MOUNT VERNON — Along with several dozen newspapers around the country, the Mount Vernon News will carry this year’s BRACKETBUCKS Basketball Contest in conjunction with the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The grand prize: Up To $25,000.

Pairings and seedings for this year’s tournament were announced by the NCAA on Sunday, and the contest will appear for the next three days. Hand-delivered entry forms must be in by noon Eastern Time on Thursday. Mailed entries must be postmarked by Wednesday.

The object of the game is to amass as many of the 2,000 possible points as you can. You win points for correct predictions on which teams will win the 63 tournament games. You must pick the entire tournament before it starts.

In addition to the grand prize winner, a local winner will be named from each participating newspaper. That will be the person locally who tallies the most of the 2,000 possible points. Our local winner will be awarded $100.

Winners will be announced the week of April 11.