KANSAS CITY, Mo. - March Madness is upon us, that time of year when many sports fans tune in college basketball tournaments. For restaurant chains, hoops can translate into big business, Nation??s Restaurant News reports.

Casual-dining chains are joining pizza and chicken-wing brands for a piece of the customer pie to increase food and beer sales, as well as add more Facebook fans. Applebee??s has a Fan Fanatics Facebook page contest that gives customers points for tweeting and posting on the chain??s page. Prizes will be given out to fans with the highest points. The casual-dining chain also wants to pack restaurants with a 50% off appetizer promo in the evenings.

Domino??s Pizza has a Facebook contest to drive "likes." Prizes include product giveaways and a grand prize winning trip to next year??s NCAA Final Four games. Meanwhile, Pizza Hut is honoring all of the No. 10 seed teams with free pizza parties on their campuses. "The founders of Pizza Hut were underdogs themselves, starting a global brand from the ground up," said Kurt Kane, chief marketing officer, in a statement. "We are again cheering for the underdogs in this year??s tournament rooting for the ultimate upset, and with the launch of our new $10 Dinner Box we are backing the No. 10 seeds to go all the way."

Papa John??s Pizza has a limited-time offer starting March 21 that prices its large Buffalo Chicken Pizza at $10 through the April 30. "America told us that they wanted Buffalo chicken and that bacon was a favorite," said Andrew Varga, chief marketing officer. "We??ve combined the two and delivered an exciting new pizza just in time for basketball tournament season. We think that this is a pizza all fans will agree upon."