KADE GATES

It’s that time of year again: the snow is melting, the temperature’s rising and winter parkas are being traded in for spring coats. It’s March ­— and along with the changing seasons comes another great thing: March Madness.

Every season, 68 of the top college basketball teams in the United States compete in a single elimination tournament to crown the national champion. Millions of brackets are filled out with the hope of picking a perfect bracket, though rarely even one person can pick the first round correctly.

While I will not guarantee that my tips will give you a formula for the perfect bracket, I will say that these are time tested methods to at least give you a chance to win the Sheaf pool, or your own bracket challenge.

First tip: Never pick a number 16 seed over a number one seed. Alright we get it: “Someday it’s going to happen and I’ll get the last laugh.” You’re right, someday it will, but not this year. If you absolutely have to pick one because you insist on being “that guy,” then I suggest the Coastal Carolina University Chanticleers.

The Chanticleers return their five top scorers from a team that gave 2014 number one seed University of Virginia Cavaliers fans heart attacks last year. However, don’t expect them to beat a senior-laden University of Wisconsin Badgers.

Tip two: Take at least one 12th seeded team over a fifth seed. It happens every year, in fact last year only one number five seed survived the first round. The Stephen F. Austin University Lumberjacks and their suffocating defence are a trendy pick again this year. The Lumberjacks were seeded 12th last year and upset the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams and this year they draw a University of Utah Utes team that has lost four of their last seven games. The University of Wyoming Cowboys and the University of Buffalo Bulls are also decent choices.

Tip three: What have you done for me lately? I can tell you that the Eastern Washington University Eagles is a good upset pick because they feature the nation’s leading scorer, Tyler Harvey, in addition they have great secondary scoring options in Venky Jois and Drew Brandon, but what it comes down to is are they hot right now? For example, the Oklahoma State University Cowboys have lost six of their last seven games, not exactly the trend you want going in to a single elimination tournament.

Tip four: Don’t pick all four number one seeds to go to the Final Four. Seriously? Do you play with the bumpers up at the bowling alley too? Upsets are bound to happen in the next few weeks and number one seeds are definitely not exempt. Only once since 1979 have all four first seeded teams made the Final Four.

Tip five: Take the Gonzaga University Bulldogs to the Final Four. Although Gonzaga never makes it through the first weekend of the tournament, this is the year that changes. Lead by the Canadian duo of Kyle Wiltjer and Kevin Pangos, the Zags lead the country in field goal percentage and for the first time in recent memory, they have a true lockdown defender in Gary Bell Jr. The Zags have been able to win games both with their defence in low scoring games and with their offence in high scoring shootouts.

Last tip: Just take Kentucky. Don’t be the hero tough guy. The Kentucky University Wildcats are 34–0 and have made some of the best teams in the country look like toddlers. Kentucky is beating teams by an average of 20.8 points a game and could have as many as eight players drafted in to the NBA at season’s end. The number two seed in Kentucky’s region is the University of Kansas Jayhawks, a team they beat by 32 earlier this year. I rest my case.

Regardless of who you pick or what your system is for making your picks, I believe there is nothing better than spending the rest of March yelling at the television and cheering your picks to win it all in the pursuit of bragging rights and possibly a University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union gift card.

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Image: Jeremy Britz