How to do a basketball bracket

How to fill out a tournament bracket

• Email

Feb 15, 2022

• print

Thinking about playing ESPN's Tournament Challenge game but don't know where to start?

We completely understand. Getting up to speed on college basketball for the NCAA Tournament can be a difficult endeavor. After all, there are 351 schools that make up the 32 Division I conferences.

But don't worry. Even for the #TournamentChallenged, filling out your bracket doesn't have to be a daunting task. All you need are a few quick tips to get initiated into the time-honored tradition of "joining the madness" and have a chance to win the grand prize of $100,000!

Playing is simple

1. Go to Tournament Challenge; click "Create New Bracket"
2. Click "Edit your entry settings here." Select a name for your bracket; click "Save Settings.
3. (Optional) Create a group to play against your friends, family, coworkers or others; click "Create Group."
4. (Optional) Join a group to play against fans of your favorite school, ESPN TV show, etc.; click "Join Group."
5. Fill out your bracket -- Pick a winner for every game of each round, with those winners facing off in each subsequent round, until only one team remains. That's your champion. Don't forget the tiebreaker: predicting the final score of the championship game; click "Submit"

Autofill bracket options

• Chalk (all favorites): Take the higher seed (1, 2, etc. ) in every matchup, automatically, and hope for no upsets!

• Random: It's like flipping a coin for each and every game! We'll randomly select a winner for you in each game.

• Smart Bracket (powered by BPI Simulation): Using ESPN's Basketball Power Index to break down the games, we'll generate a bracket for you.

Other bracket options

Help with making your picks

• Seeds are there for a reason: The brackets are not created by randomly picking teams out of a hat -- the best teams are 1-seeds and the worst are 16-seeds. The selection committee tries its best to balance the field by making sure the best teams don't have to face each other until the later stages of the tournament. The chances of all four 1-seeds making it to the Final Four are considerably better than the chances of four 11-seeds making it there. So, when in doubt, go with the chalk pick (the better-seeded team).

• Upsets do happen: In 2018, for the first time ever, a 16-seed defeated a 1-seed (UMBC over Virginia) -- and did so in blowout fashion, winning by 20 points. Additionally, an 11-seed (Loyola-Chicago) made it all the way to the Final Four. For whatever reason, traditionally, 12-seeds have far exceeded expectations against 5-seeds, which is why it is commonplace to see Tournament Challenge participants select at least one 12-seed to advance at least a couple of rounds.

• Unpredictability is par for the course: In 2019, 12-seeded Oregon and 13-seeded UC-Irvine both pulled off upsets and ended up squaring off for a chance to make the Sweet 16. However, apart from that game, only one other team outside of chalk (5-seeded Auburn) made it to the second week of play. The moral of the story: Don't be afraid to pick upsets, but don't pick too many. Although a Cinderella always seems to crash the ball, there aren't that many glass slippers to pass around.

• Traditional powers do tend to rise to the top: Villanova has won twice in the past five tournaments. Gonzaga advanced to the National Championship for the second time in the past four tourneys. Nobody should be surprised when perennial top-10 darlings make deep runs. They're called traditional powers for a reason.

• Don't get too caught up with a team's record: You're likely to see a few teams with 17-plus wins squaring off with teams that are barely over .500. You're also likely to discover that the team with the worse record has a better seed. The reason for this is that not all teams play against the same level of competition. Good teams from smaller conferences (which are likely to get only a single team into the tournament) might load up on wins over lesser competition compared to middle-of-the-pack teams from power conferences (which will "get credit" for playing a tougher schedule). You can either trust the seeding process, which does get it right far more often than not, or take a look at BPI, which ranks all the teams while factoring in the vast imbalance in scheduling.

• The winner of these contests is often surprising: You can crunch all the numbers, analyze all the stats, memorize all the rosters and watch every single minute of ESPN's Champ Week to scout schools from less-publicized conferences; at the end of the day, once the ball is tipped, anything is possible. The person who gets his or her arm twisted into filling out a bracket and decides to pick only teams with animals as their mascots can just as easily end up with the trophy. That's what makes this such a fun ride. Get on board!

• Email

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Interest-Based Ads
• EU Privacy Rights
• Cookie Policy
• Manage Privacy Preferences

© ESPN Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

How To Fill Out A March Madness Bracket

On this page

Step-by-step guide Bracket resources Bracket tips

Step-by-step instructions on filling out a March Madness bracket as well as tips and strategies from the professional bettors at Covers Experts!

Covers Staff

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2022 7:19 PM ET

If you're at all interested in sports, chances are you'll be invited to take part in a pool where you need to fill out a March Madness bracket. And with 68 teams set to take part in the NCAA Tournament, we understand that filling out a bracket can be a bit daunting. But we're here to help.

Whether you're new to filling out a March Madness bracket or you're simply looking for some tips to help your submission win your pool, we've got you covered.

How to fill out a March Madness bracket

Follow these simple steps to fill out your March Madness bracket:

1

Download a fillable or printable 2022 March Madness bracket (our version is both).

2

Start filling out which teams you think will advance. Start with the no-brainers (the No. 1 and 2 seeds almost always win in the first round) and come back to the difficult decisions later.

3

Now onto those difficult decisions. How do you decide if an 8 or a 9 seed advance out of the first round? It all comes down to how much research you're willing to put in! Check out our bracket resources and get tips from professional bettors below. 

4

Go through each round, picking a winner in every matchup until you've chosen the national champion. Don't forget to enter the tiebreaker (if your pool asks for it), which is usually the total combined score of the national championship game. 

5

Submit your bracket (and the stated entry fee) to the organizer of your pool! And while you're at it, take advantage of the best free bracket contests for more chances at big prizes. The deadline to enter bracket pools is the tip-off of the first game of Round 1. 

Bracket resources

Here are a few things you'll want to consider when filling out your bracket:

Trends

There are hundreds of trends that get surfaced as March Madness brackets are being built. The truth is, some of these trends matter, and some simply don't. Jason Logan takes a look at some of these March Madness trends and gives you three you can trust and three to avoid.

Upsets

You definitely need to include a few upsets in your bracket. We've taken a look back at some of the biggest March Madness upsets this century in an effort to help us identify which higher-seeded teams could be looking at an early exit this year.  

Bracket prediction

Another way to help you fill out your bracket is by looking at what the experts are doing. Covers' official bracket prediction will be posted the week following Selection Sunday on March 13, 2022.

Expert tips for filling out your bracket

Let's face it: there are a lot of tips and strategies out there on how to fill in a March Madness bracket.

Top seeds go far

"Many office pool players work too much on picking the early round upsets and not enough on their Final Four teams. The vast majority of Final Four teams are top-seeded teams; No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3 seeds. I generally pick at least two No. 1 seeds to make the Final Four. They earned those top seeds because they've been the best teams in college basketball all season, which is why I rarely call for a No. 1 seed to get upset before the Sweet 16 round at the earliest in my own brackets.
 
"Additionally, remember the bigger pool that you are in, the more chances you’ll need to take and the more upsets you should pick, particularly upsets that build big points on the second weekend of the tournament, as we go from the Sweet 16 to the Elite Eight, then the Final Four. For smaller pools, a more conservative strategy is the superior choice.  You don’t have as much competition to worry about, and there’s much less of a need to pick a bunch of upsets to surpass your opposition." - Teddy Covers

"My one tip would be to remember this before filling out your bracket: Beyond the top three seeds, teams, for the most part, do not have a shot at the National Title. Whatsoever. In fact, only one title has been won by a No. 4, 6, and 8 respectively. No other seed in the history of the event has won the tournament." - AAA Sports

Mind the early upsets

"Avoid picking a ton of upsets in the First Round. It's tempting, but there simply have been fewer and fewer in the last few years because the mid-majors have gotten progressively weaker. When going for an upset, try and focus on teams from better conferences." - Power Sports

"My advice would be to focus on upsets in the 2nd Round or Sweet 16 as opposed to the 1st Round. I find that is often the difference between a winning and losing bracket!" - Will Rogers

"I believe the secret to filling out a bracket (or even handicapping games during the tournament), is to be realistic about upsets. We all know that there will be some big surprises, but you don't want to overdo it. When a smaller school upsets one of the top-ranked teams, everyone talks about it. That tends to overshadow the fact that for every big favorite that loses, several others go on to win. I think you need to be careful not to fall in love with the dogs. " - Jesse Schule

Experience matters

"One of the things I look to do is seek out deeply experienced teams with five returning starters back from last year’s squad. These teams play with the calmness of a ‘been there, don’t that’ mentality." - Marc Lawrence

"Look for experienced teams to advance. Teams heavy with senior leadership flourish in these types of tournaments. That is also true of experienced coaches. " - Larry Ness

Focus on the matchups

"Ignore the seeding. I believe a lot of bettors get hung up about what seed a team is. For example, some start worrying about how No. 4 teams have done against No. 13 seeds historically. Every matchup is unique though, so the fact that some No. 13 seed upset a No. 4 seed previously has no relevance to me. If you like the favorite, lay the points. If you like the underdog, take them. Likewise, when filling out your bracket. If you feel that underdog is going to win, don't let its seeding prevent you from taking it to advance." - Ben Burns

Consider being contrarian

"For pools that are local, rather than national, my No. 1 Bracket Tip is to consider the team or teams that other entrants might pick for their Final Four (and eventual champion), and then avoid picking such teams. That is because it's difficult to win a Tournament pool if your entry is vastly similar to other entries. You have to separate yourself from the herd. So, if you live in ACC Country, avoid picking teams like North Carolina and Louisville. If you're in the heartland, steer clear of Kansas and if you're on the West Coast, select teams other than Gonzaga and UCLA." - Al McMordie

How to fill out a March Madness bracket FAQs

Basically, you're trying to predict the winner of every single game of the NCAA Tournament. The trick is that you need to make these predictions before the tournament begins.

Our best advice is to not get too cute with high seeds knocking off low seeds early on and to do your research when it comes to the tighter matchups. Also be sure to read our expert tips above.

Roughly 1 in 120.2 billion, assuming you know a bit about college basketball.

Yes. The whole bracket must be filled out when you submit it before the start of the first tournament game.

Copy this into the source of your page where you want the article to appear:

Expert Tips for Filling Out an NCAA Bracket

Provided by

Popular Content