March Madness is Back!!!

One of my favorite times of the year is back...March Madness! I love college basketball and tonight tips off three weeks of hoops nirvana with the release of the 68-team NCAA Tournament bracket.

Nothing complements March Madness any better than entering a bracket contest, too. So, for the second straight year, I am looking to connect all of my online friends from Twitter and Facebook to enjoy the games together. To encourage you to enter and also check back with my blog, I'm going to award a $25 gift card to the winner to the restaurant of his or her choice. So, you have nothing to lose and lots of bragging rights and a free dinner to gain.

Last year's contest was a big success with 52 entrants and a lot of fun with several different people taking the lead along the way and getting featured in the blog before my wife, Carla, did what she does to me pretty much every year in this contest - she won! She beat out 51 other people including several sports information directors, sports PR experts, a sports reporter from a major newspaper, and a TV news anchor to claim the inaugural crown.

All you need to do to enter is to go to the private group that I've set up on ESPN's site under the title Six Degrees of MVNUSID. The password is MVNUSID. Get your bracket submitted before tip off of the first game on Thursday (approximately noon ET) and then check back with the blog each day as I highlight who is winning after each round of games. I'll look forward to reading your comments, too, as you have the opportunity to tell the world that you called the big upset as it happens.

Good luck and enjoy the Madness!