“Bracketology” is a term that began to describe the participants in the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship Tournament. A “bracketologist” examines the college teams playing in the East, Midwest, South and East brackets and predicts the “Final Four” teams and the eventual NCAA basketball champion. Although “bracketology” is most associated with men’s college basketball, the term has also been used for women’s basketball, hockey, and even political races.
 
“Bracketologist” has been cited in print since at least February 1996 and “bracketology” since at least May 1997. The terms were coined or at least popularized by Joe Lunardi, an ESPN college basketball analyst. Lunardi attempted a trademark of “bracketology,” citing a first use on March 1, 1995.
 
   
Wikipedia: Bracketology
Bracketology is the process of predicting the field of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, named as such because it is commonly used to fill in tournament brackets for the postseason. It incorporates some method of predicting what the NCAA Selection Committee will use as its Ratings Percentage Index in order to determine at-large (non-conference winning) teams to complete the field of 68 teams, and, to seed the field by ranking all teams from first through sixty-eighth. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi is the inventor of the term “bracketology”, starting first as the owner and editor of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and ending up as the resident bracketologist on ESPN. He also teaches an online course at Saint Joseph’s University titled “Fundamentals of Bracketology”. Although Lunardi invented the term, he is ranked only 23rd in the past four years’ results of the tournament. In recent years the concept of bracketology has been applied to areas outside of basketball.
 
Process
Using the NCAA basketball tournament selection process, the RPI, and the seeding and balancing process, a “bracketologist” places teams in the tournament in the various regions (most commonly East, West, Midwest, and South however sometimes the region names are changed to reflect the host cities).
 
Wikipedia: Joe Lunardi
Joseph Lunardi is a college basketball analyst for ESPN. He was born in Philadelphia, he is a graduate of Haverford High School in Pennsylvania, and is a Saint Joseph’s University alumnus. Lunardi currently lives in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. He is best known for creating Bracketology, which he calls the “art and science” of predicting the teams that will be selected in the annual NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. He is well known as the resident bracketologist for ESPN.
 
25 February 1996, Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer, “Kittles a factor in NCAA bracket,” pg. C1:
“I think they’re in,” said Lunardi, who calls himself a “bracketologist.”
 
17 March 1997, Kansas City (MO) Star, “Tourney is lots to gnaw on” by Blair Kerkoff:
Would it have violated the scientific laws of bracketology to have had Mississippi play in Memphis and Iowa State in Kansas City?
 
18 February 1998, Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer, “Temple recovers to stop St. Joe’s,” pg. D1:
St. Joe’s radio color man, Joe Lunardi, a respected NCAA tournament bracketologist, had the Owls as a seventh seed if the tournament started now.
 
27 February 2000, Fresno (CA) Bee, “Fresno State’s still blowing its bubbles”:
But still the odors of excessive bracketology stinking things up.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
The enlightened bracketologist : the Final Four of everything
Author: Mark Reiter; Richard Sandomir
Publisher: New York : Bloomsbury : Distributed by Holtzbrinck Publishers, 2007.
Edition/Format:   Book : English : 1st U.S. ed
Summary:
Employing a system of brackets used in sports, this light-hearted study looks at some of popular culture’s most baffling questions on topics ranging from popular songs and cookbooks to French phrases and wine.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
The final four of everything : a celebration of all that’s great, surprising, or silly in America using the foolproof method of bracketology to determine what we love or hate—and why : the arguments begin here
Author: Mark Reiter; Richard Sandomir
Publisher: New York : Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009.
Edition/Format:   Book : English : 1st Simon & Schuster Paperbacks ed
Summary:
As certain to make you laugh as it will start friendly arguments, this book is the perfect book for know-it-alls, know-a-littles, and anyone with an opinion on celebrity mugshots, literary heroes, sports nicknames, or bacon. Bracketology is a unique way of organizing information that dates back to the rise of the knockout (or single elimination) tournament, perhaps in medieval times. Its origins are not precisely known, but there was genius in the first bracket design that hasn’t changed much over the years. You, of course, may be familiar with the bracket format via the NCAA basketball tournament pairings each March. If you’ve ever watched ESPN or participated in a March Madness office pool, you know what a bracket looks like. this book takes the idea one step further, and applies the knockout format to every category but basketball. In areas where taste, judgment, and hard-earned wisdom really matter, we’ve set out to determine, truly, the Final Four of Everything.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
The GOP’s Online Bracketology: House members are building new media presences through competition
Edition/Format:   Article : English
Publication: POLITICS- POLITICAL WORLD COMMUNICATIONS, 31, no. 5, (2010): 11
Database: British Library Serials
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark BRACKETOLOGY
Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Bracketology (the science of forecasting which schools will appear in the annual college basketball championships). FIRST USE: 19950101. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19950301
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 78506049
Filing Date October 26, 2004
Current Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Owner (APPLICANT) Lunardi, Joseph M. INDIVIDUAL UNITED STATES 1004 Edmonds Avenue Drexel Hill PENNSYLVANIA 19026
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Abandonment Date December 7, 2005