28th Bracket64 Contest Is Underway

The NCAA basketball tournament pairings have just been announced, and we are excited to announce the launch of our 28th annual Bracket64 Challenge.
   
Last year, we transitioned to CBS Sports Bracket Manager as our pool host, as our previous tournament software is no longer available. There were a few glitches on their site last year, resulting in some of you losing your brackets entirely. Hopefully, they have bolstered their bandwidth to accommodate the increased traffic this year.
   
Our bracket contest officially kicks off at 11:30 AM on Thursday, March 21st, and the entry fee remains $10 per pick sheet. If you participated last year, simply log in with your existing account and proceed to fill out your bracket. For newcomers, please create a user account with CBS Sports Bracket Manager and submit your brackets. You will have the flexibility to edit your brackets and monitor your progress throughout the tournament using their mobile app or your home PC.

• Deadline: 11:30 AM on Thursday, March 21
• Entry Fee: $10 per bracket
• Website:  CBS Sports Bracket Manager
• Bracket Name: Bracket 64 Challenge

2024 Tournament Schedule

Pre-Tournament Events

March 17: Teams Announced @ 5:00 PM [CST] on CBS
March 19-20: Four Play-In Games
March 21: Entry Deadline @ 11:30 AM [CST]

First Weekend Of The Tournament
March 21-22: Round One - 64 Teams
March 23-24: Round Two - 32 Teams

Second Weekend Of Games
March 28-29: Round Three - 16 Teams
March 30-31: Round Four - 8 Teams

Championship Weekend
April 6: Round Five - Semi-Finals - 4 Teams
April 8: Round Six - Championship - 2 Teams

NCAA Division I Men's Tournament Dates (2024).
Retrieved from https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness/schedule

Tournament Champion And We Will Return Next Year

 It wasn't the exciting finish we love to see in a Championship game, but what a performance by UConn. A theme for their tournament run. 

The Huskies made history during the NCAA Tournament by winning every game by a margin of 13 points or more. This feat has only been accomplished by five teams in history. UConn held their opponents to under 35%, becoming the first team ever to do so. They also won five tournament games by 15 points or more, a record-breaking achievement. In their last four games, UConn trailed for a total of just 5 minutes and 22 seconds.

Winning the 2023 bracket contest this year was Cort Lundeen! He correctly predicted 63% of his picks and finished just ahead of yours truly. Cort also finished in 5th place with his second bracket. Nicely done and congratulations!

• 1st ($600) Cort Lundeen 3
• 2nd ($300) Steve Cuddihy
• 3rd ($150) Hunter Oien
• 4th ($50) Steve Cuddihy 2
• 5th ($50) Cort Lundeen
• 6th ($50) Dominic Fortuna

Congratulations to all of the winners! I have sent out payments to your Venmo accounts. 

First and foremost, I'd like to express my gratitude to everyone who joined us at the CBS pool site. While the first week didn't go as smoothly as I hoped, I am aware that some of you encountered issues and lost brackets when their site crashed several times. Hopefully they will be better next season, so I don't have look for another pool host.

Down To The Last Four Teams

 As of now, we have two participants who have yet to submit payment for their brackets. Both are newcomers to our office pool this year and will unfortunately be removed this year and future years if they fail to pay their entry fee by Friday.  

As it stands, we are currently short $40, and I may need to make adjustments to the payout structure or use my personal winnings to cover the shortfall.

In the latest standings update, there are some years where selecting the higher seeds is the way to go. Who would have guessed we'd end up with no #1, #2, or #3 seeds in the Final Four, which has busted the brackets for everyone except for seven pick sheets. Only UConn has the potential to score points for those seven pick sheets. 

If UConn loses on Saturday, the standings stay the same, and tiebreaker points will be used to determine 1st, 3rd, and 5th place.

Here are the current standings with tie breaker points in brackets:

1. Cort Lundeen 3 - 100 Points (142)
2. Dominic Fortuna - 100 (155)
3. Steve Cuddihy 3 - 99 (159)
4. Steve Cuddihy 4 - 99 (161)
5. Steve Cuddihy - 97 (160)
6. Steve Cuddihy 2 - 97 (160)
7. Paul Wolson 2 - 97 (140)
8. Scott Johnson - 97 (128)

If UConn wins both on Saturday and Monday, then the standings will change to this:

1. Court Lundeen 3
2. Steve Cuddihy
3. Hunter Oien
4. Steve Cuddihy 2
   
5. Cort Lundeen 2
6. Dominic Fortuna

On the other hand, if UConn only wins one game and loses on Monday, things will get a bit more complicated in the standings, but it should be a combination of the two above outcomes.

Game Schedule for the Final Four:
   
Saturday's Games

• Florida Atlantic vs San Diego State - 5:09 (CBS)
• Miami vs UConn - 7:49 (CBS)

Monday's Game

• SDSU vs UConn - 8:20 (CBS)