Brats, Beer & Brackets Virtual!

Thank you for participating in Brats, Beer & Brackets Virtual! In lieu of a printed program, all of the auction and event details can be found on this webpage. If you have questions, please contact Carolyn Palmer, YC Communications & Events Manager, at 440.892.1001 x 13 or via email.

Brats, Beer & Brackets is a Calcutta Style Auction for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament presented by Young Professionals for Youth Challenge. The online auction will take place on March 16, 2021 via Zoom. Attendance is free, but registration is required at www.YouthChallengeSports.com/Brackets.

Schedule of events (all in ET):

  • 4 – 6 pm: Pickup and delivery of at-home catering (prior purchase necessary)
  • 6:30 pm: Zoom meeting opens for pre-event slideshow and fun
  • 7 pm: Virtual auction and Fund-a-Need begins
  • 8:30 pm (ish): Virtual event ends

Team Groupings:

MIDWEST
#6 San Diego State, #7 Clemson, #8 Loyola Chicago
#5 Tennessee, #9 Georgia Tech, #10 Rutgers
#4 OK State, #11 Syracuse, #12 Oregon State
#3 West Virginia and #13 Liberty
#2 Houston, #14 Morehead State, #16 Drexel
#1 Illinois and #15 Cleveland State

EAST
#6 BYU, #7 UConn, #8 LSU
#5 Colorado, #9 St. Bonaventure, #10 Maryland
#4 Florida St., #11 Mich. State/UCLA (play-in), #12 Georgetown
#3 Texas and #13 UNC Greensboro
#2 Alabama, #14 Abilene Christian, #16 Mt. St. Mary’s/Texas Southern (play-in)
#1 Michigan and #15 Iona

SOUTH
#6 Texas Tech, #7 Florida, #8 North Carolina
#5 Villanova, #9 Wisconsin, #10 Virginia Tech
#4 Purdue, #11 Utah St., #12 Winthrop
#3 Arkansas and #13 University of North Texas
#2 The Ohio State University, #14 Colgate, #16 University of Hartford
#1 Baylor and #15 Oral Roberts

WEST
#6 USC, #7 Oregon, #8 Oklahoma
#5 Creighton, #9Missouri, #10 VCU
#4 Virginia, #11 Wichita State/Drake (play-in), #12 UC Santa Barbara
#3 Kansas and #13 Ohio University
#2 Iowa, #14 E. Washington, #16 Norfolk St./Appalachian State (play-in)
#1 Gonzaga and #15 Grand Canyon University

How does it work?

A “Calcutta Style” auction is unlike traditional office pools, where there are only a handful of winners. In this auction, each winning team, per round, earns a portion of the pot for the “owner” of that team. The payouts, by round, are below.

I won! How do I get paid? Congratulations! Payouts will be mailed the week of April 12.

How much will I win? It depends on the total pool value and what team(s) you have. For example:

  • You bid $50 for Team A and $500 for Team B.
  • The total pool is $6,000. YC receives $3,000, therefore, the pool receives $3,000. Team A wins their first and second round games and Team B wins the entire tournament. Your winnings are:

In this example, your gross winnings are $1,110 and your net winnings are $560.

How much did the winner take home in 2019? 2019’s winning team, Virginia, earned the bidder $3,850. The bidder paid $1,250 for Virginia, making their net earnings for Virginia a total of $2,600!

What is the total pool? At the end of the night after all teams have been auctioned you will know what the total pool and the winnings per round, per team. If you are not able to stay the entire time, we will email the attendees a summary of the pool.

Get Your Friends Together and Increase Your Buying Power!

A betting syndicate is a fun way to get together with friends and form a “team” to pool your money together to have more bidding power for certain teams.  If there is a team that has a clear advantage over others (e.g., #1 seeds) then it is likely those teams will auction for the highest “price.”  Your syndicate could outbid others with pooled resources and you can split the winnings of your Tournament team among yourselves.

How will the auction work on Zoom?

  • Brats, Beer & Brackets Virtual will take place via Zoom meeting. Registered participants will receive the login information the week of the event.
  • Participants are encouraged to attend in their favorite team jersey (NCAA or otherwise)! Virtual backgrounds are available for download by clicking here. To add a virtual background during the meeting, follow these steps:
    • Download your desired image and save it in a folder you can easily access.
    • In the meeting, next to the “stop video” or “start video” button, click the “^” icon.
    • Click “virtual backgrounds”
    • In the pop-up screen, find the “+” sign to upload your background image.
    • Navigate to the folder you saved the image in and select it for upload.
    • Voila! You should see your background image in the preview. If it’s backwards, uncheck “mirror my video”.
    • Save and close, and you’re all set.
  • Auction bids will be placed via the chat feature on Zoom. After a winner is finalized, their bid will be entered into the event website for checkout. If you haven’t registered and/or added a credit card on file, please do so at www.YouthChallengeSports.com/Brackets.
  • Some important Zoom tips:
    • Please make sure you have the latest version of Zoom installed on your computer!
    • To make it easier to bid and fully attend the event, please access the event from a desktop computer or laptop. Cell phones won’t work as well!
    • When you login, please make sure you are logged in with your full name this will ensure we can keep good records of bids.
    • During most of the event, attendees will be muted. You have the power to mute and unmute yourself as needed with the buttons in the lower left-hand corner.
    • Bidding, smack-talking, well wishes, etc. can be shared via the chat function.

50/50 Sideboards and Bracket Challenge:

There’s more than one way to win big during Brats, Beer & Brackets on March 16! 50/50 Sideboard tickets are on sale now through March 16 at 9 pm ET. If a sideboard sells out, another can be offered.

  • $10 – All 64 Teams: On March 17, you will be randomly assigned one of the 64 teams playing in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. If you are assigned the winning team, you will win $320, half of the pot. If the sideboard sells out, another can be offered. CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS!
  • $50 – Top 4 From Each Region + The Field: On March 17, you will be randomly assigned one top-four team (from any region) playing in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. One purchaser will be assigned “the field” (all teams not in the top four of any region). If you are assigned the winner, you will win $425, half of the pot! CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS!
  • $50 – Sweet Sixteen: On March 25, you will be randomly assigned one of the Sweet Sixteen teams playing in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. If you are assigned the winning team, you will win $400, half of the pot! CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS!
  • NEW FOR 2021: Fill out those brackets and WIN BIG! We’re offering a YC Bracket League. For $5/bracket, you can fill out as many brackets as you’d like. Bracket entries can be purchased through March 16 at 9 pm ET. You will receive bracket entering information on March 15 through March 17, 2021. Brackets must be filled out by 9 am ET on March 18, 2021. 50% of the pot goes to YC and the rest is split in cash prizes awarded to the top three winners! CLICK HERE TO BUY YOUR BRACKETS!

Thank you to Young Professionals for Youth Challenge (YP4YC) for all your work planning this event!

  • Margaret Biehl
  • Miranda Bowden
  • Gabby Bova
  • Rachel Byrnes
  • Kristen Costanzo
  • Freddie Cruz
  • Will Gallup
  • Sarah Harbottle
  • Steven Kyman
  • Kristen McDonald
  • Jamie Miller
  • Meghdeep Mukherjee
  • Olivia Pedersen
  • Niral Sheth
  • Kevin Tinus
  • Ryan Winkler