This time of year just about everyone is gearing up for the NCAA Basketball Tournament.  For many sports fans this can be the most wonderful time of the year. However too many hopeful fans have their feelings shattered by a lousy bracket or pool. Fear not, for I have chiseled in stone the 10 Commandments of the Bracket. Why, do you ask, am I being so generous by sharing these tips on bracket success? Well, when one has an expertise in a given area, it is only right to share that knowledge with others. As I descend from Mt. Condescension with my glorious tablets in hand, I encourage you to give heed to the following pearls of wisdom.  

Simply put, creating multiple brackets is an abomination. I understand hedging bets, but at what cost? Filling out more than one bracket makes a mockery of things. Don't be the person who brags about having the perfect bracket, while at the same time, has 5 other terrible brackets. Rather than casting a wide net by filling out multiple brackets, concentrate all your efforts into one single attempt. It is true that putting all the eggs into one basket involves more risk, but the pay off is all the more sweet when you call that one big upset. You only need one if you know how to use it.

We all know of those college basketball players who seem to have been in school forever (Aaron Craft has officially announced that he is returning for his 7th and final year of eligibility, after having exhausted his red shirt, grey shirt, blue shirt). Sure it's easy to have some fun with the likes of Robbie Hummel and Gerry McNamara, but having an older team can pay serious dividends in the tournament.  Experience is an excellent indicator for success in the tourney. The more juniors and seniors on the squad, the less likely the team buckles under the pressure. There is, however, a tradeoff. It's likely the players who stick around until their senior seasons may not be the best professional prospects, but in a one-off college basketball tournament for all the marbles, it can be better to ride the old dog than a young pup.

A bracket that forces you to pick the play-in-games is not worth the paper that it's printed on. Everyone knows the Madness begins on Thursday, this is an easy one. Next!

We all have our favorite teams. Being a true fan is great, but don't be loyal to a fault. Too many brackets are ruined every year by fans who are blinded by their love for their team. They feel obligated to pick their alma mater to win the tournament.  Don't worry, not picking your favorite team to win it all doesn't make you any less of a fan, anyone who tells you otherwise doesn't know what they are talking about. Most fans of schools in smaller conferences don't really have to worry about this. The real people afflicted are fans of teams that are capable of winning it on any given year.   Spare yourself the disappointment, I promise that no one will take away your fan card.

One of the more popular strategies this time of year is to simply pick the higher seed to advance in nearly all of the match ups. If your bracket is employing such a strategy, be prepared to be ridiculed. No one likes a boring bracket, this is the season of upsets and Cinderellas. If you go all chalk on the bracket then the question begs, why are you filling out a bracket in the first place? Go back to your home on No-Fun-I'm-a-Square Island.

More often than not, the teams that enjoy the most success in the tournament have a coach that has not only been there before, but won it. College basketball is one of the few sports where the head coach can make a significant impact. The game is more structured, shot clocks are longer, plays are drawn up and coaching philosophies are drilled into each player. Consider that in the last 10 title games, the winning coach had either already won the title before, or coached in the game in another year.

Former University of Memphis basketball coach John Calipari once said that on the top 10 list of things that he looks for in a prospect, free throw shooting is number 11. The current Kentucky coach has a famous reputation for thinking that free throw shooting is an overvalued skill. Unfortunately for coach Cal, he was on the wrong end of a paltry free throw shooting display that would ultimately cost his Memphis Tigers the national title. Free throws should be seen as free points, there's a reason it is called the charity stripe. Make sure that the teams that you pick to go deep are not overly deficient in this area. Be aware of the free throw factor, or else you'll rue the day that you picked a certain team when they leave precious points off the board.

In the history of the tournament, 16 seeds are a combined 0-116 . This is another easy one. Pete Carril is not walking through that door, and even if he was, his team would still lose (however it would be close).

Of the last ten NCAA Tournament champions, seven of the those teams were victorious in their conference tournaments. Teams that go into the big dance having just conquered their conference tournament have the momentum to make a deep run in March. Winning is contagious. Conversely, a team that is lacking mojo going into the tournament is likely to see an early exit. Before you go out on a limb picking those crazy upsets, take some time to see how they have played in their last few contests, it can spare you some heartache in the initial rounds.

The last commandment is simple, yet critically important. Try not to be too clever by going overboard picking too many upsets. We all want to be the smartest one in the room, and many aim to do that think that by going out on as many limbs as possible in order to predict the next George Mason or Florida Gulf Coast.  Keep the bold predictions in check. Yes there will likely be a number of upsets, and unfortunately no, you won't be able to predict the most of them.  The truth is there is no method to the madness that is March. Even following all of these commandments is no guarantee for success. The best thing that you can do is just sit back, relax and enjoy the best two weeks that sport has to offer.