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March Madness is upon us, and while the University of Minnesota will not be in the field, the NCAA Tournament is shaping up to be a fun one.

If you’re like us, you likely participated in one or more bracket contests, doing your dead-level best to pick as many winners as possible in the 68-team event. And if you’re like us, that bracket is usually a mess after the first round, with many more misses than makes, leaving you out of contention for the grand prize.

The Austin Daily Herald has some good news.

Shortly after the 64-team field is announced Sunday evening, our bracket contest will go live at AustinDailyHerald.com/contests. We encourage you to register and make your picks before the first games are played next Friday.

In another exciting addition this year, we’ve joined a network of other media outlets across the country to offer a $1 million prize to any contestant who picks a perfect bracket from the Round of 64 to the championship game next month.

Other national prizes include a PlayStation 5 and gift cards.

A Herald reader who picks the most games correctly throughout the tournament will win one of two $50 grand prize winners and one $25 finalist.

Picks must be submitted by 4 p.m. March 20, before the first-round games begin.

Besides competing against people in Austin and across the country, you can also set up groups among friends or colleagues to see who can pick the best bracket.

So if you want to pick a bracket based on who has the cooler mascot or uniforms, go right ahead. It’s all free, and mostly for fun.