It’s February, which means March Madness is right around the corner. People all over the country will be competing with their friends, colleagues and random people to see who can craft the most accurate bracket. Everyone dreams of having the perfect bracket, but there is no single right way to fill out your bracket. Before we get into the specific ways to fill out a bracket, let’s look at how the tournament works, some key players to watch out for and how Marquette will fare.

The tournament is comprised of 68 teams, with 32 of them receiving automatic bids for winning their conference. A committee chooses the other 36 teams. After the teams are chosen, they are split up into four regions and each region’s teams are seeded from one  to 16. The first round of the tournament is called the first four. Essentially, these games are play-in games, consisting of eight teams fighting for a chance to make it to round two in their respective region. The four No. 1 seeds are each seeded to determine who the No. 1 overall seed is and the idea is for this team to get placed in the easiest region. From 68 to 64 to 32 to 16 to eight to four to two to one, the tournament brings heartbreak to some and joy to others.

This year’s tournament is headlined with an abundance of talent. The freshman class — led by Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins, Kentucky’s Julius Randle and Duke’s Jabari Parker — are all guys headed to the NBA next season. This will be their only chance at the title, so you know they will be giving it their all. Other players sure to raise some eyebrows include Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart, Arizona’s Aaron Gordon, Louisville’s Russ Smith and Ohio State’s Aaron Craft.

Marquette stunned many last season by making a run to the Elite 8, but that will not happen this season. The loss of Vander Blue, Junior Cadougan and Trent Lockett has clearly affected Marquette all season, and it won’t go away during the tournament. Even in a down year, Marquette is still in a prime position to secure one of the automatic bids by winning the Big East conference tournament. The new Big East is in its inaugural season, and it is an extremely weak conference. Most likely, the Big East will send four teams: Marquette, Georgetown, Creighton and Villanova.

There are many different ways to fill out your bracket. Some people pick out teams based on who has the best mascot, or who has the best team colors. Others spend hours researching each team’s individual strengths and weakness and seeing who matches up well against one another. Others pick the “chalk bracket,” meaning they pick all of the higher seeds, or “chalk,” leading to a final four of all No. 1 seeds. The exact opposite of that is an “upset bracket,” meaning you pick all of the lower-seeded teams leading to a final four of all No. 16 seeds. A “close-to-heart bracket” is another popular choice; it is when you pick schools you like or have some time of connection to.

Now I’ll tell you the best way to fill out your bracket: my way. The number one thing I look at is a team’s record on a neutral court. In college basketball, winning on the road is tough, so I don’t judge teams that lose on the road or win at home. A key thing to remember is all tournament games are played on neutral court. You also must take into account a team’s history. For example, Georgetown has history of losing early, so I’ll be hesitant to pick them to go far.

There is no perfect way to fill out a bracket. Filling out brackets is all about having fun and predicting who you think will win.

Find Sean’s bracket predictions here:

http://betterbracketmaker.com/#!/b7f2a7ce6fa25