It happens every year. You pore over your brackets, determined that this will be the year you win the company pool. And every year you end up watching Bill in accounting gloat as he claims another improbable win. What did you do wrong? Fear not. As you prepare to sit down and waste countless hours waxing over what No. 8 or No. 9 seed to pick, here are several trends to keep in mind. Remember, these are for – cough – entertainment purposes only.

IT’S NOT GOOD TO BE NO. 1

Since the seeding process began, only five teams ranked No. 1 going into the NCAA tourney went on to win the national championship: Kentucky (1978), North Carolina (1982), Duke (1992), UCLA (1995) and Duke (2001).

BUT SOMEONE NEEDS TO BE

There has been a No. 1 seed in the Final Four every year except for two: 1980 and 2006.

KEEP DREAMING

Someone always believes the top seeds should meet in the Final Four. It’s never happened since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. The closest was in 1993 when three No. 1s and a No. 2 made it.

TOUGH TIMES FOR CINDERELLA

Since the rankings began in 1949, Kansas was the last unranked team to win the title in 1988.

IT GOES TO 11

At 27-11, the 1988 Kansas team also had the worst record of any team to win the national championship.

EVERYONE HATES A WINNER

Duke has the best winning percentage of any team that has played in a minimum of 30 games in the tournament: .752 (85-28).

SWEET 16 ISN’T SO SWEET

No. 16 seeds are winless in the history of the tournament. The closest any team has come to this upset was Murray State forcing Michigan State into overtime in 1990 before losing by 4. The No. 15 seeds have had just four wins, the last in 2001 when Hampton beat Iowa State.

HARD DECISIONS

If you’re looking for an upset, look no further than the 12th seed. Over the past seven seasons, 12s have upset 5s 57 percent of the time – 16-of-28.

THERE’S NO NEED TO FEAR . . .

Everyone wants to root for the underdog, but don’t base your bracket life on it. In the past 22 years, no team worse than an eighth seed has reached the national-title game.