GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- It’s the time of year when Trevor Bauer sports big, blue, fuzzy hair more often than his natural brown.

As Spring Training begins to wind down, not only is the Indians right-hander starting to prepare for the regular season, but he’s also getting ready to experience an intense level of fandom as Duke University embarks on its March Madness journey. When Bauer isn’t at the field or working on shoots for his new production company, Bauer will be alone, on his couch, flipping between as many channels as he can to monitor each game on his NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament bracket.

“You haven’t been around, so you don’t know how mad I get when I lose in baseball,” Bauer told MLB.com on Wednesday. “I get more mad when Duke loses. ... It’s blue hair, decked out in Duke gear, a lot of yelling at the TV, like throwing my phone at the couch and stuff like that.”

Because Bauer's father, Warren, grew up in New Mexico, he was a big Lobos fan and disliked UCLA because the Bruins used to always beat the University of New Mexico. So Warren Bauer started rooting for Duke, a team which could take down UCLA, and he taught his son to do the same. But fast forward a few years and Bauer was pitching for the Bruins and he was later selected by the D-backs in the first round of the 2011 MLB Draft.

"He doesn't hold grudges," Bauer said with a chuckle.

This week, all of the players in the Indians' clubhouse have walked around with printed brackets in their hands, scribbling down their choices to win each matchup. With the tournament set to begin around noon ET on Thursday, Bauer discussed a few tips when making choices in the final hours before submitting your brackets.

Research some, but no need for overkill

“The great thing about March Madness is no matter how confident you are in your picks, you’re just wrong. I don’t know when the last perfect bracket was picked, if there ever has been one. You always miss.”

Don’t be afraid to do multiple brackets

“In pools where you get like four bracket challenge entries, I’ll pick different ones and try to have one that’s more like what I actually think is going to happen, one that’s like what I actually think is going to happen, and flip the picks of the games I’m not sure on. And then I have two where it’s like an upset and a random bracket.”

Focus on the 5-12 matchups

The common upset is the No. 12 seed over the No. 5. If any research is done, it may be best to focus on teams in this category. “Seventy-eight percent of the tournaments in the last however long -- large period of time -- there’s been one [12-5 upset].”

Sleepers

“Wofford is really good. Syracuse will probably be in the Sweet Sixteen.”

Potential upset?

“Pains me to say it, but I think Kansas might be in trouble.”

The champion: (as if we had to ask)

“Number one rule to picking brackets is Duke wins. But other than that, it’s a free for all. The one year I did not pick them to win, they won it all. Never again.”