The 2011 Young Family Bracket Challenge begins!

Alright, everybody... it's that time of the year again. The 2011 Young Family Bracket Challenge has officially begun. After last year's incredible rookie run by Jacob Young we look to the other 12 members of the bracket challenge to see if anyone can take that trophy from him this year. Or... can he repeat? I know that his cousins in Ohio have been waiting all year to get back at him, and I know that Boo Boo has been studying college basketball these past few weeks in preparation for this year's challenge. He better watch his back!

The brackets have been announced and released and sent to your email addresses. The four #1 seeds are: Ohio State, Kansas, Pittsburgh, and an ugly university 8 miles from the best university in the country! It looks like there are going to be a lot of upsets this year, so our challenge is going to be pretty intense.

All of the rules are the same as last year. There are no changes to the rules, instead, there is a new one.

This year there are four play-in games. These eight teams will face each other in order to make the final 64. These games are being played on Tuesday and Wednesday. Because these are not officially first-round games, these four games will garner 0.5 points each. So, if you get all of these correct, you're looking at a 2-point advantage before the tournament really begins.

With that said... EVERYONE MUST HAVE THEIR BRACKETS TURNED IN TO ME BY 6:30 PM (ET) ON TUESDAY. That is the tip-off of the first play-in game.

The first round will then begin on Thursday and continue for the next few weeks. This is the time where I will begin to dominate and we can all trash talk. Woot!

If you have any questions or concerns, post a comment or send me an email. Just remember, you need to have your brackets submitted by Tuesday by 6:30 PM (ET). Once I have received everybody's brackets, I will send out a PDF of everyone's selections.

Get pumped everybody! It's my year! :)

HOLLA!