- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,153,030
- Reaction score
- 59
There are many ways to win March Madness. For some, it’s being in the tournament and, you know, actually winning it. For others, it’s winning in your bracket pool that you athletically pored over from your couch. For others, maybe it’s the friends they made along the way. But there’s another way to win March Madness, and that’s having the best bracket name in your bracket pool.
It’s not exactly the most important thing about March Madness, but it’s definitely the most controllable thing about March Madness, considering that a perfect bracket is a statistical Holy Grail, and that you have no control over who busts whose brackets.
Clever bracket pool names are a time-honored tradition, with the best bracket names drawing on tournament terminology (like teams, mascots, coaches, players) and often blending it with recognizable pop culture (like movies, songs, memes, trends). So, in honor of this tradition, we polled The Athletic staff and came up with a list of our favorite bracket names for this year’s tournament. We’ll break it down into men’s and women’s for each of your brackets, plus a general category that works for both.
Let’s kick this thing off with Billboard Top 100 songs, Oscar nominees, Taylor Swift references and even a little Shakespeare.
One Bracket After Another
There Will Be Blue Bloods
Song Sung Blue Bloods
Bracket to the Future
The Ides of March Madness
Yes, UConn
No, UConn’t
Bracketed Rivalry
Permission to Dance
The Life of a (insert team nickname)
Now we’re getting into some real specifics with your brackets. Maybe start with your championship team’s mascot, coach or star player. Or just mix it up with a movie or pop culture reference that fits with any term from the tournament.
Below we have some options based on Duke’s Cam Boozer, the Michigan State Spartans, Kansas, Duke coach Jon Scheyer, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, Florida Gators coach Todd Golden and star Boogie Fland, the GonZAGa Bulldogs, Alabama mixed with a topical NBA star, Texas and Arkansas coach John Calipari.
Add in some Billboard Top 100, movie titles, song lyrics, famous quotes, common phrases and you’ve got yourself a lot of bracket names.
Top Shelf Boozer
Boozer Cruise
Don’t Snooze on the Booze
Cam I Kick It? (You, you Cam!)
Cam-pionship Material
Sparty Supreme
KU Demon Hunters
Scheyer’s Fire
Duketopia
Lloyd of the Championship Rings
Stay Gold(en), Ponyboy
Gonna Be, Gonna Be Golden
Guzzlin’ GATOR-Aid
Zags to Riches
Boogie Nights and Days
AlabamAdebayo
Choosin’ Texas
Calipari Dreamin’
Everyone watches women’s sports, and everyone can have a sick women’s tournament bracket name! We’re sticking with movies, songs, pop culture references and slang and mixing it up with the constellation of luminaries from the women’s side.
Below we’ve got legendary UConn coach Geno Auriemma, TCU star Olivia Miles, UCLA vet Lauren Betts, LSU icon and head coach Kim Mulkey, three-time champion head coach Dawn Staley, UCLA coach Cori Close, LSU superstar and rapper Flau’jae Johnson, South Carolina Gamecocks sophomore Joyce Edwards, and Notre Dame star guard Hannah Hidalgo.
Geno’s 13th Symphony
I Would Walk 500 Olivia Miles
All Betts are Off
Mulkey Supreme
KimPossible
Mulkey Waters Ahead
Geno 911!
At a Staleymate
For Auriemma, Forever Ago
Come Be The WoMan I Need
Seated Rivalry
Cori Close Encounters
Dawn of the Dead
UCL-A-List
Flau’Jae Z: I’m a Business, Woman!
Miles Above the Rest
Joyce to the World
Hidalgoing, Going, Gone!
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Connecticut Huskies, Duke Blue Devils, Michigan State Spartans, Kansas Jayhawks, Texas Longhorns, Arizona Wildcats, Florida Gators, Alabama Crimson Tide, Arkansas Razorbacks, Gonzaga Bulldogs, UCLA Bruins, South Carolina Gamecocks, Connecticut Huskies, LSU Lady Tigers, Texas Longhorns, Men's College Basketball, Women's College Basketball, Culture, Sports Betting
2026 The Athletic Media Company
Continue reading...
It’s not exactly the most important thing about March Madness, but it’s definitely the most controllable thing about March Madness, considering that a perfect bracket is a statistical Holy Grail, and that you have no control over who busts whose brackets.
Clever bracket pool names are a time-honored tradition, with the best bracket names drawing on tournament terminology (like teams, mascots, coaches, players) and often blending it with recognizable pop culture (like movies, songs, memes, trends). So, in honor of this tradition, we polled The Athletic staff and came up with a list of our favorite bracket names for this year’s tournament. We’ll break it down into men’s and women’s for each of your brackets, plus a general category that works for both.
Best general March Madness bracket names
Let’s kick this thing off with Billboard Top 100 songs, Oscar nominees, Taylor Swift references and even a little Shakespeare.
One Bracket After Another
There Will Be Blue Bloods
Song Sung Blue Bloods
Bracket to the Future
The Ides of March Madness
Yes, UConn
No, UConn’t
Bracketed Rivalry
Permission to Dance
The Life of a (insert team nickname)
Best men’s tournament bracket names
Now we’re getting into some real specifics with your brackets. Maybe start with your championship team’s mascot, coach or star player. Or just mix it up with a movie or pop culture reference that fits with any term from the tournament.
Below we have some options based on Duke’s Cam Boozer, the Michigan State Spartans, Kansas, Duke coach Jon Scheyer, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, Florida Gators coach Todd Golden and star Boogie Fland, the GonZAGa Bulldogs, Alabama mixed with a topical NBA star, Texas and Arkansas coach John Calipari.
Add in some Billboard Top 100, movie titles, song lyrics, famous quotes, common phrases and you’ve got yourself a lot of bracket names.
Top Shelf Boozer
Boozer Cruise
Don’t Snooze on the Booze
Cam I Kick It? (You, you Cam!)
Cam-pionship Material
Sparty Supreme
KU Demon Hunters
Scheyer’s Fire
Duketopia
Lloyd of the Championship Rings
Stay Gold(en), Ponyboy
Gonna Be, Gonna Be Golden
Guzzlin’ GATOR-Aid
Zags to Riches
Boogie Nights and Days
AlabamAdebayo
Choosin’ Texas
Calipari Dreamin’
Best women’s tournament bracket names
Everyone watches women’s sports, and everyone can have a sick women’s tournament bracket name! We’re sticking with movies, songs, pop culture references and slang and mixing it up with the constellation of luminaries from the women’s side.
Below we’ve got legendary UConn coach Geno Auriemma, TCU star Olivia Miles, UCLA vet Lauren Betts, LSU icon and head coach Kim Mulkey, three-time champion head coach Dawn Staley, UCLA coach Cori Close, LSU superstar and rapper Flau’jae Johnson, South Carolina Gamecocks sophomore Joyce Edwards, and Notre Dame star guard Hannah Hidalgo.
Geno’s 13th Symphony
I Would Walk 500 Olivia Miles
All Betts are Off
Mulkey Supreme
KimPossible
Mulkey Waters Ahead
Geno 911!
At a Staleymate
For Auriemma, Forever Ago
Come Be The WoMan I Need
Seated Rivalry
Cori Close Encounters
Dawn of the Dead
UCL-A-List
Flau’Jae Z: I’m a Business, Woman!
Miles Above the Rest
Joyce to the World
Hidalgoing, Going, Gone!
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Connecticut Huskies, Duke Blue Devils, Michigan State Spartans, Kansas Jayhawks, Texas Longhorns, Arizona Wildcats, Florida Gators, Alabama Crimson Tide, Arkansas Razorbacks, Gonzaga Bulldogs, UCLA Bruins, South Carolina Gamecocks, Connecticut Huskies, LSU Lady Tigers, Texas Longhorns, Men's College Basketball, Women's College Basketball, Culture, Sports Betting
2026 The Athletic Media Company
Continue reading...
