I mentioned this last year, and several people were interested, so here's you chance to get in for this year. The Jerome is a conference tournament prediction contest that started among journalists a couple decades ago. It has grown into something much larger, but it's still fun to see your name up against several well-known CBB writers on the scoreboard. No entry $, no prize--it's all for fun.
The first set of picks is due Monday. When you enter your email into this form, it'll get you on the mailing list for round 2 and future years. Link: https://form.jotform.com/Sendit_Interns/jeromexvi--week-i.
From the email:
Rookies, the object of The Jerome is to select the winners of the 32 NCAA Division I conference tournaments. You're allowed to pick one team per league, and you earn points based on how far it advances. A trip to the finals earns two points for your The Jerome score, and a victory in the championship game gets you three more (for a grand total of, wait for it, five).
There are two bonus points available if your conference tourney-winning team meets BOTH of the following criteria: 1.) it is seeded third or worse in that tournament's bracket (or second or worse in a league that uses divisions as seeding), and 2.) it plays no more than two games in the tournament on its home court. So in some leagues, picking a winner means seven points for you.
Neat. A little madness pre-madness.
32 conferences. Wow...always amazed at the breadth of college basketball. 10-15 man teams and 5 on the court...potential for upsets and unknown teams to make a statement...great sport.
I watch football but my interest has waned. Too much of the usual suspects and it's been many years since I grew up in Ann Arbor and was a fan of the Maize and Blue.
Just saying D1 college basketball has a lot going for it.