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How to set up a basketball bracket
How to set up a basketball bracket
How to fill out a tournament bracket
James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 15, 2022
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!
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How to Run a March Madness Tournament Office pool
How to Run a March Madness Pool
What is a March Madness Office Pool?
The March Madness Tournament Bracket Office Pool is by far the most popular pool there is.
This pool is ran during the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. The steps below explain how to run this pool. If you're looking for another office pool to run during the tournament view our complete list of Office Pools for College Basketball Tourney, we highly recommend trying our College Basketball Block Pool which is similar to the Super Bowl Squares, except you use the final score from every game of the tournament.
Before filling out your bracket be sure to checkout NCAA Tournament wins by Seed, and Final Four Appearances by Seed, where we have calculated the odds of each seed winning the tournament and making it to the final four based on all of the past tournaments.
Printing the Bracket
Print out this March Madness Bracket, estimate the total number of people you think will be interested in entering the pool and print/copy that many brackets.
Distribute the Bracket
Pass the printed brackets out to friends, family, and co-workers.
Each person is to completely fill in the bracket with the team they think will win each game. For a tie breaker have each person write down what they think the total number of points scored in the championship game will be. View our Tiebreaker Rules for March Madness Pool.
Collect the Brackets
Be sure to have each participant turn in their completed bracket before the tournament begins. If you want to to do a little extra for the participants, print every person in the pool a copy of every other person's bracket. This is a lot of printing, but ensures to all people that the pool is being run fairly, and also allows them to see how well they are doing in the pool.
Scoring the Bracket
Each round is worth a set number of points, you can determine this on your own, but be sure to let all of the entries know before the tournament begins what the scoring system will be(you should write the point values under each round at the top of the bracket). We have set up a Fillable March Madness Bracket that allows you to type in the points per round, that way there are no handwritten instructions on the bracket.
There is no standard for the point's system, everyone does it differently. View our NCAA Bracket Scoring Systems article for an overview of possible scoring systems. We have also wrote an article about whether or not you should Count the Play-In Games when Scoring your Bracket.
We prefer doing it as follows:
First Round= 1 point
Second Round= 2 Points
Third Round= 3 Points
Fourth Round=4 Points
Fifth Round= 6 Points
Sixth Round=10 Points
Declaring a Winner
Multiply the total number of correctly picked games in each round by the points assigned to that particular round. Tally all rounds together and the person with the highest point total wins!
Basketball hoop - how to make a stand with a backboard with your own hands
Love basketball and want to make a hoop? I wanted to make it myself, not buy it, and I ended up making it. It's pretty cheap, especially if you have some of the stuff you need to assemble.
Let's start assembling the basketball hoop with our own hands.
Step 1: Shape the Ring
The first thing you will need is a ring, I made it with 12mm rod, but it doesn't have to be that size. The standard diameter of a basketball hoop is 450 mm.
To make it flat you need something to wrap it around, this thing should be about 400mm in diameter.
I found an old car rim of the right size, you will need to clamp it to the table with a clamp using a piece of wood.
As shown in photo 2, place another clamp a little further from the first with a rod between them.
As shown in photo 3, slowly wrap the rod around the disk, once you wrap the rod and its edges overlap, cut off the straight ends.
Use a clamp to press the ends together, then weld them together.
To complete this part, place the ring on the ground and straighten out all the curves.
Step 2: Frame
- Bend a piece of flat metal, mine was 4mm thick.
- Weld it to a flat point in the ring.
- Cut two rods 320 mm long.
- Weld them as shown in the photo.
- Drill four holes to match your existing bolts.
- If you need a netball ring, you can simply attach it to the pole and skip the rest of the steps.
Step 3: Mesh Staples (Optional)
Show 7 More Images
Do this step if you need mesh. If you need a network, you will have to buy it.
This step is not as difficult as it seems.
- cut 12 pieces of wire 90 mm long (I would recommend making a few spare parts, as they are easy to ruin.)
- bend them in the middle (it doesn't matter if the tips are the same length)
- clamp the wire in a vise with a steel rod at one end
- bend wire over rod
- repeat this with all parts of
- retighten the wire wrapped around the rod (see photo)
- bend it
- repeat with all parts
- retighten the wire wrapped around the rod
- bend it (at this point you can't just remove the wire from the rod - you will need to slide it to one of its edges and remove it from the edge)
- repeat with all parts of
- divide into 12 pieces and weld on the brackets
Step 4: Backboard
Cut the board to size.
My board does not fit the full size of basketball boards. (the second picture shows the dimensions of a standard shield).
My measurements are 1100mm wide, 700mm high and 25mm thick. (You don't have to be that size.)
Step 5: Paint the Shield
Once you've drawn all the lines on the shield, lay masking tape over them. If you try, everything will look neat.
If you are using MDF, you will need to take care to protect the edges from moisture (as shown in photo 2).
Carefully paint over the areas around the masking tape.
Remove masking tape after enough coats of paint have been applied and the board looks complete.
Step 6: Paint the ring
First you need to sand the metal. I used a grinding disc on a grinder.
The ring must not be black or white, it must stand out from the shield. Usually the ring is painted orange or red.
The easiest way to paint inventory is from a can.
Step 7: Assemble
Put it all together.
Screw the ring to the shield, hang a net on the ring.
Step 8: Installation
DIY Basketball Post is great to mount on a garage or house wall, but if you want to mount it on a pole, you can create one too.
I installed my ring in the yard using heavy duty wood screws.
A standard basketball hoop must be placed 3 meters from the ground.
I am not responsible for any damage you cause to yourself or your property - you make your own ring.
Successful throws!
How to install SNS and NNN ski bindings
Folk wisdom: "Measure seven times, cut once"
1. SNS and NNN ski bindings can also be used to find the center of gravity. We use a flat side, like a ruler, and put the end side on the floor. Perpendicularly from above, we set the ski like a scale, moving it longitudinally, we achieve balance. With a weighted mount, it is measured by attaching the mount to the ski, while ensuring that the axis of the center of gravity passes through the fixing groove of the boot, moving the ski and the mount itself along.
2. Having found the center of gravity, we mark perpendicular vertical lines on the ends of the skis on both sides of the mount to the upper side of the ski and connect them. This can be done using a square, although an error of two millimeters is acceptable for such a length of skis. After that, we do the same procedure with the second ski.
3. There is no difference between the shoes of the new sample with fastening directly at the front cut and the former sample, where the fastening is on the ledge - both have the axis of the center of gravity located at the front cut of the boot. It turns out that in old boots, the protrusion goes beyond the axis of the center of gravity. The planned running style also does not matter. The main thing is that in a suspended state the ski does not outweigh either in front or behind. The only exceptions are skiers with experience, who, in order to “increase speed”, slightly shift them back from the axis of the center of gravity. But to apply this in practice, experience is needed.
4. Modern SNS and NNN type ski bindings have a transverse groove for fixing the metal bar of the boot in its front part. This groove must be aligned with the drawn axis of the center of gravity. Directly below the groove in the center is a longitudinal groove. The middle fastening element is then inserted into it. Its lower bottom part coincides with the center of the rod, and we combine it with our marked line on the upper side of the ski.
5. Beforehand, it is necessary to unscrew all three screws that are not completely screwed out of the fastening. If the automatically latching SNS Profile Auto are closed and you cannot get to the third screw, then you need to press the bracket (the latch will move inward), after which you need to insert a thick screwdriver or other suitable tool to prevent the latch from returning. Then we fold back the bracket to gain access to the screw. A similar procedure is carried out to remove the binding from the skis.
6. This is followed by fitting to the skis according to the marks and marking with the help of an awl of future holes in the center.
After removing the fasteners, it is necessary to check the middle mark strictly in the middle using a caliper or tape measure. The two back holes should be equally spaced from the edges. For correction, we make new marks deeper with an awl.
7. Before drilling, we advise you to play it safe and check the depth of the screw entry so as not to pierce the ski through. Subtract the mounting height and try on the remainder to the ski. If the ski is thin and the length of the standard screws is excessive, then you need to replace them with screws of the required length.
8. On the drill, mark the depth of the planned hole by wrapping insulating tape if there is no ruler on the drill. The drill should be between 3.6 and 4 mm in diameter, depending on the thickness of the screws. Then we carefully drill six holes on the entire pair of skis. Why neat, because today skis have a fiberglass honeycomb filling under a few millimeters of a wooden insert for bindings. Therefore, the drill, despite the limiters from the insulating tape or ruler, under pressure can easily slip through.
Do not put pressure on the drill while drilling. Skis must first be pressed with a foot or fixed with a clamp to avoid the springing factor. It is necessary to drill strictly vertically, without distortions, without swinging the drill, achieving a clear shape of the holes.
9. Having drilled three holes at each ski, remove the plastic brackets that unfasten the skis, fasten the mounts to them with screws, having first screwed in no more than half, so it will be easier to align. Then, with the help of a screwdriver, we tighten it with a little effort, there is still a certain risk of tearing them off. We check the tightness of the connection. Nothing should hang out.
Note: Do not use glue, as it only works on wooden skis, and the mass of them negatively affects modern interiors. A thick six-millimeter screw closes the hole tightly and prevents moisture from entering. And the edges of the screws have time to wear out before something can rot inside the ski.
