Welcome
This is the website for the MMM competition at Rockdale Magnet School for Science & Technology.
Anyone is welcome to the resources and materials available on this website, but this is not the official MMM website. Click HERE to get to the official website.
Anyone is welcome to the resources and materials available on this website, but this is not the official MMM website. Click HERE to get to the official website.
Welcome to March Mammal Madness! This library guide is your official location for MMM tournament info and resources to help you fill out your bracket.
Inspired by (but in no way affiliated with or representing) the NCAA College Basketball March Madness Championship Tournament, March Mammal Madness is an annual tournament of *simulated* combat competition among animals. Scientific literature is cited to substantiate likely outcomes as a probabilistic function of the two species' attributes within the battle environment. Attributes considered in calculating battle outcome include temperament, weaponry, armor, body mass, running speed, fight style, physiology, and motivation.
Inspired by (but in no way affiliated with or representing) the NCAA College Basketball March Madness Championship Tournament, March Mammal Madness is an annual tournament of *simulated* combat competition among animals. Scientific literature is cited to substantiate likely outcomes as a probabilistic function of the two species' attributes within the battle environment. Attributes considered in calculating battle outcome include temperament, weaponry, armor, body mass, running speed, fight style, physiology, and motivation.
- Get your bracket! Are you a Player or a Learner? (Educators, we have you covered too!)
- Pick your winners by March 11, 2023 for the Wild Card!
- Follow the action
- Live on Twitter: Follow #2024MMM or @MMMletsgo - a curated twitter account that only includes bout tweets, not spectator trash talk. Teachers may also want to use #2024MMMk12 with their students for a more student-friendly twitter feed.
- Read archived bouts, summaries, and videos here daily after each match if you can't participate live.
- March Mammal Madness Facebook Page
Battle Outcome
How are the winners determined? The organizers take information about each combatant's weaponry, armor, fight style, temperament/motivation, and any special skills/consideration and estimate a probability of the outcome and then use a random number generator to determine the outcome. This is why there are upsets in the tournament.
Another thing that can happen is if a species has to battle in an ecology that is really bad for it - for example, if a cold adapted species is battling in a tropical forest, it can dangerously overheat- changing the outcome probabilities. Sometimes an animal gets injured or snaps a canine in a previous round that carries over into the next round- just like an injury of a star player totally changes a basketball team's outcome. Also hiding or running away counts as a forfeit.
In the early rounds the battle location is in the preferred habitat of the better-ranked combatant in the battle, and ecology can play a huge role in what happens. Once to the Elite Trait, the battle location is random among 4 ecologies for the remaining battles. The location is announced right before the battle.
Participants fill out their brackets with their choices for the winners for each bout. Scoring occurs at the end of the tournament, points allocated as follows:
Another thing that can happen is if a species has to battle in an ecology that is really bad for it - for example, if a cold adapted species is battling in a tropical forest, it can dangerously overheat- changing the outcome probabilities. Sometimes an animal gets injured or snaps a canine in a previous round that carries over into the next round- just like an injury of a star player totally changes a basketball team's outcome. Also hiding or running away counts as a forfeit.
In the early rounds the battle location is in the preferred habitat of the better-ranked combatant in the battle, and ecology can play a huge role in what happens. Once to the Elite Trait, the battle location is random among 4 ecologies for the remaining battles. The location is announced right before the battle.
Participants fill out their brackets with their choices for the winners for each bout. Scoring occurs at the end of the tournament, points allocated as follows:
- Wild Card = 1 point
- Round 1 = 1 point each
- Round 2 = 2 points each
- Round 3 = 3 points each
- Round 4 = 5 points each
- Round 5 = 8 points each
- Champion= 13 points