How to Win an NCAA Basketball Tournament Pool

Gather up some blank copies of the brackets. On selection Sunday, the teams will be ranked and placed in the brackets accordingly. Some of the better NCAA printable brackets can be found on ESPN and CBS. Go to one of these websites and print out about ten brackets.

Study the brackets. Go to one of the previously mentioned sites and look at each team in the tournament individually. At this point, you will want to look at the teams solely from the standpoint of general knowledge. Forget who they are matched up with for now. Just look at them and get to know their strengths and weaknesses in general.

Once you feel as though you have a handle on the teams, look at the match ups. The object of the game is to win. Number one and two seeds simply do not lose in the first round. This is almost unheard of. Your first picks should be to advance all of the number one and two seeds to round two. These are virtual locks, and someone in the tournament pool always goes for the upsets here. You have a very good chance of moving ahead of some other players by doing this alone.

Look at the remaining seeds in the first round and ask yourself if you see any good match ups. Are any of the higher seeds facing teams that are on a roll? What about the teams that are really weak against big men defensively? There is always a match up of a higher seeded team that has an interior weakness against a team with a great big man. Find that team, and look at the opponent. Does that opponent have a strong inside game overall, or is it just the one great inside player? If they do have a great overall inside game, then you have the makings of an upset. Look at every remaining first round game in this manner. Generally, the upsets are going to be from seeds four through twelve. Look at those match ups closely.

Now you have picked your NCAA basketball tournament pool first round. In the second and third rounds, all bets are off. Any seed can lose, and you really have to look at the match ups closely. Carefully look at where they are playing, as well as any obvious advantages one team may have over another. Do not be afraid to pick some upsets, but be selective. Many NCAA basketball tournament pools are lost due to going upset crazy. Make sure any upsets you pick are for a reason. Forget random upsets. They are rare even in the volatile NCAA basketball tournament. Usually, you can see an upset coming due to momentum, or an obvious match up problem for the higher seed.

After the second round of your NCAA basketball tournament pool you enter the hardest territory. This is the point where many contestants start picking with their heart instead of their basketball knowledge. Here is where you can set yourself apart and win your NCAA basketball tournament pool. Spend plenty of time looking at the match ups here. Who has the advantage down low? Who defends the three and shoots the three better? Look at common opponents throughout the regular season. How did they fare against common opponents? Why did they struggle or do well? The answers are there and picking these games can be done with consistency. Put in the work here and win your NCAA basketball tournament pool.

Then, you are down to the Final Four in your NCAA basketball tournament pool. These games are usually weighted with more points than the earlier rounds so you need to really spend some time studying the teams. Who do you think is going to win it all? A common mistake in this round is being afraid to go with the obvious. Many are afraid that the other contestants will pick the upset and win accordingly. What is more common is the obvious choice to win does, and you lose because you picked the upset. If you see a legitimate reason for an upset, and feel that momentum is in the favor of the underdog, then go for it. Otherwise, pick the obvious. Your odds are much better if you do.

Finally, you are ready to sit back and watch your NCAA basketball tournament pool unfold on the television screen. Grab your pencil, and plenty of erasers, and enjoy the tournament. If you followed these rules, the odds are you will win your NCAA basketball tournament pool and be bragging to all of your friends about your college basketball picking prowess. Remember to expect the unexpected, but common sense usually wins when you enter your NCAA basketball tournament pool. Lets hope you used yours!