March Madness is upon us and that means it’s time for predictions. Time for analyzing every game that you’ve ever watched. Time for throwing yourself out there and probably watching all of your hard work crumble away in the first few games. Or at least, that’s what it used to mean for you. We’ve compiled some tips that will hopefully make choosing your teams a little bit easier.

Look at the last 10 games instead of the whole season.

Season statistics can be helpful in terms of how the teams you’re considering played all year, but skill sets are vastly different from the beginning to the end of the regular season. Some teams get their act together halfway through the season, and other teams fall apart. If the numbers are good for the last 10 or so games, chances of the team continuing their positive streak are higher.

“It is very hard to pick the perfect bracket,” senior Luke Saville said. “Upsets happen every year and there is always a team that lives the Cinderella story experience. Know which teams are hot right now. Even if they’re not in a power five conference, they can still make a run in the tourney.”

Determine the condition of the players.

Sure, you may be swayed to pick a team if they’ve had a winning season, but how are their star players doing right now? Are they injured? If so, that team may not perform the best during March Madness play. Teams that have healthy players are more likely to succeed throughout tournament play.

Don’t count out the underdog just yet.

A team that has already established a successful season has more to lose than just their record. They have their reputation to lose as well. That means they’re more likely to err on the cautious side when deciding what plays to make. Lower-seeded teams don’t have that problem.

“I think sometimes when a higher-seeded team is playing a lower-seeded team, [the lower-seeded team] has nothing to lose and is going to scrap and fight to move forward,” senior Cade Roberts said.

Look for teams with a lot of seniors.

As we already know with high school athletics, a team with more seniors is more likely to advance and be more successful due to more experience and leadership. Any game in the tournament could be their last game ever, so they’re more apt to fight hard for a win than a younger team.

Don’t overthink it too much.

Remember this is a tournament. Things change at the drop of a hat and while you can analyze and crunch numbers all day long, it really does just come down to luck.

“It mostly is all luck though,” senior Luke Saville said. “Some people might pick a team that has their favorite colors and that team will somehow win.”