2021 NCAA Basketball Conference Tournament Pool Sign Up Now Live!

We are a little over 1 week away, sort of, from the 2021 NCAA Basketball Conference Tournaments tipping off, which means it is now time to submit your picks! I have included a detailed rundown of the rules below and attached to the email is the excel sheet to make your picks. Picks need to be sent back to me by the end of the night Sunday, 2/28/21. No entries will be allowed after Sunday, 2/28/21. 

Let's get back to the "sort of" comment I made in the first paragraph. This is going to be an odd year for conference tournaments and we'll need to navigate the impacts COVID will have to teams and the schedule. We already have multiple conferences impacted as you'll see.

The America East regular season will end on Sunday, 2/21/21 and all eligible teams will play in the conference tournament. The top two seeds will earn automatic byes into the semifinals. The remaining seeds will compete in a playoff pod hosted by the 3 and 4 seeds on Friday, 2/26/21 and Saturday, 2/27/21. The field will be re-seeded prior to the semifinals, which will be hosted by the 1 and 2 seeds on Saturday, 3/6/21. If you pick a 1 or 2 seed then you're safe. If you pick a 3 seed or lower, have submitted your picks early and that seed is eliminated, I will reach out to you on Sunday, 2/28/21 for an updated pick. Finally, the seed number once a champion is crowned is what will be used in our pool for bonus points and payouts.

The Big South conference tournament will begin on Saturday, 2/27/21 with all eligible teams participating. The first round games will be held at the home sites of the 6, 7 and 8 seeds. The quarter finals will start on Monday, 3/1/21 at the home sites of the 1, 2, 3 and 4 seeds. If you pick a 1,2,3 or 4 seed then you're safe. If you pick a 5 seed or lower, have submitted your picks early and that seed is eliminated, I will reach out to you on Sunday, 2/28/21 for an updated pick. 

The Horizon League will start the 1st round of their conference tournament on Thursday, 2/25/21 with all eligible teams participating. The first round games will be held at the home sites of the 5, 6, 7 and 8 seeds. The quarter finals will start on Tuesday, 3/2/21 at the home sites of the 1, 2, 3 and 4 seeds. If you pick a 1,2,3 or 4 seed then you're safe. If you pick a 5 seed or lower, have submitted your picks early and that seed is eliminated, I will reach out to you on Sunday, 2/28/21 for an updated pick.

I will not let anyone go into Monday, 3/1/21 with a team that has been eliminated. After that, you're on your own.

All COVID related rulings will go to a committee of Tim Husted, Steve Wattles and Tina Donegan for an initial ruling. I as the owner of this pool will have the final say in any disputes or rule bending that will need to happen this year. Now, let's get into the details of the pool!

To make watching the NCAA Basketball Conference tournaments a little more interesting, for the 11th year in a row, below are the details of a pool in which you pick the champion for each conference.  This has been a ton of fun the past decade so sign up and pass it along to anyone else that may want to play.  

The game is VERY simple, you pick who you think is going to win each of the 32 31 NCAA Basketball Conference Championships. The Ivy League is out for 2021 as they are not participating in any sports during COVID. Halfway through this note and we already have 4 COVID related impacts.

Below is a preview of the rules. We have zero rule changes for 2021.

The entry fee is $50 with the following payout structure: 

• 1st Place receives a 60% payout
• 2nd Place receives a 25% payout
• 3rd Place receives a 15% payout
• 4th Place receives a free entry for the 2022 pool

This pool has a very easy scoring system. The person with the combination of most correct picks, including bonus points, wins the pool.  All ties in the standings are settled first by "Accuracy" and then by closest to the combined SEC Championship Game Score.

Bonus Points Breakdown:

The bonus point scoring is super simple, for every 3 seed or lower winner that you pick, you will be awarded 1 bonus point.  In 2019, 9 out of 32 conference tournament winners were a 3 seed or lower.

More Ways to Win Money on College Athletes Outlined Below!

The fun part about this pool is you have tons of ways to win money, so even if you're not towards the top of the standings you can still win money throughout the conference tournament week.  It's likely we'll have some ties, so the money gets split among all winners in the event of a tie.

1. Most Bonus Points - The person with the most total bonus points will win $150

2. Most Power Conference Points - The person with the most Power Conference points will win $150 (The 5 Power Conferences will be highlighted on the entry form sent out later in February)

3. Lowest Winning Seed - The person who has the lowest winning seed conference champion wins $100 (In 2019 Oregon paid out as a 6 seed to multiple people)

4. Closest SEC Championship Score - The person with the closest SEC championship game score wins $50 (This is the typically the last conference championship game, so even if you're in last place you have the opportunity to recoup $50!)

As conference tournaments complete at different dates through Selection Sunday, 3/14/21, I will post constant updates with the current standing via the link below.  Make sure to subscribe by email after clicking on the link.

https://2021conferencetournamentchallenge.blogspot.com/

As long as you follow the Blog you will be completely updated and informed on how each conference tournament is playing out and the impacts to our pool.  

To get started, fill out the attached spreadsheet with the team you think will win each conference tournament and e-mail it back to me no later than Sunday, 2/28/2021.  You can also, call, text, mail, or e-mail your picks in to me if you prefer not to use the spreadsheet. 

It really shouldn't take longer than 5-10 minutes to fill everything out as I included a drop down list for each conference to allow easy and accurate selections for that conference.  

The seed numbers currently shown in the excel spreadsheet probably will change over the next few weeks as the regular season comes to an end at different dates for each conference.  I will keep the seeds up to date on the master score sheet I send to the group.

I will send out a master spreadsheet with everyone's picks, known bonus points, and conference info prior to the first tournament championship game (Including my picks). 

I would highly suggest to subscribe to the Blog if you want consistent updates as I will avoid sending constant updates to everyone's e-mail.  Every few days however, I will send out a excel copy of the standings.  You can subscribe by entering your e-mail address on the right hand side of the page.

As the tournament gets underway, and we start to have teams eliminated early on, I will consistently post updates to the standings in the link below.  Click on the word "Standings" 

STANDINGS 

Below is a rundown of the current COVID related rules:

1. After Sunday, 2/28/21 if a team you picked is eliminated due to COVID, that will count as a loss, even if that conference did not tip off its conference tournament. If a team you picked is eliminated due to COVID on or before Sunday, 2/28/21 you can contact me and make a change.

2. If a conference decides to cancel its conference tournament it will not be a loss, we will simply remove that conference from our pool, just as we did with the Ivy League. This is important as not having a loss has an impact to win % which is important for standings tiebreakers. 

3. As conferences change its tournament format and/or seeding you are not entitled to changing your pick after 2/28/21. All picks are final.

4. The seed number once a champion is crowned is what will be used in our pool for bonus points and payouts. Many conferences have implemented or are discussing reseeding after the first rounds.

Here are some pro tips (If you care):  

If you are not college basketball savvy,  it is important to understand that in some conferences NOT all teams make the conference tournament, so it's a wise move to avoid picking a last place team when viewing the current conference standings on ESPN, CBS Sports, or any other college basketball website.  In addition, some teams this year are ineligible for their conference tournaments, even if they are in first place.  I have marked all known teams as ineligible or DNQ for the tournament in the spreadsheet dropdowns.  Additional teams may be added, but it is currently up to the date of this note.  It is up to you to do the research as no changes are allowed effective Monday, 3/1/21

More tips and tricks to be aware of - Current standings  can be found  at 
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/standings which can help show which teams are most likely to win, and you can assume teams in 3rd place and lower are potential Bonus Picks. But remember, standings may and probably will change between when you submit your picks and when the conference tournament starts for a particular league (i.e. A 4th place team may get hot and jump into a 1 or 2 seed, making them not a bonus pick)

Ensure you fill out your name/nickname, as you want it to appear on the standings, and E-mail address on the sheet prior to sending it back to me to avoid any confusion.

Payment information on where to send your $50.   

• PayPal: rwdpeanut@gmail.com
• Address: 1140 Venetian Court; Naperville, IL 60540  
• In Person

Any non-payment, or attempt to arrange payment, by Sunday, 3/7/21 will result in your entry being removed.  I'm not going to spend my time chasing down money this year. Many of you rolled your buy in over from 2020, please don't pay me twice.

Thanks!
Rick Donegan