just Housewives March Madness Bracket Challenge

I confess... I love sports. Especially college sports. And I LOVE March Madness because college basketball is my fave. 

Do you love sports? 

Hate sports? 

Not understand sports?

We don't care either way -- come join the just Housewives March Madness Bracket Challenge! 

Debra from Housewife Eclectic and I are hosting and it's just for fun. Who knows -- you could end up beating all the men in your life! (In the figurative sense, not the literal with-a-club beating.) March Madness is partly luck that way. My son was 6 months old last year and led our bracket group until the last round -- all by picking either the apple or the orange when Daddy named the teams. :)

We're running the challenge through the CBS Sports app on Facebook, so you won't have to sign up for any extra accounts (unless you aren't a Facebook user), and you won't get all the sports headline email updates that come with signing up on the regular CBS Sports (and other sports networks) sites. :)

Click here to join our group and fill out your bracket. You have until Thursday, March 17 at noon, eastern time (if we understand the rules correctly). And if you're not convinced yet, keep reading. :) 

*We're not compensated in any way for using the CBS Sports app -- it's just a good one that's easy to use.

What is March Madness?
March Madness is a common name for the annual NCAA (college) basketball season tournament. 68 teams from across the nation are selected to play in a single-elimination bracket: you lose, you're out.**

The full tournament bracket is split into four divisions -- East, West, Southwest, and Southeast -- to tell you where the games are played, not where the teams are from.

Teams coming into the tournament are assigned a number, called a seed. Each division has 16 teams, numbered 1-16. The lower the number, the higher the seed -- and the better the team is expected to do. If the bracketologists (the people who assign the seeds and decides who plays who) were 100% correct, the four teams remaining in the Final Four (the semifinals) would be the four #1 seeds... but that doesn't usually happen. :)

When a team with a lower seed (a higher number) beats a team with a higher seed (a lower number), that is called an upset -- an unexpected outcome. Upsets are what make March Madness fun!

**Until this year, there have been only 64 teams, but the powers that be have added 4 more teams this year, meaning that there will be four games played beforehand -- the winners of these games will go in the "First Four" team slots on your bracket. 

How does the bracket work?
Just log into Facebook and go here to join the just Housewives group -- that's where all the readers of this blog and Housewife Eclectic are congregating to enjoy The Madness.

The bracket standings -- which of us participating are "winning" -- are determined by a point system, and each round a correct pick is worth more points:

• 2nd round = 1 pt
• 3rd round = 2 pts
• 4th round (aka Sweet 16) = 4 pts
• 5th round (aka Elite 8) = 8 pts
• 6th round (aka Final 4) = 16 pts
• 7th round (final round) = 32 pts

So, if you pick the national champion correctly, you'll earn a minimum of  63 points. If you pick every game correctly, you'll earn 192 points. And be on every talk show and magazine cover in America.

How do I fill out my bracket?
Once you've logged in, allowed the application, and joined the just Housewives group, click the little Brackets tab-looking thing and then scroll down and click on the bracket to fill it out. It will open in a pop-up window -- mine opened behind all my other windows, so watch for it. :)

In that window, you'll just select which team you think will win each game. When the team name is highlighted, click to select them as the winner of the game in that bracket:

After your 63 clicks, just make it 64 by clicking save.

 Then click on Groups and select the just Housewives group to see who else has submitted their brackets and what else is going on with the group. You can see who is winning in our group by clicking the Standings tab (once the games have begun on Thursday afternoon), trash-talk (in one form or another) on the Smash tab, and see the current games and scores by clicking the Scoreboard tab.

You can fill out and change your brackets until Thursday at noon (Eastern time, I believe) -- once the games start Thursday afternoon, your brackets are locked and you can no longer change your picks.

To get back to the bracket challenge app in Facebook, you'll find it either in the left sidebar:

or by starting a search for CBSSports.com Sports Brackets:

 If you want to see your bracket on paper (or maybe compare it to your husband's by hanging them on your fridge ;), you can print out a bracket here (or by clicking the print link beneath your bracket) -- but remember that we fellow Housewives will only be able to see it if you go new school and fill it out on FB.

What does the winner get? Why should I play?
The winner gets... fame and glory. Maybe something cool if Debra and I can scrounge something up, or if one of you would love to sponsor the challenge.

You should play because... it's fun. You might even enjoy it. Especially if your husband loves sports, take some time to be interested in what he's interested in -- it's a good exercise for your marriage. :)

You don't have to watch the games if you don't want to... but you might like it once you try it. I'm sure your husband wouldn't turn down hosting a March Madness party, and then you can make the cute table settings and fun food and enjoy that just as much as he enjoys the games. :)

And if/when you have questions about the tournament, ask us. Debra and I both love college basketball -- and our alma mater is in the tournament this year, go Aggies! -- and our husbands know pretty much everything there is to know about most sports. Not kidding in the least. My husband might not remember our son's birthdate, but he can remember the most random sports facts from before he was even alive. If you don't believe it, just ask your question. :)

Happy bracketing!

And don't forget to invite your friends... or enemies :)