With March Madness just around the corner, some students have already begun filling out their brackets, but instead of college basketball, the brackets are full of Cookout milkshakes.

Ali Thomas-Hollands, a junior in animal science, Christine Nguyen, a junior in civil engineering, and two of their friends have made it their goal to find the best Cookout milkshake flavor.

“We got the idea to do a milkshake bracket one day when we were talking about our favorite milkshake flavors,” Thomas-Hollands said. “Some people had come up with some interesting mixes, and everyone was arguing for their favorite.”

The four girls decided to make the discussion official by designing a milkshake bracket similar to those created for March Madness.

“We picked sixteen milkshakes and paired them off so that we had eight first-round battles,” Nguyen said.

The girls go to Cookout about once a week to taste-test the two milkshakes side-by-side and the winner is decided by vote.

Milkshakes that made the bracket came from across the Cookout menu, from blueberry cheesecake to peanut butter fudge.

Nguyen and her friends tried to pick a mix of old-time favorites and new flavors.

Thomas-Hollands said her favorite milkshake flavor had to make the list. “Strawberry Oreo is the best,” Thomas-Hollands said. “Unfortunately it lost to banana pudding fudge in round two.”

Sara Cohen, a junior in food science and one of the milkshake judges, said she made sure cappuccino double brownie was in the running, but was skeptical of a few other flavors that made the bracket.

“We picked orange push-up since none of us had ever tried it, but I didn’t think it’d be good. We actually ended up throwing most of it away. It was awful.” Cohen said.

So far, banana pudding fudge has been dominant in the left side of the bracket, and will be competing in the final round for best milkshake.

“We had a few upsets,” Nguyen said. “None of us had ever tried chocolate malt or walnut, and the chocolate malt walnut milkshake we tried beat mint Oreo hands down.”

Kalie Porterfield, a junior in mechanical engineering and a milkshake judge, was surprised by how much she enjoyed chocolate malt walnut.

“I hate walnuts and any kind of nut, but the chocolate malt flavor made it a winner for me,” Porterfield said. “I just had to spit out the walnuts.”

Porterfield said she is looking forward to the next battle: banana berry M&M versus the kitchen sink.

“For the kitchen sink we’re going to ask them to just throw everything in there,” Porterfield said. “It’ll probably be gross, but I’m curious about how it’ll turn out.”

The girls have also wondered if they could venture off the standard milkshake flavor menu to the rest of Cookout’s menu.

“Would they make me a peanut butter bacon fudge milkshake?” Cohen asked.

Thomas-Hollands, who is a vegetarian, said she may not be as interested, but the girls have other plans after their Cookout bracket comes to an end.

“We’re going to try and find the best fries in Raleigh after this,” said Nguyen. “I’m pulling for Five Guys.”