Since the NCAA basketball tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, it has been a personal hobby of mine as a Kansas Jayhawk fan to project the winner and keep statistics each year.

In 1988 in Champaign,  and later in Chicago, Illinois we began offering a Traveling Trophy to the person who had the highest number of points in picking the entire tournament before the first game is played.  After moving to Germany in 1990, we were only able to continue the tradition within our family.  But now with the advent of the Internet (thank you, Al Gore, for “taking the initiative in creating the Internet”!), we have been able to expand our contest to even more people than when we lived in the States!  Every year since 1994, we have put a traveling trophy up for grabs.

The latest incarnation of our Traveling Trophy got misprinted when it was made, and actually says “March Madness Traveling Tropy” on it.  After much deliberation and consultation, it was determined that this was just too unique to change.  So it will ever remain the coveted, THE one and only – “March Madness Traveling Tropy™”!

What makes this contest so unique and fun? Well, besides being able to win bonus points for correctly picked upsets, we have the unique feature (STILL never seen anywhere else in Madnessdom) of allowing repicks (for half credit). So, even if your favorite team loses early, you are not out of it! Plus, many people aim for second place – an ice cream extravaganza of their choice – instead of the Tropy™! (Those are usually younger folks, not fully aware of the prestige of having their name engraved on the Tropy.)

Care to learn more about how to play? Feel free to explore the menus at the top of this page. They explain everything. Or, you can join our Facebook group with the very creative name “Traveling Tropy Contest”, and do some friendly trash-talking with your rivals.

And not least, you can sign up for our Tropy Update Newsletter (or encourage your friends to sign up) so you/they can stay informed on timely contest information and updated standings. Just click HERE to sign up. Enjoy!

The Prizes

First Prize, is to have your name engraved on the one and only March Madness Traveling Tropy™.  Just think, the prestigious Tropy™ could reside with YOU for the coming year!  

Second Prize, as a consolation for the extreme disappointment of being so close to such unparalleled fame, is an ice cream extravaganza at the ice cream parlor of your choice.  (Why is it that so many people aim for second prize?)  We have had 2nd Place winners who have gone for multiple cones, one for a quadruple banana split, one of the “Kitchen Sink” at Colonial, and even one who got the Kaiserschale in Germany!  Disclaimer – transportation is not included.  (Care to see a few pictures of second place winners digging in?  Check out “Gallery of Past Winners”.)

Consolation prizes go to the Elite Eight finishers:  a Certificate (suitable for framing) for finishing in in the top eight places of the March Madness Traveling Tropy™ Contest!   In addition, the third and fourth place finishers get a taste of German chocolate as Final Four Finishers.

How Our Contest Works

Da Rules:

How do I win?  By getting the most points, of course!  There are three ways to get points:

1) Pick the winners. We ignore the nonsense of the play-in games and start with the round of 64.  Correct picks in the round of 64 (which I still consider the first round) are each worth one point, round of 32 are worth 2 points, Sweet Sixteen round 4 points each, regional finals 8 points, national semi-final 16 points AND the national champion picked correctly (from the beginning) is worth 32 points! This amounts to an orthogonal 32 potential “base” points per round.

2) Upset bonus points. Because of the high risk involved, we give an extra reward for your savvy and nerve if you correctly pick an upset. As a bonus, you get half the difference in the seeding of the underdog team and the team they upset.  (E.g. the number 11 seed beats the number 6 seed in the first round, and you had it pegged correctly. You would get (11 – 6) / 2 = 2.5 bonus points!)  So, go ahead and risk a few selected upsets.

3) Repicks can still get you half credit! Unlike any other tourney contest we have ever heard of, we allow you to keep making points even if your original favorite gets knocked out early. E.g. your favorite to go to the Final Four loses in the first round  and is therefore not even in the regional final. Just inform me of your repick before tipoff of the game in question <Repicks@Goerings.de>, and if correct, you would still get half of the potential points for that game! (This includes half the potential upset points!)  

• Updates of where you stand

The current standings of the contest will be updated in real time at the conclusion of each game of the tournament (thanks to Google Spreadsheets). The fastest way to follow the standings is to keep an eye on the current standings page.  (You may want to bookmark this link.)  

• Repicks

When and how do I repick a game? When the team you picked to win a game did not make it that far, and is not even playing that game, I will automatically assume your repick to be the higher-seeded team. You do not need to inform me of your repick. If, however, you want to repick an upset, you need to inform me (via e-mail, fax, phone call, or carrier pigeon) before tipoff of the first game of that day’s games. (If you go with pigeon, he or she must arrive before tip-off!) Repicks are allowed even when it isn’t necessary (sometimes a strategically wise thing to do), but keep in mind that they are only worth half-credit.  

We are actually having more fun than any person should have with repicks.

Click HERE to hear the singing telegram version of repicks being made.

Or click HERE to see Brian Hoffer attempting a telepathy upset repick.

• Winning and Awards

The Tropy™ Winner, Ice Cream Winner, Final Four and Elite Eight Winners will be announced after the championship game. Please feel free at any time to ask about anything that is not clear. You can contact me at TropyCommish@Goerings.de 
  

Hope you all have half as much fun as I will!

Your Tropy™ Commissioner,

Daniel

How Do I Enter?

Welcome to the Madness!!  Entering our contest this year has been totally revamped. Starting this year, all entries will be made via cell phone app.

In a tremendous show of generosity and devotion, my son and daughter-in-law (John & Stephi) have programmed a Traveling Tropy app!

How to get the Tropy App:

Step One: Delete last year’s Tropy app, if it is still on your phone.

As soon as possible after the brackets are revealed, the app will be updated with the actual pairings. Only then can you submit your entry.

If you have iOS (iPhone, etc.):  

Download the 2024 app using this link...

https://testflight.apple.com/join/AnsD52iU

You need to download TestFlight first, if you don't already have it. (The IOS Tropy app runs as beta software on TestFlight.)

The password is: tropytime



If you have Android (Samsung, etc.):  

Download the 2024 app using this link....

https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.epaga.tropy


Please let us know if you have any trouble, and we'll do our best to help. Just write to TechWizard@goerings.de and we will answer as soon as ChatGPT can help us.

BTW: We don’t bother with the “Play-In” games, but stick to the pure 64 team format (the way God intended it). Since other people’s entries are displayed online as soon as the first game tips off, it would be unfair to others to accept entries after that point. The submit button will be deactivated at the tipoff of the first game on Thursday (roughly noon, U.S. Eastern Time), so we hope you understand that late entries will not be possible. Thanks in advance for your timely entry!

Before clicking “submit”, please double-check your entry. You can verify that your entry was received by finding your name HERE. There is no money involved in our contest, but certainly a ton of prestige!

Only one entry per person is allowed. We are, however, a family-friendly operation, and do allow one entry per family member (but assume that the family member made their own picks, and that they are not a dog or parakeet, etc.). Good providence!

The Evolution of the Tropy™

Over the course of time, since our contest began in 1988, there have been three incarnations of the Traveling Tropy™. Some might call it punctuated equilibrium. Others call it Tropycal Evolution. The primordial form was used for three glorious years, from 1988 through 1990, and was labeled “Mr. Basketball”. After moving to Germany in 1990, the original Trophy (purchased at a flea market in Europe) was won by a Goering every year through 1999. Then 2000 with the new millennium, began the modern age of the Traveling Tropy™. Here is a listing of the winners for each year:

1988-1990

1990 Jeanne Schmidt (UNLV)

1989 Barb Melchers (Michigan)

1988 Brian Schmidt (KANSAS)

1991-1999

1999 Daniel Goering (UConn)

1998 Daniel Goering (Kentucky)

1997 Timothy Goering (Arizona)

1996 Timothy Goering (Kentucky)

1995 Lori Goering (UCLA)

1994 John Goering (Arkansas)

1993 Goering Family (UNC)

1992 Goering Family (Duke)

1991 Goering Family (Duke)

2000 - present

2025 Your Name (Here?)

2024 Laurie Kepcke (UConn)

2023 Jesse Goering (UConn)

2022 Peter Schmidt (KANSAS)

2021 Adam Roark (Baylor)

2020 Corona Virus (China?)

2019 Joshua Goering (Virginia)

2018 Eric Thomas (Villanova)

2017 James Loughran (UNC)

2016 Ian Gramly (Villanova)

2015  Jonathan Bonnet (Duke)

2014  Daniel Goering (UConn)

2013  Dawson Powers (Louisville)

2012   David Wohlford (Kentucky)

2011   Jesse Goering (UConn)

2010   Laurie Kepcke (Duke)

2009   Martin Bonnet (UNC)

2008   Oliver Kossler (KANSAS)

2007   Rich Leary (Florida)

2006   Lauren Melchers (Florida)

2005   Brent Knox (UNC)

2004   Waldemar Hein (UConn)

2003   Eric Thomas (Syracuse)

2002   Timmy Powers (Maryland)

2001   Steve Parvin (Duke)

2000   Eric Thomas (Michigan State)

This year’s Current Standings and repick madness!

Where can I see the current standings of the Tropy Contest? Glad you asked! Just follow this LINK! Then bookmark it for future use. You’re welcome.

but Are we having too much fun?

We probably are having more fun with our repick process than any human should rightfully have. You may have noticed that I often spice up the options for how to submit your upset repicks. I will often say in our Updates that you can just “send me an email or ….” and then just for fun put in something unusual. For example, one time in 2021 I said “or you could include your repicks in a pizza delivery.” Or I have suggested the options of using smoke signals, or singing telegrams. Well, you guys are just so responsive, and some of you have gone above and beyond. You have embodied the spirit of those suggestions by following through! Here are three examples:

In 2021 in one of these updates, I suggested that besides a boring email, you could include your repicks in a pizza delivery. Well, just before tipoff of the first Sweet Sixteen game, our doorbell here in Berlin rang. We thought the pizza must be for our son next door. No! It was from Pierre Tong, Dawson Powers and Brian Hoffer! And boy, was it delicious! Here is a pic:

Then earlier this year, after suggesting, or should I say jesting, that you could send your picks via singing telegram, I actually got one - at least a sound file. With Pierre's permission, you can hear it HERE, if you care to listen.

And finally, I have also suggested at various times as an alternative to email, that people could send smoke signal repicks. I thought surely that would stump them! Alas, no.Here is the creative smoke signal repicks from Brian Hoffer:

So, with such creative participants, what is a Commissioner to do? I've got it! For this year's Final Four, please submit your repicks either by boring email, or by ........ mental telepathy!

(Of course, you can't be certain that I correctly understood your telepathy repick unless you receive a boring confirmation email from me!)

Then this just came in….

Click HERE to see Brian Hoffer attempting a telepathy upset repick.

Time to think of a new option.

And, as a special bonus, if you would like to be awed by the Kansas Jayhawk history and tradition, you can click HERE for a great article!

The Well-Traveled Tropy!

As of March Madness 2024, our prestigious Tropy has logged 199,515 Kilometers in its 24 years of service. That is roughly 5 times around the circumference of the earth! Where will the Tropy visit next? Maybe your mantel!

All-Time Records through 2022

Ever wondered who has won the most Tropies, or Ice Cream Extravaganzas, or finished in the Final Four the most often?  Maybe you’d like to see who the Rookie of the Year was for each year. Well, here is a listing for you really devoted followers, or curious on-lookers ….

 Seed Performance since 1985

Ever wondered how often a #11 has made the Final Four, and then had to face a #1? Now you can find out!

Follow this LINK, and explore.

There are four tabs at the bottom:

1. All First Round (Round of 64 games).

2. Later Rounds

3. Final Four

4. Graph of available First Round Upset Points

Are we having too much fun yet?