Perfect March Madness Bracket: Medium Pools (2025)

Call me fortunate because we finally have a March Madness bracket. It’s that time of the year again. At last, we can fill out brackets and let our hopes soar, only to see them dashed almost immediately.

This article focuses on tips tailored for medium tournament pools — those with your whole company, high school or college friends or a general public pool. Any amount between 50-500 people. The strategy for a medium pool is to get a bit riskier but don’t go too crazy, there are still plenty of ways to differentiate your bracket. Here’s more to help you build the Perfect March Madness Bracket for Medium Pools.

2025 NCAA Tournament March Madness Bracket Strategy & Betting Picks

Perfect March Madness Bracket for Medium Pools

It’s that time of year again, March Madness has finally returned. One of the most exciting aspects is this week leading up to the tip-off of the games when you have to fill out your bracket. If you’re like me, you will stress over every little decision. If you aren’t like me, you will trust my advice and use this article to build your brackets.

Pick the Right Champion

Picking the right champion is the easiest way to win your bracket. I mentioned this in the smaller pool tips article — over the last 26 seasons, 24 champions have started the tournament with a top-20 offense and a top-40 defense on Selection Sunday, according to KenPom. These teams include:

Duke (3, 4)
Florida (1, 10)
Houston (10, 2)
Auburn (2, 12)
Tennessee (18, 3)
Alabama (4, 32)
Texas Tech (6, 37)
Gonzaga (9, 29)
Iowa State (20, 9)
Wisconsin (13, 27)
Arizona (12, 33)

That’s it. Your champion is almost guaranteed to come from this list. This is a much bigger group than in years past because more teams are good now, but we can tidy it up even more.

Over the last seven years, among the two teams ranked one and two in efficiency from February 1st to Selection Sunday on Bart Torvik, at least one of those teams made the championship or won it all. Those two teams are Duke and Florida. Pretty solid options. I don’t want to guarantee that both teams are making the championship, but it would not be a surprise if either team did.

Take Early Risks

In 14 of the past 15 tournaments, at least one top-four seed has lost in the first round of the tournament. Last year that was Auburn (No. 4) and Kentucky (No. 3). If there is a team you think might lose early, maybe you don’t have to pick a big upset in the first round but have them lose before the second weekend to take a less risky route. Maybe a team like Purdue.

Furthermore, a double-digit seed has advanced to the Sweet 16 in 16 straight tournaments and 36 of the last 38. Find a double-digit seed you like or an opponent you don’t, and find a team to follow that trend. Some options include Colorado State, UC San Diego and VCU.

Keep Your Final Four Simple

The points come from the meatier part of the bracket. If you can get three of the four right, that should be enough to secure a victory or at least a top finish in your pool. The risks taken earlier in the bracket will allow your bracket to differentiate from the rest of the field and set you up for success in taking down your pool

If you are inexperienced, I have a bracket you can copy and paste into your pool for your liking. It is pretty chalky but keeps it simple and should give a solid floor for winning your bracket pool.