Secrets on how to fill out that perfect March Madness bracket... but tell no one or every everybody will be doing it.

It takes superior intelli- gence and acumen to fill out that perfect March Madness bracket... but pay attention and I'll show you how some find success.

Every year, my children, grandchildren and pets have a family competition to see who can come closest to perfection and win the coveted

Super Dog Jinx

"Bragging Rights" trophy. Through almost half of the competition, the score stood, Jinx, 1st place, Young Grandson, 2nd, etc. The point is, only the super intelligent and acumen-strong will lead the way.

Oh, they also both picked #16 seed University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBA) to trounce tourney #1 seed Virginia by 20 points, as did two others in this family competition filled with basketball brilliance.

So how did the picks by these superior basketball brains fair

Youngest Grandchild

against the world? Well, my son is in a work bracket with 74 adult basketball nuts and Jinx would have been second, Young Grandson third on that list. Take that Charles Barkley.

So what are the odds of a perfect bracket? The NCAA has them at 9.2 quintillion (18 digits) to 1. A half-court basket at half-time is a 50-1 shot, bowling a perfect game, 11,500-1. Scoring a golfing albatross (3-under par on a hole), 1,000,000-1. Becoming President of the United States, 10,000,000-1. (Oh great. Of 10 million chances, look who won. Shows you luck is often fickle.)

Now check this March Madness bracket conundrum for a King Kong surprise and a few more tips from the top.

My pick for next year's champion: Bradley University, home of Gene 'Squeaky' Melchiorre (of the 1950 NIT and NCAA championships. CCNY won both in NYC with the strong help of biased officiating--no New York team looses in the Garden--and a point-shaving scandal that cost Squeaky, the #1 NBA draft choice, a basketball career), Chet Walker and Hersey Hawkins. (See my blog post on Squeaky, my all-time favorite)