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March Madness 2026

BRACKET

CHALLENGE GROUP

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$2,500

1st Place — Our Pool

$100,000

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HOW IT WORKS

THREE STEPS. ZERO COST.

1.	Join the Snapback bracket pool on Underdog using the link above. Free to enter, takes 2 minutes.

2.	Fill out your bracket and pick a champion. New to Underdog? Use code SNAPBACK — get $50 with a $5 deposit.

3.	Vote for Jack's $10,000 bet at the bottom of this email. The team with the most votes gets a $10K future placed on them — if they win, we split the winnings.

PRIZE BREAKDOWN

THE MONEY.

🥇 Snapback Pool — 1st Place	$2,500
Underdog Platform Pool	$100,000 Separate Underdog prizes

🏀 THE JACK BONUS BET

Whichever team gets the most votes below, Jack bets $10,000 on them to win the title. If they win, the prize pool explodes — and we split the winnings with you.

🥇 1st Place — 50%	~$15,000
🥈 2nd Place — 25%	~$7,500
🥉 3rd Place — 10%	~$3,000
4th–8th Place — 3% each	~$900 ea.

*Estimated prizes if the most-voted team wins at +200 odds. Example: Duke gets the most votes → Jack bets $10K on Duke → Duke wins → ~$30,000 in additional prizes split above.

SNAPBACK BRACKET INTEL

10 THINGS HISTORY SAYS
ABOUT THIS TOURNAMENT

From 14 champions & 56 Final Four teams (2011–2025). Data: KenPom · Torvik · EvanMiya.

01	HISTORICAL LAW DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS — EVERY TIME 9 of 14 champions ranked top-5 in defensive efficiency. Michigan (#1 defense nationally) and Duke (#2) are the two most analytically sound title picks in this field. No team with a porous defense has won it all in over a decade.

02	FORM ALERT PEAKING TEAMS BEAT THEIR SEED EVERY TIME The bracket rewards who's playing best right now, not in November. Duke has won 10 straight quality games. Michigan State is climbing fast. Fading teams — Houston, Iowa State — are dangerous to advance regardless of seed.

03	FADE SIGNAL DEFENDING CHAMPIONS ALMOST NEVER REPEAT Only 1 of 17 defending champions reached the Final Four the following year. Five typically exit in the second round. Florida won last year with similar numbers — don't let recency bias push them too far.

04	UPSET ALERT 12-SEEDS WIN IN 34 OF 40 TOURNAMENTS McNeese (10-game win streak) and Northern Iowa (top-25 defense nationally) are this year's most credible 12-seed threats. Michigan State's defensive rating has dropped 48 spots since February 1.

05	COACHING DATA COACHING TRACK RECORDS ARE REAL INTEL Pat Kelsey (Louisville) is 0-5 all-time in first-round games. Nebraska is 0-8 in first-round games, all-time. Kansas has gone 0-5 in second-round games since 2014. Fade accordingly.

06	VALUE PICK BEST 5-SEED WE'VE EVER SEEN IS IN THIS FIELD St. John's is ranked 15th nationally as a 5-seed — statistically the strongest 5-seed in this data set going back to 2011. They're peaking. The ceiling: Duke in the Sweet 16.

07	ELEVATES VS. ELITE ARIZONA GETS BETTER WHEN IT MATTERS MOST Arizona has the highest "elevates vs. elite" rating in the entire field — their numbers actually improve against top competition. That's what separates Sweet 16 teams from Final Four teams.

08	CHAOS TRIGGER EXTREME TEMPO MISMATCHES CREATE UPSETS Hofstra (#317 in pace) vs. Alabama (#4 in pace) is the most explosive mismatch in the bracket. Alabama's defensive rating dropped 42 spots since February — classic first-round banana peel.

09	THE FORMULA BALANCE WINS TITLES. ONE-TRICK PONIES GO HOME. Only 8 teams this year meet the elite dual-efficiency threshold (top-25 offense AND defense). Purdue scores on everyone — but also lets everyone score. 85% of Final Four teams had a top-40 defense. Purdue doesn't.

10	PROGRAM PEDIGREE UCONN WINS IN MARCH IN WAYS STATS CAN'T CAPTURE Two national titles in the last three years. Their numbers this year are good, not elite — but the program has a March IQ that analytics can't fully quantify. When two teams are close, bet on the one that's been here before.

BONUS BET

VOTE FOR JACK'S
$10,000 BET 🏀

Pick the team you want Jack to bet on. Most votes wins. If that team wins the championship, the prize pool above gets paid out — split with everyone in the Snapback pool.

→ CAST YOUR VOTE

*Estimated bonus prizes based on $10,000 bet at +200 odds. The team with the most form votes gets the future placed on them.

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