NCAA Survivor Pool Central

 Here's everything you'll need for the rest of the tournament!

Leaderboard: Click here!

Payouts: TBD

Daily Recaps

Coming Soon! (Maybe)

Current Pick Form:

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!

2026 NFL Playoff Survivor Pool

Hello degenerates - after a one year hiatus, we are back! I had some tax concerns last year but damn... If Kalshi can exist, I don't see what the moral opposition to this existing is! Strange NFL year to say the least, with Mahomes, Lamar, & Burrow all sitting at home while the QB in the NFL older than me in Aaron Rodgers and the only QB in the NFL shorter than me in Bryce Young are both not only playing meaningful games this weekend - they are HOSTING those games! Unreal. Let's see if all you cowards pick both Houston and the Rams this week! Anyway, let's get to it! 

Hey man! I've done this for years! Just give me the links and tell me what changed so I can get on with my day.

Ok Mr. Pushy, here's the leaderboard. The pick form will be at the bottom for each respective weekend.

2026 NFL Playoff Leaderboard

As for rules, nothing changed, but it has been two years so you should probably read the whole thing.

The Basics

• Each weekend, you'll need the following picks:
• Two wild card picks (game day does not matter; pick two Saturday, one Sat/one Sun, two Sun, one Sat/one Mon, one... you get the idea)
• Two divisional playoff picks (again, game day doesn't matter, pick two Saturday, one Sat/one Sun, or two Sunday)
• One championship week pick (assuming you have one, you could be out of picks!)
• One Super Bowl pick 
• This pick will be assumed - Everyone will have one or zero picks for the Super Bowl, so there will be no form to fill out
• If you're team(s) wins, congrats!  You live to fight another day.  If not, it's GAME OVER MAN!
• As with any survivor pool, you cannot pick the same team twice.  If you do pick the same team twice and don't catch it yourself, you're out.  If you do catch it in time, just resubmit via the same form you used initially (I check all submissions periodically and take the latest one for each entry so long as a game picked hasn't started).
• If you just don't like who you picked and want to change, it's the same as above - just resubmit via the same entry form with the same details. (This comes up A LOT, so I think I need to bold it and call it out.)
• Picks must be submitted via Google Forms that I will both post here and send to participants once available. The form will ask for your email address and will automatically send you a copy of your responses. I get hundreds of entries and update them as frequently as I can, so please do not bug me with questions about whether your pick went in or reminders of who you picked - you should have this information already. Please do let me know if you do not get an email back with your picks BEFORE kick-off of your intended game so I can make sure it's in there - I will not add your pick b/c you didn't look for that email receipt before kick-off.
• Due to how few possible combinations of selections there are, there is no tiebreaker in this game.
• I get this question occasionally, so I'll answer it here - does having a pick somehow supercede someone who has run out of teams and cannot pick? No, it does not. Points are based on picking winners, not picking. Someone with a "No Pick" in the Super Bowl has done just as well as someone who has a pick in the Super Bowl & their pick loses.
• The pool will be "winner take all," but I'm figuring there will be a few people there at the end, so everyone who makes it to the last day and picks the winner (whatever that is) will split the pot.

Entry

• Cost will be $20
• You may buy only a maximum of THREE entries - HOWEVER, if you lose an entry prior to the final deadline on Wild Card weekend (which is the 8:00 PM ET Sunday game), I'll allow you to continue purchasing entries, throwing good money at bad, to your heart's content, so long as you have no more than THREE active entries at any given time. (So yes, before you can even submit entry #4, you'll have to have lost #1, #2, or #3. An entry is "lost" once a single game is lost on an entry.)
• Easiest way to pay is, as usual, via PayPal or Venmo.  
• Paypal: paypal.me/PhilipCrone
• Venmo: @Philip-Crone (PLEASE NOTE MY NAME HAS ONE L, I have informed the guy with two L's that he can keep $5 of your $20 entry fee)
• Zelle: steelcard30@gmail.com
• Cash/Checks via the mail - ThoroughCrowd LLC, PO Box 7022, Louisville, KY 40257
• If somehow none of these options are viable, I guess you can find me and hand the money. However, I work from home and really only go to the Kroger on Hubbards Lane in St. Matthews, so I guess you can wait there and hope I show up to pick up some arugula or something. If you want to track me down, which is insane but whatever it's your life, you have to do so by Sunday, January 11th.

That's it. As usual, feel free to forward this along to friends who may want to play. If you have any questions I somehow didn't address above, just let me know at tourneypools@gmail.com.  I'll use the same website (tourneypools.blogspot.com) for all updates. Good luck all!

2025 NCAA Tournament Survivor Central

 Alright folks, here is your one stop shop for everything you'll need going forward. I'll continually update this post with forms, daily recap nonsense, payouts, and, of course, the Big Board...

Leaderboard

Payouts TBD

Daily Recaps

Day 1 - Louisville Boots Out 76 and Kicks off a Formful Start

Day 2 - The Only Drama May Be in Shanghai

Pick Form (Form is updated for new days once previous day's deadline has passed)

2025 Survivor Pool Day 2 Recap

I'm writing this as the late games for the night are starting. As of now, today has been pretty boring by Survivor standards. And, the F1 Sprint Race in China is about to start with Lewis Hamilton on pole in his 2nd race for Ferrari, so I have to watch that, obviously. So, here's what's happened today, it's pretty boring...

The Mississippi State loss only knocked out 12. La di da. Big deal.

Robert Morris loss eliminated no one. Lipscomb eliminated one person. Memphis took down just 9 with 59 people rightly choosing the lower seed there in Colorado State. Not a single person picked the Duke matchup. St. Mary's win moved on 56 and eliminated just 6 Vandy believers. Just 28 eliminated through the first 6 games, I'm not checking a calculator, but that's like 3% or something.

The first game of the day that made any real waves was when 56 people trusted yet another ACC school and were rewarded with their survivor road coming to an end. As of now, the three teams to take out the most entrants in the survivor pool of 2025 are...Louisville, Clemson, and North Carolina. The ACC, historically bad and the butt of 1 million jokes this year is souring the few people that believed maybe they weren't that bad. At this rate 200 people will pick Duke Sunday and watch them lose.

Then it got back to being boring again...Grand Canyon lost eliminating no one as Maryland advanced 72. Not a single person picked Florida v Norfolk. 81 picks advanced on UK while just one entry, Mike Mahoney3, took a shot on Troy...I love the idea, sorry for your loss. Similarly Arizona advanced 80 while just 3 picks were lost on Akron (including the writer, sometimes you gotta take a chance).

The only other really consequential game thus far came when Richard Pitino and New Mexico advanced 12 picks while knocking out 45 Marquette selectors. 

But, maybe the late games will bring some drama!

Wrong again nerd. They also didn't do much damage. And, yes, I'm posting this before some games are finished because they look finished enough to me and it's midnight...

UConn just finished off Oklahoma in a close game, so the 72 people that trusted the back to back champs will move on, the 5 people that took their shot on Porter Moser over Dan Hurley are now done. And, sure, 10 picks were lost on Xavier while 17 advanced on Illinois, but that's not that significant. Oregon is up by 21 on Liberty, so, I'm assuming those 51 picks are moving on, while 5 people said give me Liberty, and Liberty gave them death (throw in a US History joke for y'all since they aren't allowed to teach it in schools anymore). And I'm assuming Michigan State will hold on against Bryant and move on those 17 chalk eaters.

The good news is Lewis Hamilton started with pole position and was able to win the Shanghai Sprint to provide some entertainment on what was a very formful day otherwise. No top 4 seeds were upset in Round 1. Just two 12s and an 11 move on to Round 2. In most years we have a 15 seed or something that everyone picks against on Day 3 or 4, this year is looking much more formful so far and, as such, this could prove to be a tricky Day 3....stay tuned to find out!

2025 Survivor Pool Day 1 Recap

Day 1 is in the books, and we ended up with over 1100 entries for our humble little contest. So, for the 2nd consecutive year we have over $20k in the prize pool! And also, shout out to Phil Crone for posting the Pick Distribution chart and showing percentages on teams picked. Very nice. (Bet you were expecting Borat there).

But, of course, we end the day with a lot fewer than 1100 entries, and the first game of the day was one of the games that knocked out the most Survivalists...when, unfortunately, our Louisville Cardinals were the first team of the Tournament sent home. They took 76 bold dreamers home with them. And, while, yes, this is sad, as a Louisville fan that watched 12 wins in two years, I was just happy to be here. Sure, Louisville got screwed on seeding, and sure Creighton couldn't miss for about 10 minutes in the first half, and yes, those things are terrible. But, next year is for anger if we lose in the Tournament, this year is a celebration to have returned. I'll say this, y'all haters better enjoy this one, because we won't be out in the first round again for a long time. Oh, and 35 people I now hate picked Creighton, I hope you all lose in the 2nd round.

Purdue, in un-Purdue like fashion, did what they were supposed to do and beat an overmatched High Point team. That moved 77 participants to day 2, while 12 of you took your shot on Purdue pulling a Purdue, and were not rewarded.

Wisconsin, Houston, and Auburn all did as expected and moved on. Two people tried a shot on Montana, and while I do think that was stupid, I also do respect your courage and donation. 

And, in what has to come as a huge shock to college basketball fans, another ACC team lost today, shocking! Clemson, forgot they were supposed to play basketball in the first half and, despite remembering that basketball requires scoring in the 2nd half, it was too little too late. Clemson moved the ACC body count to 131 suckers as they took 55 entrants home. Only 18 incredible geniuses trusted in Will Wade and Amir "Aura" Khan, and they each take their 12 tie breaker points to day two.

BYU and VCU made for a popular split game with 42 picks on the Stormin Mormons and 33 more on the...Rams. Sorry, I have no pithy little comment on VCU. But, pithy comments won't be needed as they're headed back to Virginia as losers. And, the BYU's teams kids will have to wait a few more days to get daddy home. Ya know, these jokes used to be funny when every BYU guy was 25 and every other team was all 18 year olds...but now every team has a bunch of 25 year olds, and it's not as funny. Or maybe it was never funny. I thought it was funny though. And as one of the three readers of these recaps, my opinion weighs heavily.

Gonzaga was the most popular pick of the day, and they made James Surowiecki proud advancing 135 combatants. Meanwhile the 7 SEC maximalists that trusted Georgia do not live to fight another day. Tennessee was equally boring, advancing 23 and knocking out no one.

Arkansas v Kansas was a game that pulled a lot of picks on both sides...but Arkansas found a way to overcome having Kenny Payne on their sideline and move on their 23 backers to pick another day. The 51 combatants that chose Kansas are sent home on day 1, it's sad to see Hunter Dickinson's 18th season in college end so prematurely. Really though, when Dickinson left Michigan for Kansas it felt like it was going to be the most impactful transfer in the sport and set Kansas up to be incredible. In two years at Kansas they got one Tournament win.

Texas A&M showed that Yale was just one of those academic schools and there's a joke here about the 24 people that picked them not being smart, and Yale being an Ivy League school, but I can't come up with anything good, it's late. Buzz has hair, a first round win, and moved 43 pickers to tomorrow.

Mizzou v Drake was the most evenly picked matchup of the day. There were 41 picks on Mizzou vs 45 picks on Drake. But it was Drake, and their 4 former D2 players as starters, that advanced to the next round. Mizzou became the 2nd of the 48 SEC teams in the Tourney to get sent home.

The late games are really late for me, and I'm tired. There will be no wit or banter here. UCLA crushed Utah State and 71 picks advanced while 17 dreams died. St. John's let Omaha hang around early, but eventually drew off. Texas Tech did as expected. The late game of real interest was UCSD vs Michigan and it lived up to the hype...Michigan got lucky and won by 3 over the popular upset darling, advancing 36 and slaying 54. And, in the final game of the night Texas Tech made it close, but advanced their 74 believers, while the 2 maniacs that took Wilmington got a thrill, but left as losers.

All in all it was a rather formful Day 1. In all 760 brave geniuses advance to day 2 while 374 suckers go home. Good luck on Day 2 to those who celebrate!

2025 NCAA Survivor Pool

For the first time since 2019, the NCAA tournament feels "normal" for yours truly. You see, I am a massive, unabashed Louisville fan. For the first time since the world ended, I sat down to watch the Selection Show with full confidence that I'd hear Louisville called. Unfortunately, all this time made me forget another aspect of the Selection Show - being blind with rage about being underseeded. Truly a tradition like any other. There isn't a single available ranking - subjective or objective - putting Louisville below like 23rd and somehow we're gifted an 8 seed & looking at Auburn in round 2. Thanks committee, really looking forward to doing all this again next year. But hey, at least I feel like I'll be doing this again next year, right?!

So, what did manage to keep me sane in 2020-2025? Well, nothing really, but the Survivor Pool did at least help me disassociate from the sports pain inflicted by COVID, Kenny Payne, the NCAA, Kenny Payne, Chris Mack's flagrant inability to manage a pandemic, Kenny Payne, and.... I'm not sure what else, probably missed something. Oh and I guess Mike Woodson. So join us, once again for something like the 13th year or so, in a game where indefensible committee decisions can no longer hurt you. Best of luck everyone! 

Now, without further ado, onto the rules and regulations of the one pool to rule them all:

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

Nothing from a gameplay standpoint, just a few pool things...

• I will be on a family vacation 3/29-4/5 - I might try to con someone into running things in my stead, but it's unlikely. Updates will happen, but don't expect them to be timely, especially on our travel day of 3/29, which is Elite 8 Saturday.

• Zelle is back as an option. Yay.

• New check address for the two of you that might want to pay by check.

• If you're paying with Zelle or PayPal - 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.

• Some of you likely recall my infamous "mistake rake" for how I would fund my time running the pool. I thought using that would reduce the work on my end. It didn't. Plus it makes me sound like a curmudgeon who is at this point only running this pool out of some sort of loyalty and obligation. Which isn't wrong by the way, but I don't want it to be THAT obvious. The good news for me though is that I can guess pretty reasonably what I'm gonna end up raking, and it's 3%. So I'm saving myself the trouble of trying to track the mistake rake and just nabbing 3%, dealing with your all's collective B- comprehension of the rules, and calling it a day.

First, 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.)

• 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’m constantly monitoring this and can get back to you fairly quickly.  All forms this year ask for email addresses so you can receive a receipt of your pick.  If you got that receipt back, then I have your pick.
• 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. 

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 Auburn to beat some play-in game tomato can in round 1, you cannot use Auburn again for the remainder of the tournament. (Although why would you when Louisville is poised to knock them off on Saturday, right?! Ugh, those assholes aren't even gonna make it past Creighton.)  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.

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 you don’t understand this rule, that’s fine.  Odds are it will not come in to play.)
• 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.
• 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 - I'm still not totally sure what Zelle is, but people asked for it, so here ya go.
• Mail - Send checks to PO Box 7022, Louisville, KY 40257 and make them payable to Phil Crone. 
• Crypto/NFT - I think I have a MetaMask wallet from like 2017 that I can't access. So you probably shouldn't try this.
• Find me or one of my designated trusted goons (whoever told you about this pool is probably one of them) 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 save the aforementioned 3% rake. See, I started running this pool b/c I wanted to be in a pool like this and it didn't exist - I know, some real "Field of Dreams" shit. Anywho, I'd continue running it for free if people just followed the rules and did everything as laid out. But, they don't. They never do. So, I now take a rake depending on effort I need to expend to fix your all's mistakes, which is about 3% of the pot. If you don't like it, I invite you to find another pool with a 5000/1 payout to the winner that takes less than that. 

Conference Tournament Pool Leaderboard!

 Leaderboard is below. Good luck everyone!

NCAA Conference Tournament - Google Sheets

2025 NCAA Conference Championship Pool

Since it's 2025 and the technocrats have promised that we would all be replaced by robotic overlords, I gave AI a chance to write this year's intro:

March is here, and that means one thing—madness! It’s time to put your hoops knowledge (or just your best gut instincts) to the test by picking the winners of the ACC, Big East, SEC, Big Ten, and Big 12 tournaments. Will you ride with the blue bloods, trust the Cinderella stories, or just pick based on which mascot would win in a fight? (Spoiler: A wildcat usually has the edge.)

The rules are simple: Select one team from each of the five power conferences. If your teams cut down the nets, you rack up points and bragging rights. Choose wisely—because just like a full-court press, this contest comes at you fast!

So lace up those imaginary sneakers, channel your inner bracketologist, and get ready for some buzzer-beating excitement. Will you be the king or queen of the conference chaos? Or will your picks flop like a bad flop attempt? Either way, let’s have some fun! 

How did the robot do? Do you like it? Guess what? I don't.

First off, and most egregious of the many sins committed, A wildcat usually has the edge. A wildcat!? I immediately hate the incoming computerized hegemony. It also didn't even get the rules right! One team from each conference? You idiot, that's not the rules at all! And, why are the sneakers imaginary? We're not all binary code existing within some cloud...we actually wear shoes computer, I will lace up real sneakers thank you. And the March Madness pun? First off, that's trademarked, now I'm going to be sued thanks to a robot, but even if it wasn't trademarked, can we be more lame and cliche?

Let's be clear on something: People (aka my mother) read these intros and recaps because they are witty, they are heartfelt, and they have real soul...something robots probably don't even have. Unless they do, in which case there are a lot of philosophical questions we need to reckon with in the coming years.

So, that's the intro. Sorry. The actual rules are below. We made some changes this year, dropped some smaller conferences, added more flexibility in the major conferences, again just read the rules! And now it's time to find out if your picks will flop like a bad flop attempt! (That's a terrible joke, robot, but if you have a soul I still love you.)

Now, let's get all the usual links out of the way for the regulars...

• Buy-in: $20/entry
• Entry Form – Embedded at the bottom. You're welcome. Do not email, text, call, direct message, or facebook message me picks.  I will ignore them.
• 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, b/c odds are it’s here.
• Email: tourneypools@gmail.com – I’m constantly monitoring this and can get back to you fairly quickly.
• Paypal ID: paypal.me/PhilipCrone
• Venmo ID: @Philip-Crone
• Zelle: steelcard30@gmail.com
• Checks: PO Box 7022, Louisville, KY 40257 (Address change if you used this last year!)
• Credit Cards: Call 1-800-GAMBLER b/c you need help
• Tournament Bracket Links:
• ACC
  
• B12
  
• BE
  
• B1G
• SEC

This is my umpteenth year of this nonsense. Anything new?

NIL & conference consolidation have really ruined some of the old format - The Pac-12 was dismantled in less time than it takes to bake a potato and every mid-major player with a lick of talent last year is now a seventh man on an SEC team probably. We're keeping the same pick rules as always, but we're blowing up the one pick per conference rule - yeah you can take 8 SEC teams for all I care! That'd be really stupid, but it is an option!

(This does mean that, when filling out the form, you could in theory pick the same team twice. I can't believe I'm being clear about this but since SOMEONE will ask, that is not allowed.)

Also - IF YOU TRY TO PAY ME AS A GOOD/SERVICE, I'M RETURNING YOUR MONEY AND CANCELING YOUR ENTRY UNTIL IT IS PAID CORRECTLY! Look these IRS rules are silly now, and I'm not dealing with a 1099-K that I have to explain to the Tax Man. It's ONE BOX! CHECK IT CORRECTLY! Yeesh.

The Rules

Participants pick teams from each of the 5 conference tournaments specified below. Who you can pick will be based on seed in the tournament. Participants can pick only one 1 seed, 1 2 seed, 1 3 seed, 1… you get the idea. Here’s the conference tourneys we will be choosing from:

• ACC 
• Big 12 
• Big East 
• Big Ten
• SEC

You may replace a better seeded team w/ a worse seeded team in your 8 team entry if you so choose.  For example, if you do not like any 3 seeds in any conference tournament, you can replace your “3 seed” slot with any other team seeded 4 or higher.  Likewise, this also means that teams higher than an 8 seed are eligible to be used in any slots.

Scoring will be as follows:

• Championship win – 4 points
• Semifinal win – 3 points
• Quarterfinal win – 2 points
• “Quarterquarterfinal”? win – 1 point

This scoring means that only four games maximum will be counted.  Teams playing in a fifth game will not have those wins counted.

Entry Fees & Payouts

• Buy-in price is $20
• Multiple entries are allowed
• Pool will be paid out 100%.  The only way the moderators make money is if we are smart enough to beat you fools down.
• The number of places to be paid out and the allocation of the prize pool in those paid out places will be determined by the moderators once numbers are final and published before the end of the first day of the contest.
• In the event of a tie, participants will split any winnings evenly.  I know I’m famous for my obtrusive tiebreaker rules – I’m taking the lazy way out until someone complains and I fix it next year.
• Deadlines
• All entries & $$$ must be submitted by Wednesday, March 12th, 2025 at 11:30 AM EDT

$$$ can be sent in one of three ways

• You hand it to a moderator in cash or check form
• Send it via paypal/venmo/zelle to the account listed above - seriously, it's 2025 and by now, you should have an account on one of these services
• Mail a check to the PO Box listed above

No IOU’s will be accepted. This isn’t a charity. Maybe when UNICEF gets into the tournament pool business, you can go there and give them your IOU. Until then, we’re the guys to talk to. 

Congrats on making it to the end!  Your prize?  An entry form!

2024 NCAA Survivor Pool Central

 Ok, here should be everything you need for the rest of the tournament! Bookmark this forever (or until, like, 3 weeks from now) to see anything and everything you need!

Survivor Pool Leaderboard

Day 2+ Pick Form (This form will be the only form you'll need for the remainder of the tournament)

rules

Daily Recaps

Day 1 Recap

Day 2 Recap

Day 3 Recap

2024 Survivor Pool Day 3 Recap

Well, well, well, after two days of contest mayhem and, dare I say, madness, Day 3 was as calm as a placid lake on a cool spring morning. 

We entered Day 3 with just 253 of our original 1078 entries still alive. By day's end only 19 of those 253 entrants failed to pick a winner. So after halving our field on Days 1 and 2, less than 10% of our contestants lost on Day 3. This tells me one of two things...

    1. Yesterday was easy for everyone

OR

    2. All the dumb people already lost

There's really not even much to talk about today. Oakland knocked out some people who took a shot at a bunch of tie breaker points, and Oregon knocked out some people, but, really, it was pretty uneventful. And, it was pretty chalky. That makes it easy yesterday, but it's setting up to be tough for the people that survive today. Next week we'll have Illinois v Iowa State and Creighton v Tennessee in very evenly matched games. 

It's not really very fun to make jokes when no one lost yesterday. Yup, we all just had a nice, pleasant, and fun day. Definitely nothing to worry about from yesterday. I, for one, am just going to have a great day today after such an uneventful day yesterday!

2024 Survivor Pool Day 2 Recap

Day 2 is in the books and everything went great yesterday. It was easy, and everyone was happy and carefree as they.....wait....oh yeah, it was another bloodbath, what a surprise!

We went into Day 2 with the field already cut in half. With only 508 brave warriors still battling into the second day. And, once again, that number was cut in half yesterday (literally exactly half, which is pretty cool) leaving just 254 combatants on the field heading to day 3. Yeah, just 254 out of 1,072 entrants are still around for the weekend. 

The day started with 32 entrants throwing in their lot with Louisville Head Coach, Dusty May, as he was kind enough to guest coach the Florida Atlantic Owls against Northwestern who had a mere two picks placed upon their heads. Johnell Davis, tired of playing for a small school in Florida and ready to move to Derby City, decided to waste the final possession of regular time, and then Florida Atlantic decided to collectively just take a nap instead of play overtime basketball. Our pool once again proving that James Surowiecki is an idiot, and, at least among this crowd, wisdom is sparse.

Despite that major setback to start the day, the Survivors found some solace in the next few games, with 44 Baylor, 59 San Diego State, and 19 Marquette selectors moving on to Day 3.

And then....Boom went the dynamite.

The biggest shock to the system yesterday came when New Mexico went home as the most popular pick of the day. The Tourney gods laid out an 11 seed that was the betting favorite and it was too much for our contestants to ignore. The entries were drawn to Richard Pitino's Lobos like the proverbial moths to flames, but like Icarus before them, these combatants found that flying too close to the sun often ends with you on the ground in tears. 

But at least there were more safe picks coming up. Like Auburn. Auburn was 4th on KenPom and a 4 seed? There were 49 entries on Auburn and ZERO on Yale. This pick would be safe, I swear. Except for the fact that it wasn't safe at all! (that's one of my favorite movie clips ever, enjoy that mom!) Bruce Pearl, overrated basketball coach and generally pretty scummy dude, got sent home in round 1 as Yale, one of those academic schools, advances and takes zero entrants along with them.

The losses of Florida and Nebraska sent home 18 and 13 pickers respectively. While their conquerors, Colorado and Texas A&M moved 8 and 11 on to Saturday. The Purdue, Bama, and Houston chalk burners also advance. Houston knocked out a team that's coached Griff Aldrich, who was a private equity executive that left a super lucrative career for basketball coaching, he will likely now sell off all his players, the equipment, and uniforms for any profit he can get while forcing three interns to be the basketball team next season and then complaining if they just play harder they should be able to improve on the last financial year's results. (This was a joke about private equity companies and how they suck)

And the night games, which I once again slept through, saw 31 dummies losing on TCU and another 22 losing when the 6 man rotation of St. Mary's ran out of steam against GCU. Nine entries moved on with 12 seed GCU including 5 entries from the worrisome name PigLips. Mr./Ms. Lips has 23 tie breaker points on 5 entries and sits in a very nice spot after that Grand Canyon win.

So, we move on to Day 3. A day sure to be kinder and gentler to us all.....right?

2024 Survivor Pool Day 1 Recap

LEADERBOARD

Pick Form

Well you crazy bastards, we did it, we got over 1,000 entries for this year's Survivor Pool (1,072 to be exact). That means a prize pool in excess of $20,000. We'll work up payouts soon, but plan on expanding it a bit from last year to pay a few more places.

It is absolutely insane how this thing has grown over the years and it really shows that if you create something cool, and you know enough stupid people, that you really can accomplish anything....or something like that.

And hey, while you're dumping money into longshot ventures that are a whole lot of fun and full of great people and camaraderie, may I remind you to buy some horses with us by checking out:

THOROUGH CROWD

With all that said, let's get to today's recap...sometimes these are long. But, I now have a 6 month old daughter and I don't have time to recap every game and what it did to the Pool, so I'll get in a lot of UK jabs today, and I'll still try to kick out recaps for all my fan (hi mom!).

Every year I come into the Tournament thinking, "Wow, last year was crazy, this year will probably be more normal though." And every year this is me at the end of the first day of the Tournament. 

Today started calm, Michigan State was a nice popular pick but 30 people still lost on Mississippi State kicking off a banner day for the SEC.

But the peace couldn't last.

Former UK player (theme of the day) Mark Pope and his merry band of 30 year old BYU players were crushed by little ole Duquesne. You really have to feel for BYU's team and their 12 year old kids that won't get to see their dad's play in the 2nd round of the Tournament. At least they all have wives and families to help them through this trying time.

Creighton, Arizona, North Carolina, and Illinois were all chalk.Oregon advanced 88 while only crushing a few souls. We had 65 suckers fall for Steve Alford's plastered on hair as he showed why he was fired at UCLA and Iowa and never managed to get that IU job that comes open every 3 years. Dayton advanced just 14 participants as the A-10 moved to 2-0.

Texas was lucky to beat UofL this season, but knocked out 34 losers that picked against them yesterday as Colorado State scored 44 points...in the whole game. 

Then of course was a simple Kentucky game where 43 contestants decided to just survive and advance with the Big Blue Nation. But, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Kentucky and their team of NBA players was sent home by a dude that started his career in D2. You love to see it.

And, after we all celebrated UK's loss and the world felt happy. Some other games happened. These were like how Team USA had to beat some other team AFTER The Miracle On Ice to win the gold medals. 

Gonzaga crushed McNeese State. The McNeese State that was a popular underdog pick by fans and media alike. The McNeese State who's non-conference wins included games against Mississippi University for Women (who oddly enough does have a men's basketball team), Biblical Studies (yeah, that's the school's whole name, just Biblical Studies), and Champion Christian. Shocking that McNeese State turned out to actually suck.

Iowa State rolled South Dakota State. Tennessee did what no other SEC team could do and won a game...it's something when Rick Barnes is clearly the best Tournament coach in your conference. NC State and our hero DJ Burns kept up the ACC dominance and rolled Texas Tech. Washington State beat Drake knocking out a bunch of entries, but I was in bed. And, Kansas and Samford may have been the best of the day on Day 1....and I say it may have been because I was asleep and didn't see it, but it sounds pretty great.

So we move on to Day 2. We lost a staggering 564 entries on Day 1. So, less than 50% of the initial pool survives to the second day. To the 508 entrants still alive I wish you the best of luck....we will all need it.

2024 NCAA Tournament Survivor Pool

The most wonderful time of year is upon us once again. And this year a special weight has been lifted off of our souls and minds. While some villains have been vanquished, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of new heroes.

And where better to crown a hero than in the one pool to rule them all, our annual NCAA Survivor Pool!

This is year, I've lost count, maybe 12 or something, of us running this pool. And we are expecting another big year filled with joy and despair, laughter and fear, beauty and horror. Perhaps this is the year we hit a total prize pool of $20,000. And of course, we make nothing running this, (other than what you're willing to give us through incompetence of filling out forms) the only way we get paid is if we're smart enough to win this thing...like a certain D$ThoroughCrowdRules entry happened to do (well split) in the Conference Tourneys.

Last year we ended up with 887 entries and a total prize pool of $17,400 with the $10,000 top prize taken down by prodski3. The Queen ran second nabbing a cool $3,500.

Also, once again, this year's pool is sponsored by Thorough Crowd! And by sponsored, I mean that throughout March Madness I will be intermittently begging people to check out the horses we have available to buy in on!

If you want a horse that will be racing soon, we have those. If you want a 2YO that has never raced and is all about potential, you're in luck there too. Or, maybe you want shares in a broodmare and her first foal, well we once again have you covered! Thorough Crowd is in its sixth year and we've now had earnings of nearly $1M over that span. We're always looking for new partners who want to get involved in racing. As you may or may not know that is basically our family obsession and something that is built into our DNA. 

We started running this survivor pool because it was something we thought sounded awesome that no one else was already doing...and our impetus for starting Thorough Crowd was the same thing. Horse racing is full of partnerships marking up costs and taking advantage of customers. We wanted an honest partnership where choices are driven by data and there's no price gouging...so we started our own.

Hopefully Thorough Crowd sounds like something you want to check out. Hopefully this Survivor Pool is something that you have a ton of fun with. And, if you've got friends/relatives/pets/enemies that you think would want to partake in this pool or in Thorough Crowd, please do us a favor and send it their way!

Now, without further ado, onto the rules and regulations of the one pool to rule them all:

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

Just for one year, I'm messing with payment options. This is thanks to personal stuff (home loan nonsense). So, the following changes are enacted: (1) Zelle is OUT for one year - PLEASE DO NOT SEND ME A ZELLE PAYMENT. (2) I added a check mailing option mainly for you seven weirdos that like Zelle. Find those details at the bottom. If you're worried about missing the deadline thanks to mail, just email me that the check is in the mail. I'm a trusting individual.

Additionally, I'm paying out top 12 this year. I used to say I wouldn't go beyond 10, but we're on track for like 1000 entries this year, so I should probably spread the love a little bit more.

First, 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.)

• 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’m constantly monitoring this and can get back to you fairly quickly.  All forms this year ask for email addresses so you can receive a receipt of your pick.  If you got that receipt back, then I have your pick.
• Paypal ID: paypal.me/philipcrone (MAKE SURE TO CHOOSE PERSONAL PAYMENT)
• Venmo ID: https://www.venmo.com/u/Philip-Crone
• Zelle - NOT THIS YEAR
• Mail - I brought mail back after dropping Zelle! Send checks to 974 Breckenridge Ln, #133, Louisville, KY 40207 and make them payable to ThoroughCrowd. 

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 Baylor to beat Hartford in round 1, you cannot use Baylor again for the remainder of the tournament.  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.  Entry names will be in a drop-down list, 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.

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 you don’t understand this rule, that’s fine.  Odds are it will not come in to play.)
• 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.
• PayPal – Still the easiest to track and you don’t have to track me down.  The paypal ID is above.  In addition, when paying on PayPal, CHOOSE THAT IT IS A PERSONAL PAYMENT!  Otherwise, PayPal will take a commission, which I will not kick back into the pool. Additionally, if you win and you cost me a commission, I'll make sure your prize is the one that eats that commission. If you do not have a PayPal account, sign up now so it can check your bank account. 
• Zelle - I'm still not totally sure what Zelle is, but people asked for it, so here ya go.
• Mail - I brought mail back after dropping Zelle! Send checks to 974 Breckenridge Ln, #133, Louisville, KY 40207 and make them payable to ThoroughCrowd. 
  
• Crypto/NFT - HAHAHAHAHAHAHA that shit ain't real.
• Find me or one of my designated trusted goons (whoever told you about this pool is probably one of them) 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 save what I like to call the "unnecessary effort rake" that I am instituting starting this year. See, I started running this pool b/c I wanted to be in a pool like this and it didn't exist - I know, some real "Field of Dreams" shit. Anywho, I'd continue running it for free if people just followed the rules and did everything as laid out. But, they don't. They never do. So, I now take a rake depending on effort I need to expend to fix your all's mistakes, which is as follows:
• $1/back end fix - you put in a trailing space, you didn't use the numbering system properly, etc. Who knows, these happen a ton day 1.
• $2/"Did you read the rules" email - any questions I get that are either clearly spelled out or heavily implied that I respond to in this way will pocket me a good ol' Paper Tommy J.
• $5/effort email - I had to chase someone down for a pick/payment, someone emailed begging me to change a pick, etc etc etc. - special requests and just general stuff any well-functioning adult in 2023 should be able to do will net me a Hey Blinken.