No word in the English language sees more of a massive spike in use around mid-February like 'Bracketology.' This 12-letter, five-syllable word enters the vocabulary of all genders and races and takes over mainstream sports media until Championship Monday. Then, much like Villanova's title aspirations, it disappears without a trace.

With the anticipation of the actual tournament growing stronger and Selection Sunday just a couple of days away, many people will be chomping at the bit to fill their bracket and claim glory.

There's no better feeling than printing off one, two, or five brackets and putting your pen to the paper in the hopes that this is your year.

The list below will be updated as teams punch their tickets to March Madness. MORE: March Madness COVID-19 replacement rules, explained March Madness bracket automatic bids 2021. If you want to organize a March Madness bracket pool amongst your peers, there will be a few things you must do in order to run a successful pool. Make sure the rules are clearly stated on. March Madness Bracket Scoring There are a variety of scoring systems in NCAA pools. The most common is to double the points for each round: 1-2-4-8-16-32. This puts a lot of emphasis on the championship, making the early rounds largely irrelevant. March Madness replacement rules, explained: How NCAA will select new teams to account for COVID-19 withdrawals. If a team is on the bracket and matched against an opponent that is forced to.

If you want to organize a March Madness bracket pool amongst your peers, there will be a few things you must do in order to run a successful pool.

Prospective Players

First, you will need willing participants. I suggest firing off a quick email, text or even phone call to gauge their interest. Once you have explained how the pool is going to be run, let them know they can expect an email with the link and sign-in information if you are doing it online or that they can pick up a printable bracket right here.

Setting Up the Pool

Once you have reached out to those you think might be interested in playing, set up an account and pool group on any office pool manager of your choice (espn.com and cbssports.com are the most common). From here, you can set the rules and begin entering your competitors email so they can receive a link to enter.

If you choose the old-school method of printed brackets, make sure to have enough copies ready for those who want to partake. Make sure the rules are clearly stated on this page with entry fee and deadline for submission.

Setting Up an Entry Fee

This very important part could be a deterrent for many people. Obviously, the more people invested in your pool the better the payout will be to the winner. You should be aware of what people are willing to pay to participate. There is nothing worse than a lackluster pool with 10 players playing for $50. Make the fee reasonable and clearly state it no matter which method you choose to handle (online/paper bracket). In addition, another thing to state is how many brackets a single person can enter. I usually participate in pools with a maximum of two entries per person. I think that is a reasonable number since it limits people to the number of different outright winners (we'll touch base on why this is important later on), but to each their own.

Scoring Your Pool

There are a few different methods of scoring your March Madness pool, but the most standard one is usually the one everyone understands.

Starting with the Round of 64, players get one point for getting the correct team to win in each of the 32 games.

In the Round of 32, players get two points for picking the winners of the 16 games.

In the Sweet 16, four points for each winner.

In the Elite 8, six points for each winner.

In the Final Four, 10 points for each winner.

In the Championship Game 16 points.

The National Champion should realistically determine your pool winner. It does not always happen this way, but if you are giving out enough points throughout each round, the goal of picking the sole survivor should serve profitable after three long weeks.

Deadline

Typical March Madness Bracket Rules

Online pools will automatically lock out players by the tip-off of the first game on Thursday. If doing an online method, you are lucky and will not have to take a stand against late entries trickling in as the first batch of games are at half time.

If you are to run a pen-and-paper style bracket, you must clarify the deadline -- usually half hour before tip-off.

**Important Note: Collect entry fees as you collect or see brackets submitted**

I cannot emphasize this enough. You do not want to be chasing down Joey from sales or your second cousin who lives on the other side of the country as the National Title game is tipping off.

Payout

This is tricky to set up because you need to know how much money you will have in the pot. If you envision this pool being small, amongst a handful of friends, I would usually say winner take all.

If you can see your pool getting 30 or more people participating, most payout structures work as follows: The winner gets 70 percent of the pot, the runner up gets 20 percent and a modest 10 percent goes to the third-place finisher. If there is leftover dough, or enough total money for nobody to complain about, last place usually gets his or her money back. Believe me, finishing in last place is hard to do.

That about sums it up for running your own March Madness pool.

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MARCH BRACKETS 2021 OFFICIAL RULES

The Registration Process

Each participant must complete the registration process to become eligible to play. The registration is a simple process that involves filling out your contact information, team name creation, and password selection. Once you create an account (your email address), choose a password, and select your team name, you will then be given the opportunity to start making your bracket selections.

Tournament Information

The Men's College Basketball Tournament starts runs March 19th 2021 at Noon ET and runs through the Championship game ending April 5th 2021 at Midnight ET. The Sunday prior to the start of the Men's College Basketball Tournament is called 'Selection Sunday'. Selection Sunday occurs March 14th 2021. On Selection Sunday, Selection Committee will announce the bracket pairings for the first-round games. There will be several 'play-in' games prior to the start of the tournament. Winners of these games qualify for the final four spots in the Men's College Basketball Tournament. However, for this contest, the winner of each 'play-in' game will be named the 'Play-in Winner', so it is not necessary to guess the winner of any 'play-in' game.

Large March Madness Bracket

Shortly after the bracket pairings are announced on March 14th 2021, the complete bracket pairings will be available for all players. At this time, each player will be allowed to login and make their selections for their chance to win the contest. The deadline to make selections is March 19th 2021 at the tip-off of the first scheduled game. All picks must be successfully saved by or before this deadline.

Making Your Selections

Players can make their selections by going to the selection page. >From this screen, players will make their selections. To make your team selections, simply click the team name to advance them to the next round. If you make a mistake, you can select the opposite team in the previous round or you can also choose the reset button and start over again. It's that easy. After you have completed the bracket, you must click the save button to confirm and store your bracket. Once you click the save button, your picks will display as stored.

Selecting Teams Close To The Deadline

Any player attempting to make team selections close to the deadline risks the chance of not getting in his/her changes on time. We are not responsible for late entries, server congestion, faulty Internet connections, etc., which may cause the changes to your picks to not be made.

Winning the Game

Players are ranked according to their cumulative point score. The player with the most points at the end of the game is the cumulative points winner. There may or may not be a prize for the cumulative points winner. Please visit the Prize section to see what prizes (if any) are being awarded for this contest. In the event of a tie between two (2) or more entries, the winning entry will be determined by the following tiebreakers, in order of listing:

Tiebreaker #1 - Closest To Total Points Scored In Final Game (Based On Absolute Value)

Tiebreaker #2 - Most Correct Picks For All Rounds

Tiebreaker #3 - Highest Risk Bracket

Tiebreaker #4 - Random Drawing

Tiebreaker #3 calculation: Each bracket is evaluated using the exclusive risk assessor, which computes the risk of each chosen upset versus historical tournament results. The bracket that is deemed riskiest by this methodology wins this tiebreaker.

Any further ties are left as ties in the standings. The tie-breaking system below represents the only tiebreaking system. In all cases, an entry that does not win a tiebreaker is eliminated from consideration.

Round Tiebreakers

Players are ranked according to their cumulative round score also. The player with the most points at the end of the round wins that particular round. In the event of a tie between two (2) or more entries, the winning entry will be determined by the following tiebreakers, in order of listing:

Tiebreaker #1 - Most Correct Picks In That Round

Tiebreaker #2 - Highest Risk Bracket

Tiebreaker #3 - Random drawing

Tiebreaker #2 calculation: Each bracket is evaluated using the exclusive risk assessor, which computes the risk of each chosen upset versus historical tournament results. The bracket that is deemed riskiest by this methodology wins this tiebreaker.

In all cases, an entry that does not win a tiebreaker is eliminated from consideration.

Contest Scoring

The Bracket Challenge is scored using the scoring chart below.

Players are ranked on the Standings page. The winner of the Bracket Challenge is determined by the highest point total after the completion of the final game of the tournament.

Prizing Information

March Madness Bracket Challenge Rules

Any Participant(s) who select(s) a valid perfect bracket (the correct selection of all 63 matchups) prior to the start of tournament (start date varies each year), will receive $10,000. Payment will be in two equal dispersements of $5,000 US Dollars by Certified Check. The first payment will be within 60 days of receiving valid user ID forms (detailed in the winner information section below). The second payment will be dispersed 6 months from the first payment. Multiple users with valid perfect brackets will split the prize.

Scoring Disputes

The contest operator will post the scores shortly after every day's games for each round, unless unforeseen complications arise. If you have a scoring dispute, please contact us using the menu. Disputes are accepted until 24 hours after the tournament officially ends. Any disputes arriving after this time will not be addressed. The contest operator reserves the right to deny any scoring inaccuracies at any time due to circumstances beyond our control. It is each player's responsibility to confirm their own selections. Players should verify their selections on the my brackets page.

Special Reserved Rights

Any player caught or suspected of system tampering, game interference or breaking our terms and conditions, may be removed without a refund or further compensation from our contest at any time and without notice. We also reserve the right to pursue legal and criminal action upon those member(s).

Winning Strategy

There is a great deal of strategy that goes into the bracket challenge game. Some players wish to select their favorite teams. Some players will want to pick the highest ranked teams to meet in the finals. There are many different strategies that have won. College Hoops is a great sport, so whatever your strategy, remember to have fun and enjoy the game.

Eligibility

Please see the 'Prize' area inside the contest for prize information and winner terms and conditions set by your media partner.

General Conditions

March Madness Bracket Rules Tie Breaker

Please see the 'Prize' area inside the contest for prize information and winner terms and conditions set by your media partner.

Rules/Winners Information

Please see the 'Prize' area inside the contest for prize information and winner terms and conditions set by your media partner.

Notification

Please see the 'Prize' area inside the contest for prize information and winner terms and conditions set by your media partner.

Internet Problems

If for any reason the Internet portion of the program is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, terrorism, work stoppage, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of the game operator, which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this contest, the game operator reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process, and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the contest. In such event, the game operator further reserves the right to award prizes to the player with the most points as of the termination date.

Technology Problems

The game operator assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, entries or transactions. The game operator is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer on-line systems, servers, or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail entry or transaction to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Web site, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to participant's or any other person's computer related to or resulting from participation or downloading any materials in this contest.

Caution: any attempt by a contestant to deliberately damage any web site or undermine the legitimate operation of the game is a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, the game operator reserves the right to seek damages from any such contestant to the fullest extent permitted by law.

In the event of a dispute, entries made by Internet will be declared made by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at time of entry.

'Authorized account holder' is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, on-line service provider or other organization (e.g., business, educational institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address.

In the event that any legal or regulatory authority challenges the contest, the game operator. reserves the right to discontinue or modify the Contest, or to disqualify participants residing in the affected geographic areas. The game operator shall have no liability to any players who are disqualified due to such an action.

Email Change Of Address Policy

Espn March Madness Bracket Rules

It is the sole responsibility of the Entrant to ensure their email address is current. Failure to maintain a valid email address may result in that user's disqualification and the forfeiture of any prizes won in conjunction of this contest.

False Registration

The game operator reserves the right to disqualify any user who has registered with non-valid or false information. To qualify for any prize, users must have valid registration information by the contest ending date. Any information that is inaccurate or misleading will result in that user's disqualification and the forfeiture of any prizes won in conjunction of this contest.

Disclaimer

March Madness Bracket Pool Rules

The contest operator and this Web site, are in no way connected with, affiliated with or endorsed by the NCAA, or any of its affiliated teams, players, or players union. All references to any basketball name or term is purely nominative and not intended to imply any connection, affiliation, or endorsement.