FINAL

• PAYBACK maintained its lead throughout and coasted to 90-10 win over Overdraft Fee. Overdraft Fees coach was classy in defeat, "We are just happy that we increased national awareness of our program and hopefully young people everywhere got the message. Just Say No to overdraft fees!
• Community Credit hung on for 53-47 win over S&P 500 Map. In the post-game press conference, S&P 500's leading scorer had this to say:  "We're just grateful to have the opportunity tor raise awareness of index funds, the best kept investing secret that is just now getting into high school personal finance curricula."

Update (March 21st at 7PM PT)

• PAYBACK looks ready to advance as they continue to dominate Overdraft Fee 90-10. 
• Community Credit continues to hold a slim lead over S&P 500 Map at 53-47. Will some late votes push S&P 500 ahead? Stay tuned!

Update (March 21st at 7AM PT)

• Almost 500 teachers participating in the inaugural NGPF Sweet Sixteen Challenge
• In early matches today...
  • In the early going, PAYBACK getting lots of love and crushing Overdraft Fee 94-6. With their team so far behind, however, the Overdraft fans remain undaunted. They  can be heard chanting and holding signs, "Just say no," to encourage consumers not to sign up for overdraft protection. What a spirited bunch! 
  • Meanwhile in the 8-9 match-up of Interactives, Community Credit leads What's The S&P 500? (aka S&P 500 Map) 55-45. C'mon index fund aficionados let your voices (and votes) be heard! Throw this finviz.com chart up on the screen and your investing lesson will never be the same. Still lots of time in this one!

Voting on these two games will remain open until 11:59pm PT tonight so MAKE YOUR SELECTIONS NOW. 

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MAKE YOUR SELECTIONS HERE FOR BOTH GAMES

GAME 1

Heavy favorite, PAYBACK takes on under appreciated Overdraft Fees in the opening tilt of the NGPF Sweet 16 Tournament. PAYBACK comes in on quite a hot streak as over 100,000 players have participated recently in the NGPF PAYBACK Challenge. PAYBACK's fans note the interactive nature of the game and how it gets students to address college finance issues BEFORE they go to college. Developed by digital agency, McKinney, in collaboration with NGPF, PAYBACK has garnered headlines in the NY Times, and rave reviews from educators in all 50 states.

Meanwhile under-appreciated Overdraft Fees has a strong case to make too. Their fans note that with banks hoovering up billions of dollars in overdraft fees annually that this activity better be on the top of every financial educator's list. Besides, Overdraft Fees group project set-up develops 21st Century soft skills such as teamwork. The icing on the cake is the bank agreements at the core of this activity that require both critical thinking and close reading skills. Overdraft Fees pesky developer, Jessica, made her case this way:

"Most young people's first financial product is a checking account and their first financial mistake typically results in a $34 fee. Do my activity and you will save your students big-time! Besides, it's a home-grown product that didn't need those creative types in Durham. No tech required too."

PAYBACK's coach was not available for comment at post time. 

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As for NGPF's very own professional prognosticator, Melissa, here's her take on the match-up:

PAYBACK looks "unbeatable", they play their bigs offensively to teach kids about paying for college, whereas Overdraft Fees is all about defense - defending students from signing up for overdraft protection. Offense is what wins championships!

Vegas has PAYBACK as a 20 point favorite and trending higher (just like college costs).

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Game 2: 

Two evenly matched teams square off on Thursday as #8 Community Credit squares off against the S&P 500 Map. Both of these interactives came out of that tough Interactive division (8 of the top 16 NGPF resources have a similar pedigree).

Community Credit, a.k.a. Credit across U.S. Communities, piques student interest like nobody's business. I mean, who isn't curious about how their community compares on a bunch of credit factors like on-time payments, credit utilization or credit stress? Vocab., analysis, mapping skills. There is a lot here for students to digest. The coach of Community Credit was last heard on his cell phone jawing at one of the credit bureaus to get errors on his credit report fixed (some things never change!)

It's hard to get a word in edgewise when Coach Tim is talking about the virtues of that S&P 500 Map:

"While PAYBACK has been getting all the accolades and we struggled early to get traction, you should have heard the roar from educators at NGPF Summit when that finviz chart went up on the projector screen. It was pan-de-mon-ium! Teachers were walking out the room with a tool to teach their students about index investing. We have a ton of momentum and are peaking at just the right time!"

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As for NGPF's very own professional prognosticator, Melissa, here's her take on the match-up:

Can anyone say UPSET? The S&P 500 is clearly an underseeded resource in this tournament. With the flash, versatility, and ability to demonstrate the trends regardless of the circumstance, they are my pick for this match up!

Vegas has PAYBACK as a 20 point favorite and trending higher (just like college costs).

MAKE YOUR SELECTIONS HERE FOR BOTH GAMES

About the Authors

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

Melissa Belardi

Melissa is extremely passionate about making abstract ideas more tangible for students. After teaching High School Physical Science for 5 years on the east coast, she has made the switch to a nonprofit in the hopes of reaching all types of learners. In her experience, students were interested in learning more about personal finance and she believes that all students should have access to this material. She first gained insight into inquiry-based and project style learning during her Masters in Education at the University of Pennsylvania GSE and believes these methods are ideal for students to connect financial concepts with their lives. Other than creating learning materials, Melissa loves live music, great food, and playing soccer.