There are plenty of bracket applications for you to choose from for all your March Madness needs, so take your pick and let the filling out begin.
Also check out our March Madness giveaway for a chance to win an Axiom Epic Grand Master 500 speaker system.
And so it begins. March Madness is officially here, and that means it’s time to fill out your brackets. Now you could create your own, tack them to a wall, and engage in some overzealous research. Or, you could get with the times and manage it all on one site with the click of a mouse. Here are the choice spots for all your bracket needs. Pick yours and bookmark it now – we all know you’re about to log some serious time on the site.
ESPN
ESPN’s bracket service is free, as are many of its competitors, and allows users to easily pick teams and set up their own competitive leagues. True devotees of the Big Dance can pay for premium features if they want to go the whole nine yards, but anyone trying to save a dime will find themselves privy to plenty of content. Of course it doesn’t hurt that there is a cash incentive as well: Score the most points out of all registrants and win $10,000. Second place takes home $5,000 as well.
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is easily one of the most popular online bracket managers, and it offers a slew of features some sites ask you to pay for. You can determine the rules of your league, engage in trash talk, and set up a private URL. Of course, what it really brings to the table is the ability to simultaneously keep an eye on your bracket while streaming live games on the site with the help of NCAA March Madness OnDemand. CBS also has Bracket Challenge so you can see how you stack up against Bracket holders nationwide.
Yahoo
Yahoo has one of the more impressive systems available, especially for anyone who isn’t terribly clued into college basketball or is filling out a bracket for the first time. For starters, Yahoo lets you create unsaved brackets, so you can stay as noncommittal as you want. It also gives you step by step instructions through the process, eventually instructing you to choose a group, be it one with friends and coworkers or even strangers. It also offers a bevy of research and background, and has a Scenario Generator feature for discovering your bracket’s potential.
NCAA
Traditionalists might feel drawn to the NCAA’s official bracket based on principle alone. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that some of the competing sites do, but filling out your bracket is extremely easy, and the site does feature a clean, easy-on-the-eyes layout. And with all the hours you’ll spend monitoring the thing, it could come in handy.
NBC
If you’re initially scared off by the overwhelming UI, stay a moment longer to check out what NBC has to offer. Yes, there’s a lot of information everywhere, including MLB, NHL, and NBA stats (to which we say, come on, NBC, get a separate domain for your bracket site), but you do have some options. You can create a bracket and enter into a competitive group of your choice, or go old school and create a tangible one. You can fill it out on the site or print it out blank and do it by hand to begin with.
CBS Sports Facebook app
Are you a multitasker and a Facebook junkie? Then we have the bracket site for you. The CBS Sports Facebook app lets you control your bracket without ever leaving the social network. Of course, that means it comes with your typical Facebook distractions, but if that’s a sacrifice you’re willing to make you can check out your scoreboard, teams, what groups your competing in, and set up your bracket. And if you’re going head to head against Facebook friends, it might even save you creating yet another account.
