2026 NCAA Survivor Pool

Right out of the gate, I have to cop to something - I got a lot of messages from people wondering if this was even happening this year given I didn't run the conference tournament pool. I was a little shocked at the attention that pool received - after all, I killed it after 2024 when the PAC-12 folded and I just couldn't find eight conferences anymore. Man, I thought, this really resonated with people. Maybe I should retool it and bring it back next year!

Well, just now, I headed to this site for the first time in two months to open a blog post and get things rolling and, lo and behold, I did do it last year! Wow, so that was a fun way to learn that your brain starts dying at age 41. Or maybe it's having a kid. It's probably both.

Regardless, it was a terrible decision to not use the conference tournament given that the games were wild. Hope you enjoyed them - they were so fun, I think I might bring that game back after the two-year hiatus!

But now, let's get to the big show. And let's hope it's half as exciting as last week.

Are you still being a jerk and charging penalties for people asking questions?

Yeah, I was a pretty big curmudgeon there, huh? It didn't work anyway, people still screwed up. So, I stopped doing that. In fact, I learned I can't rake at all technically. So, yes, I am running this pool for free. Sure, it's a lot of time, but hey, it's all about the fun, right? So, yeah, no rake, no worries, I'll just answer all your emails, set up all this stuff, and do it all for the love of the game! Plus I am trying to win, so whatever. Anyway...

First off, remind me of all the links and stuff I need.  I’m going to ask about it, so just put it up here.

Good call.  Here’s a quick reference for all the links you should need:

Entry Fee: $20/entry (no limit on entries per person, buy 2, buy 10, hell, buy 20, I might. Who cares.)

• Website: tourneypools.blogspot.com – the leaderboard and all updates will be posted here.  If you have a question where ANYTHING is, go here before asking, because odds are it’s here.
• Entry Form: Embedded in the bottom for Day 1. The Day 2+ form will be linked to the scoreboard post on Thursday. 
• Email: tourneypools@gmail.com – I'll monitor as well as I can, but I have a real kid, a real wife, a real job, and a real cat. So don't be surprised if you don't get a response real quick. See what I did there?
• Paypal ID: paypal.me/philipcrone (MAKE SURE TO CHOOSE PERSONAL PAYMENT)
• Venmo ID: https://www.venmo.com/u/Philip-Crone
• Zelle - steelcard30@gmail.com
• Mail - Send checks to PO Box 7022, Louisville, KY 40257 and make them payable to Phil Crone. 

I've done this for over a decade; are there any big changes?!

Nothing new, but I'm gonna reiterate one thing and pull an FAQ or two up here...

• REMINDER - If you're paying with Zelle/PayPal/Venmo - please ensure you're paying a family/friend and not for a product/service. New IRS regulations have started cracking down on merchant payments, and the day I have to claim this contest as income is the day it dies. If you do not send your payment as a family/friend payment, I will refund it and disqualify your entry until it is paid properly.
• FAQs
• I can't remember who I picked. Can you tell me? Maybe, but your best bet is to check your email, where you will be getting response receipts
• I don't like my pick, how do I change it? Just resubmit using the same Display Name/Entry Number. I always take the latest response.
• I didn't check the leaderboard until the games started and I messed up the 17 entries I'm trying to manage. Can I change? Man, I'm over here struggling to manage my own 17 entries - if you are wild enough to blow a car payment on this pool, you need to be able to manage your shit. I suggest a spreadsheet.
• I can't find my picks b/c I don't want to give you my main email address - I just used some burner account. I cannot believe I have to say this, but you're going to need to use an email address you check semi-frequently given that is the only form of communication for this game. And no I'm not going to sell your email address. I don't even know where you sell email addresses.
• I didn't have a Thursday winner, can I rebuy on Friday and pick two games or something? No. You have to pick winner every day as long as the contest runs.
• Your rules are too long and I'm going to just email you my question. They wouldn't have to be long if I didn't have 15 years of experience running this thing to fall back on.

And with that, now to the rules proper…

Rules

• Choose one team each day that you think will win for that particular day.
• If your team wins, congrats, you move on to the next day of picks (assuming you can still pick a team. If not, see next rule). If not, you are out. If you forget to pick one day or try to pick the same team again, you're out. I'll try to chase you down best I can, but I've made this thing as automated as possible; I can't hold your hand on everything.
• Once you have a chosen a team, you cannot choose that team again for the rest of the contest. If you use Iowa St. to beat Tennessee St. in round 1, you cannot use them again for that juicy round 2 game against Santa Clara, ok?! If you ever get to a point where you cannot pick a team b/c you have used all the teams playing that day, then your entry will be treated like an entry who could pick that day and lost.
• This comes up every year as a point of contention, but just to reiterate – even if someone does not have a pick, you still have to pick correctly for that day to finish ahead of them.  Picking to the point where you run out of teams is an acceptable strategy.
• Multiple entries are allowed – buy early, buy often!
• How to submit picks:
•  Every day, I will release a Google form that will be used by participants to choose their team for that day.  The first day will ask for a handful of information.  Subsequent days will not ask for as much info.  Trust me when I say all info is necessary.
•  Subsequent days will only ask for your entry name, email, and your pick. Initially, you'll have to type your entry name. I would advise finding it on the leaderboard so you type it in right, as it makes my life easier. Entry names will be in a drop-down list after a couple days, so simply find your remaining entry (or entries) name(s) and then make your selection.
• If you want to change your pick for a day, just use the same form and pick again. I can see timestamps on my end, and I’ll just take the latest one. I know I said this earlier. It's fine - repetition yields results.

Deadlines

• Day One purchase and pick deadline is prior to tip for the last set of games of the evening, which usually occurs around 10:30 PM EDT. If you lose at noon, go ahead and re-buy on day one - you will not be alone. AGAIN, YOU CAN RE-BUY UNTIL THE LAST GAME TIPS OFF ON DAY ONE!!!
• Daily pick deadlines for rounds 1 and 2 are prior to tip for the last set of games for that day. For the Sweet 16 and later, the deadline is prior to tip of the first game of the day.  

Winner/Tiebreaker 

The order of finish is first determined by the total number of winning picks made. In the event of a tie, the tie will be broken in the following manner…

• Highest combined total of all seeds selected
• Ex: You and I get knocked out on Day 6. Because I’m awesome, I had that 12 seed that won in round one. My combined seed picking total is 28, and yours is 26.  I win.
• Highest individual seed selected, and then second highest individual seed, etc.
• Ex. You and I get knocked out Day 6, but both of our combined seed totals are 28. I had my 12 seed, but your highest seed you picked was a 10 seed. I win again.  (You'd be surprised how often we get this granular, so make sure you UNDERSTAND THIS RULE.)
• Highest individual seed selected by round, and then second highest individual seed by round, etc.
• Ex. You and I get knocked out Day 6, both of our combined seed totals are 28, and we have happened to have every seed we’ve chosen be the exact same. However, you picked a 10 seed to win in round 1 (which they did), but I had my 10 seed to win in round 2 (which they did). Once again you lose. You’re really bad at this.
• If this does not result in a tie being broken, the pot will be split evenly.

Payment

• Entry cost: $20
• Money must be in my grubby hands in some form before you make your pick.  You can do this one of five (ok really three) ways:
• Venmo - Venmo is a nifty app that lets you quickly send payments to people.  You don't even have to worry about commissions.  It's basically Paypal for dummies.  My Venmo ID is above. CHOOSE THAT IT IS A PERSONAL PAYMENT! 
• PayPal – The paypal ID is above.  In addition, when paying on PayPal, CHOOSE THAT IT IS A PERSONAL PAYMENT!  Otherwise, you're DQ'ed until you remedy it.
• Zelle - Wow, there are so many of these apps.
• Mail - Send checks to PO Box 7022, Louisville, KY 40257 and make them payable to Phil Crone. 
• Crypto/NFT - Whatever, money is just a lie agreed upon.
• Find me or one of my designated trusted goons (whoever told you about this pool is probably one of them, but man is that getting harder and harder to say) and physically hand one of us cash or a check. I literally have to have the payment in my hand.  Do not call me and say “I’ll get you Sunday.” Not happening. Unless that Sunday is the Sunday before the tournament starts.
• Payouts will be determined at the end based on number of entries.  Top 12 will be paid out with a 1% minimum going to 12th. We will payout the entirety of the pool b/c apparently taking a rake is illegal.

And that's it! Form is below. Good luck!