EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt)- After two straight years of no one winning the $40 Bonus Prize (redistributing the $40 to the top 4 spots), something had to be tweaked.  The administrators collaborated and now the Bonus Prize is guaranteed to be awarded.  As it has been the past four years, the Conference Wins is the Bonus Prize (as detailed below) (aka, Bonus1).  However, now, if no one wins it, the Bonus2 takes effect and the person who is closest to the Total Points in Final tiebreaker gets the Bonus Prize.  This is the fifth 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 4 will be eligible to win.  Rules follow below...

Bonus1

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, says "Winningest Conference(s): BigEast | Wins: 13", means that by the way I picked my bracket, the Big East conference will get the most wins at 13.

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
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, despite having a record 8 teams, the Big East was not the winningest conference.  The SEC had the most wins with 13 but no one picked it via their picks. What happens? If no one correctly picks the winningest conference and wins, then the Bonus2 takes effect.

Bonus2

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 4 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 in final pool standings
4. If there is *still* a tie, money is split

Prize Breakdown

With everyone pretty much confirmed, we are officially at 98 entries ($980).  So, here is the official prize breakdown:

1st Place   = $450.00
2nd Place   = $230.00
3rd Place   = $155.00
4th Place   = $105.00
Bonus Prize = $ 40.00 

What this means is that of the 13 entries that were eliminated from the top 4 prizes, four are back into play! This also means, 9 entries were just awful, lousy picks to be eliminated for both prizes.

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
 ------  ----    ----   --------
 Pac10    3       7       16
 SEC	  3       7       16
 ACC	  1       6       10
 Big10	  1       6       10
 BigEast  2       5       12
 Big12	  2       5       12
x-Horizon 1       2        6
x-MVC	  1       2        6
x-MWC	  1       2        6
x-ConfUSA 1       2        6

Conf.    Teams Left (1st Rnd W-L, 2nd Rnd W-L)
-----    ----------
Pac10    OREGON, UCLA, USC (4-2, 3-1)
SEC      FLORIDA, TENNESSEE, VANDERBILT (4-1, 3-1)
ACC      NORTH CAROLINA (5-2, 1-4)
Big10    OHIO ST (5-1, 1-4)
BigEast  GEORGETOWN, PITTSBURGH (4-2, 2-2)
Big12    KANSAS, TEXAS A&M (4-0, 2-2)