March Madness printable bracket: Download a free 2022 NCAA Tournament bracket PDF here

The 2022 NCAA Tournament is finally here, and what fun is March Madness without a bracket?

Fortunately, you've come to the right place. Sporting News has every type of college basketball fan covered with our 2022 NCAA Tournament bracket in printable, PDF form, complete with the full field of 68. Download it, print it, fill it out, trash talk your co-workers.

This year's tournament schedule begins with the First Four on March 15 in Dayton, Ohio. The Big Dance ramps up with the first and second rounds March 17-20 and concludes with the Final Four and national championship games April 2-4 in New Orleans.

In addition to the printable bracket below, you'll also find tips and tools to help you fill it out, including picks and analysis from TSN's expert writers.

Printable March Madness bracket 2022

Download Sporting News' printable NCAA Tournament bracket (PDF) by clicking here.

How to fill out a March Madness bracket

1. Your bracket will consist of 64 teams — after completion of the First Four play-in games — divided evenly among the West, Midwest, East and South regions.
2. The first round will be determined by the NCAA selection committee on a seeding system: A 1-seed (considered the best team in its region), will play a 16-seed (considered the worst), a 2-seed will play a 15-seed, and so on. Pick which team you expect to win the first round and have them advance to the second by writing their name on the ensuing matchup line.
3. From there, repeat the process until you have predicted the entire tournament throughout the first and second rounds, Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four and NCAA championship game.
4. Predict the score of the championship game as a final potential tiebreaker with anyone who may have the same score as you by the end of the tournament.

How does a March Madness bracket work?

The most common scoring method features one point for every correct prediction in the first round; two points for every prediction in the second round; four points for the Sweet 16; eight points for the Elite Eight; 16 points for the Final Four; and 32 points for picking the NCAA champion.

This scoring method places greater weight on correct predictions further into the tournament. For example, simply predicting the correct NCAA Tournament champion is worth as many points for your bracket (32) as a perfect first round. Keep this in mind as you make your picks.

First Four games are not typically used in scoring, which begins in Round 1. An incorrect prediction in any of the First Four play-in games will not result in penalties or lost points.

HISTORY OF UPSETS BY SEED:
15 vs. 2 | 14 vs. 3 | 13 vs. 4 | 12 vs. 5

March Madness bracket tips from SN's experts

So you've printed a bracket. Need a hand filling it out? Sporting News' staff of college basketball experts will fill out their own brackets on Selection Sunday, sharing the method to their madness. In the meantime, here's a list of tools you can use to win your office pool.

Bracket predictor tool: Our friends at TeamRankings offer a handy, free-to-use comparison tool to help fill out your bracket.

Beware the bracket busters: Think twice about picking the favorite opposite these eight underdogs with serious sleeper potential.

Play the odds when picking Final Four, national champs: Don't get cute. Your Final Four should include a lot of chalk.

2022 March Madness schedule

The 2022 NCAA Tournament begins March 15-16 with the First Four play-in games. The first and second rounds will be held from March 17-20 followed by the Sweet 16 (March 24-25) and Elite Eight (March 26-27) a week later. This year's Final Four will take place April 2-4 from New Orleans.

More NCAA Tournament news from Sporting News

Sporting News' 2021-22 college basketball All-Americans: SN's Mike DeCourcy names the 15 best players from the 2020-21 college basketball season.

Sporting News Player of the Year: Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe joins rare company as winner of the award, which dates all the way back to legends George Mikan (1945) and Bob Kurland (1946), carrying through repeat winners Oscar Robertson (1958-60) and Michael Jordan (1983 and 1984) to Kentucky’s one previous winner, Anthony Davis, in 2012.

Sporting News Coach of the Year: Providence's Ed Cooley turned around the program after a down 2020-21 season with a team of unheralded recruits, now atop the Big East. Does that sound like Coach of the Year material?

37 best teams that didn't win the NCAA Tournament: Sporting News picks teams from the past three decades that didn't deliver a title. Which was the best?

March Madness Cinderella players we'll never forget: Stephen Curry is among the greatest Cinderella players in March Madness history, but he's not No. 1 on our list.

Most hated college basketball players of all time: Sporting News looks at the most-hated college hoops players of all time. Don't worry, there is a lot of Duke on this list.

10 best schools without Final Four appearance: Who are the best schools that haven't made a Final Four since the 64-team era began in 1984-85?

Best college players who never made the NCAA Tournament: Say hello to Ben Simmons, Noah Vonleh, Nerlens Noel, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and others who watched March Madness on TV. It's quite a list.