March Madness 2019: Realtime Brackets is the only way to play

LOUISVILLE, KY - MARCH 15: A detail of an official NCAA Men's Basketball game ball made by Wilson is seen on the court as the Iowa State Cyclones play against the Connecticut Huskies during the second round of the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at KFC YUM! Center on March 15, 2012 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

March Madness is just around the corner. This year, don’t burn your bracket after day one. Instead, play Realtime Brackets and stay in the game.

Before you know it, we’ll be glued to the television on Selection Sunday. Then the fun begins – filling out brackets in your bracket pool.

But we all know the pain of tearing up the bracket after just 48 hours of tournament play. Better luck next year.

Good news. That’s a thing of the past. Why? Because this year, your bracket is unbustable.

That’s because this year you’ll be playing Realtime Brackets with Sports Illustrated. Remember last year? The No. 1 overall seed Virginia got upset by No. 16 UMBC. If you were hoping to ride the Cavaliers to the title, your bracket was broken beyond repair.

This year, with Realtime Brackets, that won’t happen.

SI’s Realtime Brackets let you switch your pick during live tournament games if your original pick is losing. The earlier in the game you switch to the winning call, the more points you’ll earn. So if you swap your pick with 12 minutes left in the second half, you’ll earn more points than if you wait until the final seconds.

Both Realtime and Tradition-style brackets will be tracked – so you can constantly keep an eye on both leaderboards and see how you stack up to the competition.

To sign up and play, click here. Registration begins today (Feb. 25). Come join in on the fun!