How It Works

Our goal is to make Bracketology as streamlined and easy to use as possible. Completing this 4-minute read will make you a Bracketology pro! For more info, read our FAQ or check out our Instagram highlights for some ‘how to’ videos.

First things first…

Creating An Account

In order to play fantasy on Bracketology, you’ll need to sign in with an existing account or create a new one. Start by going to the Sign In page, or clicking the “Log In” button in the upper right-hand corner of any page.

Previous Bach Bracket/Bracketology Users

If you’re an existing Bach Bracket/Bracketology user, enter the email address you’ve previously signed up with, and your corresponding password.

Note: We currently cannot support logging in via Facebook or Twitter, and some users are having trouble with .edu email addresses. If you previously signed up for Bach Bracket/Bracketology via one of these social media platforms, you might need to reset your password. Click the Forgot Password? button and follow the prompts.

New Users

Welcome to the squad! You can create an account on our Sign Up page.

Within your profile, you can upload a profile pic so users can see your beautiful face at the top of their league scoreboards. To give yourself the best chance at coming away with a victory at the end of the season, we recommend staying subscribed to emails to stay up to date with Bracketology news as well as receive Pick Reminders and Scoring Recap emails weekly.

Once you have a Bracketology account, you can switch between other shows’ fantasy games as you please! No more needing to keep a note on your iPhone with all of your passwords for your many different fantasy platforms: Bracketology is your one-stop shop for all of your reality TV fantasy gaming needs.

Creating A Community

To get started on Bracketology, you’ll need to either create or join a community. Once you’re logged in, Click Here, or click the “Play” button in the primary navigation. This will direct you to the game portion of the site – fantasy.bracketology.tv.

Forming Your Community

Having to re-rally your league members each time a new season starts is so Bracketology 1.0. Now, once players join your Community, they will be automatically eligible to join any leagues you create for all shows and future seasons. One invite and they are a part of your crew for eternity. Here is a quick link to get you to the Community Directory.

Simply give your Community a name, write a snazzy community description, upload a logo that represents your group, and link any social accounts you choose (could be a league Facebook group, your favorite Bach/Big Bro/Survivor memes Instagram account, etc).

Private vs. Public Communities

Private communities are just that – private. You get to decide who knows about the group and as the Commissioner, can approve or reject anyone who wants to join. Want to keep the party growing? Public communities can be created by anyone and are open to everyone who wishes to join.

Be aware, if you choose the public option, your league members and scoreboard will be visible to anyone who logs into Bracketology and you will be unable to prevent people from joining your league (but the commissioner can remove people at any point).

Inviting Your Friends

The longer the scoreboard, the more competitive the gameplay. Once you’ve created your community – it’s time to invite your friends! Invite others to join by…

1) Clicking the “Share With Friends” button within the community or copying the community URL and sending that link to your friends.

2) Sending an email invitation

3) If it’s a public community, telling friends the name & having them use the Search function on the community directory (Keep in mind, many communities can have the same name; you can find the community and league numbers in the URL).

Joining Leagues

The beauty of communities is that they will house multiple leagues, with each league corresponding to a different reality TV show. Anyone in your community can join one of your communities’ leagues simply by clicking the league name and clicking the gold “Join League” button.

When creating a league, you are then able to choose up to 3 game types (for most shows) for your league to play. Only want to play in our Advanced game? No problem – you only need to select and make picks for that game type. Want to flex on the fandom of your favorite show by playing 3? Easy. Just set picks for each game type by following the instructions below.

Game Types

First Impression

Pick Frequency: Once

This is your March Madness bracket for reality TV. For First Impression leagues, all picks for the full season are made prior to the first elimination episode (or second episode if there is a scheduled elimination in the premiere). You will get to watch the first episode(s) of the season, gather your first impressions of the contestants, and then select who you believe will advance through each elimination ceremony, all the way to the final winner. You will only set picks once for this game type. Picks lock for the season when the first (or second) elimination episode starts.

Week to Week

Pick Frequency: Weekly

For the Week to Week game type, you will select contestants who you believe will be advancing in the upcoming elimination ceremony. Those who you do not pick are the ones you do not believe will advance. You will make picks weekly for each ceremony in this game type, and correct choices will receive a uniform number of points within the respective ceremony (ex: all correct picks in Ceremony 1 get 1 point, Ceremony 2 gets 2 points, etc.). Picks will lock for each ceremony when each episode starts in Eastern Time.

Advanced

Pick Frequency: Weekly

The game type that put Bracketology on the map! Our original fantasy game type, where you select a team of contestants each week and win (or lose!) points based on what they do and say in the episode (like fantasy football for reality TV). You will make picks weekly for every episode, regardless of whether there is an elimination ceremony. Picks will lock for each episode when the episode starts in Eastern Time.

Confidence Pool

Pick Frequency: Weekly

The Confidence Pool game type is our newest game type. It’s similar to Week to Week but with an extra twist. In addition to selecting who you think will advance at each elimination ceremony, you also assign contestants point values based on how confident you are that they will advance. The higher the point value assigned, the more confident you are that they will advance. For each correct pick, the assigned number of points will be earned. You will make picks weekly for each ceremony in this game type. Picks will lock for each ceremony when each episode starts in Eastern Time.

Making Your Picks

Once you’ve joined your league(s), it’s time for the most important part of fantasy – making your picks. On the right side of your screen (or top on mobile), you’ll see a tab for each game type that is active within your league. When you click on the game type, you will be taken to the Picks screen. Each game type has different rules, so the way you make picks varies by game type.

Picks save automatically, so no need to worry about unsaved picks or clicking a save button after making them. If you have late picks, commissioners can unlock ceremonies/episodes so you can enter late/unsaved picks. In the case of a double-elimination ceremony in the same episode, we recommend making picks for 2 Ceremonies each week (doesn’t apply for Advanced).

Scoring

We score each episode as it airs. Scores are typically posted after the episode airs on the west coast.

The general “League Leaderboard” displays scores as a sum of a user’s scores from each game type. If your league is competing in more than 1 game type, it would be beneficial to make picks for all game types each week for the best chance to see yourself at the top of that League Leaderboard. However, there are also unique scoreboards within each game type so you can see how you fair in each individual contest.