As this weekend’s madness subsides, the dizzying swell of lunacy set to commence this Thursday has begun to mount. If you’re like us, you spend countless hours feverishly scribbling away at your notes. You dart to the printer to pick up your bracket like Han Solo on the Kessel Run. Your fingers are trained to the Alt and Tab buttons with ninja-like precision. Oh yes, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship is soon to be underway and you’re ready for it.

Well we are too, and because we just can’t get enough college hoops action, we’re holding the first ever DCist Bracketfest. For the uninitiated, the contest is an exercise in handicapping the tournament field of 65 down to a single team, predicting each game along the way. The rounds will be weighted proportionately, and there will be bonuses for picking upsets in the first two rounds (you can access the rules here). All readers are welcome to join DCist’s resident expert bracketologists in making their picks.

Now, it wouldn’t be a contest without PRIZES, would it? Of course not. That’s why we are offering the eventual champion a fabulous package including a DCist t-shirt, a Crumpler Sinking Barge photo/laptop backpack, and a mystery prize! So come on, join up, and don’t be afraid to talk a little smack on the message board. The password is “dcist”.