The presidents of the Fantasy Sports Club are getting ready for fantasy NCAA basketball in March and baseball in the next few months as well, according to Christopher Simmons, club co-president and senior.

The presidents plan to have brackets for March Madness in the Activities Office for participants to pick up as soon as rankings for the actual college basketball teams become available, probably mid-February, Simmons said. After the tournament is over, he said, the presidents plan to congratulate winners on the announcements and hopefully present them with a prize.

According to Simmons, participants don’t need to be members of the club to play.

The fantasy NCAA tournament usually draws around 200 participants, students and teachers, every year, according to club sponsor Mike Meyer.

According to Simmons, the fantasy March Madness tournament is so much more popular than other fantasy sports because it is easier to play. Once students fill out and turn in their brackets, he said, all they have to do is wait.

“We like to do (March Madness) because it combines a lot of the elements of sports we like,” Simmons said. “There’s luck, but there’s also a fair amount of skill needed to (pick the right teams).”

Club presidents are also preparing for fantasy baseball, which starts at the end of March, Simmons said. The club presidents plan to arrange a call-out meeting a few weeks before to judge interest levels, he said, but as baseball teams consist of too many players to sort through manually, the club will forgo a live draft in favor of an online draft for picking teams. According to Simmons, the presidents will also ask about next year’s potential presidents at the callout meeting.

Club members probably won’t participate in other fantasy sports this year, Simmons said, since they don’t have the interest levels.

“I’m kind of glad we’re focusing on a couple of (sports),” Simmons said. “That way we can make sure we do these couple really well, instead of a lot (not so well).” By Hafsa Razi <[email protected]>