How Bracket Frogs Works

Draft teams, own the bracket, and compete through our unique spread-based ownership system.

1. Draft & Ownership

Before the tournament begins, players join a pool and draft real NCAA tournament teams via snake draft. Each drafted team has a single owner. Teams not selected during the draft remain unowned.

Your goal: own the team that wins the championship. Ownership is visible on the bracket — each player gets a unique color shown as a border on their teams.

2. The Spread Rule (Steals)

This is what makes Bracket Frogs different. When two owned teams play each other, the point spread determines whether ownership can change hands:

✅
Favorite covers the spread — ownership stays put. The favored team's owner keeps their team and advances.
🔴
Favorite wins but doesn't cover — STEAL! Ownership of the winning team transfers to the underdog's owner. The favorite won the game but not convincingly enough.
🟢
Underdog wins outright — no steal. The underdog's owner keeps their team and advances normally.

Tie goes to the underdog — if the favorite wins by exactly the spread, ownership still transfers.

Steals & Byes in Action

Here's a real bracket showing both mechanics. Red outlines indicate steals. Notice how ownership changes between rounds.

East region bracket showing steals and byes across Round of 64 and Round of 32
STEAL

UConn vs Norfolk State

#1 UConn (Avery K.) was favored by 22 and won 68-46 — a margin of exactly 22. Tie goes to the underdog. Ownership transfers to Casey T. (Norfolk State's owner). In Round 2, UConn now shows Casey T. as the owner.

STEAL

Gonzaga vs UC Irvine

#5 Gonzaga (Charlie N.) was favored by 8 and won 66-63 — a margin of only 3. Doesn't cover. Ownership transfers to Casey T. (UC Irvine's owner). Gonzaga advances to Round 2 under Casey T.

STEAL

Iowa State vs Morehead State

#3 Iowa State (Casey T.) was favored by 17.5 and won 67-51 — a margin of 16. Doesn't cover. Ownership transfers to Avery K. (Morehead State's owner). Iowa State shows Avery K. in Round 2.

NO STEAL

Marquette vs Vermont

#4 Marquette (Avery K.) was favored by 11 and won 75-63 — a margin of 12. That covers the spread. No ownership transfer. Marquette advances to Round 2 still owned by Avery K.

3. Byes (Unowned Teams)

When an owned team faces an unowned team, it's a bye for the owner. The spread doesn't matter — the owner advances regardless of the outcome:

➡️
Owned team wins — the owner advances with their team, as usual.
➡️
Unowned team wins — the owner claims the winning team. The unowned team now belongs to them going forward. No team advances without an owner when there's a player on the other side.

In rare cases, two unowned teams may face each other (e.g., if nobody drafted a #1 seed that faces an undrafted #16 seed). The winner stays unowned until it meets an owned team in a later round, at which point that owner gets a bye.

4. Championship

The winner of the tournament is the player who owns the championship-winning team at the conclusion of the final game. Steals can happen all the way through the championship — the final spread still applies.

Placements: 1st place goes to the championship winner's owner, 2nd to the runner-up's owner, and co-3rd to the Final Four losers' owners. The same player can earn multiple placements if they own more than one team in the final rounds.

5. Platform Role

Bracket Frogs provides tournament management software only. The platform does not collect entry fees, hold funds, or distribute prizes.

All scoring, ownership transfers, and bracket advancements are applied automatically by the system using official final scores and publicly available spread data. Once a game is finalized, results and ownership transfers are final.