By default, the blind bracket will show each team's rating on a scale of 0 - 5 for each statistic. These ratings are determined based on the team's performance in comparison with all teams in the NCAA Division 1 over the course of the season.

A "0" rating means the team was statistically significantly worse (by more than two standard deviations, for my nerds) than the average D-1 basketball team. A "5" means the team was statistically significantly better than the average team, and 1 - 4 fall in between.

If you are comfortable with basketball statistics and want to see each team's raw stats rather than a 0 - 5 rating, toggle this setting ON. To use the default setting, leave this OFF.

By default, the blind bracket will not make any adjustments to a team's statistics (raw numbers or ratings) to reflect the quality of competition the team played throughout the season. This may make a team that racked up awesome stats against weak opponents look a little too good to be true when you are reviewing its stats.

This setting may help you keep those positive vibes in check (and avoid rolling all the way to the championship with a 16-seed) by adjusting the stats for each team based on their strength of schedule. The teams that played the toughest schedules get a 10% boost to all their numbers, the teams that played the weakest schedules get a 10% penalty, and everyone else falls somewhere in between.

If you want to see the adjusted stats after boosts and penalties, turn this setting ON. If you are all about the good vibes and want to see each team's scores or stats without boosts or penalties, leave this OFF.

A team's assist-to-turnover ratio can be used to determine how effectively the team controls and moves the ball when on offense. This stat is calculated by dividing the team's total number of assists (passes that are immediately followed by a made shot) by its total number of turnovers (plays that give the ball away to the other team without a shot attempt -- includes offensive fouls, errant and intercepted passes, dribbling and traveling violations, steals by the opponent, etc.).

A better offensive team will often have more assists than turnovers and an assist-to-turnover ratio greater than 1. On the other hand, a team with more turnovers than assists (and therefore an assist-to-turnover ratio of less than 1) likely does not score as effectively on offense.

If you want to see the assist-to-turnover ratio for all teams when making your picks, leave this setting ON. If you don't think this will be useful, turn this OFF.

Field goal percentage reflects how good a team is at making shots on offense. Field goals are shots taken anywhere on the floor except the free throw line and include both two-point and three-point shots. The field goal percentage is the percentage of shots attempted that the team makes.

In college, most teams make around 45% of their shots. A field goal percentage over 50% is very good, anything under 40% is poor.

If you want to see the field goal percentage ratio for all teams when making your picks, leave this setting ON. If you don't think this will be useful, turn this OFF.

Field goal percentage reflects how good a team is at making three-point shots on offense. Three pointers are shots taken farther from the basket (outside the three-point arc). The three-point field goal percentage is the percentage of three pointers attempted that the team makes.

In college, most teams make around 34% of their three-point shots. A three-point field goal percentage over 38% is very good, anything under 30% is poor.

If you want to see the three-point field goal percentage ratio for all teams when making your picks, leave this setting ON. If you don't think this will be useful, turn this OFF.

The percentage of shot attempts from three-point range is the percentage of a team's total field goal attempts (all shot attempts except free throws) that are three-point attempts. Three-point shots are shot attempts taken farther away from the basket (outside the three-point arc).

This statistic is indicative of a team's offensive play style rather than a measure of how good they are on offense. Neither a higher or a lower number is better. If a team is good at making three pointers, then taking a higher percentage of shots from three-point range might be a good thing. But if a team is bad at making three pointers, then taking a higher percentage of shots from three-point range is probably a bad thing.

If you want to see the percentage of each team's shot attempts that are three-point attempts when making your picks, leave this setting ON. If you don't think this will be useful, turn this OFF.

Scoring defense is the number of points a team allows to their opponent on defense.

Allowing fewer points is generally better than allowing more. However, if a team plays quickly on offense and uses up very little of the clock when they have the ball, both teams will likely have more possessions, take more shots, and score more points. It may be helpful to look at this stat in comparison with the team's offensive points per game. If they surrender more points than average on defense, but also score more points than average on offense, then poor scoring defense may not be as much of an issue as it may seem.

When "Show Raw Statistics" is OFF, a 5 represents a better scoring defense (fewer points allowed per game) and a 0 represents a worse scoring defense (more points allowed per game).

If you want to see each team's scoring defense when making your picks, leave this setting ON. If you don't think this will be useful, turn this OFF.

Opponent field goal percentage is a defensive statistic that reflects how effectively a team's opponents are able to score. Field goals are shots taken anywhere on the floor except the free throw line and include both two-point and three-point shots. The opponent field goal percentage is the percentage of shots that a team's opponent attempts that they make.

Allowing a lower field goal percentage is generally better than allowing a higher field goal percentage.

When "Show Raw Statistics" is OFF, a 5 represents a better field goal percentage defense (opponents make fewer of their shot attempts) and a 0 represents a worse field goal percentage defense (opponents make more of their shot attempts).

If you want to see each team's opponent field goal percentage when making your picks, leave this setting ON. If you don't think this will be useful, turn this OFF.

Opponent three-point field goal percentage is a defensive statistic that reflects how effectively a team's opponents are able to make their three-point shots. Three-point shots are shots taken farther from the basket (outside the three-point arc). The opponent three-point percentage is the percentage of three-point shots that a team's opponent attempts that they make.

Allowing a lower three-point field goal percentage is generally better than allowing a higher three-point field goal percentage.

When "Show Raw Statistics" is OFF, a 5 represents a better three-point field goal percentage defense (opponents make fewer of their three-point shot attempts) and a 0 represents a worse three-point field goal percentage defense (opponents make more of their three-point shot attempts).

If you want to see each team's opponent three-point field goal percentage when making your picks, leave this setting ON. If you don't think this will be useful, turn this OFF.

Rebound margin is the difference between the number of rebounds (missed shots) a team secures and the number of rebounds their opponent gets. Getting rebounds allows a team to gain or retain possession after a missed shot. Getting more rebounds than the opponent generally means having more offensive possessions and having more opportunities to score.

A positive number means a team got more rebounds than its opponents and a negative number means the team got fewer rebounds than its opponents.

If you want to see each team's rebound margin when making your picks, leave this setting ON. If you don't think this will be useful, turn this OFF.

Opponent turnovers forced is a defensive statistic that reflects how many times per game that a team forces its opponent to turn the ball over. Turnovers forced include steals, balls deflected off opposing players or thrown out of bounds, and offensive fouls committed by the opponent.

Forcing more turnovers is better! It allows the team to take back possession of the ball without the opponent attempting a shot.

If you want to see each team's opponent turnovers forced when making your picks, leave this setting ON. If you don't think this will be useful, turn this OFF.

The Dadgum Index is a composite statistic that represents how many points a team scores by creating extra possessions. "Extra" possessions are created by winning offensive rebounds (allowing for extra shots on a single trip down the floor) and forcing opponent turnovers (getting a new possession without the opponent getting a shot). This index takes the extra possession margin - how many more extra possessions a team creates than their opponent - and uses the team's offensive efficiency (how many points they score per possession) to determine how many points they score by creating those possessions.

As a totally arbitrary starting point, a team that creates no extra possessions would score 100. The higher above 100 a team scores, the better. Anything below 100 means the team surrenders more extra possessions to its opponent than it creates.

If you want to see the Dadgum Index when making your picks, leave this setting ON. If you don't think this will be useful, turn this OFF.

The Upset Index is a composite statistic that represents the potential that a team will "over" or "under" perform from three-point range - one of the ways that underdogs sometimes pull off upsets in the tournament.

The index favors teams that make a high percentage of their three-point shots, but do not attempt very many three pointers. In theory, these teams have the ability to generate lots of offense from the three-point line simply by attempting more three-point shots. This makes them better candidates to pull off an upset by sinking lots of three pointers (or survive an upset bid by keeping up with a hot-shooting underdog).

The index does not like teams that take a lot of three-point shots, but do not make very many. These teams are probably less likely to pull off an upset with a hot shooting game (or survive an upset bid similarly driven by three-point shooting).

Higher scores are better.

If you want to see the Upset Index when making your picks, leave this setting ON. If you don't think this will be useful, turn this OFF.

Strength of schedule measures how challenging a team's schedule was. Teams that played against lots of good teams, have a higher strength of schedule score and you might forgive them for having less impressive statistics. Teams that played against mostly weak competition have a lower strength of schedule, which might make you think their most impressive statistics aren't quite as impressive as they seem.

The Vibe Check uses strength of schedule to modify a team's stats. Strength of schedule does not receive boosts or penalties from the vibe check.

If you want to see each team's strength of schedule when making your picks, leave this setting ON. If you don't think this will be useful, turn this OFF.

Points per game is exactly what it sounds like: the number of points a team scores in a game.

Scoring more points is generally better than scoring fewer. However, if a team plays slowly on offense and uses up a lot of the clock when they have the ball, both teams will likely have fewer possessions, take fewer shots, and score fewer points. Field goal percentage may be a better indicator of a team's effectiveness on offense.

If you want to see each team's points scored per game when making your picks, leave this setting ON. If you don't think this will be useful, turn this OFF.