Bracketology 101

Dear Congressman,

After you and your fellow members of congress are done putting the screws to AIG president Edward Liddy regarding his company's unique perspective on what to do with government money, I know that the backroom talk will turn to an even bigger deadline. Which of course is Thursday by noon to get your picks in for the NCAA men's college basketball tournament, better known as March Madness.

I felt I could be of service here, as I have a system that I devised for my wife, who knows as much about college basketball as I do about competitive basket weaving. By giving her a few simple guidelines to follow she has consistently done better in the local office pools compared to my personal picks.

Here are the rules to follow:

1. A 16 seed has never beaten a 1 seed... ever...

2. If you pick below a 6 seed to win the tournament or go to the final game, you have a pretty good chance of winning your pool, however you have a much higher chance of crashing and burning.

3. If a team has the word "State" in their name but the actual name of the state is not in the name, do not pick this team to go past the round of sixteen. For example, Florida State might go to the final rounds, but Morgan State probably will not.

4. In reference to the above, if there is a direction added to the name of the state in the team's name, I would not pick them to go too far in the tournament. For example, Tennessee might have a shot to go deep into the tournament, but East Tennessee State would be more risky.

That's it... enjoy the tourney Congressman!