Bracket Tips

Here are some basic help in filling out your NCAA bracket. Other sites

• Being an Engineer by trade, I like numbers. I compare the Sagarin ratiMarch Tournament Tips ngs and the Greenfield numbers (shown below) and dump them into a massive spreadsheet, which I hope to post this year. I crunch the numbers to help pick the tough 8/9 picks and to locate potential upsets.
  

• Build at least 6 different brackets with different winners in each. With most contests with over 100 entries and high points for later rounds, you can't win unless you pick the winner. Along the same lines, pick a variety of Final Fours.
  

• You've got to pick a few upsets. Instead of picking the weakest high seed to fall, pick the strongest lower seed to win. For example, pick the strongest #12 to beat a #5 seed.
  

• Enter as many contests as possible from Sunday night to Wednesday night. I entered at least 40 in 2006. I always take of Monday as a vacation day to build my brackets. I normally make 6 brackets, but this year I'm going to try 12, but then pick a different winner to cover as many possibilities as possible. Enter all the Free ones, then try the $5 contests, etc until you are out of money or out of time!
  

• Use the Bracket Tracker® to organize which brackets you've entered and which strategy you used.

• Do Your Homework
  
  
  
• OfficePool64 - In his blog, Steve gives great tips beyond the normal analysis. For example, Don't pick a #1 seed to be one of the last four teams, let alone the national title, if the school wasn't in the playoffs the previous year. In the   iSportsLinks Bracket Challenge, I'll pick one bracket using as many of his strategies as possible and see what happens.
  
• Hoopstournament.net - This great site gives you an unbelievable amount of reports on all aspects of the NCAA mens basketball tournament. From Team to individual records, this site compiles more information than anywhere!
  
• Bracket Science - Your Guide to every seed matchip, 2011 edition - By Peter Tiernan from CBSports.com This Google Doc gives a fantastic breakdown of every see matchup over the past 26 years.
  
• Tie Breaker - This is iSportsLinks analysis of the total score for the championship game over the last 10 years. A majority of contests use the total score for the championship game, so we give you the details of the last 10 years.
  
• Dance Card - The Score Card is Coleman and Lynch's initial effort to develop a formula to predict the results of NCAA Tournament games using the same information that the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee has at its disposal when determining at-large bids.  Thus, in the process the authors identified those factors that the Selection Committee has included on its Nitty-Gritty report that have the most relevance when it comes to performance of teams once they get into the tournament. 
  
• Jeff Sagarin - Here is Jeff Sagarin's College Basketball home page. His computer rankings are reported in all the major newspapers, but the link to the left goes directly to his site where much more detailed information is listed.
  
• RPI Ranking - This site by Jerry Palm displays the RPI Index and Jerry gives his input to what he thinks the bracket should look like.
  
• Bracket Brains - Great site with some interesting interactive bracket building technology.