What is bracketology?
Bracketology is predicting the tournament before it exists. Fans and analysts guess the whole field. They guess every seed too.
A made-up science, proudly
NCAA.com gives the plain definition.
It is predicting the tournament field.
It is predicting every team's seed.
Some predictors also pick game winners.
The word itself is made up.
NCAA.com calls it a made-up ology.
It jokes: do not change majors.
The joke has lasted for decades.
The man who named it
One name towers over the rest.
Reports credit ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi.
He called himself a bracketologist first.
The Philadelphia Inquirer printed it in 1996.
His ESPN projections followed that year.
Fans now call him Joey Brackets.
He still updates brackets all season.
Dozens of rivals now publish theirs too.
What a bracketologist actually does
The job is mimicking the committee.
Predictors study the same team sheets.
They weigh quality wins and losses.
They watch the NET rankings closely.
They track bubble teams every week.
Every update is a mock bracket.
It fills all four regions fully.
It ends with the last four in.
NCAA.com runs its own predictions too.
Andy Katz files them all season.
His final 2019 prediction scored 67.
Just one picked team missed out.
Bracketology in the 76-team era
The old guides still say 68.
The 2027 field holds 76 teams.
Predictors now project eight more teams.
The bubble grows wider this year.
More edge teams get debated nightly.
Every projection still dies on Sunday.
The committee reveals the real field then.
Check the Selection Sunday 2027 date.
Five questions start it. You finish it.
Our picker opens on Selection Sunday, March 14, 2027. Five answers start your bracket. You can flip any pick. Free forever, no ads, no accounts.
Common questions
What is bracketology?
Bracketology is the practice of predicting which teams make the NCAA tournament field and how they are seeded, and sometimes who wins each game. NCAA.com calls it a made-up ology. In 2027, the field being predicted holds 76 teams.
Who invented bracketology?
Reports credit ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi. The word bracketologist appeared beside his name in The Philadelphia Inquirer in February 1996, and his bracket projections reached ESPN the same year. NCAA.com's own predictor is Andy Katz, whose final 2019 prediction named 67 of the 68 teams in the field.
More bracket basics
- How to fill out a March Madness bracket
- What is a March Madness bracket?
- How does bracket scoring work?
- What is a Cinderella team?
- When is Selection Sunday 2027?
- How often do upsets happen?
- What is a seed in March Madness?
- How to pick upsets
- What is March Madness?
- Has anyone ever had a perfect bracket?
- Fill out a bracket if you know nothing about basketball
- What is the Final Four?
- How many teams are in March Madness?
- What is the opening round in March Madness?
- What is the Sweet 16?
- What is the Elite Eight?
- How many games are in March Madness?
- What is an automatic bid?
- What is an at-large bid?
- What is a bubble team?
- How many rounds are in March Madness?
- What is the NIT?
- What is a conference tournament?
- What are NET rankings?
- What is a bid stealer?
- What is the selection committee?
- What is Wins Above Bubble?