March Madness 2025 Printable Bracket – Free Download & Guide
March is here, and you know what that means: March Madness is about to tip off! Basketball fans everywhere know the excitement of the NCAA Tournament—the buzzer-beaters, the Cinderella stories, and, of course, the beloved tradition of filling out a tournament bracket.
If you’re a die-hard college hoops aficionado or just joining in on the fun at the office pool, there’s something magical about predicting the winners of each game. That’s why we want to get you geared up for the 2025 NCAA tournament with a free March Madness 2025 printable bracket! You can download and print your very own bracket to make your picks follow along! And as a bonus, you also get a guide on how to use it.
Get ready for a rundown of what March Madness is all about, how to watch the games, tips for making your picks, and everything else that you need to enjoy the NCAA tourney!!
Download our March Madness 2025 Printable Bracket
What Is March Madness?
March Madness is the nickname for the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, a high-stakes championship that captivates the nation every spring. It’s a single-elimination tournament featuring 68 teams competing in a bracket format to crown a national champion. Basically, the 68 college teams (32 automatic bids for conference champions and 36 at-large bids) are placed into a giant bracket and face off in seven rounds of do-or-die games. Lose once and you’re out—win and you advance to the next round, all the way to the Final Four and the championship game. The 2025 tournament begins on March 18, 2025, with the “First Four” play-in games, and will finish up with the title game on April 7, 2025.
What makes March Madness really special isn’t just the format—it’s the nationwide fan frenzy it inspires. A huge part of that excitement comes from bracketology, the art (or guessing game!) of predicting the tournament’s outcomes. In the days running up to the tournament, millions of fans fill out their own brackets, all trying to predict which teams will advance in each round. It’s estimated that every year between 60 million and 100 million tournament brackets are filled out by fans hoping to predict the results.
Offices, families, and friends all organize bracket pools, turning the tournament into a friendly competition for bragging rights (and sometimes prizes). And although everyone is fantasizing about picking a perfect bracket, we have to burst your bubble—no one has ever achieved a perfect bracket in modern tournament history. The odds of correctly predicting every one of the 67 games are astronomically low, which is why March Madness is so unpredictable and fun. Upsets happen every year, the favored teams can fall, and your bracket can bust by day two—but that’s all part of the excitement!
Filling out a bracket is basically a challenge to guess the winners of all those games before the tournament starts. It’s a major part of the March Madness experience because it gets everyone—from hardcore fans to casual viewers— invested in every game. Even if your alma mater or fav team isn’t in the tournament, having a bracket gives you a reason to cheer (or cry) for the underdogs and powerhouses.
How to Use Our March Madness 2025 Printable Bracket
Tracking your picks for March Madness is half of the fun, and our printable 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket makes it really easy to do! If you’re competing in an office pool, betting with friends, or want to see if you can be the first person to pick a perfect bracket (God speed), our step-by-step guide will get you set up!
Step-by-Step Guide
- Download the Bracket – Grab your free March Madness 2025 printable bracket here and save it to your device.
- Print It Out – Get a hard copy so you can physically fill in your picks. If you want to be digital, you can use a PDF editor to type in your selections.
- Fill in Your Picks for Each Round – Start with the First Four matchups, then move through the First Round, Second Round, Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, and the National Championship. Write the teams you predict will advance in each round.
- Follow the Tournament – Keep your bracket handy as the games happen. Cross out the incorrect picks and highlight your winning selections. This makes it way easier to track how well your predictions hold up.
- Compete with Friends & Betting Pools – Compare brackets with friends, family, or co-workers. If you’re in a pool, follow the scoring system and see who’s coming out on top as the madness unfolds.
Our bracket includes all team slots and game rounds, from the First Four to the National Championship on April 7 in San Antonio, TX. So, print yours out, make your picks, and enjoy the tournament!
Where to Watch & Follow the Tournament
One of the best things about March Madness? The games are all broadcast across multiple channels and streaming platforms! Don’t worry; you won’t miss a second of the action. Below is how you can watch and follow the 2025 NCAA tournament:
TV Broadcasts (Cable/Satellite)
All March Madness games will be televised on four major networks: CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV. These channels share coverage throughout the tournament, especially in the first rounds when games happen simultaneously. CBS and Turner Sports (which operates TBS, TNT, truTV) have long been the broadcast partners for the tournament, so by flipping between these channels, you can catch every matchup. Key games like the Final Four and National Championship often air on CBS (which is free over-the-air in most areas with an antenna).
Official Live Stream (NCAA March Madness Live)
The NCAA has an official streaming service called March Madness Live. The app/website lets you live-stream every tournament game—it’s available on the NCAA’s website and as an app on smartphones, tablets, and smart TV devices. The catch is that you typically need to log in with your TV provider credentials (cable, satellite, or live TV streaming login) for unlimited access. The March Madness Live app is a fan favorite because you can watch any game, switch between close finishes, and get highlight alerts. According to the NCAA, March Madness Live will stream every game of the tournament on the web and supported mobile/TV devices, so it’s one of the best ways to follow the action, especially if you’re not at home.
Streaming Services
If you’ve cut the cable cord, do not panic! There are some streaming TV services that carry the channels that you need. Options like YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, DirecTV Stream, Sling TV, or FuboTV have packages that include CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV. Hulu + Live TV’s base plan includes all four channels, which means that you can stream every game live.
Another budget-friendly approach some fans used in 2024 was combining Paramount+ (for CBS games) with Max (which had live streams of TNT/TBS/truTV via a sports add-on)—but check what’s available in 2025. A lot of services have free trials for new subscribers, which could cover you through a good chunk of the tournament. Just be mindful of subscription costs if you do end up keeping them.
Radio and Live Scores
If you can’t watch live video (like if you’re driving, please be safe and do NOT do this), you can still follow the games via radio or live stats. Westwood One typically provides national radio broadcasts of March Madness games (check local sports radio affiliates or the TuneIn app). And the NCAA’s official website and sports apps like ESPN will have live score updates, play-by-play, and statistics. You can also get real-time score notifications on your phone for close games. And we can’t forget social media—following hashtags like #MarchMadness or your favorite team’s handle on X can keep you in the loop with highlights and reactions in real time.
Tips for Filling Out Your Bracket
Sorry, but we don’t have a foolproof strategy (there isn’t one, otherwise we’d all have perfect brackets), but we do have some tips to consider that can make your bracket competitive and fun!
High-seeded teams (those ranked #1, #2, #3 in each region) are top seeds for a reason—they’re the strongest in the field. It’s common for #1 seeds to win their first-round games (in fact, a #16 seed had never beaten a #1 until a shocking upset in 2018, and it’s happened only twice ever). So, generally, you’re safe advancing #1 and #2 seeds at least a round or two. Usually, at least one #1 seed makes the Final Four each year. If you’re looking to maximize correct picks, lean on the favorites in the early rounds. Historical data backs this up—#12 seeds are dangerous, but #1 seeds win over 99% of their first games, and #2 seeds also have a very high success rate in Round 1. It’s not guaranteed, but playing it safe with elite teams early on is usually the best bet.
One of the most exciting parts of March Madness is predicting upsets—when a lower-seeded “underdog” team beats a higher-seeded favorite. It happens every year! In particular, keep an eye on those #12 vs #5 seed matchups in the first round. Historically, #12 seeds have won roughly 35% of their games against #5 seeds , which means almost every tournament sees a 12-over-5 upset (some years we get multiple). Picking a couple of 12-seeds or 11-seeds to advance can set your bracket apart. And don’t be afraid to pick a big upset or two: maybe a #13 seed surprises a #4, or a #15 seed shocks a #2. Remember in 2022 when tiny Saint Peter’s University, a #15 seed, made an incredible run all the way to the Elite Eight ? Those Cinderella stories are what make March Madness legendary. Don’t go overboard and have every underdog win (that will wreck your bracket’s accuracy), definitely sprinkle in a few upset picks in the early rounds.
If you want to get more analytical about it, look at team statistics and background. Sometimes a team might have a gaudy win-loss record but played an easy schedule, or a lower-seeded team might be under-ranked due to early-season struggles but is peaking at the right time. Look at things like offensive and defensive efficiency, how teams performed against strong opponents, or if they have star players who can take over games. Also consider coaching experience—experienced coaches usually find ways to win in March. And check if any main players are injured or if a team had a strong conference tournament run. All of these little details can inform your gut feeling on tight matchups. You don’t have to be a stats guru, but some research can help you decide those tough 8 vs 9 or 7 vs 10 games that could go either way.
In the week of Selection Sunday and leading up to the tournament, every sports outlet releases their predictions and “bracket picks.” Websites like ESPN, CBS Sports, and others will have their analysts post full bracket predictions or lists of trendy upset picks, and these will give you better insight into the teams to watch! Maybe a popular sleeper pick this year is a #11 seed with a strong defense, or maybe everyone’s bullish on a certain #2 seed to go all the way. But no expert has ever had a perfect bracket, either! Use their advice as guidance, not as gospel. This is YOUR bracket, so make sure your picks reflect your own hunches and knowledge. Part of the fun is making bold calls and seeing if they pan out. You won’t have anyone to blame but yourself (or thank, if you nailed it)!
Have Fun and Embrace the Madness: This is the most important tip of all. March Madness is totally unpredictable, and that’s why we love it. The odds of crafting a flawless bracket are basically zero, so don’t stress out about mistakes. By the round of 32, almost everyone’s bracket will have red ink and strikeouts. Maybe your national champion pick gets knocked out early. Okay, then switch gears and root for the underdog who beat them! The goal of filling out a bracket isn’t just to win a pool or beat your friends; it’s to make it more fun. When you have a bracket, every upset is exciting (unless it destroys your picks, in which case it’s still kind of exciting because, wow, upset!). If your bracket is a total bust, you can even print a fresh one for the Sweet 16 and play along anew for the later rounds because why not? There are no bracket police!
Get Your Free March Madness 2025 Printable Bracket
Are you ready for the madness? We are! We’ve already downloaded, printed, and started to make our March Madness picks. You should get started, too! You don’t want to miss out on the fun, do you?
Of course you don’t. And that’s why you should download the bracket and share it with your friends—the more, the merrier during March Madness!
Download our March Madness 2025 Printable Bracket
Conclusion: Who Will Win It All? Make Your Picks Now!
March Madness 2025 is poised to be an unforgettable ride! It will be, as it always is, a whirlwind of slam dunks, dramatic upsets, and triumphs that will have the whole country talking.
From the first tip-off to the final buzzer of the championship, the tournament brings a truly distinct excitement that always lives up to its “Madness” moniker.
We hope that our guide has you feeling prepped and ready to join in the fun! Remember to download and print your 2025 NCAA bracket if you haven’t done so yet, so you can follow every up and down of the tournament. Filling out a bracket turns you from a mere spectator into a part of the story.
Share your picks and your bold predictions in the comments—who do you have winning it all this year?
The beauty of March Madness is the community it builds; tens of millions of us are experiencing the same highs and lows together, both the celebrations and the agony of an upset ruining our Final Four. But it’s all in good fun! Here’s to the next few weeks of college hoops excitement—may your bracket survive as long as possible, may your underdogs bark loudly, and may you enjoy every moment of the Madness.
You can check out the latest updates, insights, and betting tips throughout the tournament on GamblingSite.com!
