Friends in Madness,
72 hours till the world's greatest sporting event tips off.
Read this post! You don't want to miss a pick or punch your Dickie V fathead because you didn't understand the rules. LET'S GO.
1) KNOW THE PICKING SCHEDULE
The turnaround is TIGHT for Survivor and Pick'em. Details:
Bracket(s): Your entire bracket (all 63 picks) is due by 9:15am Thursday (Round of 64 tipoff)
Survivor: Your first 3 picks (Round of 64) are due by 9:15am Thursday. If you win all 3, you MUST submit your 3 Round of 32 picks between Friday night and Saturday's first game. That same tight turnaround happens between the Sweet 16 and Elite 8.
Pick'em: Same schedule as Survivor, but there's no elimination. So EVERYBODY must be prepared for that tight turnaround from Friday night to early Saturday.
If you haven't yet turned on our text message pick reminders, you reallllly should do that now. Turn on text reminders >>
2) KNOW THE RULES FOR EACH POOL
You can now join however many pools you want. The "FULL MADNESS" bundle (all 5 pools) has a 20% discount - just email us at yo@theszn.com if you'd like to upgrade!
Big Bracket: $20K in prizes with $10,000 to the champ. Points per round: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13. If there's a tie for 1st, championship tiebreakers are, in order: Sum of correct seeds picked, Count of upsets correctly picked, National Championship score prediction (collected after the matchup is set). View/join pool >>
Bracket #2: $5K in prizes with $1,500 to the champ. Fewer players than Big Bracket (so, higher odds of winning). Same rules. View/join pool >>
Bracket #3: $2K in prizes with $1,000 to the champ. Fewest players (so, highest odds of winning). Same rules. View/join pool >>
Survivor: $7K in prizes with $2,000 to the champ. You must win all picks to advance. You can only use each team ONCE. Picks per round: 3 3 2 2 1 1. Someone who picks and loses still places higher than someone who has no teams available to pick in that round, so plan wisely! 1st place tiebreakers, if needed: Sum of the seeds of all correct picks, most correct upset picks, sum of the seed difference in each of your correct upset picks, National Championship pick, National Championship score prediction (collected after the matchup is set). View/join pool >>
Round-by-Round Pick'em: $5K in prizes with $1,500 to the champ. Just pick winners before each round. Prizes for best overall record, as well as best Round of 64 record, and best Rounds 2-6 record. NO elimination. 1st place tiebreakers, if needed: Sum of seeds for all correct picks, total number of upsets correctly picked, cumulative margin of victory for all picks. View/join pool >>
3) GET FREE POOLS BY FOLLOWING US ON INSTAGRAM
Our handle is @jointheszn. Follow us here >>
Every day this week, someone will get a free pool credit just for following us.
There's a POOL CREDIT GIVEAWAY live now!
4) RUN YOUR OWN BRACKET AND/OR SURVIVOR USING SZN GROUPS
It's 100% free. Friends can play in your Group competition even if they don't join The SZN's official pools.
Create a group, add the March Madness competitions you want, and send out the Group referral link.
5) KNOW WHAT YOU GET BY BRINGING FRIENDS
Most of all, you get fun. It's simply more fun to talk picks and talk trash with friends and family. This is how The SZN grew from 46 of Commish's friends to 30,000+ people.
But yes, you also get free pools for life.
At every multiple of five (5, 10, 15, etc.), you get a free pool credit that renews annually.
Send friends your referral link today!
6) KNOW THAT COMMISH ONCE DRAINED 5 THREES WITH A SHATTERED FINGER ON HIS SHOOTING HAND
This was 7th grade basketball but DOES THAT MATTER? I LEFT MY BODY THAT DAY.
My doctor was also absolutely livid at me and my parents. WORTH IT.
Questions? Suggestions? SCALDING HOT PREDICTIONS? Just comment on this post. Commish and GM are real, Bud Light Lime-drinking humans and we read and reply to every comment/email.
Yours in Hooptopia,
The Commish
@Moondogs 1Â year, 2Â months ago
Great story, Commish! My daughter once opened a Middle School game by draining five straight threes. On the ride home, she told me that in the course of making those shots, "Dad, I wasn't thinking about anything, I was just playing!" I smiled and nodded in approval, remembering that was how I successfully completed the "Billy Burger Challenge". It was August 19, 1995. We had just been eliminated from the State Tournament and the boys were drowning their/our sorrows at Billy's Sports Bar. It was a somber occasion and I was starving, so I accepted the challenge. To entertain the boys. I tore through four half-pound bacon cheeseburgers on bulky rolls, a basket of fries and four dill pickles like a well-oiled eating machine. I wasn't thinking about anything, I was just eating! I was in the zone! After about 20 of the allotted 30 minutes, I hit the proverbial wall. I was on a personal-best pace, but could I finish? And then it happened - The Eater's High! I'd often heard about it, but this was the first time I experienced it. My friends were fully engaged by this time. The chatter surrounded me as I ground up burgers with my hands and dunked the rolls in water. I heard voices. "You don't have to do this!" "Shut the F- up! He's doing it!" "More ketchup! He needs more ketchup! Can we get some more ketchup?!?!?!?!" I got my second wind, thankful for the greasy fries lubricating my gullet! By now everyone in the bar was watching. Rooting! Making wagers! It reached a point where it became clear I was going to do it! The crowd went wild as I took one final knee, pointed to the heavens and finished off the last pickle. It was over! With three minutes to spare! I won a t-shirt, the meal was free and, most importantly, my name, the date and time were engraved onto a plaque of champions that hangs on the wall at the hostess station in perpetuity. If you are ever in Manchester, NH, you can look it up. As for that night, I felt.......sick......but we had big plans. We went to a buddy's house and settled in to watch the Mike Tyson v Peter McNeely prize fight. I pretended to drink a BLL, but I wasn't feeling it. Thankfully, the "fight" only lasted 89 seconds after which I headed for the exit, went home and had a miserable night of not sleeping. I don't think I touched beef for about three months after that night. But I was a champ! And my name was on the plaque forever! So, yeah, five three-pointers to start the game. It's funny how my daughter and I had such similar experiences, 20 years apart! We were in the zone!!
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