Posted on: March 22, 2024, 03:10h.
Last updated on: March 22, 2024, 03:10h.
Bloomberg for a ninth consecutive year is running its March Madness Brackets for a Cause charity pool to raise money for a host of nonprofits and initiatives.
The business media and financial services conglomerate invited Wall Street titans and leaders from across the United States to pony up $20,000 to participate in the charity March Madness tournament. For the $20,000 buy-in, participants get to fill out both a men’s and women’s college basketball tournament bracket.
The top three points earners in each bracket will split the more than $1 million prize pool, with the proceeds going to their designated charity. The men’s and women’s NCAA Division 1 college basketball tournaments began this week.
Bloomberg reports that this year’s Brackets for a Cause attracted 58 participants for a total purse of $1.16 million.
Unanimous Picks
This year’s outcome on the women’s tournament might see many participants tied, as every single entry has top-seeded South Carolina and Iowa reaching the Final Four.
The Gamecocks finished the regular season as the country’s top women’s hoops program after going a perfect 32-0. The Hawkeyes, also a March Madness No. 1 seed, have commanded equal media attention for Caitlin Clark’s historic season.
100% of brackets have both teams making a run to at least the final four,” Bloomberg reported.
Forty of the 58 entries have the Gamecocks cutting down the nets inside Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland where the women’s Final Four will be played April 4-7. Oddsmakers agree that South Carolina is the heavy favorite for the national championship. DraftKings has the Gamecocks at -140.
For a second year in a row, the majority of participants think the South Carolina women’s team will hoist the trophy after only having lost one game — to Iowa — in the last two seasons. Just 14% think Iowa, led by NCAA’s all-time leading scorer, Caitlin Clark, will win the title,” Bloomberg continued.
Iowa is on eight entries, Norte Dame is on three, and LSU, UConn, and Stanford are on two. USC is on just one — Apollo Global Management’s Jay Clayton.
On the men’s side, 30 of the 58 entries have the University of Connecticut winning it all for a second consecutive year. DraftKings also likes UConn, as the Huskies possess the shortest odds at +340.
UNC and Houston are picked on eight brackets each, Purdue is on four, Tennessee is on three, and Arizona is on two. Yale, Auburn, and Kentucky are each on one.
Kentucky is already finished after the Wildcats’ shocking upset to Oakland. Ares Management boss and NBA Atlanta Hawks owner Tony Ressler had Kentucky going all the way.
2023 Results
Bain Capital’s Stephen Pagliuca, who co-owns the NBA Boston Celtics, was last year’s winner on the men’s side and used his winnings to support the Reform Alliance.
York Capital Management CEO Jamie Dinan came in second and supported the Museum of the City of New York. MeydenVest Partners Founder and CEO Michelle Seitz finished third and supported Educate Girls.
On the women’s side, Carlyle CEO Harvey Schwartz and Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson tied for first, and Rocket Companies Chairman and NBA Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert came in third. They respectively supported the nonprofits One Mind, Catalyst, and NF Forward.
