Tips for Filling out Women’s March Madness Bracket

With Selection Sunday upon us millions of brackets across the country will be filled out in anticipation of the Women’s March Madness tournament. Last year the ESPN Women’s Tournament Challenge saw a 41% increase in total brackets in 2023.

Here are some simple tips to keep in mind when filling out your brackets this March.

1. Don’t forget that an upset is designated as a difference of at least five seeds.
2. Don’t get too excited about Cinderella stories making it far. Teams seeded numbers 14-16 are a combined 1-348 in tournament history. No No. 14 or 15 seed has won a tournament game. And there has only been one No. 16 team to win a tournament game (No. 16 Harvard upset Number 1 Stanford in the first round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament).
3. The most likely upsets happen from No. 12 seed and up.
4. Watch out for biased opinions and decisions. While it is fun to have throw away brackets with wild winners and your favorite teams, if you are serious about wanting to win it is best to not allow personal biases and favorites get in the way.
5. Statistics! Statistics! Statistics! Going off the last point, if you want to elevate your bracket picks look at the statistics of the different teams facing off. For example, compare the different player matchups, the number of points allowed, offensive rebounds and more. The more you understand the team and player statistics the more educated your picks will be.
6. Fill out multiple brackets! The more brackets you fill out the more chances of one of them being successful.
7. Do not expect all No. 1s in the Final Four. 56.1% of top seeds have made it to the Final Four. And there have only been four instances of all four No. 1 seeds making it to the Final Four (1989, 2012, 2015 and 2018). The most common amount for tops seeds in the Final Four is two.
8. Look at who has been hot recently. Momentum is a huge driver for tournament success and propels teams further than teams who have had a down final weeks. Look at Stanford last year who was knocked out of the PAC-12 tournament in the semifinals, earned a No. 1 seed in their region and was eliminated in the second round. Be wary of teams who are taking a down turn.
9. Have fun! Ultimately the bracket challenges are a fun way to engage fans during March Madness. It is arguably the best playoff setup in all of sports with single elimination making upsets so much easier and every game more exciting. So enjoy the chaos and watch history be made.

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