Jared Sullinger and Ohio State celebrated a Big 10 title, but will the top-seeded Buckeyes be dancing in the Final Four? (AP)

Picking your NCAA tournament bracket is anything but an exact science. You could put hours of research into your bracket only to have it completely destroyed by the end of the first weekend. Or you could pick based on jerseys or mascots and end up winning your pool. There are certain trends worth paying attention to, though, and there are plenty of resources where you can learn about those trends.

Unsurprisingly, ESPN.com has the most comprehensive guide to picking your bracket. The site says that in the first round, you should pick all the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, pick one or two 12 seeds to upset a No. 5, and pick a No. 3 or No. 4 seed to lose.

Then you should pick one double-digit seed to reach the Sweet 16. You should also pick all the 1 seeds to get there, but ESPN says odds are that one of the 2 seeds will lose in the second round. The site says that if you still have any 12 seeds left in the Sweet 16, don’t pick them to continue on to the Elite Eight.

For the Final Four, ESPN says you should pick at least one 1 seed to get there, but not all four. It’s also a safe bet to pick all teams that are a 4 seed or better. And if you’re going to take a flier on someone, make it a No. 5 or No. 6 seed, but nothing lower than that.

ESPN isn’t the only site that can help you with your bracket, though. CBS gives us a list of dos and don’ts. The site says DO favor the big-name schools because they have more elite athletes who can help cover up weaknesses. They say DON’T fall in love with your upset picks too much, DON’T expect much from the Pac-10 and DON’T pick Ohio State to win it all because the Buckeyes are in the toughest region.

The Washington Times provides its own dos and don’ts. It says DO pick Texas A&M to get to the second round, but DON’T pick the Aggies to go any further. It also says DO pick at least one Colonial Athletic team to win in the first round and DON’T fall in love with UConn after its run through the Big East tournament.

In its bracket tips, SI.com says to look for teams that had decisive wins throughout the season because close games are often decided by luck rather than the intangibles you always hear about. For that reason, the site says to expect a lot from Ohio State, contradicting its counterpart at CBS.

Yahoo! Sports provides the in-depth recipe for an upset. Some of the teams that comprise a number of their ingredients are Belmont, Oakland, Richmond and Wofford.

Meanwhile, Nate Silver of the New York Times’ FiveThirtyEight blog offers a statistical analysis of every team’s chances of winning in each round. According to Silver’s methodology, the four No. 1 seeds — Ohio State, Duke, Kansas and Pittsburgh — are the most likely Final Four participants, with Ohio State over Kansas being the most likely national championship outcome. If you’re wondering about the only Boston team in the tournament, Silver gives the BU Terriers a 1.0 percent chance of beating Kansas in the first round.

Tim Gardner of USA Today agrees with Silver’s championship matchup, but he picks Kansas to win it all. He also takes San Diego State to make the Final Four over Duke. Gardner goes out on a limb by picking two double-digit seeds to make the Sweet 16 in Michigan State (a 10) and Belmont (a 13).

Ian Power of the New York Daily News picks three double-digit seeds to make the Sweet 16 — 11 seeds Missouri and Gonzaga and 12 seed Clemson. He also picks Oakland to upset Texas in the first round. For the Final Four, Power picks top seeds Ohio State, Duke and Pittsburgh to all get there, but in the Southwest region he takes Louisville to knock off Kansas in the Sweet 16 en route to the Final Four. His title game prediction is Ohio State over Pittsburgh.

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