New Improvement:

A couple of things are different this year. First off as you can see there is a web site. Last year the only time you knew how you were doing was when you were at the house. This year, after each round the data will be updated here at the site, so you can see how your and other peoples brackets are doing.

The second thing that is changing is the point system. Last year each victory earn one point, but this year there are different point values for each round. This makes victories later in the tournament more valuable then first round games. For more information check out the Rules Page.

Round-by-Round Single Elimination Tournament

The third and final change is a new tournament. I like to add a new thing every year. This year their will be a single elimination tournament with each bracket facing off another bracket.  Each person's #1 bracket will face a different person's #2 bracket in the first round.  Each round in this tournament will see if you can beat the other bracket your facing in choosing the most wins.  For example in the first round of the March Madness tournament there are 32 games. If Matt #1 bracket is facing Ben #2 bracket and Matt #1 bracket correctly guessed on 20 games and Ben #2 correctly guessed on 21 games then Ben #2 bracket would go to the next round.  Then in the second round Ben #2 bracket will face a different bracket in seeing who correctly choose the most games in the second round of the March Madness tournament and so on. 

When looking at the bracket the headings will tell you what round will be used to calculate the amounts of wins.  Sorry, but after every round you do not get to re-pick the teams you think will win.  So if you have a team you think is going to go far into the March Madness tournament and they lose, then you have less games in further rounds.  The only time total amounts of wins count is if there is a tie. In the case of a tie we will see how many total wins each player has, and the one with the most moves on. Click here to see the tournament.

Even if you lose in the first round don't stop seeing how your doing because we will see, just like last year, who can get the most points overall.

Filling out your Bracket 

Click on "Filling out your Bracket" to get to a downloadable bracket (in excel format).  Each time you download the file you will only get one file.  So you must download the file twice.  This is so you do not have to worry about typing in the teams yourself.  All you have to do is click on  arrow in each cell to choose who you think will win.  After your done filling the bracket out save the file and then send it back to my email address as an attachment.

How to Read Your Bracket

Once you send me your two brackets and I have loaded your bracket, you will be able to see your brackets by clicking on the final four pictures on the Players Page. When your bracket come up it will tell you a couple of things.  In the box in the top center of the page you will be able to see how many wins in each round (this will also show up on the bottom of the page in the shaded boxes), what place you are in, how many total points you have, and how many points you are behind first place.

With in the bracket you can tell a couple of things also.  If a team is highlighted  light green  then that tells you that you correctly picked the winner of the game.  If the team isn't highlighted then you picked incorrectly and underneath the losing team it will show who won the game.

How to Read the Standings Page

The Standings Page will be sorted by total points and then by total wins. So if you don't understand why you have the same amount of points as the first place bracket, it is because you don't have as much wins.  When you look at your standings you will see that it tells you how many points you are behind first place.  Late in the tournament you might notice that this cell (that tells you how many points you are behind) is shaded red. If you see this then you are mathematically eliminated from taking first place.  Even if this cell is not shaded you may still be mathematically eliminated because you share to many games with someone that is ahead of you. 

Chances Page.  

This page will show the chances that someone has for winning finished.  Every possibility will be taken into effect on this page, and as games are played and finished the chances for someone to win will either increase or decrease. Access this page by clicking here. 

Understanding  

 All brackets that are inserted in this pool are free.  Therefore the only thing the winner gets is bragging rights.  Once everything is entered into the website the only things that will be changed in the main brackets and the standings.  No ones brackets will be changed after the games have started.  Also I hope everyone enjoys the tournament this year and I looked forward to seeing everyone at my house for the games.

Last year results: Steve and I tied with the most points but I won because I picked North Carolina to win it all.