Official March Madness 2026 Bracket Challenge Rules
- All brackets MUST be submitted by Thursday, March 19th, 12:00 PM EST to be considered valid.
- Brackets MUST be submitted through this website in order to be entered. Emailed bracket files will not be considered.
- All bracket submissions are final. Brackets will not be manually edited once they are submitted.
- The first four play-in games are not part of the bracket challenge. If you select a seeding with a play-in game, your pick will be recorded as the winner of the play-in game.
- There is a non-refundable entry fee of $25 per bracket, and you may submit as many brackets as you wish.
- All brackets must be paid for before the start of the second round. Any brackets not paid for before Saturday, March 21st, 8:00 AM EST will be automatically dropped from the pool.
- Payment must be made through Venmo (Jeff-Green-72). Please include your bracket name in your payment.
- Finalized payouts:
- 1st: $875
- 2nd: $500
- 3rd: $400
- 4th: $300
- 5th: $200
- 6th: $100
- 7th: $50
- Note: $2 from each entry will go toward costs of running the pool.
Bracket Scoring Guidelines
- Each game is worth the following based on the round:
- 1st (Round of 32): 1 point
- 2nd (Sweet 16): 2 points
- 3rd (Elite 8): 4 points
- 4th (Final Four): 6 points
- 5th (Championship Game): 9 points
- Tournament Winner: 12 points
- In any round, the following points are awarded for upsets:
- 2-3 differential in team seeding: 2x multiplier for round points
- 4 or more differential in team seeding: 3x multiplier for round points
- Win by a 14, 15, or 16 seed: 4x multiplier for round points
- Example Scoring:
- A 14-seed beats a 3-seed in the 1st round: 4 points (4 x round score of 1)
- A 5-seed beats a 1-seed in the 4th round: 18 points (3 x round score of 6)
- A 9-seed beats an 8-seed in the 1st round: 1 point (no upset multiplier)
- A 9-seed beats a 1-seed in the 2nd round: 6 points (3 x round score of 2)
- A 14-seed beats an 11-seed in the 2nd round: 8 points (4 x round score of 2)