The Bracket Battle Begins!

Well, March Madness officially begins tomorrow (sorry, I don't count yesterday's game in which Morehead State won the right to be sacrificed to number one Louisville). Anyway, it's time for the players in the Wildcat's Lair's Bracket Battle 2009 to show their brackets.

Below, you see headshots of all six competitors, including me. To see a player's bracket (i.e. to find out what was going through their head), just click on his/her head. This year, Frank and I are joined by Uncle Kerouac, my dog Page, the baddest bad boy of stuffed animals Ted E. Bear and the combined forces of my wife (a.k.a. the Dragon Queen) and her collection of dragons.





Another change for this year... I've handed over the scoring duties to the NCAA website. I've created a group on the website and entered all of our brackets. Below, you'll see the website's scoring system. You'll notice it heavily rewards those picking teams that make it into the Final Four. Another interesting twist is that this scoring system rewards successful picks for underdogs.



We've all taken a rather different approach to building our brackets, as the past few episodes have shown. See what you think... and pick your own winner. Whose brackets do you think will win it all this year?

Bracket Battle 2009, Episode I

Coming up later today... the six brackets in this year's bracket battle are unveiled!

And Coming Up Tomorrow (that's right, tomorrow... an extra episode for this week!): "Bracket Battle 2009, Episode II"

Pretty Please

Coming Up on Wildcat Wednesday: "Bracket Battle 2009, Episode I"

You're On!

Coming Up on Frank Friday: "Pretty Please"

Beware the Ides of March

It's almost that time of year again... time for thousands of people who know nothing about basketball to risk the odds and pick the teams they think will win and lose in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. In previous years, Frank and I have faced off. This year will also see some new faces adding their brackets to the battle. You'll have to wait to see who else will challenge me and Frank. You'll find out who at least two of them are in this week's episodes of the Wildcat's Lair.

In the meantime, I wanted to let the readers of the Lair get into the spirit of the competition. Just for this occasion, I've created a special wallpaper for "Bracket Battle 2009." I've even created three different sizes, one of which is designed for you widescreen users.



800 X 600                       1028 X 768                              1280 X 800

The fun starts in just seven days on the infamous Ides of March (that's March 15th, for those not up on their Latin and "Julius Caesar") when the teams selected to compete in the tournament will be announced. From there, you'll get to watch the drama play out within the Wildcat's Lair as we find out just who's bracket will be the ultimate winner.

Since things can change daily with these bracket battles, don't be surprised if I post a few extra episodes along with the regularly scheduled ones for Wildcat Wednesdays and Frank Fridays. I'll also post some updates on the score in-between each round of the Tournament. The previous Bracket Battle in the Lair in 2007 included four brackets between me, Frank, Hip and Uncle Kerouac. I won that year's battle, but the odds of winning will be even tougher this year with as many as six brackets in play.

Hope you enjoy the wallpaper. The fun begins next week in the Lair!

If I Could Turn Back Time

Coming Up on Wildcat Wednesday: "You're On!"