FINAL

• Mutual Fund stretched their early lead and advanced to the Elite 8 with a win over Taxes Kahoot by a final of 71-56. 
• Two Credit Scores took down $8 Million Janitor by an identical 71-56 score. 

Update on Friday at 10AM PT

• Both matches are neck and neck with Mutual Fund up 36-35 over Taxes Kahoot and Two Credit Scores leading $8 Million Janitor by the score of 38-33. A few votes can tip the balance in determining who advances to the Elite 8.
• A well-placed source at Palmer High School in Colorado is indicating that Mutual Fund may be receiving a late wave of student support this afternoon so Taxes Kahoot better be ready to go on offense too!

Vote in Today’s Tilts:

• #3 Let’s Make a Mutual Fund vs. #14 Taxes Kahoot!
• #6 Mystery of the $8 Millon Janitor vs. #11 Tale of Two Credit Scores

MAKE YOUR SELECTIONS FOR BOTH GAMES HERE

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Game 5:

Two fire breathers clash as #3 Let’s Make a Mutual Fund takes on #14 Taxes Kahoot! This one’s going to be a Knee Knocker, folks. With two capital K’s!

A true G-E-M, #3 seed Let’s Make a Mutual Fund competes in the dangerous Get-‘Em-Moving Division. In this crafty contender, each team member moves well without the ball, communicates flawlessly on offense and diversifies their shot selection so they always take the highest percentage shot. Students get up out of their seats, simulate investment diversification and in the end, learn that what they have formed is an index fund. Wow!

Let’s Make a Mutual Fund is a bedrock of NGPF’s unique tradition of welcoming teachers directly into its curriculum design. Passionate educator and NGPF Fellow, Andrea Stemper (Palmer High School in Colorado Springs, CO), steers the ship for the Mutual Fund squad.

Coach Andrea, usually so friendly, had some choice words for the press pool when reporters questioned her about her young opponent: “Who? I’ve never heard of them. I haven’t been paying much attention to these cute little fads, but it’s pretty adorable they think they can take us down.”

#14 seed Taxes Kahoot! might have something to say about that.

TK! is a young team with a flashy style of play and a chip on its shoulder, but Coach Sonia sees this as an advantage the bracketologists didn’t consider. Fresh out of the new and wildly popular Quiz Games division, this Avant Garde noisemaker looks to deliver a Downright Disrespectful Defeat™ to the grizzled but disciplined Mutual Fund squad.

Classroom high-flyers excel in Taxes Kahoot! but so do the quiet pine-riders. With rapid-fire hot streaks, frenzied competitive fervor and Dizzying Daggers from Downtown™, even the quietest students can become lions on the floor with NGPF’s all-time most successful product release: a quiz game that doesn’t quit. It’s about to get raucous in here, baby!

Coach Sonia was fiery in her defense of her squad’s chances: “The writing’s on the wall for Mutual Fund. Those geezers may have years of tournament experience, but you can’t dance with a knee replacement. Let’s boogie.”

Time will tell if Taxes Kahoot!’s got the juice to take down #3.

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NGPF’s Professional Prognosticator, Melissa, had this to say from the press pool before the game:

“The keys to the castle in this matchup belong to the team that brings the most discipline. Turnovers from either team in such a fast-paced, active matchup of Gritty Gunslingers™ will be insurmountable. I’ll take the old hound Let’s Make a Mutual Fund. I know, I know... Taxes Kahoot! may pack a big bark and a quick clip, but it doesn’t have the discipline to hold a lead down the stretch.”

At time of writing, Vegas line-jockeys backed Melissa’s musings with a tight edge of just 4 points for Let’s Make a Mutual Fund. Do I smell an upset?

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Game 6:

Cinderella takes on the Evil Stepmother as bracket-buster #6 Mystery of the $8 Millon Janitor tries to escape an upset from the surging #11 Tale of Two Credit Scores.

Mystery begs suspicion from Steven A. Smith and the other talking heads over at ESPN, who prefer the old guard over the up-and-comer. But then you read the inspiring story. Ronald Read, a Vermont gas station attendant and janitor, made an average of $1200 annually, retired with $1.5mm and donated $4mm of his almost $9mm nest egg to local charities when he died. Did you read that right?

Mystery’s methodical rise to #6 is a timely reminder for our young students, who often feel the investing game is only for people who don posh business suits, slick back their hair, play 3 rounds of golf per week, and display an unhealthy arrogance towards money and the world at large. This soft-spoken custodian who chopped firewood in his backyard for 50 years retired a millionaire and died a wealthy philanthropist.

Though Coach Ranzetta refused to take questions from reporters, he did offer a pithy prepared statement: “Flash and pomp has no place on our squad. Mystery of the $8mm Janitor will win with steadfast commitment at both ends of the floor and a slow-paced, unassuming style of play. Our momentum will - ahem - compound over the course of two methodical halves of play.”

While Tim returned to the practice facility, reporters caught a glimpse of his players chopping firewood to build strength before game time. The press junket then caught up with Coach Jessica from #11seed Tale of Two Credit Scores.

Jessica was less optimistic about Tim’s underdog-becomes-big-baller story: “His team is completely one-dimensional. Do they work on spreadsheet skills at all? Do they analyze multiple different credit profiles to get their hands dirty with the complexities of debt? Do they put their players in the driver’s seat with an engaging case-study format? Frankly, Mystery of the $8mm Janitor strikes me as a thin file. Tale of Two Credit Scores for the W!”

Indeed, Coach Jessica was putting on her best Evil Stepmother impression for her analysis of the pre-game odds. Can her lower seeded #11 Tale of Two Credit Scores really throw that much shade at the fan-favorite, momentum-gathering #6 seeded Cinderella?

Either way, somebody’s going to be wiping the floor with the other team in what’s sure to be a barn burnin’ battle.

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Professional Prognosticator Melissa smells an upset!

“Consistency is great, but you have to bring firepower in a match-up like this. Tale of Two Credit Score’s darkhorse spreadsheet skill development and multi-faceted offense will overwhelm the ascendant Mystery of the $8mm Janitor, which is little more than a heart-warming one-trick pony that got lucky to earn a #6 seed. Mystery is truly out of its league!”

Melissa broke from Vegas, which assessed a 15 point advantage for the red-hot Mystery of the $8mm Janitor at time of writing.

MAKE YOUR SELECTIONS FOR BOTH GAMES HERE

About the Authors

Christian Sherrill

Former teacher, forever financial education nerd. As NGPF's Director of Growth & Advocacy, Christian is laser-focused on our mission to guarantee all students a rigorous personal finance course before crossing the high school graduation stage. Having paid down over $40k in student loans in the span of 3 years - while living in the Bay Area on an entry level teacher's salary - he's eager to help the next generation avoid financial pitfalls one semester at a time.

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.