The two weekend tilts are upon us! Who will join the 6 other Sweet Sixteen winners from the week? Time (and YOUR social media influence) will tell. Let ‘em hear your voice in the rafters, baby!

Vote in Today’s Tilts:

• #4 Joining the Market vs. #13 FICO Score Simulator
• #5 Spent vs. #12 Think You Can Beat The Stock Market?

FINAL Update on Sunday, March 25 at 7AM

• In a major upset, #13 FiCO Score advances to the Elite 8 with a 27-11 trouncing of Joining the Market. Pundits wonder whether Joining the Market is in need of a rebranding effort (Ravioli Den, anyone?).
• No surprise in the evening game as #5 Spent rolled to an easy 27-11 victory over Beat the Stock Market. Wonder if the recent stock market drubbing has dulled enthusiasm for all investing related games. 

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MAKE YOUR SELECTIONS FOR BOTH GAMES HERE

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Game 7:

High-flyer #4 Joining The Market (popularly known as “Ravioli Den”) dances with sleeper #13 FICO Score Simulator.

Another G-E-M competitor (Get-’Em-Moving), Joining The Market participants track the stock performance of Ravioli Den, a fast-casual ravioli restaurant. Players buy, hold and sell RD shares based on various pasta news their coach throws at them. Can students bob, weave, dribble and dipsy-doo dunkaroo all while making wise investing decisions?

Coach Tony Montgomery was schmoozing with Ravioli Den’s CEO at press time, and was unavailable for comment.

Coach Tony’s opponent, #13 seed FICO Score Simulator, hails from the powerhouse Interactives Division. FICO Simulator is Awesome, Baby, with a Capital A! This interactive activity takes a hot mess - how credit bureaus determine creditworthiness - and simplifies it down to its cooler constituent parts. Pure, simple, fundamental X’s & O’s.

Coach Tim, usually so snarky, was eerily polite in the press junket: “It’s going to be a fun game! My players work hard to make predictions about credit scores while Tony’s players spend time making predictions about stock prices while digesting (no pun intending) company news. I say it’ll be a barn burner!”

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Professional Prognosticator Melissa only said the following:

“All I have to say is that you can find me eating at the Ravioli Den tonight! Joining the Market has the necessary bite to go All. The. Way. ”

Vegas holds the line at 8 points in favor of Joining The Market (Ravioli Den).

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Game 8:

Showdown in Interactive Town: #5 Spent vs. #12 Think You Can Beat The Stock Market

With both teams hailing from the hyper-competitive Interactives division, this game promises to be pandemonium. Spent and TYCBTSM are both a whirlwind of highly engaged students and heroic teachers.

How did Spent earn the #5 seed? Look no further than its perpetual popularity. With over 7 million plays, Spent is a stratospheric success in the classroom and beyond. And it’s an eye-opener for young people who may have little context as to the unforeseen costs of living paycheck to paycheck. [Check out the story behind Spent in this NGPF podcast with Spent creator, Jenny Nicholson!]

The noise in the NGPF Sweet Sixteen Arena approached Deafening Decibels™ when #12 Think You Can Beat The Stock Market took the floor for warm-up today. In the classroom, this interactive is another wake-up call for youngsters, some of whom tend to think they’re smarter than the entire market of financial professionals when it comes to calling stock moves. Why teach students about market psychology (loss aversion hurts!) when they can experience it? This activity favors the unselfish Blenders: go with passive, low-fee index funds, baby!

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

“This is a tough matchup for Think You Can Beat the Stock Market. When Interactives get pinned against each other, you’re looking at a fast-paced battle with a lot of points in transition(s) and big time offensive plays with the flash that every student needs to stay engaged. Spent is sadly unbeatable in this category as this interactive has the versatility to bring down the giants of the resource world.”

Spent slides in as a heavy favorite in the matchup, with Vegas assessing a 16 point advantage over TYCBTSM.

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MAKE YOUR SELECTIONS FOR BOTH GAMES HERE

Bracketology by Christian

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.