bracketology

noun

brack·​et·​ol·​o·​gy ˌbra-kə-ˈtä-lə-jē 

variants or less commonly Bracketology

plural bracketologies also Bracketologies

: the practice or study of predicting the participants in or outcomes of elimination tournaments or competitions especially in NCAA college basketball

Bracketology is a term … for predicting the participants and outcomes of the games in a sports tournament, especially the NCAA college basketball tournament.

—Mike Blake

But when his sport peaks during the N.C.A.A. men's tournament, he is … in an ESPN studio breathlessly dissecting bracketology.

—New York Times

ESPN college basketball expert Joe Lunardi released his second bracketology projections Tuesday to give an indication on how the selection committee might feel on each team's tournament chances based on their resumes.

—The Miami Herald

also : a set of bracketology predictions

I swear I didn't do this on purpose, but Marquette ends up in pretty much the exact spot in my bracketology as it did last year.

—Ryan Jackson

Word History

Etymology

bracket entry 1 (in sense "a pairing of opponents in an elimination tournament") + -o- + -logy

First Known Use

1996, in the meaning defined above