17 WEEKS! (right up to Christmas). [Week 18, in essence will be the annual Bowl Pool which you'll all want to do - but it's a separate pool.]
15 picks each week.
College AND Pro games. Throughout the college season, 9 or 10 of the games will be College and 5 or 6 NFL. For the last few weeks, all the games will be NFL.
All picks are versus a line. This also allows those not so knowledgeable to participate since a point spread on a game makes each game a virtual toss-up pick. This also maximizes the chance that every game will be equally uncertain down to the wire. Last year, with only 12 games, only 2 (Leon Stidfole and Loree Nous) ever had a perfect week.
Picks will generally always include important and/or TV games - so that just about every game that is on TV will be a pool pick. We can almost always have Iowa and ISU games and probably will have too many Bears games since they'll be on TV a lot. If there are games you wish to have (or not have) in the pool - please let me know.
Monday night NFL game will always be in the pool (thus final results will always depend on the outcome of that game).
Each pick is equal value. There are NO weighted games this year.
Some point-spreads will include a half-point. A 'tie' cannot occur in such a game. Other games will not include a half-point. Those games could then end up precisely matching the spread. In that case everyone in the pool will get 1/2 point no matter which side they took.
There will be no tie-breakers for pool winnings. Winnings will simply be split equally. I expect each week's final results to approximate a bell curve, so there shouldn't be lots and lots of ties every week for the top spots. Lots of 7 and 8 scores, but the 11s or 12s needed to win each week should be few. We'll see.
Tip. Since each game is equally-likely to go either way (versus the spread), you can maximize your chances by picking those teams you think most people in the pool won't. If week after week, most people pick Iowa, it'd probably be better to pick against Iowa. But then, you don't know what everyone picked till you get your picks in and see the recap.
Each week costs $5.
You don't have to enter every week, but your top 12 weeks (out of 17) will count towards the overall awards. $12 each week will be put into the overall kitty (which will end up totaling $204).
Each week's payout is (from all proceeds less the $12):
1st - 50% 2nd - 35% 3rd - 15%
Final overall payouts are:
1st - $84 2nd - $60 3rd - $40 4th - $20
Entries must be e-mailed to me (or just REPLY to each week's entry). Each of the 15 picks must be clearly indicated.
It'll be real nice to get entries in by 3pm on Fridays so that I can get recap out before the end of the day. But, as in past years, late entries will be accepted (as long as they're before games start of course), and late entrants will be scorned amongst their peers (especially if frequent).
Expect each week's pool entries to arrive on Wednesdays.
I have friendly easy payment plans. Pay as you go preferably a few weeks at a time and preferably ahead of time (so I'll have funds to pay the winners). I'll try to keep proper records, but if I'm short I'll just bill Gary Young.