Bransford Blog Bracket Challenge!!!

Because that novel isn't going to delay itself
Post Reply
User avatar
Nathan Bransford
Posts: 1553
Joined: December 4th, 2009, 11:17 pm
Location: Pasadena, CA
Contact:

Bransford Blog Bracket Challenge!!!

Post by Nathan Bransford » March 14th, 2011, 11:39 pm

Image

It's on. It's SO on.

It's NCAA tournament time, and we're back with the 3rd Blog Bracket Challenge! Just like last year we shall determine who among us is the literary bracket picking champion OF THEM ALL.

In case you've never participated in a bracket challenge or don't know what an NCAA is: You're absolutely going to win. Basketball knowledge is not required to win, and in fact is often considered an impediment.

All you have to do is pick winners in a tournament field of 64 (er, 65, er, 68) and you're probably better off picking based on colors and/or mascots and/or funny names than stats.

The winner with the most points at the end of the NCAA tournament will win a query critique and a signed galley of JACOB WONDERBAR!!

Here's how to enter:

1. Go to the front page of the ESPN tournament challenge: http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/frontpage

2. Make your picks.

3. If you have an ESPN username and password you can log in when you submit your picks, otherwise you may need to create a new user ID and password. But don't worry, it's not onerous and you can decline to receive updates in case you're spam conscious.

4. Hover over the link that says "My Groups" and then click "Create or Join a Group"

5. Search for "Bransford Blog Challenge." Enter the password, which is "rhetorical" and then click Join Group.

Then you're all set! You can make changes to your bracket by clicking on it until it locks on Thursday (and yes, there are play-in games before then, but the bracket still doesn't lock until Thursday).

Please limit yourself to one entry

Good luck!!

Photo by Rick Dikeman via a Creative Commons license

User avatar
CharleeVale
Posts: 553
Joined: December 8th, 2009, 3:16 am
Contact:

Re: Bransford Blog Bracket Challenge!!!

Post by CharleeVale » March 15th, 2011, 2:25 am

Hahaha, I do not follow basketball at all, so let's see how I do by pure intuition. :D

CV

Sommer Leigh
Moderator
Posts: 1624
Joined: April 2nd, 2010, 11:07 pm
Location: Omaha, NE
Contact:

Re: Bransford Blog Bracket Challenge!!!

Post by Sommer Leigh » March 15th, 2011, 9:00 am

Not gonna lie, this is one of the weirdest things I've ever done.

This morning while I was making my picks:

Me: "I think I'm going with W Virginia."
The Husband(who also thinks this is one of the weirdest things I've ever done): "Why?"
Me: "It says here that 'Kevin Jones has been a double-double machine down the stretch."
The Husband: "You don't even know what that means!!!!"
Me: "No, but it's got kind of a steampunk thing going on. That's a good sign."
The Husband: "There's no steampunk in basketball! Nevermind, I'm not even listening anymore."
May the word counts be ever in your favor. http://www.sommerleigh.com
Be nice, or I get out the Tesla cannon.

User avatar
knight_tour
Posts: 161
Joined: December 7th, 2009, 2:30 pm
Location: Baku, Azerbaijan
Contact:

Re: Bransford Blog Bracket Challenge!!!

Post by knight_tour » March 15th, 2011, 10:37 am

Agh! I have ten different entries in the ESPN contest, so which one to pick? One of the saner ones with many of the top seeds going through, or one of the upset brackets? Oh well, I gambled with one of the upset brackets, with San Diego State and Syracuse making the final 4.

User avatar
charlotte49ers
Posts: 281
Joined: January 14th, 2010, 7:35 pm
Location: Georgia
Contact:

Re: Bransford Blog Bracket Challenge!!!

Post by charlotte49ers » March 15th, 2011, 11:03 am

YYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God, I love this time of year.

Joel Q
Posts: 131
Joined: December 10th, 2009, 12:11 pm
Location: The other side of Pikes Peak
Contact:

Re: Bransford Blog Bracket Challenge!!!

Post by Joel Q » March 15th, 2011, 12:13 pm

I got a little worried when this wasn't your blog post on Monday.

My Hogs are getting a new coach, so hopefully, next year I can pick them to win a few games.

My bracket is almost done, but....Can Kentucky beat Ohio State? What about NDame over Kansas?
Duke should get past Texas and UConn. And Pitt should have a fairly easy trip since BYU is no longer at full strength.

Choices. Choices. Choices.

User avatar
charlotte49ers
Posts: 281
Joined: January 14th, 2010, 7:35 pm
Location: Georgia
Contact:

Re: Bransford Blog Bracket Challenge!!!

Post by charlotte49ers » March 15th, 2011, 12:30 pm

Joel Q wrote:I got a little worried when this wasn't your blog post on Monday.

My Hogs are getting a new coach, so hopefully, next year I can pick them to win a few games.

My bracket is almost done, but....Can Kentucky beat Ohio State? What about NDame over Kansas?
Duke should get past Texas and UConn. And Pitt should have a fairly easy trip since BYU is no longer at full strength.

Choices. Choices. Choices.
Woo pig sooie! I was born in Magnolia, so I think Razorback love was one of the first things I was taught. I'll be interested to see who gets the job! One of the best in America, imo. :-)

Sommer Leigh
Moderator
Posts: 1624
Joined: April 2nd, 2010, 11:07 pm
Location: Omaha, NE
Contact:

Re: Bransford Blog Bracket Challenge!!!

Post by Sommer Leigh » March 15th, 2011, 1:29 pm

*terror*

I'm pretty sure the logic I used to pick the winners does not conform to, um, traditional methods of picking team winners. I fear those of you talking about coaches and upsets and fancy language I don't understand.

They always say, go with what you know. So I made my choices based on what I know. For example, Xavier heads up the X-Men, and I'm pretty sure no one else on that list can throw down with the X-Men.

And the Belmonts have a long and storied history of killing Dracula. *I* wouldn't want to go toe-to-toe with a Belmont. Dude, they killed Dracula.

I've never put so much thought or effort into basketball in my entire life.
May the word counts be ever in your favor. http://www.sommerleigh.com
Be nice, or I get out the Tesla cannon.

User avatar
aspiring_x
Posts: 210
Joined: January 15th, 2010, 9:44 am
Location: Marysville, Kansas
Contact:

Re: Bransford Blog Bracket Challenge!!!

Post by aspiring_x » March 15th, 2011, 1:40 pm

sommer! your selection logic is absolutely flawless!!!
*questions bracket now*

i picked by name and how gross of a nickname i could come up with for the teams-- which would stink up the game worse? the pitts or the buts??? how would dookey fare?
i'm SO mature! :P

also- i brought into consideration some basketball facts that i think i absorb subliminally while my husband watches espn in the wee hours of the morning as i sleep next to him. :)

Sommer Leigh
Moderator
Posts: 1624
Joined: April 2nd, 2010, 11:07 pm
Location: Omaha, NE
Contact:

Re: Bransford Blog Bracket Challenge!!!

Post by Sommer Leigh » March 15th, 2011, 2:26 pm

aspiring_x wrote:sommer! your selection logic is absolutely flawless!!!
*questions bracket now*

i picked by name and how gross of a nickname i could come up with for the teams-- which would stink up the game worse? the pitts or the buts??? how would dookey fare?
i'm SO mature! :P

also- i brought into consideration some basketball facts that i think i absorb subliminally while my husband watches espn in the wee hours of the morning as i sleep next to him. :)
My husband builds legos and collects out of print roleplaying books. I think he knows less about basketball than I do. All of my worldly basket ball knowledge comes from being in band in high school, but to be fair I spent the games flirting with boys and not so much paying attention to the actual game. I can tell you anything you want to know about flirting though. Basketball....eh? There's an orange ball involved? I think? And you do something with it? I bet YouTube can teach me.
May the word counts be ever in your favor. http://www.sommerleigh.com
Be nice, or I get out the Tesla cannon.

User avatar
Bryan Russell/Ink
Posts: 430
Joined: December 20th, 2009, 10:44 pm
Contact:

Re: Bransford Blog Bracket Challenge!!!

Post by Bryan Russell/Ink » March 15th, 2011, 4:40 pm

I'm going with anti-basketball knowledge this year. So, I'll use my basketball knowledge to rationally decide the most likely winner for each game. And then I'll pick the opposite.

I'm so gonna rock this year.
The Alchemy of Writing at www.alchemyofwriting.blogspot.com

SonshineMusic
Posts: 1
Joined: March 15th, 2011, 5:26 pm
Contact:

Re: Bransford Blog Bracket Challenge!!!

Post by SonshineMusic » March 15th, 2011, 5:28 pm

I had no idea what I was doing so I just kinda clicked out of random rationalles.... we'll see how far that gets me :D

veela-valoom
Posts: 38
Joined: March 16th, 2010, 11:44 am
Contact:

Re: Bransford Blog Bracket Challenge!!!

Post by veela-valoom » March 15th, 2011, 8:23 pm

I'm rather disappointed with the NCAA committee this time around so I cannot separate that frustration from my bracket.

Seriously in what WORLD is Florida a Number 2 seed and Kentucky a number 4? The same day we wallop them in the SEC tournament? Mark Emmeret is drinking the Kentucky haterade for sure.

So maybe I have UK going further than rational BUT DANG IT I want to give the NCAA the middle finger any time I can.

veela-valoom
Posts: 38
Joined: March 16th, 2010, 11:44 am
Contact:

Re: Bransford Blog Bracket Challenge!!!

Post by veela-valoom » March 15th, 2011, 8:24 pm

Okay that might have been a little bit of a rant. Can you tell that I have to hear about the NCAA mistakes everyday?

PS CassiHaggard is my bracket

fourlittlebees
Posts: 2
Joined: March 15th, 2011, 8:44 pm
Contact:

Re: Bransford Blog Bracket Challenge!!!

Post by fourlittlebees » March 15th, 2011, 8:47 pm

Aiming to overshoot my complete collapse the first day last year by picking completely at random. Except for 'cuse. And I'm glad the blog AND forums are still orange to show their support. ;)

Also, I have NO RECOLLECTION what email address or username I used on the forums so I'm brand new. Again.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests