Bracket Pool Rules & Scoring

Updated 03/18/24

*** SAME SCORING RULES AS LAST YEAR ***

The fairly cheap software package that I have used for many years sold-out to the man before last year's tournament. The giant who bought them charges an insane amount and does not offer the scoring system that we have used.

I actually thought 2022 would be the last year for the office pools.

BUT I did find an alternative that is fairly cheap and offers a similar system. We used it in 2022. It worked not as nicely as I would have liked, but there were positives.

Pros: costs to me and the scoring system is similar, still no costs passed on to the participants, new pools added under MISC POOLS.

Cons: you need to create a login, you have to deal with advertisements, and the scoring system is a little different.

If you care to learn about the current scoring rules, go grab a cup of coffee this will take a little while to digest.

But it really doesn't matter. You still need to win to win.

Bracket Points will be accumulated using a Combination of Standard Scoring, Seed Factor Scoring, and Underdog Scoring rules.

THIS POOL AWARDS UPSET VICTORIES

But you still need to pick correctly to accumulate points.

Each set of scoring rules is described below.

Standard Scoring

Updated 03/18/24

This form of scoring is the most commonly used scoring system in office pools. This part of the scoring system has NEVER changed.

For each correct pick, points are awarded in the following manner:

Round	Points
First Round (Round of 64)	1
Second Round (Round of 32)	2
Sweet 16	4
Elite 8	8
Final 4	16
Championship Game	32

A maximum of 192 points is possible in this scoring method. That has never happened.

Seed Value Scoring

Updated 03/18/24

The old Seed Factor Scoring is no more. It has been replaced with SEED VALUE scoring.

According to the new software, "players get bonus points equal to their seed value of the team that won." These points are part of the "Bonus Points" column.

So, I guess that means if you pick a #16 seed to win the championship, you get 16 points for each round so 16 pts per round x 6 rounds = 96 points.

HOLY COW that seems like a lot for one team!

If you want to pick a #16 seed go for it.

I won't.

I'm still not quite sure how this part of the scoring impacts the standings.

Underdog Scoring

Updated 03/18/24

The new software for underdog scoring seems to mimic the old system. Here is what the new system says:

"If the higher seeded team wins (the likely underdog), the player gets bonus points equal to the difference in the seed value of the teams. For example, if a 16 seed beats a 1 seed, players who picked the 16th seeded team wins 15 bonus points."

That's all they say about it.

These points are part of the "Bonus Points" column.

The below are the detailed explanations of the nuances of the scoring not sure if they still apply.

To receive points for Underdog Scoring, a player must correctly pick a team to win a certain game as an underdog AND that team must win the game as an underdog regardless of whom they play. Points are then awarded based on seed difference.

Example:

Jerry picks #15 Alabama over #7 Kentucky. With Underdog Scoring, if Alabama beats a higher seeded team (lower seed number), then Jerry would be awarded points based on the difference in the seed numbers between the teams he actually picked (NOT necessarily the teams that played). So if Alabama (#15 seed) beats Kentucky (#7 seed), Jerry would get 8 points (#15 seed #7 seed = 8 points). If Alabama instead beats Arizona (#10 seed) who previously beat Kentucky to get to this game, Jerry would still get 8 points as it is the difference between the seed numbers of the teams Jerry picked to play. If Alabama loses this game, Jerry gets zero points.

More examples:

Round of 64: #5 Wisconsin vs #12 SW Missouri St

John picks SW Missouri St

SW Missouri St wins

John would get 7 points for Underdog Scoring (12 5 = 7)

Round of 64: #4 Tennessee vs #13 Delaware

Ted picks Delaware

Tennessee wins

Ted gets 0 points

Round of 32: #12 SW Missouri St vs #4 Tennessee

On Mike's entry, Mike picked #12 SW Missouri St over #13 Delaware

MIKE IS TAKING NO UNDERDOG RISK IN THIS GAME. HE IS PICKING A HIGHER SEEDED TEAM ON HIS SHEET. Therefore, even if #12 SW Missouri St beats #4 Tennessee, Mike will get no underdog scoring points for this game.

Yet another example:

Player A picks a #7 Seed to beat a #2 Seed (this IS an underdog pick)

Player B picks a #7 Seed to beat a #15 Seed (this IS NOT an underdog pick)

If #7 Seed beats #2 Seed Underdog Points are awarded to Player A but NOT Player B

If #7 Seed beats #15 Seed Points are NOT awarded to either player

Combined Scoring

Updated 03/18/24

The Bracket Pool sums the values of Standard Scoring, Seed Value Scoring, and Underdog Scoring to arrive at a Bracket's Total Point value.

Example:

Sweet 16: #3 Georgia vs #7 Michigan

Amy picks Michigan over Georgia

Michigan wins

Standard Scoring: Amy is awarded 4 points (Sweet 16 victory = 4 points)

Seed Value Scoring: Amy is awarded 7 points (she picked a #7 seed to win, and they did)

Underdog Scoring: Amy is awarded 4 points (Seed #7 Seed #3 = 4 points)

Total Points for this game: 15 points

If Michigan loses this game or does not make it to this game, Amy gets zero points for this game.

Tie-Breakers

Updated 03/18/24

The new software keeps track of this differently than the old system. They add a Best Strength of Victory ranking (SoV). This is the margin of victory for all games you pick.

Ties will be broken in the following order:

1. Winning Percentage

2. Strength of Victory

3. Combined point total in the Championship game

Mailing Address: Brian Baldwin | 200 S Liberty St | Orwigsburg, PA 17961

C 570-294-3889 | MarchMadMan@outlook.com | http://marchmadman.com

PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/brianbaldwin

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Any and all rules for any Madness of March pool may change at any time up to the tip-off of the first game of that pool.

Any changes will be posted on this and/or its respective website.

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