Early in the week (hopefully no later than Tuesday), I’ll post results from the previous week and a schedule for the current week. The schedule will contain all games among teams ranked in the Top 25 in the USA Today Coaches’ poll, followed by the line as it stands whenever I create the schedule (lines sometimes change in real life, but will be frozen at the time when I write the post here).
Here is an example of what a schedule will look like:
Saturday, October 1, 2008
#3 Ohio State @ #19 Tennessee
Line: Ohio State by 2
#11 Auburn @ South Carolina
Line: Auburn by 6
#24 Michigan @ Alabama
Line: Alabama by 3
You would enter your picks for that week by saying who you think won’t cover the spread. I’ll provide an example, but before we get to that there are…
New rules
- You must pick a minimum of one team not to cover every week, unless there’s only one game being played that week. This is to avoid a situation where people just sit around taking the favorites every week and end up in the running at the end of the season despite what can only be described as cowardice in their picking decisions.
- Game of the Week tiebreaker. In the event of a tie, we will need a tiebreaker. So I plan to choose a Game of the Week, for which players will be asked to guess the exact score of the game. If two or more players finish with the same number of points in a given week, whichever player is closest to guessing the exact score of the Game of the Week will be declared winner for the week.
If the season ends and two players are still tied, whichever player won the most weeks will be declared the winner. If they’re still tied after that, we’ll add up the points to see who was closest to picking exact scores. In the unlikely event they’re still somehow tied after that, then the contest will end in a tie.
Players cannot enter a score for a Game of the Week prediction that has already been entered by another player. I realize this will make some of the later guesses ridiculously off base. I won’t deny it you ask me if this is a motivational tool to encourage people to submit their picks as early as possible. - No more get out of jail free card. Miss a week? Tough. In past contests, I used to throw out every player’s worst week in order to make it okay for a player to miss a week and still be able to compete. I’m ending that practice this year.
So, using the sample schedule above and taking the new rules into account, let’s say the game of the week is Ohio State-Tennessee.
If you think Alabama will win by at least 3, Auburn will win by at least 6, but that Ohio State will either win by one point or lose, then you’d enter your picks by saying:
Ohio State won’t cover, Tennessee wins the GOTW 20-17.If you think both Ohio State and Alabama will lose or not cover their respective spreads, you’d say:
Ohio State and Alabama won’t cover, Tennessee wins the GOTW 20-17.And so forth. Side note: I promise every Game of the Week won’t be a Tennessee game. It might not even necessarily be the best game. Just one that I find intriguing for one reason or another.
Scoring
1 point for a correct pick, 0 points for an incorrect pick.
Deadlines
Your picks for any given game must be submitted before kickoff of the games you’re picking. If there’s a Thursday night game and you submit your picks on Friday, you get an automatic zero for the Thursday night game but your Saturday picks will still count. Even one minute after kickoff counts as a zero, no exceptions.
There’s going to be a GOTW tiebreaker every week? August 24th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Yup. It doesn’t mean anything in weeks without a tie. August 24th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
[...] read the rules, [...] August 24th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
This sounds great, Rusty. Thanks again for hosting this! August 25th, 2008 at 11:17 am
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[...] uglyfest and not cover the spread, which is generous if you ask me.How to enter your picksYou read the rules, right?The short version:You’re picking which teams won’t cover their spread. You must choose [...] September 8th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
[...] here Garrett would be declared the winner since he has won a week and Griftdrift hasn’t. Rules are tricky like that.If you didn’t follow the comments thread last week, you may have missed [...] September 15th, 2008 at 9:49 am
[...] deny that Alabama vs. Georgia is the standout game on this slate.How to enter your picksYou read the rules, right?The short version:You’re picking which teams won’t cover their spread. You must choose [...] September 22nd, 2008 at 1:50 pm
[...] Flags:Photo by JaimeThe Commies might be able to pull this one off.How to enter your picksYou read the rules, right?The short version:You’re picking which teams won’t cover their spread. You must choose [...] September 29th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
[...] you see in the schedule below.ThirdlyWe have our first tie! Remember the tiebreaker section in the rules?If two or more players finish with the same number of points in a given week, whichever player is [...] October 6th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
[...] control of his bowels on national television. Always worth watching.How to enter your picksYou read the rules, right?The short version:You’re picking which teams won’t cover their spread. You must [...] October 20th, 2008 at 11:11 am
[...] of the WeekOklahoma State at Texas Tech. No commentary this week.How to enter your picksYou read the rules, right?The short version:You’re picking which teams won’t cover their spread. You must [...] November 3rd, 2008 at 3:04 pm
[...] wildly inaccurate lines, which ought to at least make the picks fun.How to enter your picksYou read the rules, right?The short version:You’re picking which teams won’t cover their spread. You must [...] November 10th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
[...] someone in Knoxville who can be a bigger dickhead than Urban Meyer.How to enter your picksYou read the rules, right?The short version:You’re picking which teams won’t cover their spread. You must [...] November 17th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
[...] didn’t choose a tiebreaker at all. Ben and Carl both picked the same score, which is against the rules. Since Ben picked first, that makes him the winner.The full results spreadsheet for week 13 is [...] November 24th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
[...] Dirtbag.If we have nothing else, we can agree to hate Florida.How to enter your picksYou read the rules, right?The short version:You’re picking which teams won’t cover their spread. You must [...] December 1st, 2008 at 3:10 pm