The Union Daily Times’ bracket challenge competitors have survived the first wave of March Madness although some of us took some fairly significant hits. One thing’s for sure…Anything can happen in this tournament. Case-in-point, #14 Harvard stunned #3 New Mexico along with the rest of the country, pulling out a 68-62 win.

Then there were all those 12-5 upsets that busted brackets left and right. Nearly every year there’s a #12 seed that manages to defy the odds and defeat a #5 seed. That’s why the first rule of NCAA Tournament bracket predicting is thou shalt predict a 12 seed to beat a 5 seed.

However, the second rule is thou shalt not get carried away and predict four 12-5 upsets.

So most competitors in the Tournament Challenge picked one #12 over a #5 and figured they had their bases covered.

When three of the four regions saw a #12 advance to the Round of 32 on Thursday and Friday, it seemed like a good time to do away with the rulebook.

In the Midwest, Oregon routed Oklahoma State for the first real upset of the tournament and competitors ‘round the world were probably thinking, “Yep. There’s that 12-5.” Then California beat UNLV in the East and Ole Miss moved on with a win over Wisconsin in the West. The only #5 to come out alive was the Rams of VCU in the South and their win was over an ailing Akron team that was without half its starters.

So as the tournament continues on into the weekend, we can only wonder what might happen next and hope that our brackets don’t get destroyed before we make it to the next round, because let’s face it, there is no foolproof method in March and guessing is all any of us really do.

The following entries are listed with the usernames they created on the Union Daily Times group in the Tournament Challenge on ESPN.com. Some of the usernames don’t include the participants’ actual name. If you are competing in the Challenge please let us know who you are. Contact Tiffany via e-mail at thudgins@civitasmedia.com or by cell at (864) 251-4330.

Union Daily Times Leaderboard

RK ENTRY, OWNER CHAMPION PPR TOTAL PCT

1 Grady.Shane Louisville 1740 140 94.0

1 fishybrown Michigan 1740 140 94.0

1 JManizhere2008 Louisville 1740 140 94.0

1 jaquane34Miami (FL) 1700 140 94.0

1 Rogers280 Louisville 1640 140 94.0

6 RACATTACK01 Indiana 1720 130 79.3

6 CamWillis11 Indiana 1700 130 79.3

6 twest6305 Miami (FL) 1700 130 79.3

6 elvisrcr3 Indiana 1700 130 79.3

6 Matt_Hudgins Louisville 1700 130 79.3

6 jayvoiselle77 Indiana 1700 130 79.3

6 Kebo316 Kansas 1680 130 79.3

6 dahayneiv Duke 1680 130 79.3

6 travisshugart13 Indiana 1660 130 79.3

15 Kevin31957 Miami (FL) 1720 120 50.9

15 yankees29379 Indiana 1720 120 50.9

15 Barber Duke 1720 120 50.9

15 COACH T Louisville 1720 120 50.9

15 stebo84 Louisville 1700 120 50.9

15 chris lemons Indiana 1660 120 50.9

21 dhamp79 Kansas 1700 110 23.7

21 3fishbait Miami (FL) 1700 110 23.7

21 cohenccc Michigan 1680 110 23.7

21 Vanderford81 Indiana 1660 110 23.7

21 duranebyrd Georgetown 1560 110 23.7

26 helloitsmike Louisville 1720 100 9.6

26 T_tothe_IFF Miami (FL) 1640 100 9.6

28 Dennis Campbell Louisville 1680 90 3.6