Pool Rules

Entries

$10 per entry to Dave Gibson – submit up to six entries per person, and invite friends and coworkers – the more the merrier. (Almost all of the winners in preceding years had multiple entries.) You must use my automated brackets, which will be available through the link above once the pairings are announced. All entries must be entered before the first game begins on Thursday, March 20 (approximately 11:00 AM CST).

To transmit entry fees:

• Preferred: I prefer payments via QuickPay, Venmo, and Google Pay. I'll provide instructions in the confirmation email I send once you've submitted an entry.
• Via snail mail at 462 Pennsylvania Ave., #3S, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137.

Play-in Games (Round 1)

Four of the 64 tournament teams will be determined by play-in games, that are being called Round 1 by the NCAA. These 4 games will determine the 16th seeds in two of the regionals, as well as two yet unknown seeds. Choosing those games is not part of the pool. Until these games are over, my entry form will randomly choose one of the teams to advance to the final 64 teams. If you want to choose either play-in team to advance in the tournament, select the one I show. If either of the play-in teams advances, I'll give you credit for it.

Scoring

The pot will be split into two equal “pools:”

• One pool will be scored awarding one point for each correct game, with 63 possible points.
• The other pool will be scored allocating 32 points per round, resulting in 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 points for each game in rounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, respectively. This pool has a total potential score of 192 points.

The same entry may win both pools. Ties within a pool will split the prize money – no tiebreakers. I will add 2^nd and 3^rd place awards to each pool if we receive enough entries, with the splits as follows: