Beat My Dog: Bracket Up

Alrighty then, everybody.

We're ready to roll on the Beat My Dog bracket contest. Oscar and I have spent the afternoon going over the bracket with a magnifying glass trying to make sure we weighed all options carefully and didn't miss a stat that might be crucial.

OK, that's not actually true. In reality, Oscar has chased a ball or a rawhide bone so many times that he's now passed out at my feet. Of course, he had no idea what was going on and seemed to be completely confused by the fact that I insisted on throwing two toys at a time. Not so confused that he ever stopped retrieving the toys, however.

The Oscar Bracket, which you will be able to peruse beginning tomorrow morning just after tip-off of the first game, contains some shocking upsets and a few interesting scenarios.

I won't give away the entire bracket here, but I will let you in on a few trends.

First, Oscar, who can be seen to the right practicing his pick making earlier this winter, isn't a big fan of strange or large, lumbering animals. He didn't care for Hoyas or Longhorns or Aggies or Golden Bears. Also, not a big fan of people with firearms, as he gave a quick boot to Cowboys, Musketeers and Volunteers.

Strangely enough, though, he holds no cat -- or cat family -- grudge. Wildcats and Tigers did just fine. He also seemed to be OK with most birds and insects, and for some reason he really liked teams that have a color for a mascot. And, as you might imagine, dogs did very, very well with him -- except for the Hoyas, which I can only assume confused him.

So, join up and see if you can Beat My Dog. Go to ESPN's bracket challenge, fill out your bracket and enter the group: BeatMyDog.