2007 BigFlax.com NCAA Tournament Challenge Official Rules
1. Eligibility
a. To be eligible for the 2007 BigFlax.com NCAA Tournament Challenge,
you must be someone known to Robert Flaxman (hereafter "me").
b. This means random people who wander onto the site are not eligible.
Relatively tangential acquantianceship is, however, acceptable.
c. You must have a way to get me the tournament fee of $5 before the
tournament begins (i.e. Thursday, March 15) or be granted an exception.
Realistically, any time prior to the end of the tournament will do, but I need to be firm,
as the past four years have all seen at least one person fail to submit the entry fee,
which either robs the winner of expected winnings or forces me to make up the difference
from my own pocket.
d. To sign up, e-mail me at bigflax at gmail dot com.
2. Time Frame
a. I will be sending out computerized brackets on or shortly after
Selection Sunday using Microsoft Excel. If you do not have Microsoft Excel, you will
be responsible for submitting a list or some other formatted (and understandable) version
of your picks to me by any method you see fit to use (this may include filling out a
printed bracket and handing it to me, as some have chosen to do in the past, though for
most of you, good luck doing that).
b. All picks must be delivered to me by midnight Central Time on the
night of Wednesday, March 14, since games start on Thursday, March 15, though I will
probably be lenient as long as your picks are in before games start at 11 am CT on
Thursday (this does not mean to wait until then). We will not be picking the play-in
game.
c. Since I have a day job now, it would be in your best interest to
submit your picks before the exact deadline, since you may not see them up until Thursday
evening if they come in at midnight.
3. Scoring
a. Basic scoring will be conducted identically to preceding years,
viz.: 10 points for each correct first-round game; 20 points for each correct second-round
game; 40 points for each correct Sweet 16 game; 80 points for each correct Elite 8 game;
120 points for each correct Final Four game; 160 points for a correct prediction of the
national championship game.
b. Most of you will be familiar with the bonus plan by now. But
here is an explanation for newcomers or those who need a refresher. Any player
projecting an upset of five seeds or more will receive points on the following scale:
#11 seed wins: 10 points
#12 seed wins: 15 points
#13 seed wins: 20 points
#14 seed wins: 30 points
#15 seed wins: 40 points
#16 seed wins: 50 points
These apply to wins in any round by a team of these seeds.
NEW FOR 2007!: It has occurred to me that picking wins by double-digit seeds in
later rounds has not been adequately rewarded in the past. For example, having
correctly picked George Mason to beat UConn last year would not have earned you any more
than 10 bonus points (not that anyone had this). This doesn't seem fair when you
would have been able to get 30 points by picking the #10 seed over UConn in the same game.
As a result, I'm closing this loophole with the following addendum: starting in the
Sweet 16, any win by a #11-#16 seed over a team seeded five seed lines or more higher will
be subject to the below upset points rules in ADDITION to the usual points available for a
win by their seed lines (the below rules only count between 5 and 9 seed lines, so add
five points for each additional seed line up to 15 - 35 points for 10 lines, 40 points for
11 lines, 45 points for 12 lines, 50 points for 13 lines, 55 points for 14 lines, and 60
points for 15 lines). So last year, you would have gotten ten bonus points for
Mason's Round 1 win, ten more for their Round 2 win, none for their Sweet 16 win (as
Wichita State was only a #7), and then 45 bonus points for Mason's win over Connecticut -
ten for the #11 win, and 35 for the ten-line upset. I hope this makes sense to
everyone. Let me know if you're confused at all.
In the second round and later, upsets of between five and nine seeds (examples: #7 or #10
beats #2; #8 or #9 beats #1; #6 beats #1; etc.) that do not involve #11-#16 seeds will
also be awarded points on the following scale:
Five seeds (6-1 [rf], 7-2 [sr], 8-3 [rf], 9-4 [rs], 10-5 [rf]): 10
points
Six seeds (7-1 [rf], 8-2 [rf], 9-3 [rf], 10-4 [rf]): 15 points
Seven seeds (8-1 [sr], 9-2 [rf], 10-3 [rs]): 20 points
Eight seeds (9-1 [sr], 10-2 [sr]): 25 points
Nine seeds (10-1 [rf]): 30 points
Letters in brackets show the rounds in which upsets of these seed pairings could happen.
sr = second round; rs = regional semis or Sweet 16; rf = regional finals or Elite
8. Also be aware that, theoretically, any such upset could happen in the Final Four.
d. Examples of how this scoring would work:
Correctly picking #5 Mississippi State over #12 Butler earns you ten
points. Correctly picking #12 Butler over #5 Mississippi State earns you a total of
25 points (10 base + 15 bonus).
Correctly picking #1 Arizona over #9 Gonzaga in Round Two earns you
twenty points. Correctly picking #9 Gonzaga over #1 Arizona in Round Two earns you
45 points (20 base + 25 bonus).
e. Be aware that you do not get points for predicting a seeded upset in
the later rounds if it doesn't happen. For example, in 2001, Drew picked #10
Georgetown to upset #2 Iowa State and move into the Sweet 16. Georgetown moved into
the Sweet 16. Does Drew receive 45 points for this? No, he receives 20,
because Georgetown beat #15 Hampton in the second round, thus removing the upset.
f. As something of an addendum to (e): for #11s through #16s, you
receive points regardless of who they beat. For #6 through #10 seeds, they must
actually pull the upset. If #11 Temple beats #6 Texas in Round One, you get 20
points (10 base + 10 bonus. If #11 Temple wins in Round Two, you get 30 points (20
base + 10 bonus) regardless of whether their win is an upset over #3 Florida or a
non-upset over #14 Western Kentucky.
By comparison, look again at the Georgetown example. Because
Georgetown is a #10 seed, they must actually pull the second round upset. If they
defeat #2 Iowa State as predicted, you get 45. If they defeat #15 Hampton as not
predicted, you get 20.
Here's one on you: what if you pick Hampton to win and Georgetown to
beat them, but then Iowa State wins and Georgetown beats them anyway? Do you get 45
or 20? Answer: 20, because you didn't pick the upset. You have to pick the
upset and be right.
g. The two tiebreakers this year will be the same as in previous years.
First, the score of the title game; if this is the same, I'm asking all entrants to
submit their birthdays. The birthday closest to the birthday of the Final Four MVP
will be the tiebreaker. On the unbelievable chance that this doesn't break it, I'll
flip a coin; we haven't even had to resort to the birthday tiebreaker yet, so I'm not too
worried.
3. Fees and Prizes
a. Tournament entry fee is $5.
b. The first-place finisher will receive all entry fees up to and
including total monies of $75 (15 entrants).
c. If 16 people are entered, the first-place finisher will receive $75
and the last-place finisher will be refunded.
d. If 17-21 people are entered, the first-place finisher will receive
$75, the last-place finisher will be refunded, and the second-place finisher will receive
between $5 and $25.
e. More entrants than this will result in an increase of the
first-place finisher's prize money. Don't hold your breath.