We've all been there. March Madness rolls around, and it's time to make a bracket. And unless you're a college basketball scout, you have no idea who is going to win Florida Atlantic (8) vs. Memphis (9). For all 63 games, you just pick the 1-2-3 seeds or toss a coin in your head. And after the first round of the tournament, your bracket is either toast or in the top one percent.
Here, all you have to do is pick 13 teams you believe in. And you get bonus points for picking higher-seeded teams. No more having to predict games you don't care about. And more investment in the games that actually matter to you.
How exactly does this work?
Instead of predicting every game of the tournament, your "bracket" consists of 13 unique teams. Each game a team on your bracket wins earns you points equal to their seed.
Example: Suppose you have Houston (1) and Furman (13) as two of your 13 teams; Houston wins two games in the tournament, and Furman wins one game. Houston will earn 1+1=2 points for your bracket, while Furman will give you 13 points. So although Houston did better in the tournament, Furman was a better pick!
In the Sweet 16, winning teams will earn 1 additional bonus point regardless of their seed. This bonus doubles for every subsequent round.
Example: Suppose you have Creighton (6) and UConn (4) as two of your 13 teams; Creighton wins three games (getting eliminated at the Elite 8), and UConn wins the entire tournament. Creighton will earn 6+6+(6+1)=19 points for your bracket, while UConn will give you 4+4+(4+1)+(4+2)+(4+4)+(4+8)=39 points.
Whichever bracket accrues the most points by the end of the tournament is the winner!
How do I get started?
You will need to make an account and join a league; you can either join a friend's league (by entering an invite code), or make your own league to administer. You can make brackets for each league by going to the league page.
What's the deal with official brackets?
In order to prevent users from making hundreds of brackets to gain an advantage, the league manager can set a cap on the number of official (also known as money) brackets each member can make. Participants are allowed to make as many brackets as they wish, but only official brackets will be counted in the final standings; additionally, all money brackets must be designated as such before the tournament begins.
This also works quite well for leagues that want to bet money on the results: the league manager can set a price per bracket and can give participants their money brackets only after having received payment.