The 2023 “Lawrence Welk Bubble NCAA Basketball Bracket Bonanza” Is Here!

One thing remains the same: To win, you have to pick a better bracket than the most interesting independent sports blogger on the web!

~J-Dub

Selection Sunday is just days away, which means March Madness is here! The fun begins long before the first tip-off. If you’re like me, you’ve been watching the “Small” conference tournaments to see which bottom-end seed you think might pull off an upset. If you’re like me, you’ll spend the next week watching those of the “Big” conferences in the hope you’ll have an epiphany that will get you to the promised land of the “Final Four.” Again if you’re like me, at some point in the next month or so you’ll remember how empty those hopes can be.

More importantly, March Madness brings me to the time-honored tradition here at Dubsism that serves as the demon seed for those empty epiphanies. You guessed it…all this blather means it’s time for another annual tradition here at Dubsism…our NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket Challenge!

As the title implies, our chosen theme revolves around the term we all hear at this time of year…”on the bubble”  For the casual fan, that’s a phrase which refers to the teams on that tenuous border of getting into the “Big Dance.”  They could be in the tournament, or “Selection Sunday” could burst their bubble;  hence the term…and the theme.

That being said, nobody knew more about bubbles than the American television icon and maestro of “champagne music” Lawrence Welk.  Sure, most of you under the age of 146 will need to consult the interwebz to understand who Lawrence Welk was; the guy first appeared on American television in the 1950s and he remains there to this day some three decades after his death. What matters here is Welk’s brand of “champagne music” meant he was the pre-eminent reason bubbles hit the American conscience.

The “bubble” association makes Welk a perfect theme for our bracket-related challenge. In any event, to win our prize package of crap (valued as high as $23 US dollars), you still have to pick more winners than any of the other bubble-heads out there.

Here’s what you can win!

A Certificate Suitable For Framing

There’s nothing quite like winning, except for when victory gets you credentialing to hang on your wall and lord over all in your domain.  Sure, you could forge something by downloading that picture and running it through a graphics editor, but we’ll all know you’re still a loser unless it has J-Dub’s authentic signature on it.

A Finger Basketball Game

After all, this is a basketball challenge…

A Sports-Themed Night-Light

Speaking of Biblical stuff, I know somewhere in there it says something about “Let there be light.” I’m not sure where; Sunday School wasn’t really my thing. I’m more about Selection Sunday.

A “Mystery” Bag

Nobody knows exactly what all is in it, but it’s safe to assume there might be there might be a Purdue-related item in there, since this blog is headquartered in the heat of Boiler nation. Oh, and as is the tradition, there might be a drinking game involved…

Here’s How You Win

You can’t win if you don’t play…and playing is as easy as following these steps.

1) Click on this link

• https://www.pooltracker.com/join.asp?poolid=219369 (or copy and paste into your browser if the link isn’t active)

2) Enter this pool credential information

• The Pool ID is: 219369
• The Pool Password is: 219369…and you will need to create a PoolTracker password if you do not already have one.
• Enter the other information as needed

3) Make your picks

• Picks will be loaded into the system on Monday, March 13^th after the full field is announced.
• This pool does not pick the “First Four” games held on Tuesday, March 14^th and Wednesday, March 15^th.
• The deadline for entry and finalizing your picks is 11:59 A.M. Eastern U.S. time on Thursday, March 16^th*
• Players are allowed to enter more than one bracket.

4) Scoring

For each successive round, points double:

• 1 point for each correct pick in Round 1
• 2 points for each correct pick in Round 2
• 4 points for each correct pick in the Sweet Sixteen
• 8 points for each correct pick in the Elite Eight
• 16 points for each correct pick in the Final Four
• 32 points for picking the correct Champion

Final Four Bonus:

• Players who correctly pick all four teams in the Final Four receive 25 bonus points

Bracket Upset Bonus (BUB):

Here’s where guys like me who think they know something about college basketball can do some serious gambling with their picks. In order to break up the log-jam the scores from the first two rounds usually create, and to encourage the picking of upsets, the BUB adds another scoring opportunity, by adding 1 point per seeding difference when a player correctly picks a lower-seeded team to win.

Example: A player correctly picks a #12 seed to beat a #5 seed. That player would receive 7 bonus points (12 seed – 5 seed = 7 points) for that win in addition to the points they would normally get for a victory in that round (1 point for the first round, two for the second round, et cetera…)

Every year, there’s at least one “Cinderella’ who makes a run deep into the “Big Dance.” If you happen to pick the right one, a couple of upsets could dramatically increase your odds of winning!

The Tie-Breaker:

The winner will be the player with the highest point total after the tournament concludes. If one or more players are tied following the Championship Game, the player with the tie-breaker number closest to the actual final score of the Championship Game (either over or under) will be the winner. If multiple players are still tied, the player whose picks were date/time-stamped first will be the winner.

NOTE: The date/time-stamp is updated every time a player’s picks and/or tie-breaker are edited, and nothing can be changed after the entry deadline at 11:59 A.M. Eastern U.S. time on Thursday, March 16^th.

5) Invite Your Friends and GAIN MORE BONUS POINTS!!!

This pool is open to all, so if you enter and don’t invite your crew, then enjoying the spoils of your victory won’t be nearly as enjoyable since you won’t get the feeling of having vanquished all your friends, co-workers, or anybody else over whom you might like to out-brag.

Here’s the best part. For each new participant you refer, you will earn bonus points toward your overall total!

• 3 points for the first new player you refer
• 4 for the second
• 5 for the third and any others beyond that (limit of five total referrals or a total 22 bonus points)

However, if you five new players, you will also get 10 bonus points on top of the 22. That means you can snag a cool 32 is what you would get for picking the correct champion, which very few people ever do. So, if you’ve got five friends who you think you can beat, put them to even better use!

By the way, any new players who join can cash in on this as well.

All new players get five bonus points just for joining!

Just forward the confirmation email you get from PoolTracker to dubsism@yahoo.com along with the name of who referred you and you’re in! Once you’re registered, you can start referring your crew as well!

Best of luck… and let the carnage begin!

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