March Madness bracket pools · ready for the 76-team field

The March Madness pool, built for the expanded 76-team bracket.

The NCAA tournament grows from 68 teams to 76 in 2027. Your office pool, booster club bracket or family challenge runs on a template made for it: four regions, real seeds, the expanded Opening Round, and Sweet 16 through the National Championship.

Paste the field on Selection Sunday and the bracket builds itself, Opening Round games included, whether the field is 68 teams or 76.

Start a March Madness pool →See how it works ↓

Free on every planReady for 68 or 76 teamsUpset bonus built inPlayers never pay a platform fee

The March Madness setup screen on a laptop: do players pick the Opening Round, with the choice to start at the Round of 64 or pick the Opening Round too, noting twelve Opening Round games from 2027 when the field grows to 76.

One template, built for the tournament

March Madness runs on Bracket Master, our tournament bracket engine. Pick the March Madness template and the regions, seeds, rounds and scoring are set for you.

76-team field readyOpening Round includedFree on every plan

Bracket Master

Fill it out. Score every round.

Four regions of sixteen with real seeds, rounds named the way fans say them (Round of 64, Round of 32, Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, National Championship) and scoring that doubles each round, plus an upset bonus worth the seed difference. On Selection Sunday you paste the field, one team per line, and any seed line with two teams becomes an Opening Round game feeding it: four for the 68-team field, twelve for the 76-team field from 2027.

Best for: Office pools, booster clubs, families and anyone who used to print the bracket

Start a March Madness pool →How it works

Set it up now. Load the field on Selection Sunday.

Create

Pick the March Madness template and decide whether players pick the Opening Round or start at the Round of 64. Share the link whenever you like.

Load the field

When the bracket is announced, paste it in as Region, Seed, Team and set when picks lock. Opening Round games come from the field itself.

Pick

Everyone fills out a bracket on their phone. Picks lock at the time you set, and nobody can change one after it.

Score

Tap each winner as the games finish. Every bracket re-scores and the leaderboard updates on its own.

No printing, no group-text spreadsheet, no arguing about who picked what.

What it actually looks like

The expanded field

Opening Round in or out. Your call.

Before the Round of 64 the tournament plays an Opening Round: the First Four in a 68-team year, twelve games once the field is 76. Most office pools start at the 64 and open picks once those games are played; some want to call them too. Choose when you set the pool up.

The March Madness setup step asking whether players pick the Opening Round, with Start at the Round of 64 and Pick the Opening Round too as the two choices.

All tournament

The leaderboard keeps itself.

Every correct pick scores for its round, 1 point in the Round of 64 up to 32 for the title game, and an upset pays the seed difference on top. The standings re-sort the moment you record a winner.

Standings● Live

1Player 171

2Player 268

3Player 361

4Player 458

Graded automatically as each game finishes

Ready for the bracket the way it is now

76 teams

the expanded field from 2027, and the 68-team field before it

Opening Round games in a 76-team year, each feeding its own seed line

1 · 2 · 4 · 8 · 16 · 32

points per round, plus an upset bonus worth the seed difference

Free on every plan. Players never pay a platform fee: if you charge an entry, they pay you directly.

How would you like to run your bracket pool?

	Printed bracket / spreadsheet	ChooseASquare
Handle the expanded field	A 64-line sheet that no longer fits	✓ Built for 68 or 76, Opening Round included
Collect brackets	Paper, photos and texts	✓ Everyone fills it out on their phone
Lock the picks	Hope nobody edits after tip-off	✓ Locked at the time you set
Score upsets	Somebody does the maths	✓ Seed-difference upset bonus, automatic
Show the standings	A screenshot on Monday	✓ A live leaderboard after every result
Collect the entry fee	Chase people for cash	✓ Players pay you directly, no platform fee

You watch the games. The pool keeps score.

Running a March Madness pool for the expanded tournament

March Madness bracket pools for the 76-team field

Starting in 2027 the NCAA tournament field grows from 68 teams to 76. The extra teams play their way in through an expanded Opening Round, and the 64 that remain play the bracket everyone knows: the Round of 64, the Round of 32, the Sweet 16, the Elite Eight, the Final Four and the National Championship. A bracket pool built for 68 teams, with four First Four games, has nowhere to put twelve Opening Round games.

ChooseASquare’s March Madness template does not assume either shape. You paste the field once the bracket is announced on Selection Sunday, and any seed line in a region with two teams becomes an Opening Round game whose winner takes that line. A 68-team field produces the four First Four games; a 76-team field produces twelve. Nothing changes for the commissioner from one year to the next.

Whether your players pick those Opening Round games is your choice. Start at the Round of 64 and picks open once the Opening Round has been played, so every line has a real team in it, which is how most office pools run. Or have everyone pick the Opening Round too, at a point a game. Scoring doubles each round, 1 · 2 · 4 · 8 · 16 · 32, and an optional upset bonus pays the difference in seeds, so the 12-over-5 is worth something. Run it for fun, or charge an entry and run it as a fundraiser; players pay you directly and never pay a platform fee.

How Bracket Master works →Start one →

March Madness pools, answered

Does it work with the expanded 76-team March Madness field?

Yes. The NCAA tournament field grows from 68 to 76 teams in 2027, and the March Madness template is built for it: any seed line with two teams becomes an Opening Round game feeding that line, so a 76-team field gives you twelve Opening Round games and a 68-team field gives you the four First Four games. You do not choose a format; the field you paste decides it.

Do players have to pick the Opening Round or the First Four?

Only if you want them to. When you create the pool you choose: start at the Round of 64, in which case picks open once the Opening Round has been played, or have players pick the Opening Round games too, worth a point each.

How do I get the bracket into the pool?

Create the pool any time. When the field is announced on Selection Sunday, paste it on the contest’s bracket screen, one team per line as Region, Seed, Team, and set when picks lock. The bracket, the Opening Round games and every seed line are built from that in one press.

How is a March Madness pool scored?

Each correct pick scores for its round: 1 in the Round of 64, then 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 for the National Championship. An upset bonus, on by default, adds the difference in seeds when a lower seed wins, so picking the 12-over-5 is worth more than picking the 1-over-16.

Are the games scored automatically?

No. You tap each winner as the games finish, which takes a few seconds, and every bracket re-scores and the leaderboard updates the moment you do.

Can I charge an entry fee or run it as a fundraiser?

Yes. Set an entry fee and players pay you directly by Venmo, PayPal, cash or check. ChooseASquare never takes a platform fee from your players, and you can keep a share for your organization.

What does it cost?

Bracket Master, including the March Madness template, is free on every plan.

Set up your March Madness pool before Selection Sunday

Create it now, share the link, and load the field the moment the bracket is announced.

Start a March Madness pool →

Free on every planReady for the 76-team fieldPlayers never pay a platform fee

See how it works ↑