Another thrilling college regular season has come and gone and, after a flurry of exciting conference tournaments, the field of 68 is set. March Madness is officially here.
This has already been a year to remember. We’ve witnessed another perfect regular season campaign for Dawn Staley and no. 1 overall seed South Carolina, not suffering a misstep all year long despite completely retooling last year’s lineup that did not falter until the 2023 Final Four against Caitlin Clark and Iowa. Clark has been in the headlines for both her individual scoring accomplishments and the staggering numbers of fans coming out to see her whenever (and wherever) the Hawkeyes take the court. This is the last collegiate title run we’ll see for the presumptive first overall pick, but don’t worry: the future of the sport is in great hands. One of the major storylines this season is the sheer amount of talent in this freshman class, led by USC’s JuJu Watkins (the centerpiece on a Trojans team that will serve as one of the four no. 1 seeds in the tourney); Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, whose incredible 4.6 steals per game led the country and ranked seventh dating back to 2010-2011, according to HerHoopStats (and she’s the only freshman to average 4+ steals in that dataset); and Texas’ Madison Booker (who helped the Longhorns earn a no. 1 seed despite losing leader Rori Harmon for the season). These three became highlight-reel regulars immediately, showing us all that the future is already here. Oh, and we cannot forget about the defending champions down in Baton Rouge, anchored by the interior play of Angel Reese and Aneesah Morrow.
Still, as we learn every March, all that regular season success can be wiped out in just 40 minutes of competition. In March, upsets are the norm and the chalk remains in the classroom.
Do you think you’ve got a handle on which team will be cutting down the nets when it’s all said and done? Are you ready to prove your mettle against our Winsidr staff and a whole bunch of fans for great prizes? Do you want a year’s worth of bragging rights?
Well, you’ve come to the right place: welcome to the third annual Winsidr Bracket Challenge.
Whether this is your first time filling out a bracket, or you’re a tourney vet, it’s easy to play! Here’s a quick refresher.
You can make your selections however you see fit: by ranking favorite players or school associations, by tabulating strength of record against conference difficulty, by rating cutest mascots, or a thousand other ways. All that matters is when the first jump ball is airborne, you’ve filled out a complete bracket.
We have created a pool over at ESPN. It’s private to our group, so you’ll need to fill in the group name and password, listed below:
Group name: WINSIDR BRACKET CHALLENGE 2024
Password: Winsidr24
As of Sunday night, the field is set, but it’s important to reiterate: the first game tips off this Friday, March 22, at 11:30 AM ET, so you need to have your picks in before then! As for how this all works, the rules are simple:
- You go through each matchup, one at a time, and click on the team you think will win. That little “i” icon gives you information about the matchup, such as record and stats. There are a few play-in games, so there won’t be info on those that look like (11) Auburn/(11) Arizona, since the field of 64 technically hasn’t been completely set yet. Don’t fret, though! Those qualifiers that get us from 68 to 64 teams are not a part of our pool, so they don’t affect when our picks lock.
- Upsets count as double, so be sure to pick some! Any time a higher seed beats a lower seed, you get twice as many points for that round (even a 9 over an 8).
- Each subsequent round doubles in points. For example, a win in the opening round gives you one point for a win, two for an upset. Round two awards two points for a win, four for an upset, and this continues to escalate all the way through to the championship game.
- You make ALL your picks at the beginning, not as you go. This includes a score tiebreaker for the title game. The brackets lock ahead of the first matchup on Friday.
While bragging rights hold their own currency—and you should absolutely let us have it on social media once you’ve got us beat—we will also be awarding some physical prizes to the top performers. Thanks to our generous affiliates, we’ve got some really cool rewards for players that finish in the top three.
As I’m sure you know, there isn’t nearly enough WNBA merch available for fans, but there are some incredible companies out there trying to fill that void. A couple of quick shoutouts to two, who are also Winsidr affiliates, that are helping to gear up our winners. Homage is an absolute must for W fans, with their retro WNBA logo tees a favorite of mine. And, if you’ve been buying W gear for years, you likely already know about the gear over at BreakingT, which creates some of the most unique and personalized sports merch on the market.
Even if you don’t hit the reward tier, please support these companies that are out there raising the profile of the W with their hard work. By using the affiliate links below, you’re also helping us out at Winsidr.
Homage link: https://homa.ge/Winsidr
BreakingT link: BreakingT.com/Winsidr
Winsidr Shop: https://winsidr.com/shop/
Okay, on to the freebies:
1st place: Homage $100 gift card, BreakingT hoodie, Winsidr shirt
2nd place: Homage $50 gift card, Breaking T shirt, Winsidr shirt
3rd place: Winsidr shirt and mug
With all that being said, let’s dive into the chaos! Good luck, it’s time to get mad.