This is a great time of the year, when everyone in the office has filled out at least one bracket.  If you are like me, you are in multiple pools.  The bracket itself can get a little boring sometimes, so a buddy of mine introduced me to a variation of the bracket.  I'll tell you all about it after the jump.  Also, I want to know if anyone else plays a fun variation for March Madness.  Share!

Here's my variation.  It takes a little bit of preparation by the organizer, but is lots of fun.  The scoring is similar to fantasy football, in that it's based around scoring.
 

SETUP:   Make a spreadsheet of the top 5 scorers of each team in the tourney along with their scoring average. (sounds like a lot of work, but only took me 1/2 hr of copying and pasting).  Organize by team, top seeds first.  

DRAFT:  You and the friends in your league have a fantasy draft of players.  I suggest rosters of 20 players for 8-10 people.  At least 1 player from each team must be picked, so for the last 2 rounds count how many teams haven't had a player picked, then take turns picking one from each until all tournament teams have had at least 1 guy chosen and everyone has their roster filled out. 

SCORING:  You tally up the total points that each player on your roster scores in the tourney, and the guy with the most points wins. Remember, you don't have starters and a bench.  You add all points from everyone.  Everyone emails their spreadsheets to the organizer, and he cuts and pastes onto a master that is sent out a few times a week, so you can see where you stack up.  The organizer checks the point totals from the top 2 at the end of it all to make sure everything matches. 

WHY DO IT:  Its a lot of fun because you don't know if the guy from Syracuse who scores 5 pts a game will score more over the course of the tourney then the top guy from a low seed that drops 25 for one game.  You may be happy because one of your players is scoring a ton, then cry because his team lost. Also, if your bracket ends up sucking, you still may have some players from other teams accumulating points.  If you love college basketball, this is a bit more involved then the traditional bracket challenge.

TIPS:  Use your bracket to help you decide which players to select.  If you have Duke going out in the sweet 16, don't pick a Duke player over a Syracuse guy you picked to go to the championship game.  Conversely, early on snag the top scorer from the cinderella team you picked to make it to the elite 8 over the leftovers from a top seed.  They will accumulate more points.  If you use this method, be sure to pick at least a few players to hedge your bets. 

I'm always looking for different games to play this time of year.  If you have a cool idea or game you play, SHARE IT.  I look forward to your posts.