It’s time to survive.
Come on, you must know how this goes by now. No? OK, let me explain.
It’s not your grandparent’s bracket challenge. In fact, it’s not a bracket challenge at all. All you need to do is pick a small number of winners for each round of the selected tournament. Pretty simple, right?
Compared to the longshot of correctly predicting the fate of 68 teams through six games, the USA TODAY Sports’ men’s and women’s March Madness survivor pool games feel a lot more accessible. Hit on your choice picks each round and you’re golden. Last the longest without missing a pick and collect some serious cash. And you get two chances to win by competing in both the men’s and women’s survivor pools.
I’m making this sound pretty good, aren’t I?
Oh, right. There are a few important details I should mention.
You can only pick a team once during the entire tournament. If you fail to make any or all picks in a round, you are eliminated. And, of course, each of your picks must be correct to advance to the next round.
These survivor pool games give USA TODAY readers a chance to win $2,500, the amount awarded to whoever lasts the longest in the men’s and women’s pools.
Here are some tips to get started:
The game is more challenging than it seems at face value.
USA TODAY runs survivor pool games for both March Madness and the NFL season. What do they have in common? Game outcomes are often unpredictable.
In addition to only being allowed to select a team once for the entire tournament, you can only advance by hitting on all your picks. But if two players hit all their picks, the player who correctly picked teams with cumulatively higher seeds will win.
For example, if Player 1 selected teams seeded 3-3-2 (total 8) and Player 2 selected teams seeded 4-5-6 (total 15), then Player 2 would be ahead in the tiebreaker standings.
It can be risky relying on teams with high seeds to help you survive — since those teams will typically be considered underdogs — but it could come in handy if you make it to the end.
Players will also make a different amount of picks each round, following the completion of the play-in games. Here is the breakdown:
If you survive long enough to compete in the Final Four, you might not even have a chance to make selections the rest of the way depending on the decisions you make during earlier rounds.
A potential scenario exists where you could be automatically eliminated in the Final Four or championship round if teams you already selected make up the remaining field ― since you can’t select the same team twice.
All the more reason for players to be strategic with their selections. Think the Florida men or UConn women are destined to win it all? Then don’t select them in the first round because those picks will be unavailable to you later on. You’ll want to focus on specific matchups and individual game advantages one team might have against another. So do your research!
Let’s recap:
1. Join one or both survivor pools.
2. Survive the longest with the highest cumulative seed value and you could win a $2,500 cash prize per pool. (Must meet eligibility requirements)
Rules to remember: Correctly pick a select number of March Madness winners each round. If any of your picks lose, you’re eliminated. If all your picks hit in a given round, you survive and earn points equal to those teams’ cumulative seed value. You can only select each team once for the entire tournament. If you fail to make any or all of your picks in a given round, you’re eliminated.
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