When Do Brackets Lock For March Madness
- The 2020 NCAA Tournament kicks off with Selection Sunday on March 14th. The first basketball tips on March 18th with the First Four matchups, and wraps up on April 5th with the National Championship game. We'll be breaking down brackets, odds, and picks, while offering plenty of predictions for March Madness.
- The Big 12 Conference released the 2021 football schedules. Here's who UT will be playing next season.
Look around and you’re bound to find any number of “surefire” tips on how to build the perfect March Madness bracket. The truth is, since no one’s ever done that before, no one can really tell you how. Of course, that stops exactly no one from swearing the system they employ will help you build a better March Madness bracket this year. Some of the most common tips you’ll find:
- Pick from power conferences only
- Pick teams with “primetime” players
- Pick the teams with the best offenses
- Pick the teams with the best defenses
- Pick at least one No. 12 seed
What you won’t see often is that the best advice for picking a better March Madness bracket actually comes from Vegas sportsbooks themselves rather than Jay Bilas or Dick Vitale. And it’s all available for you to use for free.
Think you can beat everyone with your March Madness picks? Get your bracket set for the 2021 NCAA Basketball Tournament. Compete and win prizes at CBSSports.com.
When Do Brackets Lock For March Madness
What are the Vegas odds on March Madness?
When you look at March Madness futures and game odds from Vegas sportsbooks, you’ll see who the real favorites are to run deep in the NCAA Tournament. Even better than tournament seeding itself, Vegas odds give a clear picture of each team’s real chances of winning it all and how deep you can expect them to advance.
Why? We’ll explain more below. But it’s the best bracket building advice you’ll likely find. Since most legal online sportsbooks across the US post the same (or similar) March Madness odds as they do in Vegas, it’s also easy to find right here in our odds feed below. These are up-to-date posted odds at legal online sportsbooks in every betting state. They’re more often than not identical to the Vegas odds. Use the drop-down menu on the right to change your state, or the menu on the left to flip through various odds boards.
Large March Madness Bracket
To actually bet on any March Madness game, click on the odds and you’ll jump to the in-state sportsbook to claim your bonus and open a new account. Otherwise you can just use the NCAA March Madness Vegas odds as a guide for your bracket picks.