Join The March Madness Bracket Challenge Against SI Experts

March Madness is around the corner, and everyone can compete against Sports Illustrated's best in the bracket challenge.

Mar 14, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Skyy Clark (55) drives to the basket against Purdue Boilermakers forward Trey Kaufman-Renn (4) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The Bruins have officially entered the frey of March Madness as a seven seed, and that means that they have the chance to bust every hopeful fan's bracket at any given moment.

Even in their first round match against the UCF Knights UCLA could break up thousands of brackets with either a victory or a loss.

Experts will be at no advantage over the general public either, and their brackets will be at risk of getting beaten by the average viewer's bracket; this is why Sports Illustrated is hosting a bracket challenge: you can participate right here.

Why You Should Join The Sports Illustrated Bracket Challenge

Mar 14, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Brandon Williams (5) dunks the ball against the Purdue Boilermakers during the second half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

In the Sports Illustrated perfect bracket challenge every player will have the chance to upset the writers, editors, and experts of SI no matter how knowledgable.

That means that one of the highest up and smartest writers for Sports Illustrated could get done over by someone who hasn't watched basketball in years and picked based off of mascot appearances.

Mar 14, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; UCLA Bruins center Steven Jamerson II (24) dunks the ball against the Purdue Boilermakers during the second half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

Every participant coming from Sports Illustrated will be marked by an "expert" badge so that comparison between the experts and non-experts will be incredibly easy to find.

You, the reader, should take the opportunity to compete directly with the writers of SI and be able to prevail. It is completely free to join, and everything affiliated with the challenge will have no fees attached.

The Experts Participating From UCLA On SI

UCLA guard Donovan Dent (2) celebrates a play against Michigan State during the second half of Big Ten tournament quarterfinal at United Center in Chicago on Friday, March 13, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Andrew L. Ferguson Jr.

• Andrew Ferguson is the beat writer for the Bruins on SI, having been with UCLA for over six months, and has been studying journalism for much longer at UNLV.

• Ferguson dove in head first into covering the Bruins and knows the team inside and out, but his expertise originated from years of passion for sports in which UCLA has only made stronger.

Mar 12, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Trent Perry (0) and forward Tyler Bilodeau (34) smile during the second half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

• He will be a formidable force to tackle in the perfect bracket challenge on Sports Illustrated, one that would earn bragging rights if you can defeat.

Justin Backer

Mar 14, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Trent Perry (0) shoots against the Purdue Boilermakers during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

• Justin Backer has been with the Bruins for a few months, but has been an expert in sports for many years before his time with the Bruins.

• His experience has gone past SI, with time spent at The Sporting News, The Palm Beach Post, and more. His bracket will be hard to topple, and having a better bracket than Backer would be incredibly impressive.

Travis Tyler

Mar 14, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Donovan Dent (2) passes the ball against Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

• Travis Tyler is one of the most knowledgable experts that the Bruins have, with experience going from writing, to sports podcasting, and analytics on top of graduating from MSU and SMU.

• All of those who can topple Tyler will have the best odds of toppling everybody that writes for the Bruins on SI, and to do so in a free event is an opportunity not worth passing up.

Nathan Berry

Mar 14, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Skyy Clark (55) goes to the basket on Purdue Boilermakers guard Omer Mayer (17) during the second half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

• Nathan Berry is the final expert currently with UCLA, and he has been writing about their basketball for around the past three months; however, he originally came from writing about MSU basketball on SI.

• His love for both of the teams-and all of the things he has learned on the way-could make his bracket impossible to tackle, or the easiest of all the UCLA writers, but only time can tell by joining the Sports Illustrated Bracket challenge.