Here's how to fill out your March Madness bracket

College basketball fans and purveyors of No. 2 pencils alike, it's time to rejoice.The bracket is back.The NCAA's annual Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, known colloquially as March Madness. Related video above: Women's college basketball draws more viewers than men's basketballWhere to play First and foremost you'll need a home court for your entry — a place to submit your bracket once you've filled it out. All the usual sports suspects, from ESPN to CBS to Yahoo!, have free offerings for those looking to plug and play. And most sites do not place a limit on the number of entries, meaning you can fill out multiple brackets, and enhance your chance of pulling in a big prize. Additionally, these platforms all provide a space to host group pools, allowing friends, colleagues, and even that guy from accounting to compete against one another without ever having to step away from your WFH standing desk. What exactly am I looking at?Once you've picked the site, created a whimsical user name and chosen your password, it's time to get busy on the actual bracket. This is where the aforementioned No. 2 pencil will come in handy.To the uninitiated, the bracket is a 68-team traffic jam featuring, as hip-hop artist Canibus once said, "more lines than a African herd of zebras." But at its core, it's nothing more than a large, single-elimination basketball tournament. Win and advance, lose and go home. The first team to win six games (seven for a "First Four" team, more on that later) is crowned National Champion.When working your way through your bracket it's critical to note that games become more valuable as the tournament progresses. And in as much as the goal of the game is to accumulate as many points as possible and sink your opponents like a late-game free throw, you'll want to be careful when picking those teams you're counting on to make a deep run.Losing a bunch of games early doesn't necessarily spell doom; it all depends upon which teams lose, and how far through the gauntlet you surmised said teams would travel.Planting the seedsYou'll notice that each team boasts a number next to its name. Ranging from 1 to 16, these are the squads' seeds, which serve as a baseline indicator of the team's strength and prowess. The higher seeds (1, 2, etc.) are attached to the tournament's top teams, while a 16 or 15 seed is a decided underdog.As you begin breaking down your bracket, you'll quickly realize that multiple teams share the same seed. This is because the field is divided into four separate quadrants, with each region hosting teams seeded 1-16. The 16 teams in each of the four quadrants do battle amongst themselves over the course of the tournament's first four rounds, with the region champs all advancing to the coveted "Final Four." Try not to get upsetFor more than 30 years, the NCAA Tournament clung to one inevitability. Dating back to 1985, when the event expanded to include 64 teams, no No. 16 seed had ever upended a No. 1. But all that changed in 2018, when the 16th seeded Retrievers of UMBC shocked the No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers.And though a 16 topping a 1 still remains incredibly unlikely (1-139 all-time) there are a few early upsets we've come to count on.Four times over the course of the tournament's first two days, a No. 5 seed will take on a No. 12. But quite frequently, that No. 12 wins. In fact, 50 times — including three times in 2019 — a No. 5 seed has fallen to a school sporting a No. 12.What about the No. 11 vs. No. 6? Relying simply on seedings, this would again seem to be a mismatch. But don't be deterred by the double-digits: 37.14% of the time an 11-seed sends a 6-seed packing.The message here? Numbers do lie, sometimes. One cannot simply circle the lowest-seeded squad in each match up and expect universal excellence. Upsets do happen, and often with regularity. Remember, there's a reason they've nicknamed this March Madness.Once the four regions whittle down their combatants, only one team will emerge from each. This quartet of top teams moves on to the Final Four, with a pair of semifinals, and a Championship Game, still left to be played.These three games carry the most value in the bracket. If your teams have all been eliminated by this final weekend, it becomes impossible to add any points to your total, and thus very difficult to win. Those players who put one or two teams into the Final Four, and keep their champ alive the longest, often have the best chance. Stringing together a strategyBy this point, you have hopefully garnered a general understanding of how to go about filling in your bracket, what the seeds represent, and how to collect points. Now you must decide upon a selection strategy.Are you a homer who rides the "chalk" (the top-seeded teams)?Do you have personal ties to any of the schools, or states? Maybe it's the match-up of mascots that matters to you, meaning you favor the most ferocious kings of the jungle and forest dwellers.Then again, perhaps you're all about the college basketball blue bloods. Whether you're a wily March Madness veteran or a fresh-faced bracket newbie, the goal is largely the same: Get more games right than wrong, keep as many teams alive for as long as possible, and give yourself a puncher's chance heading into the Final Four.Our advice? Keep one eye on the seeds but don't get glued to the numbers. Toss in a few upsets, like wins from a No. 12 or an No. 11. And don't sweat the small stuff: An abysmal opening day can look a whole lot better a few rounds later.Say what now?Finally, there are some terms you ought to associate yourself with heading into the tourney. These are the cliched catchphrases you can expect to hear uttered ad nauseam between now and the time a champion is crowned.For the sake of simplicity, we've taken the liberty of defining a few below:"The Big Dance" — This is the NCAA tournament itself. It's the one event all teams clamor to earn an invite to, and as teams qualify, it will be said that they've "punched their ticket.""Cinderella" — The term is used to describe an underdog squad that has beaten the odds and knocked off one of the more highly regarded programs, much in the way Cinderella caught the attention of Prince Charming despite her step-sisters having a more polished pedigree. Note: If and when said Cinderella is eventually defeated and thus ousted from the tournament, it will be determined that the clock has struck midnight on the team, leaving behind little more than a shattered glass slipper and dreams of roundball royalty."The Sweet 16" — This refers to the final 16 teams left in the tournament. Win twice (thrice for First Four teams) and you reach the Sweet 16, a sign of a very solid season for most programs."The First Four" — In 2010 the NCAA Tournament expanded from 64 to 68 teams, giving four additional programs a chance to join the fun. As a result of the added teams, there are four play-in games held between Selection Sunday and the official first round, with the winners of these play-in games advancing into the field of 64."Cutting down the nets" — It has become tradition for the National Champion to climb atop a stepladder and ceremoniously scissor-cut individual pieces of the fabric nets from the basketball rims. The players and coaches will take turns, alternating snips, until all have snagged a souvenir to help remember the run to basketball history. And if you're real lucky (or just good) the team atop the ladder with the scissors will be the same team you pasted onto your page as National Champion.

College basketball fans and purveyors of No. 2 pencils alike, it's time to rejoice.

The bracket is back.

The NCAA's annual Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, known colloquially as March Madness.

Related video above: Women's college basketball draws more viewers than men's basketball

Where to play

First and foremost you'll need a home court for your entry — a place to submit your bracket once you've filled it out.

All the usual sports suspects, from ESPN to CBS to Yahoo!, have free offerings for those looking to plug and play. And most sites do not place a limit on the number of entries, meaning you can fill out multiple brackets, and enhance your chance of pulling in a big prize. Additionally, these platforms all provide a space to host group pools, allowing friends, colleagues, and even that guy from accounting to compete against one another without ever having to step away from your WFH standing desk.

What exactly am I looking at?

Once you've picked the site, created a whimsical user name and chosen your password, it's time to get busy on the actual bracket. This is where the aforementioned No. 2 pencil will come in handy.

To the uninitiated, the bracket is a 68-team traffic jam featuring, as hip-hop artist Canibus once said, "more lines than a African herd of zebras." But at its core, it's nothing more than a large, single-elimination basketball tournament. Win and advance, lose and go home. The first team to win six games (seven for a "First Four" team, more on that later) is crowned National Champion.

When working your way through your bracket it's critical to note that games become more valuable as the tournament progresses. And in as much as the goal of the game is to accumulate as many points as possible and sink your opponents like a late-game free throw, you'll want to be careful when picking those teams you're counting on to make a deep run.

Losing a bunch of games early doesn't necessarily spell doom; it all depends upon which teams lose, and how far through the gauntlet you surmised said teams would travel.

Planting the seeds

You'll notice that each team boasts a number next to its name. Ranging from 1 to 16, these are the squads' seeds, which serve as a baseline indicator of the team's strength and prowess. The higher seeds (1, 2, etc.) are attached to the tournament's top teams, while a 16 or 15 seed is a decided underdog.

As you begin breaking down your bracket, you'll quickly realize that multiple teams share the same seed. This is because the field is divided into four separate quadrants, with each region hosting teams seeded 1-16. The 16 teams in each of the four quadrants do battle amongst themselves over the course of the tournament's first four rounds, with the region champs all advancing to the coveted "Final Four."

Try not to get upset

For more than 30 years, the NCAA Tournament clung to one inevitability. Dating back to 1985, when the event expanded to include 64 teams, no No. 16 seed had ever upended a No. 1. But all that changed in 2018, when the 16th seeded Retrievers of UMBC shocked the No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers.

And though a 16 topping a 1 still remains incredibly unlikely (1-139 all-time) there are a few early upsets we've come to count on.

Four times over the course of the tournament's first two days, a No. 5 seed will take on a No. 12. But quite frequently, that No. 12 wins. In fact, 50 times — including three times in 2019 — a No. 5 seed has fallen to a school sporting a No. 12.

What about the No. 11 vs. No. 6? Relying simply on seedings, this would again seem to be a mismatch. But don't be deterred by the double-digits: 37.14% of the time an 11-seed sends a 6-seed packing.

The message here? Numbers do lie, sometimes. One cannot simply circle the lowest-seeded squad in each match up and expect universal excellence. Upsets do happen, and often with regularity. Remember, there's a reason they've nicknamed this March Madness.

Once the four regions whittle down their combatants, only one team will emerge from each. This quartet of top teams moves on to the Final Four, with a pair of semifinals, and a Championship Game, still left to be played.

These three games carry the most value in the bracket. If your teams have all been eliminated by this final weekend, it becomes impossible to add any points to your total, and thus very difficult to win. Those players who put one or two teams into the Final Four, and keep their champ alive the longest, often have the best chance.

Stringing together a strategy

By this point, you have hopefully garnered a general understanding of how to go about filling in your bracket, what the seeds represent, and how to collect points. Now you must decide upon a selection strategy.

Are you a homer who rides the "chalk" (the top-seeded teams)?

Do you have personal ties to any of the schools, or states?

Maybe it's the match-up of mascots that matters to you, meaning you favor the most ferocious kings of the jungle and forest dwellers.

Then again, perhaps you're all about the college basketball blue bloods.

Whether you're a wily March Madness veteran or a fresh-faced bracket newbie, the goal is largely the same: Get more games right than wrong, keep as many teams alive for as long as possible, and give yourself a puncher's chance heading into the Final Four.

Our advice? Keep one eye on the seeds but don't get glued to the numbers. Toss in a few upsets, like wins from a No. 12 or an No. 11. And don't sweat the small stuff: An abysmal opening day can look a whole lot better a few rounds later.

Say what now?

Finally, there are some terms you ought to associate yourself with heading into the tourney. These are the cliched catchphrases you can expect to hear uttered ad nauseam between now and the time a champion is crowned.

For the sake of simplicity, we've taken the liberty of defining a few below:

"The Big Dance" — This is the NCAA tournament itself. It's the one event all teams clamor to earn an invite to, and as teams qualify, it will be said that they've "punched their ticket."

"Cinderella" — The term is used to describe an underdog squad that has beaten the odds and knocked off one of the more highly regarded programs, much in the way Cinderella caught the attention of Prince Charming despite her step-sisters having a more polished pedigree. Note: If and when said Cinderella is eventually defeated and thus ousted from the tournament, it will be determined that the clock has struck midnight on the team, leaving behind little more than a shattered glass slipper and dreams of roundball royalty.

"The Sweet 16" — This refers to the final 16 teams left in the tournament. Win twice (thrice for First Four teams) and you reach the Sweet 16, a sign of a very solid season for most programs.

"The First Four" — In 2010 the NCAA Tournament expanded from 64 to 68 teams, giving four additional programs a chance to join the fun. As a result of the added teams, there are four play-in games held between Selection Sunday and the official first round, with the winners of these play-in games advancing into the field of 64.

"Cutting down the nets" — It has become tradition for the National Champion to climb atop a stepladder and ceremoniously scissor-cut individual pieces of the fabric nets from the basketball rims. The players and coaches will take turns, alternating snips, until all have snagged a souvenir to help remember the run to basketball history. And if you're real lucky (or just good) the team atop the ladder with the scissors will be the same team you pasted onto your page as National Champion.