Bracket pool rules and scoring

Each round is worth double the one before. A correct first-round pick is 1 point, a correct champion is 32. Every round is worth the same total: 32 games at 1 point, 16 at 2, 8 at 4, 4 at 8, 2 at 16, and the final at 32, so 32 points are on the table in each round and 192 in all.

What it rewards: picking the champion. A bracket that gets the winner right and little else beats one that nails the first weekend. That is how most people expect a bracket pool to feel, which is why this is the default almost everywhere.

Each round is worth one point more than the last. The first round is 32 points in total and the final is 6, so the early rounds dominate.

What it rewards: depth. A bracket that is right about many games wins over one lucky champion pick. Good for groups that follow the whole season and want the regular-season knowledge to count.

Upset bonus. A correct pick of the lower seed earns an extra point or two on top of the round value. It makes the first weekend more interesting and barely moves the final standings.

Seed-based scoring. A correct pick earns the round value multiplied by the winner’s seed, or the round value plus the seed. A 12 seed over a 5 pays 12 times a 1 seed over a 16. This rewards bold brackets heavily and punishes chalk; it is fun for a group that finds the standard scale predictable, and it is confusing for everyone else. If you use it, show the formula on the entry form.

The standard tie-break is the total points scored in the championship game, closest guess wins, over or under. Collect it with the bracket, before the first tip. A second tie-break, in case two guesses are equally close, is the earlier entry.

Some pools break ties on who picked the champion correctly, then on the number of Final Four teams right. That works too; it just has to be written down before the tournament starts.

The deadline. Brackets lock at the first tip of the round of 64, usually Thursday around noon Eastern. A bracket not in by then is out. No exceptions, because the first exception is the end of the rule.

The First Four. The four play-in games are not scored. Winners take their slots in the round of 64.

Forfeits and cancellations. The pool counts the official result, whatever it is. If a team advances without playing, anyone who picked that team to win that game gets the points.

One entry per person, unless you decided otherwise up front and everyone knows.

Disputes. The commissioner decides, and the decision is final. The point is not to be right; it is to be finished.

What a pool plays for is the group’s business. If there is a prize, say what it is and how it is settled in the same message as the rules, between the players, and keep it out of the scoring. The standings should answer one question only: who picked best.