How to Run a March Madness Tournament

March Madness, as the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament is known, is one of the biggest events in sports. Because of the tournament's wide appeal, there are lots of ways to get involved in a bracket contest, and usually money is at stake. Sites such as CBS Sports and ESPN do free online contests that anyone can join. However, it's just as easy to start your own March Madness bracket tournament with your friends or colleagues.

Instructions

    • 1

      Find a group of people who want to participate in your tournament, such as co-workers, club members or friends.

    • 2

      Create the rules for your tournament. Assign points for each round--usually low amounts of points for early rounds (one point for a correct first-round prediction, two for the second round) and higher amounts for each consecutive round (five points for a correct semifinal pick, 10 points for guessing the champion). Also, have each entrant predict the final score of the championship game, which will act as a tiebreaker should two people end the tournament with the same amount of points.

    • 3

      Decide the entry fee and prizes. Five dollars per person is low enough to draw wide interest but high enough to create a substantial pot. For prize distribution, the tournament can be winner-takes-all or you can create several payouts--for instance, in a 10-person pool, winner takes $30, second place takes $15 and third place gets $5.

    • 4

      Provide a blank bracket for each participant. Several websites offer printable brackets, and newspapers often publish blank brackets.

    • 5

      Have each participant fill out a bracket, marking which team he thinks will win each round. To give each person ample time to think about their selections, provide the brackets at least a week before the beginning of the tournament, then do not collect the brackets until the day before the tournament begins.

    • 6

      Keep track of each person's bracket choices as the tournament progresses. If an entrant predicts a team will win, and it does not, cross off the selection for that round and all subsequent rounds. Circle each correct prediction, but only for that round. Tally the points.

    • 7

      Keep a daily record of the results to avoid having to calculate all the brackets at the end. Reveal the winner at the end of the tournament, or send out an e-mail detailing how many points each participant has at the end of each day.