EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt) - The Big East implosion and Kansas debacle has left just 77 entries with a chance to win money either in the top 5 or the Bonus Prize (Bonus1).  That still leaves 40 entries hoping the Bonus2 will take in effect.  What is Bonus1 or Bonus2?  Read on...

For the third straight year, the pool will award the top 5 finishers. The top prize will be a record-breaking, $500. The other prizes aren't too shabby either and the prize distribution is listed below. The 5th place prize has now exceeded what 1st place was back in our first pool in 1995 ($70). As always, all entry fees go out as prizes leaving us with nil.  Apparently, we don't know how to run a business :-).

As it has been the past seven years, the Conference Wins is the Bonus Prize (as detailed below) (aka, Bonus1). However, if no one wins it, the Bonus2 takes effect and the entry who is closest to the Total Points in Final tiebreaker gets the Bonus Prize. This is the eighth year we have used this Bonus to give hope to those who get eliminated early as only those who do not finish in the top 5 will be eligible to win. Rules follow below...

Bonus1 - Winningest Conference

When you completed your online entry and saw your picks (to print out), some of you might have been wondering what the heck "Winningest Conference(s): ?? | Wins: #" meant. And thus, subliminally, you were also picking which conference would get the most wins in the tournament and how many wins that conference would get via your direct picks. Neat, eh? So that output, which in my case (Sweet Fabone), says "Winningest Conference(s): Big East | Wins: 18" (coincidentally, the same as last year), means that by the way I picked my bracket (and don't laugh... or do), the Big East conference will get the most wins with 18.

The rules of how to win this Bonus Prize is as follows:

1. The top 5 finishers not eligible (so no double-dipping)
2. Ties broken by championship final score total
3. If there is *still* a tie, money is split
4. If 2 (or more) conferences tie for the most wins, both (or all) conferences must have been picked correctly
5. If entry has 2 or more conferences tied for most wins, only one must be correct to win (e.g. entry picks Pac 10 and Big 12 with 11 wins a piece and the Big 12 ends up winning the most games with 11, then contestant wins)

And, the Bonus Prize is worth $40, which is four years worth of losing brackets. Last year, the Big East was the winningest conference with 17 wins (picked correctly by 10 entries but won via tiebreaker by Kevin T's Shake N' Bake). But if no one correctly picks the winningest conference and wins, then the Bonus2 takes effect.

Bonus2 - Total Points in Final

If no one wins the Bonus1, then a second Bonus opportunity takes effect. The entry closest to the "Total points in final" tiebreaker wins the $40. In order to reward better play, the tiebreaker is the higher placement in the final pool standings.

The rules of how to win this Bonus Prize is as follows:

1. The top 5 finishers not eligible (so no double-dipping)
2. "Closest" can be above or below actual total (if actual is 144, 143 & 145 are both 1 point away)
3. Ties broken by highest placement (i.e., point total) in final pool standings
4. If there is *still* a tie, money is split

Prize Breakdown

We are officially at 117 entries ($1,170). So, here is the official prize breakdown:

   1st Place =  $500.00
   2nd Place =  $255.00
   3rd Place =  $175.00
   4th Place =  $120.00
   5th Place =  $ 80.00
   Bonus Prize =$ 40.00

Bonus Prize Analysis

What this means is that of the 42 entries that were eliminated from the top 5 prizes, only two (!) are back into play!  So 44 of 117 entries still have a chance for money.  Because of the disaster that was the Big East (which started with 8 teams), 93 had the Big East with the most popular result the Big East with 17 wins (22 entries).

If you don't have your bracket, then go to the "For the Record" page and pick your nickname from the drop down box. Right now, of the 11 conferences represented in the Sweet 16, technically 7 conferences have a chance to get or share the most number of wins:

           Teams  Curr  Max Poss
Conf.      Left   Wins  Wins
-------    -----  ----  --------
Big10        3     7     15
Big12        2     7     14
BigEast      2     6     13
SEC          2     5     12
ACC          1     5      8 
Pac10        1     3      7
WCC          1     3      7
x-Atl10      1     2      6 
x-Ivy        1     2      6
x-Hor        1     2      6
x-MVC        1     2      6
    x-Eliminated

Conf.   Teams Left (1st Rnd W-L, 2nd Rnd W-L)
-----   ----------
Big10   MICH ST, OHIO ST, PURDUE (4-1, 3-1)
Big12   BAYLOR, KANSAS ST (5-2, 2-3)
BigEast SYRACUSE, WEST VIRGINIA (4-4, 2-2)
SEC     KENTUCKY, TENNESSEE (2-2, 2-0)
ACC     DUKE (4-2, 1-3)
Pac10   WASHINGTON (2-0, 1-1)
WCC     ST MARY'S (2-0, 1-1)

   Tids & Bits - 2007 was the first year where we had the Bonus2 option in case no one won Bonus1, which happened in 2005 & 2006... 149 and 152 were the most often picked for the total points in final (six each)... the $500 is 42.7% of the total pot, a slight decrease from last year (43.4%)... we have had 1,031 entries (we topped 1,000!) in 16 years which means we will have doled out $10,310 to at least 45 people... the 1,031 entries have been submitted by 249 people... with people submitting more than one entry, we have had exactly 300 different entries... a record-tying 91 entries have participated in past years... we had 26 new entries (most since 34 in 2002) and 18 new people... 57 entries have participated in at least 7 of our 16 years of doing the pool; thanks for your support!