My Ideas for NCAA Basketball Tournament Promotions

By Brendan Menapace

The 2016 NCAA Basketball Tournament starts this week, and I just filled out the perfect bracket. A lot of people don't have Temple winning the whole thing, but I sure do. (OK, I picked Michigan State. But I'll still cheer for the Owls.)

When people fill out their brackets, they can create any possible outcome they want. Heck, the low-seeded teams, like University of North Carolina at Asheville, could win in someone's imagination. In that spirit of far-fetched bracket predictions, I've decided to create a few fictional NCAA Tournament promotions that I think would be fun to see (and a little out-there).

1. Rockets
This year's tournament is in Houston, which is home of NASA's Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center. The official 2016 NCAA Basketball Tournament logo plays off of this cosmic theme, but I think it would be neat if the NCAA took it a bit further with actual model rockets, preferably the ones people can really launch.They don't have to be high-powered rockets—those fun stomp rockets that kids use would be fine.

2. Dancing Shoes
The tournament is often referred to as the "Big Dance." Now, it might be time to take that nickname a little more seriously. Who doesn't want a pair of tap shoes with their team's logo? How about some NCAA-branded ballet slippers? There are all kinds of options here for original, memorable and useful branded items.

3. Garden Seeds
It just so happens that this major sporting event is happening right at the onset of spring. Why not let fans celebrate with some seeds? When end-users receive packs of seeds—maybe flowers or vegetables—they receive a long-lasting promotion that they'll love to look at every day. The seeds could be branded as something like "Top Seeds" or "Tournament Seeds" to play off of the seeding process of the tournament.

So, readers, just like we fill out our brackets to decide who we think is going to win, I'd like you to let me know which of my fictional NCAA Basketball Tournament promotions you like the most. Also, pass along some ideas of your own in the comment section below!

Game on.