5 helpful March Madness bracket tips as you fill yours out

USA Today

17-03-2025

5 helpful March Madness bracket tips as you fill yours out
This is For The Win's daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here's Mike Sykes.
Good morning, Winners. March Madness is officially here. It's the best time of year on the sports calendar. The sports gods have blessed us with a week of daytime basketball.
You know what that means, folks. It's time to fill out those brackets.
Now, I understand how daunting of a task that is. Bracket challenges are no joke — even when you're playing with no stakes. You still want to get it right. So, with that in mind, I've compiled a few tips to help you out along the way.
Of course, these tips won't lead you to a perfect bracket. They might not even lead you to a decent one — that's the beauty of these tournaments, right? But they might give you a slight advantage in the office pool, which is really what we all want.
So, without further ado, let's dive into them.
Tip 1: Remember, there's no such thing as a perfect bracket. You're going to be wrong at some point. It's going to happen. It happens to everyone. With that in mind, make your picks with conviction. Trust your gut. There's some skill to this, sure. But most of it is luck. So do your best.
Remember, there's no such thing as a perfect bracket. You're going to be wrong at some point. It's going to happen. It happens to everyone. With that in mind, make your picks with conviction. Trust your gut. There's some skill to this, sure. But most of it is luck. So do your best. Tip 2: Trust the high seeds. I know the tournament is all about upsets, but higher seeds are usually dominant in the first round. And when it comes to the Final Four, historically, top seeds have dominated. Dating back to 1985, 34 of 39 winners of the men's tournament overall have been No. 1, 2 or 3 seeds, according to Bracket Research. Upsets do happen, but usually things even out.
Trust the high seeds. I know the tournament is all about upsets, but higher seeds are usually dominant in the first round. And when it comes to the Final Four, historically, top seeds have dominated. Dating back to 1985, 34 of 39 winners of the men's tournament overall have been No. 1, 2 or 3 seeds, according to Bracket Research. Upsets do happen, but usually things even out. Tip 3: Beware of the upset. Again, upsets happen. And they come on both sides, though they're far less frequent on the women's side. When upsets have happened, it's usually from an 11 or 12 seed that was undervalued. The 12 seeds average a win per year in the women's tournament. Teams in the First Four usually stink. Top seeds with stars usually make it to the Final Four. Follow the star power.
Beware of the upset. Again, upsets happen. And they come on both sides, though they're far less frequent on the women's side. When upsets have happened, it's usually from an 11 or 12 seed that was undervalued. The 12 seeds average a win per year in the women's tournament. Teams in the First Four usually stink. Top seeds with stars usually make it to the Final Four. Follow the star power. Tip 3b: Upsets continued. They usually happen early in the men's tournament. There have been 8.5 upsets on average per tournament — 4.7 of them come in the first round. You don't have to pick the First Four, but pay attention to those teams. Unlike the women's side, a First Four team has advanced almost every year since its inception in 2011 — only 2019 is the exception.
Upsets continued. They usually happen early in the men's tournament. There have been 8.5 upsets on average per tournament — 4.7 of them come in the first round. You don't have to pick the First Four, but pay attention to those teams. Unlike the women's side, a First Four team has advanced almost every year since its inception in 2011 — only 2019 is the exception. Tip 4: Good luck. Have fun! This is arguably the most important rule of all. If you're not having fun while doing this, then what's the point? Follow the rules, but also follow your heart. If you like a team because of it's mascot? Pick 'em. If you only like Team X in this game because they wear your favorite color? Pick 'em. If you're making a pick because your dog made the pick? Pick 'em. Your bracket will be in shambles by day two, anyway.
Good luck, folks! May the bracket gods ever be on your side.
MORE NCAA TOURNAMENT CONTENT:
— Your March Madness TV schedule, including First Four games and first-round schedule.
— The last four out and first four in for the men's NCAA tournament.
— The five biggest snubs for the men's tournament and three biggest for the women's tournament.
— Four teams that made the NCAA tournament for the first time. Congrats to these schools.
March Madness, but make it Unrivaled
Imagine going 13-1 in a 14 game season and carrying a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter of your first playoff game as a team. Oh, and don't forget that you've got the MVP of the entire league on your side.
I can't imagine too many scenarios in which that team loses that game. But it happened last night.
The Lunar Owls, who've dominated Unrivaled all season long, lost to Vinyl, who hadn't won a game since February 28. It was unbelievable. Even after the basket, I couldn't believe this happened.
Vinyl will face Rose in the championship game. That'll be a tough task with Chelsea Gray on the other side — she dropped a league-high 39 points to fuel a comeback of her own against the Laces.
Rose seems like the obvious pick here, but considering what happened on Sunday, I don't know if the obvious matters anymore. We'll find out on Monday night.
Heartbreak for J.J. Spaun
Rory McIlroy is officially the winner of the Player's Championship, giving him his second Player's title win and his 28th PGA tour win all-time. That's awesome for Rory. He continues to build out an elite resume.
But, man. None of this happens if J.J. Spaun makes this putt.
Heartbreak. This is what it looks like. The putt was on line — just short. A few more inches and he's a champion here. Instead, he ultimately sputtered in the 3-hole playoff, closing out at three over par on the final three holes on the course.
All in all, this was still a good showing for Spaun. It's a top-two finish in a big event. This should give him confidence moving forward for the rest of the PGA season.
But, man. This is tough.
Quick hits: Natasha Cloud trade grades ... Ballin' with the Bengals ... and more
— Meg Hall has trade grades for the Natasha Cloud deal that went down during Selection Sunday. What a whirlwind.
— Christian D'Andrea has a full breakdown on the Bengals paying up for Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase. Wow. Can't believe they did it.
— Warren Buffet's bracket challenge is a sham, folks. Don't be fooled.
— The Big Ten is searching for its first NCAA championship since 2000. Will this be the year?
— Of COURSE UNC is at the center of tournament controversy. Andrew Joseph has more here.
— Absolutely loved this tribute to Greg Gumbel on Sunday. RIP legend. Blake Schuster has more on that.
That's a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading. Happy Monday. Peace.
-Sykes ✌️