Eraser (optional) Paper Ruler (or other straight edge; optional) Writing utensil(s)

Listed along with team information should an assigned division: East, Midwest, West, and South. Teams only play against others in their division until the last round. The official March Madness information can be found on the NCAA homepage and official sports networks, like ESPN and Fox Sports. [1] X Research source

Prior to round one, the eight lowest seeded teams will play four games amongst themselves. The top four teams move on to round one. Each March Madness tournament is comprised of five main rounds: Round One (round of 64), Round Two (round of 32), the Sweet 16 (round of 16), the Elite 8 (semi-finals), the Final Four (finals). Spacing out your brackets can be difficult by eye alone. Use your ruler to divide the paper evenly and to draw lines for each slot. Grid paper may be the easiest to draw your bracket on. Simply follow grid lines to draw straight lines for team slots. [3] X Research source

The odds of predicting the correct bracket are very slim, but some sports oriented websites, including the NCAA, have online prediction tools to help you.

Each team will also belong to one of four divisions: East, Midwest, West, and South. Teams should only play other teams in their division until the final four. Follow March Madness updates on major sports networks. Set a Google alert for things like “March Madness seeds. ” Social media networks, like Facebook and Twitter, can help you keep up on the latest March Madness developments. [4] X Research source

Keep in mind the eight lowest seeded teams will play four separate games to determine the four that move on to round one. If you’re only filling in your bracket to follow along, matchup teams as they are seeded fill in the winners as they are decided. If you’re filling out a prediction bracket, make sure that you separate teams by division (East, Midwest, West, South). Each division will send only one team to the last round.

Selecting the cell to the immediate right of a two-team matchup. Accessing the “Data” tab of the status bar/ribbon. Choosing “Data Validation” from the “Data Tools” section. Allowing the use of “List. ” Selecting the cells containing the names of the matched-up teams. Completing the data validation by pressing the “Ok” button. [6] X Research source

If you’re watching the results for fun or other reasons, you may only want to fill in wins and losses as they happen. You might also want to highlight your favorite teams so you can clearly see clearly see how they are doing as well.

As winners are decided in the tournament, the online NCAA digital bracket is generally updated. Print out an updated bracket after each round concludes. [7] X Research source

Do a keyword search online for “free online bracket generator” and select the option that is most suitable for you.

Many programs have a “Print Preview” feature, or something similar. This is generally found under a tab labeled “Review” or “View. ” . [8] X Research source Use this feature to evaluate things like font size, layout, and make changes as necessary In some cases, selecting “Print” from the “File” option of many programs may open a preview/confirmation box which you can use to preview the document.