EL SEGUNDO\CERRITOS, 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. It was for our Bonus Prize. 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. (Believe me, there is no point in trying to pick your picks based on a measely $40 bonus prize). So that output, which in my case, says "Winningest Conference(s): ACC | Wins: 14", means that by the way I picked my bracket, the ACC will get the most wins at 14. Last year was the first year we used it after complaints about not enough prizes. THE FABO9ERS (that's me!) got the prize by correctly winning the tiebreaker between seven entries who correctly had the Big 12 with 14 wins.

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. 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:   $370  ($390)
2nd Place:   $180  ($195)
3rd Place:   $120  ($125)
4th Place:   $ 80  ($ 80)
Bonus Prize: $ 40
TOTAL POT:   $790

So, 17 of the 21 eliminated entries are now back in play for the Bonus Prize! Only BRENT, GATOR BLIND, MRLUCKY, and SKRATCHNSNIFT will continue to wallow in their sorrows. If you aren't one of these four, 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 and pick your nickname from the drop down box. Right now, the current conferences with a chance to get the most number of wins are:

      Teams Curr Max Poss
Conf.  Left Wins   Wins
------ ---- ---- -------
ACC       3   9    18
Big East  3   8    16
Big 12    3   7    16
SEC       2   6    11
Conf USA  1   5     9
Atl 10    2   4    11

The most wins will be at least 9 and will likely be higher. I am not going to run all the permutations of the bracket, but I assume there is a very slight possibility both the ACC and Conf USA will finish with 9 wins, which is why Conf USA is still in the running. And no one picked Conf USA much less *both* Conf USA and ACC, which one would have to do to win the Bonus Prize. So if this were to happen, the $40 will go back into the prize money.

So, for example, let's say you had the ACC winning the most games with 17 but inadvertently picked ACC powerhouse Maryland to win it all (sorry CHAIRMANOFTHEBOARDS), you can still root for fellow ACC teams Duke, Wake Forest, and Georgia Tech to pick up a combined eight more victories and hope 17 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 Left (1st Rnd W-L, 2nd Rnd W-L)
-----    ----------
ACC      DUKE, GEORGIA TECH, WAKE FOREST (6-0, 3-3)
Big East UCONN, PITT, SYRACUSE (5-1, 3-2)
Big 12   KANSAS, OKLAHOMA ST., TEXAS (4-0, 3-1)
SEC      ALABAMA, VANDY (4-2, 2-2)
Conf USA UAB (4-2, 1-3)
Atl 10   ST. JOE'S, XAVIER (2-2, 2-0)

So far, just 9 entries can't win this bonus prize. A total of 68 entries had the ACC with the most wins (shared or otherwise), 7 had the Big East, and just 3 had the Big 12. Hopefully, this will breathe some life back for those who are eliminated from the top 4 money spots yesterday.

This won't be easy to win, because even if you have the correct conference and number of wins, you'll likely have to win the total points tiebreaker between all the entries (not in the top 4) who had the same conference and wins as you. So it's a little more complicated, but hey, it's another chance to win some money. :-)

--------
Hope is restored!...
Scott