You just pick the winners.

So, here's how it works ...

First of all, you have to sign up for an account. Don't worry, we don't ask for any personal information. No phone number, no mother's maiden name, no Social Security number. All we need is an e-mail address to send a confirmation link for you to click. This account will allow you to enter future contests, as well as take part in some aspects of the site which will require registration in the future (such as the Hawks Hoops Forecaster). If you already have an LJWorld.com or Lawrence.com account, you can use that.

Once you've registered, make your picks. Each team correctly chosen as a winner in the first round is worth a point. Each correctly chosen winner in the second round is worth two points, and the points double each round for each correct pick the rest of the tournament.

Make sure to enter your prediction for the score of the championship game as a tiebreaker. You also can sign up for a daily e-mail update of the contest standings.

We know that there are other online bracket contests out there, and we want you to enter them all. But please know that our contest is better, if for no other reason than that we're your buddies. We're your pals. So, bring your "A-Game" to this contest. This is between us buddies.

(You remember that crazy thing that you did back during your junior year of high school? We haven't told anyone. And we absolutely didn't post the photos from that incident on a special Web site dedicated to bizarre farm accidents, so don't go looking on Google for it.)

Anyway, back to the contest ...

All entries must be received prior to the tip-off of the the first game in this year's tournament.

The top three finishers will receive KUsports.com T-shirts.

We also have some legalese crap at the bottom of all of this that you may or may not want to read. But by filling out one these super-snappy online brackets here on KUsports, you are agreeing to accept all of the rules of this contest, including those super-small ones at the bottom of this page. Trust us, these rules are basic and boring, and other than the promise that you will give us that original piece of the Allen Fieldhouse floor that you have down in your basement. (Actually, we just throw that in to see if you were paying attention.)

Now that you've read through all the legal mumbo-jumbo and come back up here (or have implicitly agreed to our rules by reading the above paragraph), click here to register for an account and enter our bracket contest. You can also view a full list of contestants by clicking here.

The fine print:

This contest is in no way to be interpreted as gambling. In fact, forget we even mentioned the word gambling. Goodness, if you haven't seen those PSAs regarding betting on college athletics, you just aren't watching enough ESPN, and you probably shouldn't be playing in our little game. This KUsports.com bracket contest may not be used in connection with any form of gambling. Buddies don't get buddies in trouble, right?

But if you're entering this contest just to show all of your buddies that you know more about college basketball than anyone else around here, or at least more than Chuck Woodling, than you're entering this game with the right spirit.

This contest is open only to people who regularly visit KUsports.com, or at least know all of the words to the school alma mater. We're thinking we're also supposed to say some things about being residents of the United States of America, Puerto Rico and Canada, or something like that. Also, and we don't know this for sure, but we think this contest is void in some states -- we've heard that you can't win prizes for games like this in Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Vermont, the province of Quebec and any other state or province which prohibits stuff like this. We also would prefer that folks in Manhattan, Kan. or Columbia, Mo. not play in our game unless they acknowledge that they are openly Jayhawk fans, or if they are going to pick Kansas to win the whole thing. Persons from these cities, states or provinces may play and have their places noted in the standings, but we think that they ARE NOT eligible to win any prizes, even the stuff we steal, um get, from Woodling. By entering this contest to win prizes, you hereby represent and warrant that you are not a resident of the aforementioned states or provinces, or Manhattan or Columbia unless you love the Jayhawks. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW AND WHERE PROHIBITED OR OTHERWISE RESTRICTED IN A MANNER NOT SATISFIED BY THE PUBLICATION OF THESE OFFICIAL RULES ON THE KUSPORTS.COM WEB SITE. As for you young-ens out there who might want to play in this here bracket contest, as long as you are over the age of 13, you can enter the contest to track how you do against everyone else. But to get the shirts and stuff we borrow from our colleague's desks here at the Journal-World, you have to be at least 18.