About the Event
This event is based on the 2024 NCAA Men's Division 1 Basketball Tournament. There will be two separate tournament pools run on this website. The first, which will be referred to as the "Original", consists of picking winners for the full 64-team bracket. The second, which will be referred to as the "Sweet 16", starts after the first weekend of games and consists of picking the winners for the 16 teams that remain in the tournament. Each pool has its own entry fee, deadline, scoring system, and tie-breaker rules described below. At the end of the tournament, the person with the most points in each will be the winner for that pool.
2023 NCAA Tournament Schedule:
* Selection Sunday Sunday, March 17th
* Play-In Tuesday, March 19th and Wednesday, March 20th (the pool ignores these games)
* 1st Round Thursday, March 21st and Friday, March 22nd (32 games)
* 2nd Round Saturday, March 23rd and Sunday, March 24th (16 games)
* 3rd Round (Sweet 16) Thursday, March 28th and Friday, March 29th (8 games)
* 4th Round (Elite 8) Saturday, March 30th and Sunday, March 31st (4 games)
* 5th Round (Final 4) Saturday, April 6th (2 games)
* 6th Round (National Championship) Monday, April 8th (1 game)
Play-In Games
No points are awarded in this event for the Play-In Games. Once the Play-In Games are over, the tournament field will be reduced to 64 teams. It is these remaining 64 teams that will make up the tournament bracket used in this pool. You do not need to wait until the Play-In Games have been played before filling out your entry. If you choose a Play-In winner to advance on your entry, it will automatically update to the winning team's name once the Play-In Game is over.
2023 NCAA Tournament Schedule:
* Selection Sunday Sunday, March 17th
* Play-In Tuesday, March 19th and Wednesday, March 20th (the pool ignores these games)
* 1st Round Thursday, March 21st and Friday, March 22nd (32 games)
* 2nd Round Saturday, March 23rd and Sunday, March 24th (16 games)
* 3rd Round (Sweet 16) Thursday, March 28th and Friday, March 29th (8 games)
* 4th Round (Elite 8) Saturday, March 30th and Sunday, March 31st (4 games)
* 5th Round (Final 4) Saturday, April 6th (2 games)
* 6th Round (National Championship) Monday, April 8th (1 game)
Play-In Games
No points are awarded in this event for the Play-In Games. Once the Play-In Games are over, the tournament field will be reduced to 64 teams. It is these remaining 64 teams that will make up the tournament bracket used in this pool. You do not need to wait until the Play-In Games have been played before filling out your entry. If you choose a Play-In winner to advance on your entry, it will automatically update to the winning team's name once the Play-In Game is over.
Entry Limit
Each person is limited to 5 entries in the Original and 5 entries in the Sweet 16. All of your entries for both pools should be submitted using the same Member ID. Violating the entry limit rule by using multiple Member ID's is not allowed and may result in all of your entries being disqualified. Both the Original and the Sweet 16 are capped at a total of 1000 brackets. The cap is subject to modification at any time by the commissioner.
Entry Deadlines
Entries can be added, edited, and deleted up until the entry deadline. The deadline for the Original is Thursday, March 21st at 12:00 PM Noon ET. The deadline for the Sweet 16 is Thursday, March 28th at 7:00 PM ET.
Entry Fees
Original entry fee: $12.00 per entry.
Sweet 16 entry fee: $8.00 per entry.
Sweet 16 entry fee: $8.00 per entry.
Original Scoring & Tiebreaker
1st Round (Round of 64) - 8 points for each correct pick
2nd Round (Round of 32) - 16 points for each correct pick
3rd Round (Sweet Sixteen) - 24 points for each correct pick
4th Round (Elite Eight) - 40 points for each correct pick
5th Round (Final Four) - 64 points for each correct pick
6th Round (Championship) - 104 points for correct pick
Bonus Points For Upsets
In addition to receiving points for correct picks, you can also receive points for correctly predicting an upset. An upset is considered any lower-seeded team beating any higher-seeded team (i.e. 11 over 6, 5 over 4, 2 over 1). The formula to be used for Bonus Points is as follows:
Bonus Points = (Seed Differential x Round Number) - Round Number
For instance, if 14 beats 3 in the 1st Round and you correctly predicted that, then you would receive 18 points total - 8 points for correctly picking a 1st Round game, and 10 bonus points (Seed Differential is 11 (14-3) and the Round Number is 1, so (11 x 1) - 1 = 10). If 5 beats 1 in the 3rd Round and you correctly predicted that, then you would receive 33 points - 24 points for correctly picking a 3rd Round game, and 9 bonus points (Seed Differential is 4 (5-1) and the Round Number is 3, so (4 x 3) - 3 = 9).
Tie-Breaker
If the tournament ends with two or more entries tied with the same score, ties will be broken in the following order until a winner is determined:
1. The entry with the most Correct Picks will win the tie-breaker.
2. Pick the total score of both teams combined in the National Championship game. Closest to the actual total score wins the tie-breaker.
3. The entry with the Riskiest Upset Picks (a forumula determined by PickHoops) will win the tie-breaker.
4. If no winner has been determined from those 3 tie-breakers, then a tie will be declared.
2nd Round (Round of 32) - 16 points for each correct pick
3rd Round (Sweet Sixteen) - 24 points for each correct pick
4th Round (Elite Eight) - 40 points for each correct pick
5th Round (Final Four) - 64 points for each correct pick
6th Round (Championship) - 104 points for correct pick
Bonus Points For Upsets
In addition to receiving points for correct picks, you can also receive points for correctly predicting an upset. An upset is considered any lower-seeded team beating any higher-seeded team (i.e. 11 over 6, 5 over 4, 2 over 1). The formula to be used for Bonus Points is as follows:
Bonus Points = (Seed Differential x Round Number) - Round Number
For instance, if 14 beats 3 in the 1st Round and you correctly predicted that, then you would receive 18 points total - 8 points for correctly picking a 1st Round game, and 10 bonus points (Seed Differential is 11 (14-3) and the Round Number is 1, so (11 x 1) - 1 = 10). If 5 beats 1 in the 3rd Round and you correctly predicted that, then you would receive 33 points - 24 points for correctly picking a 3rd Round game, and 9 bonus points (Seed Differential is 4 (5-1) and the Round Number is 3, so (4 x 3) - 3 = 9).
Tie-Breaker
If the tournament ends with two or more entries tied with the same score, ties will be broken in the following order until a winner is determined:
1. The entry with the most Correct Picks will win the tie-breaker.
2. Pick the total score of both teams combined in the National Championship game. Closest to the actual total score wins the tie-breaker.
3. The entry with the Riskiest Upset Picks (a forumula determined by PickHoops) will win the tie-breaker.
4. If no winner has been determined from those 3 tie-breakers, then a tie will be declared.
Sweet 16 Scoring & Tiebreaker
1st Round (Sweet Sixteen) - 24 points for each correct pick
2nd Round (Elite Eight) - 40 points for each correct pick
3rd Round (Final Four) - 64 points for each correct pick
4th Round (Championship) - 104 points for correct pick
No Bonus Points For Upsets
Unlike the Original, there will be no bonus points awarded for correctly predicting upsets.
Tie-Breaker
If the tournament ends with two or more entries tied with the same score, ties will be broken in the following order until a winner is determined:
1. The entry with the most Correct Picks will win the tie-breaker.
2. Pick the total score of both teams combined in the National Championship game. Closest to the actual total score wins the tie-breaker.
3. The entry with the Riskiest Upset Picks (a formula determined by PickHoops) will win the tie-breaker.
4. If no winner has been determined from those 3 tie-breakers, then a tie will be declared.
2nd Round (Elite Eight) - 40 points for each correct pick
3rd Round (Final Four) - 64 points for each correct pick
4th Round (Championship) - 104 points for correct pick
No Bonus Points For Upsets
Unlike the Original, there will be no bonus points awarded for correctly predicting upsets.
Tie-Breaker
If the tournament ends with two or more entries tied with the same score, ties will be broken in the following order until a winner is determined:
1. The entry with the most Correct Picks will win the tie-breaker.
2. Pick the total score of both teams combined in the National Championship game. Closest to the actual total score wins the tie-breaker.
3. The entry with the Riskiest Upset Picks (a formula determined by PickHoops) will win the tie-breaker.
4. If no winner has been determined from those 3 tie-breakers, then a tie will be declared.