Here are some facts about NCAA brackets that could help those win their office pool. I used these last year, and if Illinois had beaten UNC in the finals, Michael Johnson and I would have won some major bucks in this huge pool we got in. Here they are:

1) 13 of the last 15 champions have been either a #1 seed or a #2 seed

2) At least #1 seed has made the final four the last 23 years

3) At least one #3 or higher seed has made the Final Four in 26 of the past 27 years

4) Only once in the last 12 years has the combined sum of the four seed-numbers in the final four exceeded 11.

5) In the past six NCAA tourneys, once conference has placed two teams in the Final four each year.

6) In four of the last five NCAA tourneys, one conference has placed three teams in the Elite 8.

7) In eight of the last 10 tournaments, once conference has placed four teams in the Sweet 16.

8) Only once in the last 20 years have at least (2) #12 or higher seeds FAILED to advance to the 2nd round. The majority of the time, at least (3) #12 or higher seeds advance to the 2nd round.

9) Only one time in the past 20 years has a double digit seed not made it to the Sweet 16.

10) Twelve #10 seeds have made the Sweet 16 since 1997

11) One #12 seed has made the Sweet 16 in four of the last six tournaments.

12) #10 seeds make the Sweet 16 more often then the #7, #8, and #9 seeds combined.