The rules are simple:
Scoring:
You will receive points for each correct game winner you choose. The number of points will be calculated as follows:
Round 1 win - 1pts
Round 2 win - 2pts
Round 3 win - 4pts
Round 4 win - 8pts
Round 5 win - 16pts
Pick Chamption - 32pts
Bonus Scoring!
If you get a pick correct you will also be awarded additional points equal to the winning teams Seed#.
For Example:
You pick a #1 Seed to beat a #16 Seed in Rd 1. You would receive 2pts (1pt for the Rd 1 win + 1pt for the Seed#)
You pick a #9 Seed to beat a #8 Seed in Rd 1. You would receive 10pts (1pt for the Rd 1 win + 9pts for the Seed#)
You pick an #11 Seed to beat a #4 Seed in Rd 2. You would receive 13pts (2pts for the Rd 2 win + 11pts for the Seed#)
You pick a #10 Seed to beat a #3 Seed in Rd 3. You would receive 14pts (4pts for the Rd 3 win + 10pts for the Seed#)
You pick a #11 Seed to beat a #1 Seed in Rd 4. You would receive 19pts (8pt for the Rd 4 win + 11pt for the Seed#)
You pick a #1 Seed to beat a #1 Seed in Rd 5. You would receive 17pts (16pt for the Rd 5 win + 1pt for the Seed#)
No Tie Breakers!
We'll do a Sweet 16 "2nd chance pool" when the tournament gets to that point
Entry is open to anybody and everybody (with or without any knowledge of college basketball - but it usually helps). There is no entry fee and consequently no prizes - except personal satisfaction and bragging rights for one year!
Info On the 68-Team Format
The field will once again be 68 teams. There will now be four play-in games instead of one. These four games (called the First Four) will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday night before the "real" 64-team tournament starts on Thursday. In prior years the single #64-vs-#65 play-in game could easily be ignored since nobody in their right mind would ever pick the winner of that game to advance past the #1 seed. But now two of the play-in games will feature bubble teams playing for a #12-#14 seed. So, this presents a bit of a challenge.
It's not feasible to require people to get their picks in before Tuesday night and pick the play-in games. It's also not feasible to force everyone to wait until late Wednesday night (after the play-in games are done) before they can enter their picks. So what's the solution? Easy - we're going to treat the four play-in games just like the single play-in game was treated in the past. You don't need to pick the winners in these games, but you still have the option of picking the play-in winner to advance in the "real" tournament.
An example might explain this better. Say the two teams playing in for a #12 seed are USC and Iowa and they'll eventually play #5 Florida. Starting Sunday night a Tournament Entry page will be available with a normal 64-team bracket. You'll see "Florida" as one choice and "USC/Iowa" as the other. If you think the USC-Iowa winner will beat Florida, just pick "USC/Iowa" to advance and you're good to go. It doesn't matter which team wins the play-in game. As long as the #12 seed moves past Florida, you get the game right.
Where it gets a little tricky is if you think USC would beat Florida, but Iowa would not. In that case you may want to wait until after the play-in games are done to submit your picks. The deadline to submit your picks is 11:00 AM (EDT) on Thursday March 17th.
Have Fun and let the MADNESS Begin!!!
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