Tournament Rules

Entry Fee: $20.00
Payment Deadline: Monday, March 24th

How This Thing Works

  1. Each participant chooses 10 total teams, which includes 2 teams from each region (East, West, South and Midwest), and then two (2) wildcard teams.
  2. Entries are limited to no more than two #1 seeds, two #2 seeds, and two #3 seeds. (i.e., you can't pick three #1 seeds no matter what your overall total is.)
  3. The total of the seed numbers for the eight region teams must exceed 32.
    (i.e., East #1 + East #5 + West #2 + West #6 + Midwest #3 + Midwest #4 + South #1 + South #11 = TOTAL: 33)
  4. Wildcard teams can be selected from any region, but must be at least a 5 seed or lower (i.e., any team 5 through 16).
  5. Seed numbers for wildcard teams must total at least 13.
    (i.e., West #5 + South #8 = TOTAL: 13.)

How I Keep Score

  1. Winners of First Round games are awarded 5 points.
  2. Winners of Second Round games are awarded 10 points.
  3. Winners of Third Round games are awarded 15 points.
  4. Winners of Fourth Round games are awarded 20 points.
  5. Winners of Fifth Round (Semi-Final) games are awarded 25 points.
  6. Winner of the Final Game (Round 6) is awarded 35 points.
  7. BLOWOUT BONUS
    Bonus Points are awarded for games with a winning margin of 11 points or more (maximum 10 points.)
    (i.e., Team A beats Team B by 16 points. Team A receives 6 bonus points; Team A beats Team C by 31 points. Team A receives 10 bonus points (max blowout bonus.)
  8. UPSET BONUS
    Bonus points are also awarded for upset wins, based upon the "seed" number for each team. Points awarded will be double the difference in the "seed" number.
    (i.e., #13 seed beats #8 seed: Seed difference is 5 (13 - 8). Bonus points awarded: 10 points.

How To Pay Your Entry and Get Paid

  1. Entry fees must be paid by Monday, March 24th, but can be paid any time before the start of the tournament using any of the methods listed below.
  2. Entries are not listed on the participants page until I have your money in my fat grubby hands.
  3. All winnings are paid at the conclusion of the tournament using the method in which you paid me. Fair warning: Ask the Godfather how long it takes to get a cash payment...
  4. RULE CHANGE: Because I got tired of hunting so many people down at the end, I now am ONLY PAYING THE TOP 10 PEOPLE regardless of the number of entries.
  5. Total payout amounts will be determined based on the number of entries and will be posted here on Tuesday, March 25th.

How To Submit Your Entry

  1. Participants are only allowed one entry per person.
  2. Participants can select a team from a First Four game, however, they won't get extra points for winning the game. If you select the team that loses, your entry will be updated to the winning team without penalty.
  3. Participants can change their picks at any time, for any reason, before games start on Thursday, March 16th. The last entry submitted becomes the official entry for the challenge.
  4. Winners are based on the total of all points earned. In the case of a tie, the winner is decided by slap fight.

How To Send a Payment

To complete the entry process, you can send your $20.00 entry using any of the methods listed below. Methods are listed in order of preference.

  1. Cash App (Cash App account required; CashTag $bigdumbox.)
  2. Venmo (Venmo account required; account name @BigDumbOx)
  3. Apple Pay (If you have my cell phone number.)
  4. PayPal (greatly discouraged)

Once your payment is received, you'll find your name listed on the participants page within 60 minutes. If you do not see your name and you know you paid, email me at bigdumbox@gmail.com.