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The 2nd Annual Blog Bracket Challenge!

March 15, 2010 by Nathan Bransford

The greatest sporting event in the history of mankind except for maybe the World Cup or what have you is just about upon us!

It’s NCAA Tournament time, and just like last year we shall determine who among us is the literary bracket picking champion OF THEM ALL.

Last year, Jody-Feldman was a UConn victory away from winning the ENTIRE multi-million person ESPN challenge, but ultimately it was Jared who came away victorious.

Who will win this time?

(Probably not me)

Here’s how it works: You’ll fill out your NCAA bracket online by picking the winners of all the games. And I’m offering a better prize this year: The winner with the most points at the end of the NCAA tournament will win their choice of a free partial critique or a book from one of my clients.

Here’s how to enter:

1. Go to the front page of the ESPN tournament challenge: https://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.

Please limit yourself to one entry

This year all updates and trash talking and “I don’t believe what I just saw!!”s will be conducted in this dedicated March Madness thread in the Forums.

Oh, and you don’t have to know anything about basketball to participate. In fact, it’s probably an asset.

Good luck, Chalengees!!

Photo by Rick Dikeman via a Creative Commons license

Filed Under: Contests Tagged With: contests

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Nathan Bransford says

    March 16, 2010 at 5:04 am

    krista-

    No, prizes aren't transferable. He could take a book if he wins though if he's not working on a novel! Up to you/him.

  2. Anonymous says

    March 16, 2010 at 5:10 am

    Well, I'm going to win, so now the question is: what if the partial I send in is a really really rough draft? As in, not ready for submission, but would be fun to get first round type of advice. ??

  3. Nathan Bransford says

    March 16, 2010 at 5:10 am

    anon-

    That would be fine.

  4. Luc2 says

    March 16, 2010 at 8:44 am

    I've been following the NCAA this year, which means I'll probably stink at filling out the bracket. But the Bracket Challenge adds another layer of fun to it.
    Go Evan Turner, go Buckeyes!

  5. K. M. Walton says

    March 16, 2010 at 1:12 pm

    Hi, Nathan, well, I did it! That was fun. Now all Villanova has to do for me is win the whole thing.

  6. veela-valoom says

    March 16, 2010 at 3:39 pm

    Oh March Madness I love you!

    I'm a little torn about how to feel out my bracket. All of us baskettball fans know who the most obvious answer is, BUT I don't want to jinx my beloved UK by picking them or curse them by picking them.

    I want to know who you support (not who you think will win but who you're rooting for).

    I wonder if the NCAA tournament can be nearly as drama filled as the SEC tournament this past weekend. I have never had so much fun watching basketball on TV.

  7. markfreeman says

    March 16, 2010 at 5:49 pm

    Go Catamounts!

  8. LQQ says

    March 16, 2010 at 7:50 pm

    Come on Mich St whoever you are!
    I'm going to have to take an interest in basketball along with football (soccer).
    I now a lot about soccer and always do really badly on prediction so I hope it works the otehr way around.

  9. JTShea says

    March 17, 2010 at 1:23 am

    I can't play basketball. I'm not seven feet tall yet.

  10. sruble says

    March 17, 2010 at 4:34 am

    This was so fun last year. Thanks for doing the challenge again!

    a.k.a. espn_sruble for this challenge

  11. Jody Feldman says

    March 17, 2010 at 6:42 pm

    I'm in again, but don't expect much. Luck like that doesn't hold out as I proved last year.

  12. Bernard S. Jansen says

    March 18, 2010 at 9:55 am

    I don't really follow American football much, but I just signed up and picked teams anyway. Go Ohio, I think.

  13. abc says

    March 18, 2010 at 1:03 pm

    Go Badgers!

  14. Liberty Speidel says

    March 18, 2010 at 2:13 pm

    I've never filled out an NCAA bracket in all my almost 28 years… this is my first! 🙂 I wouldn't do it for the sports, but I'll do it for the chance at a critique!

    I'm so pathetic!

  15. David Poellot says

    March 28, 2010 at 8:41 pm

    I'm interested to see who comes away the winner, as everyone's bracket has to be blown up by now. Your second annual may go down in the record books as the challenge with the least points scored by the winner.

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About Nathan

Hi, I’m Nathan. I’m the author of How to Write a Novel and the Jacob Wonderbar series, which was published by Penguin. I used to be a literary agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. and I’m dedicated to helping authors achieve their dreams. Let me help you with your book!

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