BP30 FAQs: A DEEP DIVE
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How do I get started?
Everyone who participates in the Bread Pool must have a free account with Splash Sports (formerly known as RunYourPool). Splash provides the leading-edge software (paid for by the Jim Beam Fund) that 1) allows you to point-and-click your way through your bracket(s) and 2) displays your name, city of residence and point total on our real-time scoreboard after BP30 tips off on March 19. But you need only register once: Previous Bread Pool participants already have a Splash account!
NOTE: Splash Sports 2026 NCAA Basketball accounts will go online on Monday, February 23.
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Do I need to start anew every year?
Nope. If you have participated in any Bread Pool since 2017 (when we switched software providers), your Splash account should be intact. PLEASE DO NOT RE-REGISTER: It pollutes the database. Once you decide on your bracket package, your 2026 payment will activate your Splash account, and you can get to work on your picks.
What if this is my first Bread Pool?
Welcome to the addiction! There are two electronic forms that you must complete for your first Bread Pool (you won't have to repeat either in subsequent years): Register for your free Splash Sports account (use the link under the first FAQ) beginning Feb. 23, 2026; and verify your referral to the invitation-only Bread Pool (see the link below) NOW!
What's next?
Choose the number of brackets (we refer to brackets as "seats at our St. Patrick's Day Feast" in order to fly under the radar. Beginning on Feb. 21, you can pay for them using the link below. NOTE: Since we introduced our Pick 5 game and the corresponding multiple-bracket discount rates in 2023, 71% of entrants opt of the 3-bracket package ($195). Once you make your payment, your name will appear on our BP30 ROSTER page (usually within a few hours) and, if you purchased 3+ brackets, on our PICK 5 - WHO'S IN? page, as well.
Selection Sunday (March 15)
Once you've chosen your bracket (seats) package and paid for them, you can chill until March 15, better known to college hoops fans as Selection Sunday. Around 4 p.m. Pacific that day, a new menu item will appear on BreadPool.com: MY BRACKETS. Just point-and-click your way through your bracket(s) by predicting the winners of all 63 games in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament! You have until 9:15 p.m. NOTE: Your bracket(s) will not be accessible until you've paid of them.
Tipoff Thursday: March 19
At precisely 9:15 a.m Pacific/12:15 pm Eastern on March 19, a few minutes before the first game tips off, the software will close and you'll be unable to submit any more brackets (or edit them further). From there, our (almost) real-time scoring software takes over (see graphic) . . . and it's time to strap yourself in for another 18-day, 63-game thrill-ride through the Meadow of Shame! The tournament concludes with the National Championship game on Monday, April 6.
ARE FIRST FOUR GAMES (MARCH 17-18) RELEVANT?
Nope. The Bread Pool doesn't tip off until the main bracket of 64 teams is settled -- that is, until the four play-in games in Dayton, Ohio on Tuesday and Wednesday determine the last four qualifiers to the field of 64. The brackets will be adjusted to display the First Four winners after those games are complete.
GOT ROOKIES?
Here's the place to add them to our email database. From there, we'll take over the task of recruiting them for the 30th Annual Bread Pool, which tips off March 19, 2026! If they decide not to join, emails will cease upon tipoff.