Sure, when you look at los brackets de Jiffo, Jiffo Tres appears to be the Jiffo to watch. As we enter the third round of the NCAA tourney, Jason Kaden’s third bracket sits in second place, and a good bet to win the Glimm if Michigan State wins the tournament.

But scroll down, Constant Glimmer, and keep scrolling, scroll scroll scroll all the way to 312nd place, where you’ll find Jiffo Quatro. Jiffo Quatro doesn’t appear to be special, sitting six places from last with just 37 points.

But look closer! If the final 15 games fall just right — Virginia beats Texas Tech for the national championship, Virginia Tech and Auburn both reach the final four, a few other games go Jiffo’s way — and Jiffo Cuatro could be Numero Uno when the tournament ends.

Why do we share this now? Because 312th place Jiffo Quatro shows that todo es posible en El Glimm. In all, 225 Glimmers still have a chance at finishing in the money, and 166 Glimmers can win the championship.

Do you have a chance? You can find out easily enough: Check out the possible outcomes page to see where you stand.

Speaking of standings, let’s take a look at the standings for the Kids Championship, where competition is heating up. With 24 Glimmers in the running, Eden Lazarus’ Eden’s Bracket (13th overall) leads the way, 1.5 points ahead of Brooklyn Rados’ TheDodgersFans (21 overall).

Games resume at 7pm tomorrow.

Kids Championship standings (full standings here):

The Glimm started with black socks and baggy shorts, no-look passes and thunderous dunks and infectious swagger. It was 1992. I was in 8th grade. My sister was just accepted to the University of Michigan, and my first real introduction to college basketball was the Fab Five.  I was quickly hooked.

When March came around, I wanted others to share my newfound college basketball addiction, so I started an NCAA tourney pool. About 15 of my friends at Robert E. Bell Middle School joined. Naturally, I picked Michigan, a lowly #6 seed, to win it all. They didn’t – but their shocking run to the nationally championship game was enough to propel me to championship in the first ever Glimm Memorial (before it was named the Glimm Memorial, of course).

I haven’t won the Glimm since. I haven’t come close.

I share this Glimm history for a simple reason: To assure you that no, I am not cheating. If the Glimm was rigged all these years, I would have come up with a better plan than a 27-year gap since my last title. But in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, I picked 29 of 32 games correctly in my Tim Whatley bracket, putting me squarely in contention. 

I’m not in first place — Jason Kaden picked 26 of 32 games right in his Jiffo Tres bracket, but he  correctly picked the biggest upset of first round, UC Irvine over Kansas State, to move one point ahead of me. But entering the second round of the tournament, i’m in good position.

I’ve got competition, including from some Kids Championship contenders: Eden Lazarus’s Eden Bracket and Brooklyn Rados’ TheDodgersFan bracket are in third and fourth place. 2016 Glimm Champ Kate Lord (Go To Hell Dook 4) and Nelson Hsu (Fear the Turtle) are tied for fifth place.
While there haven’t been any MAJOR upsets, some Glimmers have already seen their brackets take big blows. Seven have lost their champion, 12 have lost their runner-up and 40 have lost at least one Final Four team. 

Only one person, though, has lost all four Final Four teams: Ben Berkowitz. His Dog Theory bracket (he picked all underdogs for the entire tournament) has him in 86th place, but with little room for improvement: Fifteen of his Sweet Sixteen picks have already lost. 

The second round begins at noon ET today, so be sure to check theglimm.com for updates throughout the afternoon.

The Leaderboard (click here for full standings):

The first two games are underway: Minnesota leads Louisville in the second half, and LSU is dominating Ivy League champ Yale. And you know what that means: The 2019 Glimm Memorial is officially underway, too.

Here’s what you need to know about Glimm 19:

• We have 318 entries this year, the most ever. That means assuming everyone pays (obligatory prompt: If you haven’t yet, venmo your $5/entry fee to @Josh-Kleinbaum now), the winner should take home just north of $1,000. Not too shabby.
• Of those, 24 are also competing for the Kids Championship, awarded to the top finishing Glimmer under Bar Mitzvah age. That includes the offspring of many longtime Glimmers, so there’s lots of familiar names — Millers and Machts, Rajus and Rosenbergs, Varleys, Rubinfelds and Kleinbaums and more.
• As usual, we have some good entry names. Some talk about their bracket (A Very Good Bracket and a Very Bad Bracket). Some give insight into the state of one’s marriage (ihopethesepicksbeatmywifes and IBeatMyHusband). Some address life (ball is life), and some address death (Not funny, Aron. A man died).
• About the picks: Not surprisingly, tournament favorite Duke is also the Glimm favorite, with 34% of you picking the Blue Devils to win. The three one seeds come right behind: Gonzaga (15%), Virginia (12%) and North Carolina (10%). The craziest championship picks? Abeline Christian and Farleigh Dickenson/Prarie View.

So prepare yourself for three weeks of madness, and remember to check back here for updates, standings and more.

Joanna should have been in bed, and she knew it. So when she walked into my bedroom in late October and handed me a note, she didn’t really say anything – she just stood there with a rebelious smile. Jo and her twin sister Stephanie liked to stay up late and write notes. It’s pretty cute for 7-year-olds.

The note itself was even cuter:

“Daddy – I made a deal with a friend at school. He votes for Penn State. If Michigan beats Penn State, he has to give me money. If Penn State beats Michigan, I have to give him money.”

MY GIRL MADE HER FIRST SPORTS BET!!!! I was so proud.

You want that same feeling? Well, here’s your chance: For the 2019 NCAA tournament, the Glimm is unveiling the Kids Championship, so all of you Glimmers with young kids can introduce your children to sports gambling*.

The rules are pretty simple: Any kids that enter the Glimm that are under B’nai Mitzvot age (under 13) will also compete for the Kids Championship, as long as the kid fills out the bracket him/herself. Sure, there can be a little help from mommy or daddy, but this isn’t about you submitting a bracket and putting your kid’s name on it. The kid makes the picks, even if his/her choices are based on colors, mascots or what state his favorite YouTubers live in (yes, that’s why Joanna has Utah State in the championship game). Just make sure that your kid puts a YES in the Kids Bracket field on the entry form.

The prize? The top-finishing kid in the Kids Bracket will be named Kids Champion, and receive a free entry to the Glimm next year. And maybe a certificate.

So click here to open a bracket, then hand your phone/computer to your kid and give him/her the chance to be a champion! Brackets are due by noon Thursday, full details in the post below this.

Oh, and that Michigan-Penn State game? Michigan won 42-7. JoJo not only made her first sports bet, but she won it. Let’s see if she can do as well in the Glimm.

*Fine Print: The Glimm is not gambling. You’re paying for three weeks of entertainment, and some people get a prize at the end. Repeat, this is not gambling.

JUST GIVE ME THE BRACKET! OK, OK, you can enter your bracket here.

It’s been about 340 days since Nina Lin won the first ever NCAA tournament pool she entered. Can she do it again? Or will it be you?
That’s right, kids, it’s that time of year: The Glimm Memorial NCAA Tournament Pool, the only college basketball pool named for Alma Glimm, is upon us.  For the low price of $5, you get three week’s worth of entertainment. Just submit your picks, then watch the games, root on your teams and read my cheesy emails. 
Full details:

WHAT: The 28th Annual Glimm Memorial NCAA Basketball Tournament

HOW: Fill out a bracket here, then send me $5 via venmo (username @Josh-Kleinbaum).

HOW MUCH: Five bucks per entry. And yes, you can enter more than once (but no more than five times, thanks to the Nevin Barich rule).

THE PAYOUT: The winner gets 70% of the pot, runner-up 20% and third-place person 10%.  To give some context, Nina took home about $950 last year. There are a few other prizes, too: The Orlov (whoever finishes exactly middle of the pack gets their $5 back, in cash, via snail mail), the Glimm Scholarship (the highest-finishing relative of Mrs. Glimm from the previous year gets a free entry), the Kids Champion (the top finisher under Bar Mitzvah age; details below) and the Pity Finisher (the last-place finisher gets his/her $5 back). On top of that, thirty bucks is coming out of the pot to pay for Glimm infrastructure, and I give myself 2 free entries.

SCORING: It’s a 1-2-4-8-12-16 scoring system with upset points. So that means that you get one point for picking a game correctly in the first round, two points in the second round, etc. And we use upset points – any time a lower-seeded team beats a higher-seeded team, you get half the difference between the seeds as bonus points (Note: This is a tweak from many previous years, when you got the full difference between seeds, not half). So if a 15 beats a 2, you get 6.5 bonus points. If a 9 beats an 8, you get half a point. The bottom line: It pays to take risks.

KIDS CHAMPION: With lots of children of longtime Glimmers now entering the tourney, we’re introducing a new prize: The Glimm Kids Championship. Any kid under Bar Mitzvah age that enters the Glimm (and makes their own picks – this isn’t about mommy or daddy submitting an entry under baby’s name) is also eligible to win the Kids Championship. Like the Glimm Scholarship (awarded to the top finisher related to Mrs. Glimm), the Kids Champion will receive a free entry to the next year’s Glimm. When filling out their bracket, kids should enter YES in the Kids Bracket field. 

HOW TO PAY: Venmo (username @Josh-Kleinbaum). Yes, you’ll see a pic of an older woman at that account. That’s not a mistake. That is Mrs. Glimm.

Throughout the 2017 Glimm Memorial NCAA Pool, Gootshot lingered near the top of the leaderboard. Round after round, Patrick Gerrity’s bracket turned in solid performances – but not quite good enough to take over first place. Until now.

It’s official: With five games remaining in the Glimm Memorial NCAA Tournaemnt Pool, Diane Otter holds both first place and last place.

In her Olives bracket, Otter (nee Davis) picked six of the Elite Eight winners correctly, then nailed the first two Final Four participants to vault pest Jeremy Berg (Hodor Lives 4) into first place, including Oregon’s upset over Kansas.

If North Carolina and Florida win on Sunday, Otter will be the only Glimmer to pick the Final Four correctly. She’s picked 79.3% of games correctly, tops in The Glimm.

Berg fell all the way to fourth place, behind Joseph DeMichele (Googootz 2) and Patrick Gerrity (gootshot).

What makes Otter’s run all the more remarkable is that she submitted two brackets, and the other is awful. Her mom/olives bracket has already clinched dead last, picking just 12.3% of the games correctly.

The Otter Sandwich has become the Glimm’s best story (not counting 19th century murderers named Alma Glimm). Stay tuned to see if she can make it stand.