(CNN) -- The games begin Thursday, and March Madness buzz will soon take over the lunchroom. Everywhere you turn, co-workers will chat about their favorite teams, the upsets, the injuries.





Maybe you will watch the games. Maybe you won't. But maybe, irrespective of whether you plan to follow the tournament, you've ponied up to be part of the office pool.





And you don't have to worry about explaining how you made your picks while filling out out your bracket. Everyone is hoping to choose that one team that comes from behind to win.





So what if you always pick Gonzaga just because you like saying the name? Should it matter if you take Louisville out of the running just because that jerk who once strung you along came from there?





You are in the running like everyone else, and, heck, you might surprise yourself and actually win.





In these coming weeks, though, you don't want to sound like an idiot. It would be nice, you think to yourself, if you actually appeared to know what you were talking about.





CNN reached out to Stewart Mandel, a senior writer at SI.com who covers basketball, as well as sports fans in the CNN.com newsroom to get some tips for how you can bluff your way through the tournament. With their sage advice, we offer this wisdom:





• Be careful not to talk about a "buzzer beater" unless it's actually happened. When they do happen, when a player scores at the buzzer (in the last second) to change the game's outcome, throw the term around wildly. It'll be what everyone is reliving, and if you feel especially bold, you can try to give someone a high-five while saying, "How about that buzzer beater?"





• Discussing injuries in vague terms is always safe, since most every team has suffered some. Ideas: "They really can't afford any more injuries this season." Or, "Didn't they have a big injury this year?" You don't have to know the answer, but it's an easy way to engage with a sports nut who will gladly tell you more about some stranger's ankle than you ever wanted to know.





• Tell people around the water cooler that you really admire a team's "tenacity." Mandel says that's "a good fastball no one can argue with," because by virtue of making it to the tournament, a team's got to have some serious tenacity. Other terms you can throw around to describe a team: "smart," "experienced" and "well-coached."





• Something called "guard play" is apparently very big this time of year. You might shake your head and mutter, "I don't know if their guard play is good enough." Or, conversely, you can say, "Oh, yeah, I think they have a good chance because they've got good guard play."





• There are some things you might say that could be risky, as they may prompt others to ask you a question in return. For example, if you were to say, "Gosh, that was a big shot," someone might ask, "Which one?" This would be a good time to spill your coffee, diverting attention.





• In basketball, the word "press" (short for pressure) is used when discussing defense. So you might want to express your heartfelt concern about a team "having trouble with the press."





• There are different conferences that make up the NCAA. The Big East dominated this year. You can talk about how the "Big East ruled," but make sure you don't misspeak and talk about the Big North, because no such thing exists. There is a Big 10, but it's made up of 11 teams.





• "Ball movement" refers to how a team passes a ball. Any team that's made it to the "tourney," as some insiders like to say, must be
What are some tips for the clueless? What is a tip for the clueless? What begins on Thursday? When does the tournament begin?
Be careful not to talk about a "buzzer beater" unless it's actually happened. Be careful not to talk about a "buzzer beater" unless it's actually happened. games Thursday,
question: What are some tips for the clueless?, answer: Be careful not to talk about a "buzzer beater" unless it's actually happened. | question: What is a tip for the clueless?, answer: Be careful not to talk about a "buzzer beater" unless it's actually happened. | question: What begins on Thursday?, answer: games | question: When does the tournament begin?, answer: Thursday,