Every year, millions of people create March Madness brackets with groups of friends to predict the teams that will make the finals. Some do this just to follow along with the games, while others do so to win a prize for having the most accurate bracket.
There are nearly 70 teams that enter March Madness, but only one can take home the trophy. Because there are so many teams in the first round, creating your own bracket from scratch can be confusing, time-consuming, and tedious. The difficulty only multiplies if everyone in your group is entering their own unique bracket!
For this reason, many people look for an easier way to predict the March Madness games. Thankfully, there’s a solution: Common Ninja’s Brackets & Tournaments App. This free online tool takes all the hard work out of creating a bracket template. You simply input the information you want to be included, customize your bracket’s appearance, then embed it to your site or download it as a PDF!
Below, we’ll discuss everything you need to know before creating your bracket. Then, we’ll highlight the benefits that online bracket-maker apps offer to collegiate basketball fans across the country!
While You Are at It, Discover the Top 5 Tournament Making Apps
What is March Madness?
“March Madness” refers to the time of year, usually between mid-March and the beginning of April when the NCAA hosts the championship college basketball tournament. You can watch March Madness and commentary on cable, typically on channels like CBS and ESPN, or purchase in-person tickets to the games on the NCAA website.
However, many people prefer the convenience of streaming these games online. Yahoo Sports usually does a good job covering the highlights, but you can stream full games with the following services:
- Hulu
- Sling
- Fubo TV
- Paramount+
- DirecTV Stream
March Madness is the highlight of the college basketball season in the United States. It spans over three weeks, with games happening across the country. Nearly 140 total teams compete for the national title, but only one men’s team and one women’s team are victorious each year.
March Madness 2024 – Schedule
March Madness challenges 68 men’s and 68 women’s collegiate basketball teams across the nation for the title of National Champions. It’s a three-week-long, single-elimination tournament.
The March Madness schedule differs a bit between men’s and women’s teams. The first men’s rounds consist of the “First Four” and “First Round” games, while the second week focuses on the “Sweet Sixteen” teams. During the second week, sixteen men’s teams are narrowed down to the “Elite Eight.” After that, we get the “Final Four.”
The final week of men’s March Madness highlights these four semifinalists. After the first two games are complete, the final teams compete in the championship game for the national title.
The first week of women’s March Madness also includes the “First Four” and “First Round” games, with the addition of the “Second Round” games. After this first week, the remaining contestants compete in “Regionals” across the country. The third week is all about the semifinalists and finalists.
When Does It Start?
If you’re an avid college basketball fan, you’re probably wondering, “when is March Madness?!”
Although the official start of March Madness is on March 17th this year, the first men’s game will not occur until two days later on March 19th. The first women’s game is held a day after this on March 20th.
March 17th marks “Selection Sunday,” when the NCAA reveals which 68 men’s and 68 women’s basketball teams will be involved in the tournament.
As far as men’s basketball is concerned, this year’s March Madness games are scheduled on the following dates:
- March 17th (Selection Sunday)
- March 19th-20th (First Four)
- March 21st-22nd (First Round)
- March 23rd-24th (Second Round)
- March 28th-29th (Sweet Sixteen)
- March 30th-31st(Elite Eight)
- April 6th (Final Four)
- April 8th (National Championship Game)
If you’re more of a fan of women’s basketball, don’t forget to save the dates below:
- March 17th (Selection Sunday)
- March 20th-21st (First Four)
- March 22nd-23rd (First Round)
- March 24th-25th (Second Round)
- March 29th-30th (Sweet Sixteen)
- March 31st-April 1st (Elite Eight)
- April 5th (Final Four)
- April 7th (National Championship Game)
While the game schedule varies a bit between the two types of teams, the concept is the same. Of all the teams that participate, only one men’s team and one women’s team can be crowned National Champions.
March Madness 2024 Locations
March Madness games are held at various arenas throughout the country. While some of the locations for women’s games are yet to be announced, the NCAA has a set schedule for all the men’s games.
The following arenas will host the 2024 men’s March Madness games:
- Dayton, Ohio - UD Arena
- Brooklyn. N.Y. - Barclays Center
- Charlotte, N.C - Spectrum Cente
- Indianapolis - Gainbridge Fieldhouse
- Omaha, Neb. - CHI Health Center
- Pittsburgh - PPG Paints Arena
- Salt Lake City - Delta Center
- Spokane, Wash. - Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena
- Memphis, Tenn. - FedExForum
- Boston - TD Garden
- Dallas - American Airlines Center
- Detroit - Little Caesars Arena
- Los Angeles - Crypto.com Arena
The NCAA has yet to determine locations for the First Four, First Round, and Second Round women’s games. However, the Regional games will be held in the following arena:
- Cleveland - Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
March Madness 2024 Final
The final men’s March Madness games will be held on April 6th and April 8th at the AT&T Stadium, North Texas. As the name suggests, the four remaining teams will compete during the Final Four round. Once two winners are declared, the last two teams will compete for the national title at the Championship game.
While the concept is the same for women’s teams, the venue is different. Both the women’s National Semifinals and the NCAA Championship Game will be held in Cleveland at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
March Madness 2024 – Teams
68 men’s and 68 women’s teams are part of the March Madness games each year. 32 of these 68 receive automatic bids into the tournament for winning various conferences. The NCAA then chooses the remaining 36 through “at-large bids” based on a team’s performance throughout the regular season.
Once all the competing teams are announced, predictions can begin. All 68 teams in each competition are divided into four groups, typically based on geographic location. In most cases, you’ll see them divided by Eastern, Western, Midwestern, and Southern United States.
There are 16 teams in each of the four regions. Each team is ranked, or “seeded,” between 1-16 based on their odds of winning a round. At the beginning of March Madness, the highest-seed teams play the lowest-seed teams. This trend continues until lower-seed teams begin defeating higher-seed teams, making results difficult to predict.
Free, Printable Bracket Maker for March Madness
During the March Madness tournament each year, many people fill out brackets to predict the winners of each round. Some people choose to make a bracket for sports betting purposes, while others do it just for fun.
While you can draw your own bracket, it’s easier to fill out a pre-made printable bracket or create a bracket online. There are tons of free bracket templates available online, but Common Ninja’s Brackets & Tournaments App is one of the most advanced and customizable options.
If you have friends across the country who all enjoy watching March Madness, creating a virtual bracket is an excellent idea. It offers an interactive experience where they can vote or make predictions, and then see who comes out on top. If you want to take it a step further, you can even offer prizes for the most accurate predictions!
There are tons of customization options available with Common Ninja’s free bracket maker. You can customize your bracket’s layout, add a custom skin of your favorite team or player, and choose between multiple bracket types. You can even download your bracket as a PDF to print and use as a reference while you watch.
The brackets you make with Common Ninja are fully responsive on all browsers, including mobile, and offer a fun way to follow along with the games. The interface is extremely user-friendly, brackets are easy to embed on your site, and best of all, it’s completely free to use.
Other Uses for Brackets During March Madness
Although brackets are extremely popular for March Madness, this is by no means the only use for them! You can make a bracket to rank nearly anything you can think of. March Madness brings a unique opportunity to use brackets to creatively promote your products and services. Not only that, but these brackets will enable you to collect important information regarding your users’ preferences in a fun, interactive way.
Food Brackets
If you are the owner of a restaurant, cafe, bakery, or another similar establishment, you can easily use the March Madness period to create brackets of the food you are selling or wish to sell. You can create new products and ask your users to vote for the one they’d like to try the most. This can be a great way to introduce a new menu or improve on an existing one.
Travel Destination Brackets
If you deal in tourism and travel, you can use the March Madness period to find the next best destination for your users by introducing an interactive bracket where they can vote on where they’d like to go next. This will not only create a fun experience for your users but will also allow you to focus your time more wisely.
Ranking TV Show Characters
You and your friends likely have at least one TV show you all enjoy watching. If this is the case, consider making a virtual bracket for your friends to vote on their favorite character after each episode!
This works best when you start at the beginning of a season. By the time the finale airs, you’ll have your results for the most popular character throughout its run.
Ranking Songs on an Artist’s Discography
If you just went to a concert or are planning to go to one soon, creating a bracket to rank an artist’s best songs is a great way to get excited or reminisce on your memories. Create a virtual bracket for a particular musician, divided based on the album, and have your friends vote on the songs they’re most excited to hear or the ones they thought the artist performed best.
Predicting Other Sports Events
Brackets tend to work the best for March Madness because of the short timespan the games are played in. However, if you start at the beginning of the baseball or football season, predicting a particular team’s odds to win during each round can be a great way to keep you engaged during months-long seasons!
Any Other Business, Really
With brackets, you can boost your social presence, user activity, and brand awareness by implementing an interactive tournament or bracket for anything, really. Food, beverages, clothes, places, electric items, colors, fashion — the options are endless for the creative mind!
March Madness — A Great Opportunity To Use Brackets
March Madness is an exciting time for basketball fans of all ages. If you enjoy creating sports brackets with your family or friends, let Common Ninja’s Brackets & Tournaments app take all the hard work out of the equation.
While you can always download your bracket, using an app like this also allows you to embed your bracket online, opening your pool to more people all across the globe. And, the benefits of brackets don’t end with March Madness! You can create a bracket to rank nearly anything you can think of, engaging your online users or friends with a simple, voting-based system.
