When Do March Madness Brackets Lock?

Make sure you have your bracket set before it's too late.

The NCAA tournament will get started with the First Four games on Tuesday, March 13, but most bracket challenges do not lock until tip-off of the first game of the Round of 64, which will happen around noon on Thursday, March 15.

Since the inception of the First Four games in the 2011 tournament, at least one of those teams has won a Round of 64 game, three of them have reached the Sweet 16 and in 2011, 11-seeded VCU reached the Final Four, so it will be crucial to pay attention to those matchups if you want to optimize your bracket.

Make sure that wherever you submit your bracket that you follow all of the rules involved with bracket entry. Make sure if there is a tiebreaker such as predicting the final score of the national championship game that you properly fill it out so there is no reason for your bracket to not count.

Get started with your bracket once all the teams are revealed on Selection Sunday March 11 after all of the conference tournament champions have been determined.