Tuesday, March 25, 2003
Issue # 7.2.3 "Eliminated No More"
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EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt)- 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. In the wiseness of our pool admin, Dave, he got the web script completed just in case we decided to go with additional Bonus Prizes. Sixty entries was our target number- 63 we got. 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. So that output, which in my case, says "Winningest Conference(s): Big12 | Wins: 14", means that by the way I picked my bracket, the Big12 will get the most wins at 14.

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

1) The top 4 finishers not eligible (so no double-dipping)
2) Ties broken by championship final score total (only among those not finishing in the top 4)
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. 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 Big12 won the most games with 13 (which 3 people would've gotten right). If no one correctly picks the winningest conference and wins, then the $40 goes back into the prize pot. So, here is the official prize breakdown (in parentheses, if no one wins the Bonus Prize):

1st Place:   $280  ($305)
2nd Place:   $150  ($155)
3rd Place:   $100  ($105)
4th Place:   $ 60  ($ 65)
Bonus Prize: $ 40
TOTAL POT:   $630.00

So, 10 of the 13 eliminated entries are now back in play for the Bonus Prize. Only EL CHINGON, MIGHTY SAXIMUS, and REX BANNER will continue to sit on the sidelines. If you aren't one of these three, then pick up your bracket out of the trash can and find out which conference you picked. If you don't have your bracket, then go to the "For the Record" page. Right now, the current conferences with a chance to get the most number of wins are:

      Teams Curr Max Poss
Conf.  Left Wins   Wins
------ ---- ---- -------
Big East  4   8    19
Big 12    3   8    17
Big 10    2   7    14
SEC       2   5    12
ACC       2   5    12
PAC 10    1   5     9

Only GALAXY had the Big East as their big winner but with just 10 wins. The most wins will be at least 9 (as the Big East plays the Big 12 in one Sweet 16 game) and likely higher.

So, for example, let's say you had the Big 10 winning the most games with 13 but inadvertently picked Big 10 losers Indiana and Illinois in your Final Four (sorry BLUEBERRY), you can still root for fellow Big 10 teams Michigan St. and Wisconsin to pick up a combined six more victories and hope 13 wins is winning number. In case you are a basketball novice like me, here are the which teams belong to the above six conferences:

Conf.    Teams
-----    -----
Big East UCONN, NOTRE DAME, PITT, SYRACUSE
Big 12   KANSAS, OKLAHOMA, TEXAS
Big 10   MICHIGAN ST, WISCONSIN
SEC      AUBURN, KENTUCKY
ACC      DUKE, MARYLAND
PAC 10   ARIZONA 

So far, just 17 entries can't win this bonus prize. Hopefully, this will breathe some life back for those who are eliminated from the top 4 money spots.

Because the thought of adding a bonus award came late based on feedback that last year was akin to winning the lottery (4 prizes out of 80), some ideas that were thrown about was giving Bonus Prizes to those who went perfect in either of the first rounds days (sorry, BLUEBERRY, BLOOMERS123) or picked a double-digit seed to advance to the Sweet 16 (four picked Butler and two picked Auburn), all subject to the final tiebreaker, total points in the final game. But we would've thought about actually implementing it if we had more than 80 entries. And we would've announced it before the first game. Since the Winningest Conference/Wins was already in effect (albeit in the background), this is the Bonus Prize we chose. Remember, if we give away too many Bonus Prizes, the first place prize gets smaller and smaller. So, someone who actually thinks he/she will win this pool, will want no one to get the correct winningest conference/wins (or at least correctly picked by one of the top 4 finishers) so that his/her prize will be $25 more ($305 vs $280).

So hopefully, 5 prizes out of 63 won't be "like a lottery". :-)

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Print those brackets, stat!...
Scott HW