How to Score a Basketball Bracket

The NCAA basketball tournament is one of the highlights on the American sporting calendars every year. It is arguably the second-most popular event besides the Super Bowl. One of the primary reasons for its popularity is its gambling appeal. Millions of basketball fans fill out a bracket sheet of the tournament, predicting the outcome of every game played in the tournament. The bracket needs to be updated constantly in order for basketball fans to know where they stand.

Instructions

1. Fill out all six rounds of the bracket sheet and write down a final score for the championship game. There is a play-in game between the final two qualifiers prior to the first round, but this game is not considered an essential part of the bracket. Once the field has been set on the Sunday prior to the start of the tournament (which is always on a Thursday), fans have until the opening tipoff to turn in their sheets selecting the winners of every game. In order to win the bracket, you have to pick winners in as many games as possible. Picking winners in each game gives you a point for your cumulative total.

2. Total the winners after the end of the first round. The first round takes place on the opening Thursday and Friday of the tournament, with 16 games each day. Credit each winner with one point.

3. Total the results of the second round after the first Sunday of the tournament. The tournament will be down to 16 teams after that day. If a team you picked to win was eliminated in the first round, you do not get to pick another team in the second round. That is marked down as a loss. For correct winners in the second round, you get two points on the score sheet.

4. Follow along in this manner for the third, fourth and fifth rounds. A correctly predicted winner in the third round earns three points, in the fourth round earns four points, and in the fifth round (semifinals) earns five points.

5. If you come up with the correct national champion, you get 10 points. After the championship, total up the number of points on all the bracket sheets. The player with the most points wins. If two or more players are tied, the final score of the championship game determines the bracket sheet winner. The player who predicted the closest total to the actual final score wins the tiebreaker.

Tips & Warnings

• Bracket sheets for the NCAA tournament often pay big money for the winners. Don't play more than you can afford to lose.

Resources

• Teamrankings.com: NCAA tournament brackets