Dear March Madness Enthusiasts,
It’s that magical time of year again — when you pretend to be a college basketball expert despite not watching a single game until last week, a 14-seed ruins your bracket by noon on Thursday, and you convince yourself that this is definitely the year Gonzaga finally wins it all. (Narrator: It was not.)
But here at the BigDumbOx Tournament Challenge, we do things differently. Why settle for a basic, garden-variety bracket when you can embrace chaos? We’ve designed a system that rewards strategic thinking, blind luck, and the ability to pretend you always believed in that random No. 9 seed when they suddenly morph into 2014 UConn. Last year, some guy who picked his teams based on which cities have the best barbecue nearly took home the title, so, really, anything can happen.
The stakes? $20 to enter, eternal bragging rights to win. If you're new to the format, make sure you read the rules page before you start pestering me with a bunch of n00b questions. Any legitimate questions should be directed to the almighty and powerful Commish, who has deemed you worthy of an invite. He's an all-inclusive fellow though, so feel free to forward this invite to all your gambling degerate friends as I welcome the opportunity to take their money as well.
ALERT! There is a big change for this year; we're introducing 'Divisions' to the madness. What are divions? Thanks for asking, Justin. This year, I'll be breaking us all into smaller groups, with the winners of all divisons each receiving $100. On top of that, the top 10 overall will also split the remaining funds at amounts to be determined based on the number of entries. Don't worry, I'll put it on the website AND email everyone the breakdown this year so you don't all FREAK OUT about the payment amounts later. On the entry form, you can pick your own division to compete head-to-head with the people you pay to be your friends, or, you can let me choose for you and I'll randomly assign you to the friendless divison.
So get your picks in, trust your gut (or your grandma’s method of picking based on jersey colors), and prepare for heartbreak when your Final Four team gets bounced in the first round by a school you've never heard of. Deadline to enter is before tip-off of the first playoff game on March 20th. So off with you! Go forth into the world and spread your email seed, so that all may join and experience the wonder of the BigDumbOx Tournament Challenge!