The Net Score bracket game was born out of my imagination. I’ve been following college basketball since the late 1970’s. DePaul was succeeding at that time and I was following the team closely thru newspaper reports and a few televised games. The men’s NCAA basketball tournament featured 40 teams in 1979. The Blue Demons lost in the final four to the Indiana State Sycamores that year. That set the stage for an iconic championship between the undefeated Sycamores and Michigan State. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson faced each other. Michigan State prevailed. What a game!

I continued following the games and tournaments. I took note of the way teams performed at various seed levels. I was getting a feel for those outcomes.

1983 produced an amazing championship win for North Carolina State. The video clip of coach Jim Valvano running onto the court after the buzzer beater is etched into the minds of many.

1985 brought us the 64 team men’s tournament field. Villanova shocked us all by winning the championship as a #8 seed.

I was hooked on the tournament by this time. This was also the time in my life that I was studying accounting in business school.

Fast forward to 2001. I got my creative juices flowing and decided to put together a game. The game would be played alongside the tournament as a way to increase the fun even more.

The recipe for the game came together thru the work of contemplation. I thought of all the aspects of games that I enjoyed. This included golf, poker, horse racing, etc.. The scoring system came together when I thought about my studies in accounting. That’s how the concept of a “Net” score was born. The balance sheet of a business shows expenses, sales, gross profit, losses and finally a “Net” earnings. I used this concept to create the scoring system. The minus points on a score sheet are similar to a business expense and plus points are similar to sales figures.

Each tournament team would be available in a draft. Players “spend” points to get a slate of teams they think will win. They collect points when their teams win. Kind of like when a business makes a sale.

All that was left to do was to handicap the entire field.

I had to answer the following question: What would be the cost/expense of each team? After careful consideration I came up with a figure for each team based on seed number. These associated points end up being the backbone of the scoring system. They also have the effect of handicapping the teams similar to a horse race. (These associated points are the same every year)

I started playing the game with friends. They enjoyed it!

We played for years before I realized I might be able to offer the game to a wider audience. I set off to find a way. Eventually I decided to package the game in a three ring binder and offer it as a board game. It’s currently for sale on eBay. Perhaps it will become an app soon. The game is fun, easy and exciting.

Lastly, I think my accounting professor would be proud of me. The reason is simple – all the numbers balance! 🙂