Frequently Asked Questions

BracketForge is a free bracket prediction platform for NCAA tournament pools. It lets you create pools, invite friends, fill out brackets, and compete on live leaderboards — all without paying a cent. Learn more on our About page.

Yes. Every core feature — pool creation, custom scoring, bracket picking, live standings, commissioner tools, and member management — is completely free. Optional premium features add AI-powered insights and enhanced standings for users who want more.

Sign in to BracketForge, click "Create Pool" from your dashboard, configure your pool name, scoring rules, entry limits, and privacy settings. Then share the invite link with your group. The whole process takes about two minutes. See our getting started guide for a full walkthrough.

If someone shared an invite link, click it and sign in — you are in the pool immediately (or after entering the password for private pools). You can also browse the public pool directory to find open pools.

Yes. An account is required to create or join pools, submit bracket picks, and view standings. You can sign up with Google, Microsoft, Facebook, or email and password. Account creation takes about 30 seconds.

The official NCAA tournament bracket is announced on Selection Sunday, typically in mid-March. Once the bracket is released, BracketForge activates the bracket picker so you can start making your picks. Picks lock 10 minutes before the first game of Round 1.

Pool commissioners can set a maximum entry limit during pool creation. There is no platform-imposed limit — you can run a pool with 5 friends or 500 competitors. See our commissioner's guide for tips on managing larger pools.

Yes. During pool creation, you can add a password that participants must enter when joining via the invite link. This keeps your pool restricted to only the people you invite.

BracketForge provides entry fee tracking as a convenience tool for commissioners. You can mark members as paid or unpaid directly in the management interface. BracketForge does not collect, hold, or transmit any money — all payments happen directly between participants outside the platform.

Yes, if the commissioner enables it. When multiple entries are allowed, each participant can submit more than one bracket with different strategies. Each entry is scored independently on the standings page.

Commissioners can remove members from the pool management page. All removals are logged in the pool audit trail with a timestamp and reason, ensuring transparency for all participants.

The standard scoring system awards progressively more points in each round: 1 point in Round 1, 2 in Round 2, 4 in the Sweet 16, 8 in the Elite Eight, 16 in the Final Four, and 32 for the championship. Commissioners can customize this with round multipliers, seed bonuses, and underdog bonuses. See our scoring guide for full details.

Brackets lock automatically 10 minutes before the first game of Round 1. If you have not submitted your picks by the lock deadline, your bracket will be incomplete. BracketForge displays the exact lock time on the pool page, and we recommend setting a personal reminder.

BracketForge uses a six-dimensional tiebreaker cascade: total score, correct championship pick, correct Final Four picks, correct Elite Eight picks, correct Sweet Sixteen picks, and total correct picks. Read our tiebreaker guide for a detailed explanation of each level.

Max possible score (MPS) is the highest score your bracket could theoretically achieve if every remaining pick is correct. When your MPS drops below the current leader's score, you are mathematically eliminated from winning the pool. Learn more in our MPS explainer.

You can request account and data deletion through our data deletion page. We process all deletion requests promptly in compliance with applicable privacy regulations. You can also email general@bracketforge.app.

BracketForge collects the information needed to run your bracket pool: account details (name, email), bracket picks, pool memberships, and basic usage data. We do not sell user data or use invasive tracking. See our privacy policy for full details.

No. BracketForge is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the NCAA or any college, university, or athletic conference. Team names and logos are the property of their respective owners and are displayed for informational purposes only.