Watertown, NY, Resident Wins Northwestern Mutual NCAA® March Madness® Bracket Challenge

Winner heading to the 2013 Men's Final Four® in Atlanta

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Apr 19, 2012, 09:00 ET

MILWAUKEE, April 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Watertown, N.Y., resident Tammy Thomas has won the Northwestern Mutual NCAA March Madness Bracket Challenge, featured at SI.com. More than 20,000 college basketball fans from throughout the country participated in the 2012 Bracket Challenge that required players to predict the winners throughout the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

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Based on her team selections, Thomas earned 167 points -- the highest nationwide score in the contest -- and has won two game tickets, plus four nights at a hotel and domestic airfare to the 2013 NCAA Men's Final Four® in Atlanta. Additionally, Thomas's Northwestern Mutual Financial Representative, Jeffrey Kimball has also won the same prize package.

"March Madness is one of the most exciting sporting events in the country, and this year's tournament was certainly no exception," said Conrad York, vice president of marketing at Northwestern Mutual. "We congratulate Tammy on winning the bracket challenge, and as part of our partnership with the NCAA, look forward to unveiling additional opportunities for consumers to enjoy sporting events throughout the year."

For more information about the Northwestern Mutual NCAA March Madness Bracket Challenge, including the game rules, visit http://northwesternmutualbracket.si.com/pages/rules.

The challenge, rolled out by the financial security company and SI.com, was launched to kick-off Northwestern Mutual's recently formed corporate partnership with the NCAA. To learn more about the partnership, visit here.

About Northwestern Mutual

The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company -- Milwaukee, WI (Northwestern Mutual) -- among the "World's Most Admired" life insurance companies in 2012 according to FORTUNE® magazine -- has helped clients achieve financial security for more than 155 years. As a mutual company with $1.2 trillion of life insurance protection in force, Northwestern Mutual has no shareholders. The company focuses solely and directly on its clients and seeks to deliver consistent and dependable value to them over time. Northwestern Mutual and its subsidiaries offer a holistic approach to financial security solutions including: life insurance, long-term care insurance, disability insurance, annuities, investment products, and advisory products and services. Subsidiaries include Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC, broker-dealer, registered investment adviser, member FINRA and SIPC; the Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company, limited purpose federal savings bank; and Northwestern Long Term Care Insurance Company; and Russell Investments.

About the NCAA

The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 400,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.ncaa.org and www.ncaa.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes. The NCAA is proud to have the following elite companies as official Corporate Champions -- AT&T, Capital One and Coca-Cola -- and the following elite companies as official Corporate Partners -- Buick, Enterprise, Infiniti, LG, Lowe's, Northwestern Mutual, Reese's (Hershey's), Unilever, UPS and Wheat Thins (Kraft).

NCAA, March Madness, Final Four, Women's Final Four and College World Series are trademarks owned or licensed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

SOURCE Northwestern Mutual