It’s that time of year again when everyone from hardcore college basketball fans to those who have never touched a basketball before fill out millions of 64-team brackets with skill, precision, and luck either for money or just for fun. March Madness is one of those times of year where everyone tunes in no matter what their interests. It’s a rare time in sports, similar to the World Cup and the Super Bowl, where the spotlight gets brighter and all eyes are on.
With millions filling out brackets online or on paper, you may be wondering what the chances are of predicting all 63 games correctly. If you are blindly picking games, there is a 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 (over 9 quintillion) chance of having every game correct.
If you are unsure of how to submit or complete a bracket this March, you can find one online and print it out to complete it, or you can get one from a friend
who may be running a pool where those who place top 5, top 3, or win 1st receive the money. Another alternative is the ESPN Tournament Challenge app, where millions of brackets are created for the price of nothing.
You can join popular free “groups” where thousands and thousands compete against each other for fun and for free. You can also create your own group with your friends, for fun or for money. With up to 25 brackets per account, you can use different features such as the bracketology guide to help you create all your brackets.
The schedule for the tournament, in terms of dates, is pretty clear and laid out for us. The selection show, which will reveal all the teams chosen and their individual seedings, will air
on Sunday, March 17th, at 6:00 PM ET on CBS. The First Four will compete on Tuesday, March 19th, throughout the day. The real madness starts Thursday and Friday, March 21st and 22nd, where 32 games will take place in those two days for the Round of 64, followed by the Round of 32 on Saturday and Sunday, March 23rd and 24th.
The Sweet Sixteen has not been scheduled yet, but should be from March 25th to March 27th. The Elite Eight will be played between March 28th and March 31st, followed by the semifinals and National Championship on April 6th and April 8th. All games can be watched live on CBS, TBS, TruTV, and TNT throughout the whole tournament. It should be interesting to see all the upsets and all the madness throughout the next 4 weeks.