JFG Nation, I have to admit – work has been busy, and any moment not spent working or stuffing my face with junk food has been spent watching or thinking about college basketball. I can’t help it. MARCH IS HERE. Conference tournaments have begun, and I’m obsessed. YOU COULDN’T BEAT HARTFORD, ALBANY?? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??

Selection Sunday isn’t QUITE here yet, but people everywhere are getting ready to fill out office brackets, friend brackets, brackets online…IT’S HAPPENING, PEOPLE. Get on board. A co-worker of mine just told me her daughter fills out brackets based on whichever mascot is the fuzzier of the two in the matchup. We all have the friend who just picks the higher seeds all the way through. Or that colleague who just picks UNC every year.

I’m over doing brackets for money, which is why last year I decided to a bracket with all of YOU! Last year, if Wisconsin had won, I would have won the 36-member Junk Food Nation bracket, proving that I know more about sports than you suckers. Instead, friggin Duke won, and I stayed in 5th place. Grumble.

Well, March Madness is BACK, and so is the JFG Nation March Madness pool! Its open to the public; you all can join and try to beat ME (and each other) for bragging rights. Which one of you junk food crazies is the most knowledgeable college basketball JunkFoodGuy.com reader out there?

AND, to make it more interesting – I’ll throw in a prize. Whoever wins the entire bracket, gets the most points in the pool, takes home the whole enchilada, etc. will get a prize mailed from me to you. I don’t know what the prize is yet. But I promise it’ll be good.

Sound good? Good.

Here are the details:

1. To join The JFG Nation Pool, click here. The pool ID# is 16440.

2. Create your bracket entry.

3. Once Selection Sunday is over, DON’T FORGET TO MAKE YOUR PICKS before the tournament gets rolling. Per the Yahoo rules, “You have until sometime prior to the published tip-off time of the first 2016 Tournament game on Thursday, March 17, 2016 (the “Entry Deadline”) to create your Entry Bracket(s), complete your Picks…” So there you go.

4. JFG RULE: Whoever wins, you HAVE to email me at Junkfoodguy@junkfoodguy.com. Everyone uses fake email addresses on Yahoo or they just hide their email address entirely, so I’m not gonna go hunting you down. You were the genius who picked High Point to go all the way and they did? You are therefore smart enough to email me.

5. JFG RULE: If you’re a frequent Tweet-er, commenter, etc., try to make your entry name something I would recognize – your Twitter handle, or the nickname you use for commenting. Or make your bracket name your favorite junk food and city you’re in. “Baltimore Old Bay Cheese Curls!” Give me a chuckle…

6. JFG RULE: US ONLY. Yeah, I know – I’m pulling this move again. Sorry Canada peeps, UK-ers, etc. But (1) you probably couldn’t care less about March Madness and (2) if I’m mailing you a swag bag bundle of amazing, I’m not paying international rates.

7. ONE LAST RULE: I may amend something here or there in case I forgot anything. I reserve the right to do whatever the heck I want!

So we good? GO NOW AND SIGN UP. I’m already there, people-who-will-soon-be-losing-to-me.

Questions? Let me know in the comments below.

Today’s junk food: New Classic Ranch Fritos!!

How can something be both NEW and CLASSIC, Fritos? And also, how are these New Classic Ranch Fritos NOT the exact same as the Limited Edition Wild n Mild Ranch Fritos I reviewed in October 2012? Which was also a remake of a Fritos variety that had been discontinued in the late 90’s?

I mean, check out my review from October 2012….EVERY SINGLE PHOTO IS VIRTUALLY THE SAME!

Even the BELOW TWO PICTURES are almost identical…

Here’s the thing though – even before I purchased this, I figured these New Classic Ranch Fritos were the same chip, re-released again almost four years later. So why blog about it? Because people LOST THEIR SH*T when the Wild n Mild Ranch Fritos were released in October 2012. Read the comments – people stating they’d been waiting for a DECADE for these to return.

Well lookee lookee JFG Nation. They’re back, and NOT in limited edition form. Booyah.

My review of these New Classic Ranch Fritos, however, are pretty much the same as last time. Opening the day, I inhaled, and could only catch a small whiff of ranch. I got mostly corn chip smell.

These New Classic Ranch Fritos, like their predecessors, don’t have overwhelming ranch flavor, and that’s a credit to them. They are just ranch enough to give me that familiar tang and creaminess, but that corn chip Fritos flavor emerges victorious with every chew.

As a result, these chips are supremely eatable, and I chowed half the bag typing this review. As I said four years ago “Crunchier than Cool Ranch Doritos.  Same HUGE corn taste that you find when you eat Corn Nuts (but not as tooth shattering).  Not TOO much Ranch as to turn your stomach, and the smaller size chip means you can fit a WHOLE LOT into your mouth.  Seriously.  I can’t stop eating these.”

Can’t stop, won’t stop. Go buy these and stuff your faces, JFG Nation.

PURCHASED AT: Wegmans, Germantown, MD

COST: $2.99

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy