March Madness 2025: The Dos and Don’ts for filling out your NCAA Tournament bracket
March Madness is finally here and Mackenzie Salmon has tips to help you fill out your NCAA Tournament bracket.
Sports Pulse
When it comes to the March Madness pool, the entire Winkler family is in on the action, including the four-legged members.
“We always consider our pets are family members. When we have a dog, we want to give him a chance to win,” Vince Wikler told USA TODAY in an interview Monday.
That love of the family dog led the Winklers, fans of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, to fill out March Madness brackets since at least 2008 and since 2014, the canine brackets have been a staple of the College Basketball subreddit.
Winkler said that the dog bracket was an example of the appeal of March Madness beyond those who are traditional college basketball fans.
“The winner is, and this is a true for every family I know, rarely the person who is most knowledgeable or invested in basketball. Everyone gets a level playing field,” Winkler said.
Last year, Ripley − the dog currently “responsible” for the brackets − correctly picked the UConn Huskies to cut down the nets but ended up second as another family member also picked Dan Hurley’s juggernaut.
How the March Madness dog bracket works
The formula for creating the dog bracket goes as follows:
- Dog mascot beats wolf mascot
- Wolf mascot beats 99% of all other mascots
- 99% of all other mascots beat bird mascots
- Bird mascots beat cat mascots
The formula can be modified to fit a particular pup and Winkler encourages it. In 2024, Reddit user BobRoberts01 posted that “food” is what beats all other mascots, followed by, “people who aren’t delivering things to the front door.”
Winkler has recognized that the selection criteria leaves the dog bracket highly dependent on a handful of teams.
“If a dog team wins it helps a lot, but they don’t have a lot of depth,” Winkler said.
The dogs won the pool in 2011 and 2014, earning them a steak in lieu of the human’s prize a dinner at a chosen restaurant.
Winkler said that at times it is easier to accept being bested by the dog bracket.
“I can’t get angry at the dog because at least they’ve got a formula. They followed their formula and they were loyal to their heart and ended up winning,” Winkler said. “Whereas when a friend of mine picks UMBC over Virginia, a 16 (seed) over a one (seed) because they like the dog team or whatever, I’m a little spiteful towards my friend for reveling in my good for my misfortune when my champion goes down in round one.”
This year the official Winkler dog bracket, filled out again by Ripley, sees the No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers win the big dance.
March Madness keeps pet memories alive
In the interview, Winkler recalled fond memories of the collection of dogs, all of whom were either from a rescue or pound, who participated in the madness.
There was Wesley, who had a knack for escaping the family backyard and terrorizing neighboring cats while entertaining neighbors, Tesla − named for the inventor − who would play with a tiger ball while relishing in the gaze of an audience, and Omar, the retired racing greyhound that loved the snow.
Winkler said that the brackets keep family memories of the departed pets alive.
“It’s a tribute to the dogs that my family has had,” Winkler said. “It’s a way to show respect to all of them. It’s as much a tribute to my family members as it is to the dogs.”
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