designblog for a day.
Looking for the best-designed bracket to fill-out? I know I am. Maybe it's the Tufte fan in me.

I spent lunchtime looking at several brackets available from national sports news sites, Internet portals, newspapers, CBS - the tournament's television home and from the NCAA's website. I thought I'd find that one site did X better, while another site did Y better. But there was a hands-down winner:
ESPN's printable bracket, available here in PDF Format.
(linked fixed. sorry!)

ESPN did one thing that only one other bracket did. AND it did one thing no one else did.
1. Both ESPN and the bracket from the Sports Illustrated included the overall win-loss records for all teams. It doesn't tell you much, but at least you have that information.
2. Here's where ESPN excelled. It included the dates AND most importantly places for the first-round games.
** First on the dates, it's great becaues with your same filled-out paper bracket you're going to keep w/ you at all times, you'll at least know what day your favorite teams will be playing. SI also had dates, but their bracket is just ugly. Big and bold faux-future font just doesn't work.
** Second on the first-round cities.
First-round games are played at 8 sites around the country. This year the sites are in: Chicago; New Orelans; Buffalo, N.Y.; Spokane, Wash.; Columbus, Ohio; Sacramento, Calf.;. Lexington, Ky. and Winston-Salem, N.C. Each site has two groups of four teams, known as "pods." If you're taking your brackets seriously, you know that a supportive crowd can be a huge plus for team.

So let's look at the plight of three-seed Texas A&M Aggies. The Aggies will play their first-round game in Lexington -- almost 1,000 miles away from College Station. I'm sure A&M travels well, but what's looming is a possible second-round game with the six-seed Louisville Cardinals. And their fans only have to take a 75-mile trip on I-64 to get to Lexington. Kinda unfair for A&M, but don't feel sorry for them. They have Acie Law IV.

So back to Tufte and good information design. Instead of just the win-loss record, I think it be better to see some type of what he dubs a sparkline.

And more more quick note: the New York Times had a bracket graphic in the shape of a basketball net seen from above. NO teams though, just a graphic.