9.2 Quintillion possible outcomes for a 64-team bracket. To put that into perspective, there are eighteen zeroes in one-quintillion. After realizing and attempting to fathom the ferocious size of this possibility, it becomes quite easy to see why March has been dubbed the "Month of Madness", for NCAA basketball.

For those of us who love sports, and for others who only mildly enjoy them, there are a few events throughout the year that transcend the sporting world and have become almost holiday-like celebrations. Included in these celebrations, or maybe the front runner is March Madness. College basketball teams play all season long in hopes of finishing with a record worthy enough to punch their ticket to "The Dance" as some call it. The teams are stamped with seed numbers between one and sixty-four, and then further organized into four regions of sixteen teams each. The teams will play out the bracket in a single elimination style until one is left standing as champion.

The most entertaining part, or frustrating and nerve racking depending on your competitive drive, is filling out brackets trying to predict the outcome. As I stated earlier there are 9.2 quintillion possible outcomes, so there really is no chance for anyone to successful fill out the perfect bracket, but that does not seem to stem the flow of brackets that are submitted each year. To add another level of pressure to the impossible task of filling out a bracket, the notable billionaire Warren Buffet offered any person who could fill out a perfect bracket a $1 billion prize. Sadly, I do not think he has to worry about signing a giant check anytime soon.

When it comes to filling out the brackets, there are a few very common trends that come into play. The first is that the majority of participants love to see a Cinderella story go deep into the tourney. An 11-seed or higher making it past the round of 32 is usually a good example of a Cinderella. The second is that any matchup between a 5-seed and a 12-seed is a perfect storm for an upset. Throughout the history of the tournament, the highest percentage of upset games have come from a 12-seed beating a 5-seed. Third, choosing a 16-seed to upset a 1-seed is literally the worst choice to make (this has never happened in the history of the tournament). Fourth, and probably most important, is to remember that record is not everything when it comes to making picks. A team from the Patriot league that makes it into the tournament with a record of 29-5 that is taking on a team from the Big Ten with a record of 23-11 probably will not have the upper hand. Objectively, it is just facts that the talent level in the major conferences outweighs that of the smaller conferences in the country.

After the work of choosing and submitting a bracket is over, the only thing left to do is sit back, relax, and enjoy. Happy Madness everyone.