probably two to three seeds too low in addition to a Jayson Tatum-led Duke squad and a few tough SEC teams (Florida and South Carolina).

Villanova had a treacherous path just to get out of its regional, and it only made it to step two as Nigel Hayes hit a game-winning shot to give Wisconsin the win in the second round.

The Wildcats may have been the best team entering the tournament, but in retrospect, they may not have been a great national champion pick because their path contained so many pitfalls.

This year, Virginia is probably looking like the No. 1 overall seed in a year where no team really stands out from the rest. If you like UVA and think its fantastic defense is going to come up big on the national stage, it's not a bad idea to back the Cavaliers.

However, if they somehow get stuck in a region with a No. 2-No. 4 seed combo such as Duke (five NBA-caliber players), Michigan (scorching-hot Big Ten champion) and Arizona (led by potential No. 1 NBA draft pick DeAndre Ayton), picking UVA to emerge from that gauntlet is a hard sell.

Remember, it's important to consider the quality of a team, but it may be more vital to see how it can get to the top.

Don't Pick a No. 1 Seed To Lose Before the Elite Eight (With One Exception)

According to mcubed.net, No. 1 seeds have never lost to a No. 16 seed since the tournament expanded in 1985. No. 1 seeds also have a 84.9 percent win rate against No. 8 and No. 9 seeds in the second round and a 75.6 percent win rate against No. 4 or No. 5 seeds in the Sweet 16.

And according to Eric Vander Voort of NCAA.com, No. 1 seeds have won the national championship 20 out of 33 times since 1985 (No. 2 and No. 3 seeds have combined for nine wins, while other seeds have won the remaining four).

Long story short, the chances are that an individual No. 1 seed is making the Elite Eight at minimum, and that a No. 1 seed is winning the national title. Therefore, it doesn't make much sense to cut your legs out from under you and pick a No. 1 seed to fall early, with one exception.

If a No. 1 seed seems unfairly placed on the top line for some reason, and a seed seems a line or two too low, then you should consider a Sweet 16 upset.

Also, keep in mind that the seeding of a team isn't necessarily representative of a team's strength. It's based off the opinions of a group of committee members that may or may not have gotten a team's placement correct. Therefore, you should use other sources to gauge the strength of a team (such as the Sagarin ratings and Pomeroy college basketball ratings) and compare notes.

For example, a look at Joe Lunardi of ESPN's latest bracketology report places Xavier on the No. 1 seed line in the Midwest Regional. The Musketeers are an excellent team and impressed en route to a Big East regular-season title, but are they even the best team in their half of the regional?

One can make a case that team may in fact be Wichita State, which is ranked No. 4 there. According to Sagarin, Xavier and Wichita State are neck and neck in the rankings (No. 12 and No. 13). It's not much different in the Pomeroy table, as Xavier is No. 15 while Wichita State is No. 17.

It should also be noted that Xavier wouldn't have an easy go of it in the second round here, either, as the Muskies would face potential future NBA lottery pick Trae Young and the Oklahoma Sooners or a Virginia Tech team that was one of only two squads to beat top-ranked Virginia.

Therefore, if you're looking to knock off a No. 1 seed before the Sweet 16 and perhaps differentiate yourself a bit from your competitors to gain an edge on the field, consider an upset in a similar case.

Despite this scenario, however, picking No. 1 seeds to lose before the Elite Eight should be the exception, not the rule.