Happy 40th Anniversary to the Maguire/McDonagh Invitational. What a run it has been and we hope you'll continue with us for the next 40. Hey, Highland Catholic, where this all started is still around, no reason we can't be. Thanks again to Kevin Busch for making things easier on the admin side of things. This will be the last year ST. Thomas isn't eligible for the tourney so 2026 is another tourney to look forward to.

RULES BELOW/PAYMENT LINKS THROUGH THE AZURE SITE ARE BELOW: 1) Pick one of each seed: so you have one #1 seed, one #2 seed, one #3 seed etc. etc. until you have 16 teams. Points are added up at the end of each round. A victory in round 1 is worth 1 point; a victory in round 2 is worth 2 pts; a victory in round 3 is worth 3 points etc. etc. We'll send out updates after each 2 rounds.

2025 Bracket here.

We choose to ignore the play-in games so if you choose a playin game you can choose EITHER TEAM and you will get the winner no matter what once the game is over.. You do not have to wait until after the game is played to pick that slot.

Site we use for entries is here.

Please enter your list before 11am est on Thursday.

Please see payment details on the site "Team Entry" page.

As usual, payouts are: 1st 70%, 2nd 20%, 3rd 10%.

Good luck!

As we head into the Sweet Sixteen, it’s once again apparent that the Maguire & McDonagh Invitational is a bit different: there’s no luck, it’s skill and intellect and with that we wanted to let you know that myself (CDH guard in theearly 90’s) and Mike Busch (crafty, spinning guard from CDH in the late 80’s) are tied for first place with the exact same teams left (7 of them) and 25 points. While in the lead and feeling good, they do have people on their ass, Nancy Stummer at 22 with Houston rather than Duke at #1 is one to watch as is my hoops loving wife, Holly Scull, who has 21 pts but has Auburn instead of Duke.

Additionally, Tanner Miller (22) and Brian Sweet (21), Eoin mcdonagh (21), his cousin Maisie Conway (21) and John Garrity (21) all have paths to victory.

Like all great tourneys, this one is going to be fun to watch but whomever pulls it out will do so with skill, grace and respect for The M&M Invitational

Neck & Neck

I think we can all agree that March Madness isn't all that crazy when all the #1 seeds make it to the Final Four. It's been some years (2008) since that happened and it also highlights how many people took Duke in this year's pool. 32 of the 80 entries had Duke as their # 1 and only two of those have a chance to win this year's pool (Mike Busch and I can tie for the title if Duke wins as we are sitting in first place with 35 points each).

A few other scenarios:

If Florida decides they want it more than Duke, the Wesleyan guard from the 90's, David Bowers would take home the title just ahead of Hi-C alum, Craig Twombley.

If Houston brings their A+ defense and athleticism to their match-up with Duke, they could win it all which would place Nancy Stummer in the driver's seat Monday night.

Lastly, the overall #1 seed in this tournament was actually Auburn but only 10 of this year's entries believed enough to take them as their #1. Dan Bolten Steiner would be rewarded for such guts if Auburn were to take it home.

There may be a couple of scenarios that I am missing but one has to work. Let's enjoy these next few days befor Cooper Flagg turns pro. May Duke bring it home for M Busch and me!

-- matt mcdonagh
646-428-5444