The famed March college basketball tournament hasn’t tipped off yet, but one Ohio State bar is already making a bracket run.
Threes Above High has advanced to the final 16 of a nationwide “Bar Tab Battle,” a 64-bar, single-elimination Instagram competition that pits college bars against each other based on student engagement.
The contest, which launched Feb. 5, functions like a March Madness bracket. Each round, bars face off on Instagram, and the winners are determined by which school’s students generate the most engagement – tagging friends, commenting and rallying support.
The winning bar will receive a $5,000 bar tab and a DJ-backed championship party on campus.
Threes is representing Ohio State University in the competition and has already advanced further than any Ohio State bar in previous iterations of the bracket, according to organizers.
The latest round began Feb. 16, with voting conducted directly through participating bars’ Instagram accounts.
Threes joins Crooked Floor Tavern for Coastal Carolina University, Gallettes for the University of Alabama and Ivy Nightclub near West Virginia University in Region 1.
Organizers say some matchups nationally have drawn more than 100,000 comments as students mobilize online in what has become a pride-fueled competition between universities.
The format mirrors the NCAA tournament structure, with regional brackets and elimination rounds narrowing the field from 64 to a champion.
For Ohio State students, the run has turned into a social media rallying point – and a chance at a potentially massive free tab if Threes can keep advancing.
The next round of voting begins at 3 p.m. Feb. 19 on the bar’s Instagram page.
Trending reporter Amani Bayo can be reached at abayo@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Threes Above High advances to final 16 in national ‘Bar Tab Battle’
Reporting by Amani Bayo, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
