Free March Madness Bracket

How March Madness Brackets Work

The official field is 68 teams, but four of those play in the First Four matchups before the main bracket. By the time most pools start, you're working with the Round of 64 — which is exactly what this bracket supports.

The 64 teams are split into four regions, each seeded 1 through 16 within the region. Single-elimination progression runs 64 → 32 → Sweet Sixteen → Elite Eight → Final Four → Championship. Six rounds, 63 games, one champion.

Running a March Madness Pool

Most pools award points per correct pick, doubling each round: 1 point per Round of 64 pick, 2 points Round of 32, 4 points Sweet Sixteen, 8 points Elite Eight, 16 points Final Four, 32 points Championship. Total available: 192 points.

This tool gives you the bracket itself — scoring is up to you. But because multiple people can share the same bracket link and fill in results together, it's useful for tracking the actual tournament as games finish. Everyone sees the same live state.

Tips for Filling Out a Bracket

• Don't pick all four #1 seeds to reach the Final Four. It's happened exactly once in tournament history (2008).
• The 12-seed over the 5-seed is the most common bracket-buster — it happens in roughly a third of tournaments, usually in the Round of 64.
• Fill out the Final Four first, then work backward. You'll make better picks thinking about who survives than about who wins each individual game.
• Don't pick strictly by seed. Chalk picks rarely win pools.