March Madness: Second-round strategy for the $5K USA TODAY's NCAA Tournament Survivor Pool

The NCAA Tournament first round is in the rear-view mirror, and there was a nice share of madness. In fact, nearly 5,000 entries in USA TODAY's NCAA Men's Tournament Survivor Pool were eliminated on Day 1.

Major upsets of No. 2 seed Arizona (by 15th-seeded Princeton) and 4th-seeded Virginia (by 13th-seeded Furman) knocked out a bunch of those entries. Losses by 10th-seeded Utah State (a small favorite vs. 7th-seeded Missouri) and 7th-seeded Texas A&M (a loss to No. 10 seed Penn State) also sent a few people out the door.

Unfortunately, I was also shown the door because of the Arizona loss. My strategy was to play conservative in Round 1 and aim for big points in Round 2 after some expected upsets. However, I never thought in a million years that the undersized Ivy League team in Princeton would take down mighty Arizona, a squad many had winning the whole ball of wax.

As an employee, I'm not eligible to win this NCAA Tournament Survivor Pool contest. While I'm now in the "Loser's Lounge," I can still assist those of you who have a shot at the $5K first prize - but I'd understand if you don't want my advice.

After Day 2 (Friday), 2,988 entries remain out of the 8,107 who signed up.

So, here's my strategy of how to advance out of Round 2 and eventually win the Men's Basketball Tournament Survivor Pool .

A rules reminder: Remaining entries are required to pick 2 teams to win outright in the 2nd round - no spread involved. Once you pick a team, it can't be used again, similar to an NFL survivor pool.

After the 2nd round, the rules require 1 pick per round - 1 in the Sweet 16, 1 in the Elite 8, 1 in the Final Four and then picking the winner of the National Championship Game - if you still have an eligible team to select.

Along with not being able to choose the same team twice, the other tricky rule is that points are earned equal to your winning teams' seeds. At this point, there are still a lot of points available in the 2nd round and beyond.

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