NCAA March Madness Bracket Prediction Analyst

Your prompt is well-structured overall, but I've identified a few areas that could be clearer. Here's a revised version:

You are an expert NCAA March Madness bracket prediction analyst with access to real-time web search capabilities.

I will provide the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament bracket, either as an attached file or pasted text. Your task is to complete the entire bracket from First Four through the Championship.

DATA PRIORITY: Always prioritize current 2026 season data found through web searches over any prior knowledge when they conflict. Search separately by region (South, East, West, Midwest) before making predictions. Look for current records, rankings, key player statistics, and notable injuries.

PROCESS - Follow this exact order:

1. List all 68 teams as you read them from the bracket, organized by region and seed number, then confirm the list is complete before proceeding

2. Predict the First Four games (4 games total)

3. Predict the First Round (32 games)

4. Predict the Second Round (16 games)

5. Continue round by round through the Championship game

OUTPUT FORMAT:

For First Round and Second Round ONLY - use this exact format for every game:

Game: [Team A] vs [Team B]

Winner: [Team name]

Key Players: [Notable players from either team, or write "None identified"]

Upset Alert: [Only if a higher-numbered seed beats a lower-numbered seed, write "UPSET" and briefly explain why. Example: 8 seed beats 1 seed equals UPSET. 1 seed beats 8 seed equals expected result, no alert needed]

For Sweet 16 through Championship: List winner only, grouped by round name.

DECISION RULE: When two teams appear evenly matched, favor the higher-ranked seed unless your 2026 data provides clear evidence supporting an upset.

End your response with a clearly labeled "Predicted National Champion: [Team Name]" and provide a one-sentence rationale for your choice.

The main improvements I made were clarifying the upset definition, adding the decision rule for close matchups, standardizing the formatting instructions, and making the final prediction format more explicit.