Everything You Need to Know to Win Your March Madness Bracket

Originally appeared on E! Online

Somewhere, an entire team of basketball players is getting fitted for their glass slippers.

Because one of the highlights of the annual Men’s and Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament are the Cinderella stories.

Whether it was the Stephen Curry and his Davidson Wildcats in 2008, Sister Jean and the Ramblers of Loyola Chicago in 2018 or the peacocks of Saint Peter’s in 2022, the whole world seemingly gets behind the squads that best the basketball Goliaths like Kansas, Kentucky, Connecticut and North Carolina. They help us feel better about the fact that our preferred team was sent home in the first round, taking our busted brackets with them.

After all, who doesn’t love an underdog? (Well, other than the fanbases of the teams they beat. We’re looking at you, Virginia!)

And now that the 68-team March Madness brackets have been set, we’ll soon see what happens when a team of athletes keep on believing that the dream that they wish will come true.

Over the course of the next three weeks, superstitions will be adhered to, fake sick calls into work will be made, buzzer beaters will drop and dozens of squads will be bounced from the beloved win-or-go-home tourney.

And come April tk (for the men) and April tk (for the ladies), two squads will enjoy their one shining moment.

But the players aren’t the only ones with pride on the line. Before the ball is tipped, you, too, can get in the game by filling out a bracket.

And despite what your sports-obsessed pal might tell you, it doesn’t matter if you’re a basketbally aficionado or a total rookie that doesn’t know the difference between a dribble and a dunk. In the years since the first pool began at a Staten Island bar back in 1977, no one has ever predicted a perfect bracket.

The odds are, to put it lightly, not good that you will either, but that’s no reason to bench yourself.

Consider this your handy playbook as you suit up for March Madness. We can’t guarantee you’ll walk away with any cold-hard cash, but we can provide an assist

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And come April 6 (for the women) and April 7 (for the men), two squads will enjoy their one shining moment.

But the players aren’t the only ones with pride on the line. Before the ball is tipped, you too can get in the game by filling out a bracket.

And despite what your sports-obsessed pal might tell you, it doesn’t matter if you’re a basketball aficionado or a total rookie that doesn’t know the difference between a dribble and a dunk. In the years since the first pool began at a Staten Island bar back in 1977, no one has ever predicted a perfect bracket.

The odds are, to put it lightly, not good that you will either, but that’s no reason to bench yourself.

Consider this your handy playbook as you suit up for March Madness. We can’t guarantee you’ll walk away with any cold-hard cash, but we can provide an assist as you shoot your shot at bracketology greatness.

So, study up, because that mansplainer at your favorite sports bar is waiting.

When does March Madness start?

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament tips off Tuesday, March 18. The women suit up the following day. The action stars with the First Four, which features eight teams playing for a spot in the official round of 64.

Starting with the first round (March 20 for the men, March 21 for the women), each stage cuts the field in half from 64 to 32, followed by the Sweet 16, the Elite Eight, the Final Four and then the last two teams competing for a national championship.

For the Final Four—the last three games of each tournament—the women will hit the hardwood at Tampa’s Amalie Arena starting April 4. The men will check in on April 5 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

How does March Madness work?

The excitement of each tournament is that it’s a single-elimination situation—in other words win or go home. The goal for every team is to survive (i.e. win the first game on their schedule) and advance—ideally all the way to the championship game.

How do I watch March Madness?

May we suggest getting the squad together at your favorite sports bar? But if you’re looking for a more low-key viewing experience, you can catch all of the men’s action on CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV, while the women’s games will air on ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNews, ESPNU and ABC.

For those who have cut the cord, you can stream all the CBS matchups on Paramount+ and the TBS, TNT and truTV action on Max or catch every game on the March Madness Live app.

Porter Binks / Contributor / GETTY IMAGES

Okay, great. Can you teach me about basketball?

Of course! Huddle up. Each side gets the whole of the 30-second shot clock to make a basket. No matter how the ball goes through the hoop—whether it’s a layup, jump shot, pull-up, bank shot, fadeaway—the player earns their squad two points. If they shoot their shot from beyond the three-point arc, it’s worth, well, three points.

Should a player miss the basket and someone from the other team snags the rebound, a new shot clock starts and they get the chance to score. If the player or someone on their team gets the rebound, they can keep shooting until the shot clock expires. One last note: If the player misses the basket, but hits the rim, they get a whole new 20-second shot clock.

Michael Reaves / Staff / GETTY IMAGES

Teams can also score points through free throws that occur when a foul is called by the referees. If that foul takes place against a player in the act of shooting (or if the team has accumulated enough total fouls that they are in the bonus situation), that player is awarded free throws.

If their shot goes in, they get the chance to take one additional shot from the free-throw line. If it’s a miss, they get two shots.

Got it? No? Well, the most important takeaway is that whichever team has the most points at the end of two 20-minute halves (or four 10-minute quarters for women) bounces away with the win.

Which teams are in the tourney?

A total of 68 teams earn a bid to both the men’s and women’s NCAA tournament. And there are two ways for teams to dribble their way into competition. Each of the 31 Division I conferences get an automatic bid, which is awarded to the team that wins the post-season conference tourney regardless of how they may have performed during the regular season.

An additional 37 at-large teams are chosen by the committee tasked with setting up the brackets. While they look at a whole slew of stats, rankings and win-loss records, the process is somewhat subjective meaning that, yes, every year there’s an unhappy fanbase or two griping about the fact that their team isn’t dancing.

The teams are split into four regions (East, South, Midwest, West) and given a seeding with the one seeds considered to be the best teams that year. The first-round matchups pit the top team in each region against the bottom team, or the 16 seed, giving them a better chance of winning their game. At least, in theory.

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All right, who are the top-seeded teams in the NCAA tournament?

While every team technically has a shot at winning it all, generally speaking the top-seeded teams are considered the odds-on favorites. For the men, that would be Houston, Auburn, Florida, Duke, Tennessee, St. John’s, Alabama and Michigan State.

As for the women’s squads looking to breakaway from the pack, there’s UCLA, USC, North Carolina State, UConn, Texas, TCU, Duke and last year’s winner South Carolina.

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How do I make a perfect NCAA bracket?

Pure dumb luck, perhaps? By all means, shoot your shot, but no one has accomplished this feat, so maybe just aim for besting your besties.

A few smart plays to keep in mind: Only two 16 seeds have ever beat their opposing one seeds in the men’s tourney—UMBC in 2018 and Fairleigh Dickinson in 2023—so keeping the top seeds through the first round is a sound strategy. Similarly, two seeds don’t frequently lose to 15 seeds. And with the women it’s even more rare—16 seed Harvard in 1998 is the only team seeded 14 through 16 to advance through the first round.

That being said, there are always upsets and correctly predicting those bracket busters is usually the key to dribbling past your opponents. The NCAA calculated that in the last 39 years, only 12 tournaments have featured fewer than seven upsets, to that may just be the lucky number.

Picking at least one 12 seed over a five is a classic move, with both Wisconsin and Saint Mary’s getting bounced from the men’s tournament last year. And per the NCAA 11-over-6 upsets are the most common, just squeaking past 10-7 upsets. Statistically, two seeds also lose in the second round of the tournament 1.2 times each year, which is something to consider before taking all the top teams to the Sweet Sixteen.

However, the beauty of the knockout tourney is that a Cinderella squad just must have a bit of magic for 40 minutes to walk away with the proverbial glass slipper. So truly anything is possible. Reach deep inside because that one shining moment awaits.

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