Players are given a roster of sixteen (16) schools to earn points. Only one school may be picked for each tournament seed. The total number of points that a school scores, excluding play-in rounds, will count to a player\'s total; win or lose. The player with the most points at the end of the tournament is the winner.

The buy-in for this pool is $20, due prior to start of the Round of 64. The payout schedule is not finalized until the registration closes due to dependence on entries. In 2021 it was top 6: 55-25-10-5-3.5-1.5 on 89 players. We will try to keep a similar schedule. $1 of each entry is used to offset the paypal fees and server costs.

Examples:
In 2013 the four #1 seeds were: Indiana, Louisville, Kansas, and Gonzaga.
Louisville went to the championship round and scored 477 points during the tournament. Indiana only made it to the Sweet 16 and scored 191 points. Kansas also only made it to the Sweet 16, but scored 219 total points. Gonzaga lost in the Round of 32 and scored 134 total points.
Since a player can only select one #1 seed school, in hindsight, Louisville was the best #1 seed to pick, and the best to pick as champion for tie-breaker. Second-best would be Kansas, then Indiana. An early exit for Gonzaga would really hurt the player as their choice as the other schools played more rounds collecting more points in every game.

None of the #16 seed schools advanced past the first game, but James Madison scored 62 in their loss to Indiana, which beat out all the other #16 seed teams with scores of 58, 57, and 48.

Tiebreakers:
1: Players will choose one of their schools as the tournament champion. The player with the correct champion school will be used as the first tie-breaker.
2: If no players correctly identified the tournament champion, the losing team of the championship game will be used as the second tie-breaker.
3: Players will choose a combined final score for the championship game. The player that is the closest to the actual score, without going over, is the third tie-breaker.
4: The player that is the closest, including going over, is the third tie-breaker.
5-9: In the event that a tie has not been settled after four criteria, the next five tie-breakers will be the players total score at the end of each tournament round, starting at the final four and working continuously until to the Round of 64.

No-contest games:
For a no-contest game, C16 will award both affected teams the points equal to the average points scored during the same round by all other participating teams. This score will be rounded to the nearest whole number and be entered at the conclusion of the affected round.

Q: What if my #5 seed loses in the first round?
A: Player will still get credit for the points the school scored during the game, but will not collect any additional points for that seed since that school will not be competing in any further rounds.

Q: Why does it say HIDDEN when I look at other players picks?
A: All picks are hidden from other players between Selection Sunday and the start of the Round of 64. You will be able to see all player\'s picks once regular tournament play begins.

Q: Is it too late to change my picks?
A: You can change your picks any time between Selection Sunday and the start of the Round of 64. You will need to be logged in as a registered user to access this page. Once regular tournament play begins, all players picks will be locked.

Q: Why do I get an email every time someone posts on the message board?
A: Your account is set to automatically receive these emails, you may disable it from the preferences page.

Q: Can my friend JaMichael sign up?
A: Yes. Anyone who is able to pay their signup fees before the start of the tournament is welcome to join.

Q: Is there a limit on the number of people that can join?
A: Additional pools can be created at the discretion of the administrators, prior to the end of registration.

Q: What is the best strategy to win?
A: Previous years have a few things in common: The winner usually has 1 team in the championship game. The person in last usually loses a top 4 in the first round. Picking an upset-proof top 4 will get you competitive, but its picking the 7-10 seed that goes deep that puts you on the podium.

Q: Can I have multiple entries if I pay for each one?
A: No. A player can only have 1 entry per pool. however, if enough players are interested in a secondary pool (higher buy-in), a separate pool can be created on a different web domain. Please contact an administrator if interested, before registration ends.

Q: Do you also have a game for the NBA playoffs?
A: We are working on a model that will work for the NBA playoffs for a few years, its not ready yet.