A quick guide to understanding MMM:

Since 2013, March Mammal Madness asks the question “Who Would Win?” when two animals encounter each other in an absurdly complex and wonderfully nerdy way… a simulated tournament within a structured game universe!!!

Rules of the MMM game universe

Combatants are arranged in a four division, single elimination tournament.
Combatants have assigned seeds 1-16, with “1” being the best ranked combatant and “16” being the worst ranked combatant in the Division.
Unless otherwise stated on the bracket, a single combatant at peak performance condition represents the species.
To be defeated, a combatant perishes on or retreats from the “field of battle.”
Field of Battle in the first three rounds is determined by the combatant’s seed. The better or lower seeded combatant has home habitat advantage and the worse/higher seeded combatant is the visitor.
Field of Battle in the last three rounds- the Elite Trait, the Final Roar, and the Championship, the battle location is randomized among 4 possible habitats.

How battle outcomes are determined

A teaMMM of scientists research the combatants and their habitats and estimate probability that combatant A wins vs. combatant B wins within the specific habitat.
Attributes considered in estimating battle outcome include temperament, weaponry, armor, body mass, speed, fight style, physiology, and motivation.
From that probability estimation, a random number generator determines the outcome of the encounter and which combatant advances in the tournament. This allows for the possibility, if not the probability, of upsets (a worse ranked combatant defeating a better ranked combatant).

Annual tournament schedule

While the exact dates of the tournament change every year, here is a fairly general tournament schedule to help with annual planning. Game nights are usually Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 5 p.m. Pacific time / 8 p.m. Eastern. We will watch/study the encounters in class the following school day.

February 2: Groundhog Day!
February 12: Darwin Day! Division reveals
Third Thursday of February: Brackets and educational materials are released!
Second Monday of March: Tournament begins with the Wild Card match!
First Monday of April: Championship!