ANNOUNCING: The Barking Crow’s 2022 NIT Bracket Challenge

UPDATE: The tournament has begun. Updates (in addition to this one that’s happening right now) will be posted here:

• Post-3/15 Update
• Post-3/16 Update (end of First Round)
• Post-3/19 Update
• Post-3/20 Update (end of Second Round)
• Post-3/22 Update
• Post-3/23 Update (end of Quarterfinals)
• Post-3.29 Update (entering Championship)
• Pre-Championship Update (who wins, depending on who wins)

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There are things that we, as a society, do every year. We hang holiday decorations on streetlamps in the wintertime. We hold parades in downtowns on Independence Day. We light large bonfires on October 18^th and burn effigies of the villain from Big Fat Liar.

One of those things that we, as a society, do every year is participate in The Barking Crow’s NIT Bracket Challenge, the only bracket challenge on The Internet™ that’s fun. Why do we do it? Mostly the fun part. But also because if we don’t, society will crumble. If we don’t, civilization fails. If we don’t, Frankie Muniz’s plot to steal the toy monkey and secretly film a confession on top of a parking garage doesn’t work out. In other words, if you don’t submit a bracket to this challenge, you hate society, making you, technically speaking, a sociopath.

The rules are similar to what they are every year, which means we don’t remember what the rules were last year or in 2019 or for the Virtual NIT in 2020 but we’re just going to do what we assume we’ve always done. They are as follows:

• 1 point for every team correctly picked to advance to the second round.
• 2 points for every team correctly picked to advance to the quarterfinals.
• 4 points for every team correctly picked to advance to the final four.
• 8 points for every team correctly picked to advance to the championship.
• 16 points for correctly picking the champion.
• For the tiebreakers, we’ll ask you to guess 1) how many players will foul out over the course of the tournament (players who foul out multiple times will count multiple times); 2) how many frozen pizzas I, NIT Stu, will eat over the course of the tournament (from the moment the first game tips until the final buzzer of the championship); and 3) how many Vice Presidents have been born in the state of the second-place team.
• All decisions by The Barking Crow regarding scoring and tiebreakers are final, and by joining this challenge, you agree to this.
• The winner, runner-up, and third-place finisher will receive prizes of decreasing value. The prizes are negotiable, but we hold final say. Past winners have received combinations of merchandise (here’s a look at the current assortment), future NIT tickets, and gift cards to storied American eateries (it turned out Sbarro doesn’t have gift cards—that was a low point for us).
• All brackets must be received before the first game of the tournament tips off (looking like this is Tuesday at 7:00 PM EDT).
• One entry per email address.

Competing alongside you will be a number of celebrities. Currently, the list is as follows, but we’ll update it as we confirm more (if you know of a celebrity who might be interested or you are a celebrity yourself, please contact us via Twitter, Instagram, or email (allthingsnit@gmail.com) so we can appropriately verify identities):

• Anthony Barone (manager, Milwaukee Milkmen)
• DJ Bauer (sports reporter, ABC FOX Montana; bracketologist, Bauertology)
• Mike Bramante (stand-up comedian, Do Less Podcast)
• Alex Briseño (2021 The Barking Crow NIT Bracket Challenge champion)
• PFT Commenter (podcaster, Pardon My Take)
• Bennett Conlin (sports betting reporter, Better Collective)
• Andy Dieckhoff (editor/analyst, Heat Check CBB)
• Dan Fahey (Wisconsin Badgers basketball alum, 0 career NIT appearances)
• Mitch Harper (BYU insider, KSL Sports)
• Steve Helwick (college football writer, Hustle Belt/Underdog Dynasty)
• Ethan Hennessy (CBI/CIT bracketologist, Happening Hoops)
• Matt Lynch (podcaster, The College Basketball Stories)
• Rocco Miller (bracketologist/analyst, The Bracketeer)
• Tim Murray (co-host, The Night Cap)
• Paul Oren (college basketball reporter, The Victory Bell)
• Eddie Radosevich (writer/videographer, Sooner Scoop)
• Pat Roy (podcaster, The College Basketball Stories)
• Mike Rutherford (scribe, Card Chronicle)
• Jeremy Schwob (podcaster, The College Basketball Stories)
• John Templon (the OG NIT bracketologist, NYC Buckets)
• Fargo (our dog)
• More to come?

Alright, think that’s everything. Here’s the link to submit your picks. Bracket is below, or at this link. Good luck. Plenty of NIT content on the way as we approach the opening tip, and throughout the tournament, starting in the morning with our annual NIT preview that our friend Jamie emails to various famous people because Jamie is a good friend.