Inside NU Bracket Contest Leaderboard: Win Northwestern NCAA Tournament tickets

Leaderboard Update

Here's the top 10 after Saturday's Elite Eight games:

Original post:

March Madness is almost here! And while Northwestern won't be a part of it--on the men's side at least--that doesn't mean you won't or can't be.

We're assuming many of you have filled out brackets and been a part of pools in the past. But whether you have or haven't, for the first time, we're offering you the chance to put your prognostication skills--or, maybe more accurately, your luck--up against our writers, the rest of the Northwestern community, and other Wildcat fans around the country.

We're also excited to be able to offer a pretty darn cool prize. The winner of our contest will win two tickets to Northwestern's first ever NCAA Tournament game.*

*Obviously we have no idea when that will be. It could be next year. It could be in 30 years. Heck, it could be never. So to avoid legal trouble, and to ensure that the winner gets his/her prize, the actual prize will be StubHub gift cards worth a total of 150 dollars, with the idea that they will eventually be spent on Northwestern NCAA Tournament tickets.

There will also be other prizes:

Prizes

FIRST PLACE -- StubHub gift cards totaling $150 to be spent on two tickets to Northwestern's first ever NCAA Tournament game AND one Northwestern t-shirt.

THREE RUNNERS-UP -- One Inside NU laptop sticker each.

How to Play

1. According to the official rules, you must be a member of our site to be eligible for a prize. Fortunately, that only takes 30 seconds, and doesn't involve receiving annoying emails or anything. If you're not already a member, Just head to the bottom of this page, sign up for an SB Nation account (if you don't have one already), and you're good to go. If you are already an SB Nation member, but not a member of Inside NU specifically, check the box to agree to the terms and conditions, and click "Join Inside NU."

2. Sign up for Realtime Brackets here.

3. IMPORTANT: Realtime Brackets offers three game types. YOU MUST CHOOSE THE "TRADITIONAL" GAME TO BE ELIGIBLE TO WIN.

4. Join our group. Once you've signed up, click the "Groups" tab, and search for our private group. The group name is "Inside NU". The password is "Northwestern". Then click join. You can also just follow this link.

5. Fill out your bracket sometime after the release of the bracket (Sunday, 5 p.m. CT, CBS) and before the first game of the NCAA Tournament (around 11 a.m. Thursday).

You can read about the scoring system and all other Realtime Bracket rules and procedures here.

Here are the official rules for the competition: Inside NU Bracket Contest Official Rules. They are also embedded below.

Also, make sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @InsideNU. That's where we'll be giving live leaderboard updates once the NCAA Tournament starts.

If you have any questions, please email henrydbushnell@gmail.com and/or kevintrahan93@gmail.com.

Inside NU Bracket Contest Official Rules by kevintrahan93