One of the most popular words in the English language for the next two weeks will most likely be the word “bracket.” This time of year, that word is impossible to get away from.

With the NCAA Tournament starting Thursday (yes, the opening round games were Tuesday, but the real tournament starts Thursday), many people will be filling out tournament brackets to enter office pools, online contests, pools with friends, or just for keeping up with the tournament itself.

From the moment the brackets were released during the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Sunday evening, people were running to their computers to print them off and begin predicting who would win each game.

There’s just something about the bracket that is fascinating to us. Perhaps it’s the single-elimination part of the tournament. It’s simple and clean. If you lose, you’re out. There’s no second chance. It’s fascinating to see the field reduced from 64 teams to 32, then 16, then eight, then four, then two, then one.

There is also the interesting aspect of teams from small conferences facing the big boys of college basketball. First-round upsets might mess up all of our brackets, but it’s always fun to see a smaller team beat a highly ranked one.

Upsets such as No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee State over No. 2 seed Michigan State in 2016, No. 15 seed Florida Gulf Coast making the Sweet 16 in 2013, or No. 11 seeds George Mason (in 2006) and Virginia Commonwealth (in 2011) making it all the way to the Final Four.

For those reasons, picking a successful NCAA Tournament bracket is very difficult, and picking a perfect one — correctly selecting every winner from the first round games all the way to the championship game — is nearly impossible.

A few years ago, business tycoon Warren Buffett offered $1 billion to anyone who picked a perfect bracket, which of course no one did. I’m pretty sure Warren wasn’t sweating anyone taking his money.

Sometimes, picking a team based on its mascot is just as successful a strategy as actually doing research and investigating each team’s season.

The randomness of a single-elimination tournament means any team is ripe for an upset. No. 1 seed Kansas would probably beat No. 16 Pennsylvania 999 out of 1,000 times they play. But the teams aren’t playing 1,000 times. They’re only playing once, and it’s possible the one time might be in the NCAA Tournament.

That’s what makes this time of year so special. Hope springs eternal for everyone who made the 68-team field. It’s a second chance at a special season.

So, fill out those brackets and start channel surfing. One of the best two weeks of the sports season is about to begin.

Jeff Edwards can be reached at jeff@athensnews-courier.com.