March Madness Squares Template
This March Madness squares template prints one board for the whole tournament, with the prize for every round already on the sheet. Type a price per square and what each game pays at halftime and the final, and the form tells you whether those prizes add up to what a full board collects before anything reaches the printer. A winners log with a line for all 63 games prints on a second page, and there's no signup and nothing to download.
Leave halftime blank for any round that pays the final score only.
How do you fill in a March Madness squares sheet?
Choose which team goes across the top, set the square price, type a prize per game for each round, then print the sheet and pass it around in the days before the tournament so people can write their names in the squares they want. Once every square is claimed and paid for, draw the numbers in front of the group and write them on the two bands, and that one draw covers every game the board pays.
The squares number generator draws both rows of digits at random if you'd rather not pull them from a hat, and it works the same for a basketball board as a football one. The game notes box always prints which team goes where, so nobody has to ask how to read the board in the second week of the tournament.
How much should each round of March Madness squares pay?
Pay a fixed amount per game within each round and raise it as the rounds go on, so the 32 games of the Round of 64 pay a small prize each and the championship pays the most. The placeholder amounts in the form follow that shape, with every round through the Final Four paying the same total and halftime prizes starting once there are only a few games left to watch.
| Round | $10 a square | $50 a square |
|---|---|---|
| Round of 64 (32 games) | $5 final | $25 final |
| Round of 32 (16 games) | $10 final | $50 final |
| Sweet 16 (8 games) | $20 final | $100 final |
| Elite Eight (4 games) | $40 final | $200 final |
| Final Four (2 games) | $20 half, $60 final | $100 half, $300 final |
| Championship (1 game) | $50 half, $150 final | $250 half, $750 final |
| Full board collects | $1,000 | $5,000 |
A board that covers three weeks of games usually justifies a higher price than one built around a single game, but the right number is whatever your group will actually buy out, since a board that never fills pays out nothing. If you add the 12 Opening Round games, the form adds them to the total so you can see what they cost the other rounds. How Do March Madness Squares Work covers why the prizes climb, which digits win most often in the tournament, and what to do with an empty winning square.
Should the winning team or the home team go across the top?
Either works, and the sheet prints whichever you choose. Most printed pools put the winning team's digit across the top because tournament games are played at neutral sites, while a Play Squares board uses the team listed as home, which you can check against any scoreboard. With winner and loser, the halftime prize follows whichever team leads at the break. Pick one before anyone claims a square and leave it alone for the whole tournament.
What is the winners log for?
The log gives you a line for every game, round by round, with a space for the score and the name on the winning square at halftime and at the final. Rounds that pay no halftime prize have that column shaded, so it's clear at a glance which prizes exist. Over 63 games spread across nearly three weeks, one written record is what settles the question of who is owed what when you hand out prizes, and it makes repeat winners easy to spot, which will happen when one board pays dozens of games.
When does a printed March Madness board stop being enough?
A printed board is easy to start and gets harder to keep up with as the tournament goes on, because the two days of the Round of 64 alone hold 32 games and someone has to find every score.
| Job | Printed template | Play Squares board |
|---|---|---|
| Finding each game's score | Someone looks up 63 scores over nearly three weeks | Scores come in automatically for every game |
| Recording winners | The winners log, filled in by hand after each game | Each game's winning squares worked out and shown on the board |
| Showing players the board | A photo of the sheet, sent again after every update | One link everyone opens on their own phone |
| Knowing who's winning mid-game | Whoever holds the sheet works it out | The board highlights the pending winner as the score changes |
Play Squares tracks every tournament game on the board, and while a game is still going it highlights whoever is on track to win if the score holds, so players check for themselves instead of messaging you after every buzzer. The March Madness squares page shows how that one board runs online, and if the board is raising money for a team or a cause, the March Madness squares fundraiser guide works through pricing it backward from your goal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this March Madness squares template free?
Do I need a new March Madness squares sheet for every round?
Why are the numbers blank on the printed March Madness sheet?
Can I print a 25-square March Madness board?
What paper does the March Madness template print on?
Does Play Squares track March Madness scores automatically?
Rather not track 63 games by hand?
Play Squares randomizes the numbers once, follows every tournament game, and shows your players the winning square at halftime and the final on their own phones. Set up your March Madness board in minutes.