NCAA Tournament Bracket Challenge - Final Update

The college basketball season came to a close last night as the 1st overall seed UConn Huskies defeated the Purdue Boilermakers to repeat as national champs for the first time in 17 years.

Like several of UConn's games this tournament, the game was tight through the first half.  But the Huskies asserted their dominance in the second half to pull away early and retain their lead through the end.  Rather than focusing on Purdue's big man, Zach Edey, UConn's philosophy was to let Edey go one-on-one in the post and prevent Purdue's perimeter players from beating them.

The strategy worked out for them, as they completed what only six other schools have done in the history of college basketball.  Their back-to-back championships put UConn at six total in school history, all of which coming in the last 25 years.  An unbelievable stretch for Husky fans.

More important than the actual NCAA tournament this year (and the reason you're probably reading this now) was the 3rd Annual Mega March Madness Matchup Monstrosity presented by Bucket Squad Sports Reports (Your #1 Source for All Things Sports).

The MMMMM came down to the championship game for the first time ever, and we are excited to finally announce the winner.

Congratulations to Josh M. for taking home this year's crown and with it, a life changing sum of $100.  I reached out to Josh in the aftermath of his victory to collect his thoughts on the achievement.  Here is what he said:

"Since the day I entered this world, I've dreamt of conquering the Mega March Madness Matchup Monstrosity. Now, as I bask in the glow of victory on Bucket Squad Sports Reports, it feels like destiny fulfilled. The prize money may only cover 2.4% of my current car repair bill, but this victory is worth more than all the gold and jewels in this world."

Not only is Josh currently saddled with a massive auto-related debt, he is also actually planning a wedding with another entrant into this year's bracket challenge.  And with the prize money, Josh is sure to be able to deliver to his bride the wedding of her dreams.  BSSR is honored to act as a vessel for love to flourish.

With that, I hereby induct Josh into the Bucket Squad Sports Reports Hall of Champions.  He becomes the third member of the exclusive club.  However, he doubled up the previous best winning score with an extremely impressive 1480 total points.

In fact, this was the best collective performance we've seen in the Mega March Madness Matchup Monstrosity, as seven brackets correctly picked UConn as champion.

Here is the final leaderboard with each bracket's performance over the course of the tournament.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this year's bracket challenge, as we had the biggest field in Mega March Madness Matchup Monstrosity history.  Be sure to come back next March and try again for your chance to win the grand prize and etch your name in BSSR's history books.

​Written by Nick Swatson