Ahead of tonight’s games (good luck to all!), here is the official prize breakdown. Also, the details of the Bonus, which most don’t care about until they’ve been eliminated and the Final Four is here, are listed below. A proper update via email will come later today (problems FTP’ing at work).
Edited: Forgot to update Bonus1 Analysis below. Original file can now be viewed here.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Issue # 7.2.3 "Bonus! Prizes!" [ Home | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Updates ]
Five are eliminated from both top prizes and Bonus1 (maybe they can sneak into Bonus2)
The top prize will be $530 which is $10 less than last year since we have 3 less entries. The prize distribution is listed below and as always, all fee money goes into prizes.
As it has been the past nine 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 10th 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 6 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 (The Fabone XIX), says “Winningest Conference(s): Big 10 | Wins: 15“, means that by the way I picked my bracket (and don’t laugh… or do), the Big 10 conference will get the most wins with 15.
NOTE: There was a script error that over-calculated the ACC wins and conflict with SEC wins. This has been corrected. Please check your bracket if you really care about winning the Bonus (you may be more concerned about the top 6 prizes) to see if your Winningest Conference changed.
The rules of how to win this Bonus Prize is as follows:
1. First Four wins do not count
2. The top 6 finishers not eligible (so no double-dipping)
3. Ties broken by championship final score total
4. If there is *still* a tie, money is split
5. If 2 (or more) conferences tie for the most wins, both (or all) conferences must have been picked correctly
6. 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 13 wins (exactly the same for the 2nd straight year). 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 6 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 131 entries ($1,310). So, here is the official prize breakdown:
1st Place = $530.00
2nd Place = $270.00
3rd Place = $185.00
4th Place = $130.00
5th Place = $ 90.00
6th Place = $ 65.00
Bonus Prize =$ 40.00
Bonus1 Prize Analysis
What this means is that of the 17 entries that were eliminated from the top 6 prizes, 12 entries are back into play! So 99 of 131 entries still have a chance for Bonus1 (which is not as bad as 2010 where only 9 of 117 were alive forBonus1).
If you don’t have your bracket, then go to the “For the Record” page and pick your nickname from the drop down box. Because of the First Four, what you see might change (since the Atlantic 10’s La Salle won the First Four game you’d have to add your predicted La Salle wins to your total) so go to the Bonus page for your official picks. Remember that the First Four wins do not count in the Winningest Conference calculation (that is why the Atlantic 10 only shows 6 wins below where it really has 7 due to La Salle’s First Four win). Right now, of the 9 conferences represented in the Sweet 16, 5 conferences have a chance to get or share the most number of wins:
Teams Curr Max Poss
Conf. Left Wins Wins
------- ----- ---- --------
Big10 4 10 21
BigEast 3 6 14
Atl10 1 6^ 10
ACC 2 5 12
Pac12 2 5 12
x-Big12 1 3 7
x-MVC 1 3 7
x-SEC 1 3 7
x-AtlSun 1 2 6
x-Eliminated ^-La Salle win in First Four does not count
The Big 10 led with 87 entries thinking they would be the winningest conference followed by the Big East with 47 and the ACC and Big 10 each with 3. 14 entries each picked the Big 10 with 17 wins.
Below are the teams in the conferences that matter for the Bonus1.
Conf. Teams Left (2nd Rnd W-L, 3rd Rnd W-L) ----- ---------- Big10 MICHIGAN, MICHIGAN ST, INDIANA, OHIO ST (6-2, 4-1) BigEast LOUISVILLE, MARQUETTE, SYRACUSE (3-5, 3-0) Atl10 LA SALLE (5-0, 1-4) ACC DUKE, MIAMI (3-1, 2-1) Pac12 ARIZONA, OREGON (3-2, 2-1)
It’s much too much to go through all the possibilities with four rounds remaining. But, if you do have a chance, this will guide you to which team to root for based on the conference the team is in.
Here is the link to what everyone picked. If your nickname is in red, that means you’re eliminated from the top 6 prizes; if your conference is in red, you’re eliminated from the Bonus1. The eligibility for the Bonus2 won’t be discussed unless needed.
We are now on Twitter (@HWCI_Pools). As I did for our HWCI Euro Soccer Pool when it debuted, I will post using #hwcincaa mini-updates during the day so you can follow without being on Twitter (and if you are, please use #hwcincaa). Please join our Facebook HWCI NCAA Pool Group or post comments on our blog.
Tids & Bits – A total of $98 has been raised for MathWorks thus far… it is very unlikely the Bonus2 will be put into effect, especially if the Big 10 tops 12 wins; any tie between conferences can cause Bonus2 to kick in because an entry would then have to have both conferences as their winningest conferences…
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So you’re saying there’s a chance? Yes!…
Scott
HWCI circa 1990