Printable NCAA Tournament Bracket 2015: Downloadable Sheet, Tips for Best Picks

Get your work done and impress your boss now because Thursday and Friday are for college basketball and the NCAA tournament.

The 2015 bracket for the Big Dance is officially set, and there are a number of intriguing early matchups and fascinating storylines to follow. In the coming weeks, we will find out whether Kentucky is truly as immortal as it looked for most of the season, whether there are any Cinderellas in the field and whether the No. 1 seeds will live up to their billing.

With that in mind, here is a look at some critical schedule and bracket information before digging into a few general tips for filling out your bracket this season.

All Your Bracket Essentials

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Bracket

Schedule

Date	Event	Location	TV
March 17-18	First Round	Dayton	truTV
March 19, 21	Second and Third Rounds	Jacksonville, Louisville, Pittsburgh and Portland	CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV
March 20, 22	Second and Third Rounds	Columbus, Charlotte, Omaha and Seattle	CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV
March 26, 28	Midwest Regional (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)	Cleveland	CBS and TBS
March 26, 28	West Regional (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)	Los Angeles	CBS and TBS
March 27, 29	South Regional (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)	Houston	CBS and TBS
March 27, 29	East Regional (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)	Syracuse	CBS and TBS
April 4	National Semifinals	Indianapolis	TBS
April 6	Championship Game	Indianapolis	CBS

Tips

Don’t Get Your Hopes Up

This may not be a fun tip, but don’t get your hopes up for a perfect bracket. In fact, you probably have a better chance at dropping everything right now and heading out to win the lottery.

Lizzie Johnson of the Chicago Tribune noted that DePaul University math professor Jeff Bergens calculated out that there is less than a one in 9.2 quintillion chance at filling out a perfect bracket. That is one in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808.

I’ll give you a minute to digest that number.

Bergen discussed his discovery, via Johnson of the Chicago Tribune:

"

The size of the number astounds people. It's just not going to happen…What I would like people to realize, even though it's hard to get a perfect bracket, is that as long as you're having fun and winning your office pool, it doesn't matter. Perfection is nice, but there are lots of ways to have fun.

"

That may be the best tip of all—have some fun with it and don’t stress out when one of your picks lose because it is bound to happen.

Go With No. 15 Seeds Before No. 16 Seeds

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

As I said, have some fun with the bracket, but don’t go crazy. A No. 16 seed is not going to beat a No. 1 seed, unless this is a historical year.

After all, it has never happened in a round of 64 contest in tournament history, although some teams have come close. If you want to pick a shocking upset, stick with the No. 15 seeds given recent history.

A No. 15 seed has actually knocked off a No. 2 seed seven different times, including Florida Gulf Coast over Georgetown in 2013, Lehigh over Duke in 2012 and Norfolk State over Missouri in 2012. 

At least base your monumental upset picks off of recent precedent.

Don’t Pick All No. 1 Seeds

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

Simply put, the No. 1 seeds just don’t all steamroll through the NCAA tournament and meet each other in the Final Four.

In fact, that has only happened one time since the field expanded in 1985 (2008), even though it seems like it should happen far more often. After all, these are the No. 1 seed we are talking about, and they were given that designation for a reason. 

ESPN Stats & Info pointed out that it has been rough sledding for those top seeds in recent tournaments:

In the one-and-done nature of the postseason, all it takes is one off-night from a top seed to go home. Chances are, at least one of those No. 1 seeds will experience an off-night before the Final Four.

Flip a Coin for No. 8 vs. No. 9

It certainly makes sense on the surface considering there is a single spot of separation between the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds in the bracket, but the results of these contests are anyone’s guess.

Brad Evans of Yahoo Sports pointed out that No. 9 seeds have won 50.8 percent of the opening-round matchups in the modern tournament era, with No. 8 seeds taking home 49.2 percent. 

Perhaps you should just flip a coin this year.

Pay Attention to Free Throws

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

Nobody pays attention to free throws until teams cost themselves games with critical misses. Make sure you make a note of them before the tournament actually starts.

Reid Cherner of USA Today pointed out before last year’s tournament that only seven national champions shot less than 70 percent from the charity stripe since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. 

In short, do your homework and know which teams will hit their important free throws when they matter most.