Announcing March Madness at AppMtn

March has been the month for college hoops play-offs for decades. Early days, only eight teams made it to the postseason. As of 2011, 68 schools will vie for the national title.

What does this have to do with baby names? Not a thing. But I rather admire the brackets and rankings and, well, the excitement, of March Madness.

So here comes the AppMtn version of the game.

Beginning Saturday, March 5, you’ll have the chance to vote for your favorite names. The favorites represent the most-viewed posts during 2010. They range from the stylish to the curious to the downright odd. There are no rules governing how you should vote – you can vote for the names you’re most likely to use, or the write-ups you liked the best, or those that just seem the most interesting.

Competition takes place over four Saturdays as follows:

• Saturday, March 5 – Opening Round
• Saturday, March 12 – Quarter-Finals
• Saturday, March 19 – Semi-Finals
• Saturday, March 26 – Finals!

There will be two separate posts – one for boys, and one for girls. The boys’ posts will go live right after midnight and the girls’ posts will follow around noon each Saturday.

Voting will remain open until the Friday before the next series of posts goes live.