Early Tips for Your March Madness Bracket Sheets

Some Basic Tips Before the Brackets Are Released

I am one of those college basketball fans that must enter several pools each year to make the tournament (and the month of March), more exciting. The last two years I have been in the running for first place in pools of over 500 participants going into the final four. Even though in the end I did not win the pool, I have discovered some strategies I'm willing to share to help you increase your chances of at least being in the running for first place as your pool enters final four weekend. After the brackets are released I will publish articles this week to give you my insight into some teams to watch in the tournaments and how the regions might play out. Keep in mind though, these tips here are more abstract and not dependant on any specific teams.

My first tip, is to know the rules of your bracket. Most brackets these days make the points increase for correct picks in later rounds, with the championship pick being worth the most points. That is what these tips are based on but they can be used in other types of pools as well. The only one these tips are not as valuable for are pools where every correct pick is worth one point regardless of the round it is in. Very few people have those types of pools anymore though. My first tip is do not overvalue the early rounds of the tournament.

How I have succeeded is to enter multiple brackets into a pool. With any pool over 300 people I enter five brackets, otherwise I'll enter three brackets. Take your first bracket sheet and fill out the first two rounds of the tournament with your winners. If there are games you think can go either way, then go ahead and leave a few blank. My suggestion is don't leave more than five first round games or seven second round games blank. Again, these games are probably worth only one or two points each for you, and most likely won't determine the winner in a year with as much parity as there has been this season. One each of your individual sheets then complete your first two rounds, using a variety of combinations for the games you left blank as being unsure of.