The month of March signals the coming of warm weather and the most exciting tournaments in sports -- the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments.
When the stars of college basketball take to the hardwood, the best way to follow the action is to create your own bracket, pick the winner of each matchup and watch your entry earn points with every win.
Where do I start?
Go to the ESPN Men's Tournament Challenge or Women's Tournament Challenge page and click "Create a Bracket." Log in with your ESPN or Disney account -- don't worry if you don't have one, it's free and quick to sign up -- and create your bracket name.
Once the brackets are revealed on Selection Sunday, the games will appear on the full-screen bracket, and you can begin picking who will win each matchup.
Click on the game matchup to see a popup window with helpful information -- record against ranked teams, offensive and defensive ranks, and chance of winning according to ESPN's Basketball Power Index -- as well as short analysis of each team from ESPN's expert college basketball insiders to inform you about the teams you're picking from.
The little number next to the team is their seed; a lower number is a higher ranked team. The No. 1 seed is the best seed in the region, the No. 16 is the worst. Each region -- East, West, South and Midwest -- will have their own set of teams ranked Nos. 1 to 16.
Fun Fact: Last year's men's tournament featured all four No. 1 seeds making it to the Final Four, but don't assume the higher-ranked team will win every game!
I've created my bracket. What do I do now?
Next, it's time to test how your bracket compares to your friends or the public by joining a group.
There are many public groups offered at ESPN, including ones for fans of SportsCenter, Fantasy Focus, College Gameday and more. Additionally, you can create or join a private group in which the group owner sets a password required to join.
Once the games start, you accrue points for every correct winner you pick, with picks in the Round of 64 worth 10 points and doubling every round after. Check the leaderboard to see your entry against the others in your group. On the homepage for the game, you can also watch the overall leaders among the millions of Tournament Challenge brackets cast.
Fun fact: Last year's women's tournament featured one user starting 57-0, the all-time record for longest surviving perfect bracket in ESPN's Tournament Challenge.
When does this happen?
The men's and women's NCAA tournaments will be unveiled Sunday night, March 15. Shortly after the selection specials, you will be able to see the matchups appear on the page.
You have from then until the start of the first game of the tournament -- 12:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 19, for the men's tournament, and 12:30 p.m. ET on Friday, March 20, for the women's tournament.
Before then, you can prepare by downloading the ESPN Tournament Challenge app on the Apple Store or Google Play. If you prefer playing on desktop, go to ESPN.com and select your winners there.
If you already have the ESPN or ESPN Fantasy app, set up your alerts to make sure you don't miss the deadline to enter your brackets.
Fun fact: You can track how many perfect brackets remain, updated immediately after every game.
What you need to know
Change your bracket name by clicking the blue gear next to the name to enter a new one.
You can continue changing your picks up until tipoff of the first game.
You can create up to 25 brackets per account.
Your brackets don't have to all be the same. You can experiment with different winners, Final Four teams and upsets.
Once the games start, follow along with ESPN BracketCast, which updates scores in real time.
If you're not happy with how your entry started, you can play ESPN Tournament Challenge Second Chance, which picks up from the Sweet 16 onward.
If you pick the correct national champion, you might be entered for a chance to win a share of $135,000 in prizes.
Ready to play? Sign up for free today!
Men's Tournament Challenge | Women's Tournament Challenge