Every March, the College Basketball world goes wild for March Madness. It provides an action-packed month of incredible matchups, giving viewers one of the most entertaining sports events. Many people enjoy predicting the brackets for the tournament, but it’s a complex task.
If you’ve come to Sportzino to try your hand at picking brackets, we’re here to help. In this guide, we explain how to make the best March Madness bracket predictions. So, strap in and find out the best way to improve your success rate!
4 Basic Strategies for March Madness Bracket Predictions
Newcomers to the world of strategy for March Madness will need help approaching this logically. We understand that everyone needs some help making their predictions. Follow our NCAA bracket strategy guide to go from beginner to expert in no time.
Concentrate on Teams in Good Form
Form plays a significant part in sports. Often overlooked, the mental side of sport can impact performance. As a result, a team on a solid run of form is more likely to take this into the tournament. Ballers who feel like they are unbeatable will perform at their maximum level. By considering this, players can improve their strategy for March Madness.
Check the Odds
When making predictions, many viewers often ignore the odds. Odds, however, provide insight into likely outcomes. Here at Sportzino, we use in-depth data to collate our odds, ensuring that everything points towards what the statistics suggest. Using the odds to help inform predictions is an excellent way to understand what to expect.
Of course, odds don’t guarantee the result; upsets will still happen. But the odds give players a starting point for data research. An example would be finding the favorite for a particular game and then checking for past meetings between the teams and any patterns for scoring. From here, an informed prediction becomes more likely.
We always work hard to provide the best odds for players making predictions. Making Sportzino the best place for anyone looking to make NCAA bracket picks.
Check on Recent Fixtures
Checking recent fixtures ties into the first basic strategy for March Madness. When looking at recent form, it’s critical to cross-reference it with the strength of opposition. A good run of results will give a team confidence, but if it comes from playing weak opposition, it means less when going into March Madness. As a result, players must check that the current form doesn’t create a false sense of confidence around the team.
Check for Past Upsets
Are there any lower seeds with a record of causing upsets throughout the season? Suppose they have a recent history of being able to raise their game for the most significant events but are struggling to maintain consistency for more minor games. In that case, they are an excellent selection for tournament brackets. They provide a statistically better chance of being a good pick. Of course, it doesn’t guarantee they will raise their game for the event, but they’re more likely than other teams that have crumbled in the past.
March Madness Myths
March Madness brings many different myths to the table. Many players love to build up their prediction schemes as the ultimate way to win, but the truth is, there are lots of fallacies in existence. We’ve covered the most common falsehoods to help our readers avoid these myths when making predictions at Sportzino.
Last Year’s High Performers will Perform Well Again
NCAA Basketball isn’t the same as the NBA. Building a legacy team is more challenging because players leave to join the NBA every year. While traditional powerhouse colleges will generally attract superior players, the way the system works means there are plenty of opportunities for smaller colleges to overperform. Our table below shows how upsets are always possible, meaning past performance is no guarantee of progression.
Biggest Upsets
| Year | Favorite | Score | Underdog | Score |
| 2015 | Michigan State | 81 | Middle Tennessee | 90 |
| 1999 | Stanford | 74 | Gonzaga | 82 |
| 2022 | Kentucky | 79 | St Peter’s | 85 |
| 2006 | Connecticut | 84 | George Mason | 86 |
| 2018 | Virginia | 54 | UMBC | 74 |
Number One Seeds are a Bad Choice
Just think about that for a second. There’s a reason the number one seed is there. It’s because, throughout the season, it’s performed at a high level. While it’s statistically unlikely all number-one seeds will make it through until they play each other, they are still high-quality teams. As a result, it’s perfectly viable to select some number-one seeds in your brackets.
Number 12 Seeds will Always Beat Number 5 Seeds
This is a misconception rather than a myth. It has such significant traction because almost every year, at least one of the 12th seeds beats a 5th seed. So, it’s common for a 12th seed to ease into the second round. However, there’s still a 66% win rate for 5th seeds since 1985. As a result, you only have a 34% chance of picking the right 12th seed to carry out an upset. Don’t overload your brackets with 12-to-5 upsets.
What Is a Perfect Bracket in March Madness?
A perfect bracket in March Madness is picking the winner for every game in the tournament. It’s one of the most statistically unlikely events in the world, with players likely to win the Powerball 30 billion times before they manage a perfect bracket. A perfect bracket has never occurred; the closest anyone has come is 49 correct picks in a row.
What Is the Best Way to Pick a March Madness Bracket?
The best way to pick a March Madness bracket relates to combining our basic strategy tips into an all-encompassing method. By doing this, players can improve their chances of success as it creates a holistic, researched approach to making predictions. Check all factors and analyze the data to make the picks with the best statistical chances of being right.
Here at Sportzino, we offer the best way for players to make predictions about the NCAA tournament. With the finest odds and best bracket options, using Sportzino is part of the best strategy for making predictions.
