March Mammal Madness
2025 Combatant Valentines
In honor of Valentine's Day, please enjoy some science-based (but still safe for work and classroom) Valentines of 2025 Combatants. Print PDFs of the color cards or grayscale cards versions. (Note, if you print the sheet of Valentines double-sided, they align if you instruct the printer to flip the sheet on the long side).
Scroll down for the tournament teaser trailer, sign-up link for the FREE Darwin Day Webinar sponsored by the National Center for Science Education and the National Association of Biology Teachers, the Educators MMMaterials request form, the tournament calendar, AND MORE!
We are well and truly into the March Mammal Madness PreSeason!
2025 webinars
February 24, 2025 5 p.m. Eastern - Watch the March Mammal Madness Celebrates the Tree of Life recording on YouTube!
Katie Hinde, March Mammal Madness founding director and associate professor, and Anali Perry, head of Open Science and Scholarly Communication at ASU Library, lead a webinar with all you need to know about this year's tournament and theme celebrating the Tree of Life.
Anali and I also bring back the speed round interview as Anali and I try to stump each other in rapid fire antics.
February 3, 2025 5 p.m. Eastern - Watch the Pragmatics and Pitfalls for Adopting March Mammal Madness with Learners recording on YouTube!
Are you an educator who is interested in adopting MMM with your learners? Now in the 13th tournament, the MMMagnitude of tournament resources can feel like a deluge. Here we showcase where to begin and position yourself and your learners for success. Jump on in, the water's fine!
February 12, 2025 7 p.m. Eastern - Watch the "A Lioness Walks Into an Orca: How Stories Enhance Science Education" recording on YouTube. Divisions and other sneak peeks will be revealed in this free Darwin Day webinar sponsored by the National Center for Science Education and the National Association of Biology Teachers.
2025 March Mammal Madness Bracket GO TIME!
2025 MMM tournament schedule
Tournament "events" will be live-announced and shared by @mmmletsgo.bsky.social on the bsky.app at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Results will be available shortly after on this library guide.
Pre-tournament events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| February 2 | Materials request form opens |
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February 3 3 PM Arizona/5 PM EST |
ASU Library webinar for educators considering adopting MMM with their learners Register now for Pragmatics and Pitfalls for Adopting March Mammal Madness with Learners. |
| February 10 | MMM science-themed valentines of the 2025 combatants |
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February 12 5PM Arizona / 7PM EST |
National Center for Science Education and National Association of Biology Teachers webinar "A Lioness Walks Into an Orca: How Stories Enhance Science Education" Division reveal & other 2025 Sneak Peeks! |
| February 20 | Bracket drop and all educator materials released |
| February 21 | ASU Library webinar of 2025 educator, learner and player resources |
2025 March Mammal Madness calendar
Game time is 8 p.m. Eastern (5 p.m. Pacific) for all tournament nights.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| March 9 (Sunday) | Wild Card Eve |
| March 10 (Monday) | Wild Card |
| March 12 (Wednesday) | Round 1 Divisions Announced Darwin Day |
| March 13 (Thursday) | Round 1 Divisions Announced Darwin Day |
| March 17 (Monday) | Round 1 Divisions Announced Darwin Day |
| March 19 (Wednesday) | Round 1: Divisions Announced Darwin Day |
| March 20 (Thursday) | Round 2: |
| March 24 (Monday) | Round 2: |
| March 26 (Wednesday) | Sweet 16 |
| March 27 (Thursday) | Elite Trait |
| March 31 (Monday) | Final Roar |
| April 2 (Wednesday) | Championship |
2025 Bracket Divisions!
[Trumpet fanfare]
The 2025 divisions are Same and Different Division: Animals from very different lineages can have similar traits because they have similar adaptations for types of lifestyles- such as traits for digging or gliding from tree to tree. This division celebrates Convergent Evolution! The Only Ones Division: Mammals that are the only living species of their genus! Roots and Relicts Division: Species that have existed for so long from such ancient times or in a lost, remnant population. Tuxedo Style Division: Mammals that are “monochromatic” one color- species that are shades of grey all the way from from black to white. But who will end up… red all over?!?
Bracket drops February 20th!
Public Service Announcement for the Roots and Relicts Division:
March Mammal Madness will not feature any human remains, bejeweled or otherwise, as combatants for the 2025 Tournament, nor any other sacred objects. Please visit your closest cathedral, altar or ossuary for a relic and please play March Mammal Madness for the relict "combatants."
Relic (noun)
- an object esteemed and venerated because of association with a saint or martyr.
- survivor or remnant left after decay, disintegration or disappearance.
- a trace of some past or outmoded practice, custom or belief.
Relict (noun or adjective)
- a surviving species of an otherwise extinct group of organisms.
- a remnant of a formerly widespread species that persists in an isolated area.
2025MMM Bracket zone
All educator materials for March Mammal Madness, found by scrolling below, are freely available as an Open Educational Resource.
To be added to the Educators list so that you get key updates (we will never share your email address, we only send essential infrequent messages), please sign up through this form and please consider completing the 10-minute educator survey so that we can continue to improve March Mammal Madness for the learning coMMMunity.
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2025 bracket and educator bracket guideAll the essential info about the tournament for educators to use March Mammal Madness with their learners.
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Link to all 2025 brackets without the guideCommon Name Brackets in English
Common Name Brackets in Spanish
Latin Binomial Bracket
Screen-Reader Bracket
Jumbo brackets that print on 5 pages in English and Spanish
Brackets Brackets Brackets
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Bobcat's Guide to Bracket PicksNeed to shortcut your research? This guide pairs PURRFECTLY with the Combatant Info Slides for quick picks on your bracket!
2025 Get hyped
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Compendium of the 12th annual March Mammal Madness 2024 TournamentCompilation of all of the Read All About zines for each match of the 2024 MMM tournament, tournament highlights, usage data, and educator contributions.
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Metazoa"The animal kingdom (Metazoa, in Greek) is full of our distant relatives... some more distant than others! Metazooa is a game that tests how well you know our extended family tree."
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AnimordleWordle for Animals for the month of March! Animordle was created by friends of the MMM tournament JT Miller of St. Albans School and Sean Nolan of the Landon School.
2025 Educator starter pack (English language)
To download - go to File > Download
To copy, go to File > Make a Copy
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Past Tournament Highlight ReelRelive some of the tournament's past controversies!