BACKGROUND

We begin our sixteenth year of the one and only College Basketball Season Long Pool.   For those who are new to our game, this pool is designed to stretch the usual March Madness pool into a four month long fantasy league.   Instead of crediting points only for NCAA Tournament wins, this pool begins in early December and credits points for all regular season and conference tournament wins, as well as bonus points for conference titles (most conference wins,) conference tournament championships, and NCAA tournament berths and wins.

ROSTER SELECTION

A dollar value has been assigned to each of the 345 Division I college basketball teams.

You will select a roster of 11 schools, the total value of which cannot exceed $100.  These 11 schools will comprise your roster for the entire college basketball season, which begins in November, 2009 and culminates with the NCAA Final Four and Championship Game in April, 2010.   Once your roster has been submitted, there will be no dropping or adding of schools at any time.

You must select at least one school from the following conferences:

ACC            BIG EAST            BIG 10            BIG 12            PAC 10            SEC
The additional five schools (wildcards) can be any NCAA Division I school (including as many as you wish from the above conferences.)   Please note that only the top four scoring wildcards will be counted towards a roster's final score.

A listing of names and associated values of all Division I schools has been posted.   The values posted are final; please double-check your roster to ensure that the total value of your teams does not exceed $100.

You may not select a school that does not appear on the list, and you can only pick a team once.   It might be a good idea, particularly if you're new to the pool, to check out prior years' results to get an idea of what types of rosters have historically been the most successful.

ENTRY

The entry fee for the pool is $50.   Partnerships of two or more people are welcomed.   This is a four month pool; we want a big pot.   Feel free to give a copy to a few friends.

Your roster selection must be electronically submitted or emailed by midnight Monday, November 16, 2009.  Additionally, you must send payment (and completed entry form) via snail mail, postmarked by November 17, 2009.  In fairness to everyone, payment must be made at that time.

Please send checks and rosters to:

                                                    College Hoops *
                                                    P.O. Box 403
                                                    Haverford, PA 19041

    * All checks/money orders must be made payable to Jon English.   Failure to do so may result in disqualification from the pool.  

Prior to the NCAA Selection Show in March, an additional $10 will be collected from all participants who wish to remain in the pool.   The decision to remain in the pool must be made before Selection Sunday, confirmation of your desire to stay in must be emailed by the Saturday prior, and payment of additional funds must be snail mailed and postmarked by that same Saturday.   Any pool entry failing to do so will not be eligible for any prize, including the last place refund.

Questions, comments, suggestions:

                                                questions@seasonlongpool.com

NOTE:  In fairness to all participants, payment must accompany your roster and be postmarked by the deadline.  If you want, you can drop me an email to verify that I have received your entry.  

SCORING

The total score for each roster will consist of all points accumulated by the six "mandatory conference" schools as well as the top four "wildcard" schools.   The lowest scoring "wildcard" will not be counted towards a roster's total score.

Points are accumulated as follows:

Regular Season

• 1 point for each non-conference win (regular season)

Games played prior to the start of this pool count in the scoring.   (NIT preseason, Great Alaska Shootout, etc…)   The only games that do not count are exhibitions (vs. Marathon Oil, the Australian National team, etc...) and the "non-Big Dance" post-season tournaments (NIT, College Basketball Invitational, CollegeInsider.com, etc.)

• 2 points for each conference win (regular season)

This is pretty self-explanatory.   Occasionally, teams from the same conference will play each other in a "non-conference" game.   In all cases, conference rules apply; that is, if the individual conference counts the game as a conference game, we will do the same.   If they don’t count it in their official league standings, we’ll score it as a non-conference game.

Championship Tournaments

• 2 points for each conference tournament win


• 5 points for winning the conference regular season (most conference wins)


• 5 points for winning the conference tournament

In the event of a tie for the regular season, each school involved in the tie will receive 5 points.   The Ivy League does not hold a post-season tournament.   If the title must be decided by a playoff, only the winner of the playoff will receive the 10 points.

NCAA Tournament   (The non-Big Dance post-season tournament games do not count)

• 8 points for a number 1 seed in the tournament


• 6 points for a seeding of 2 through 4 in the tournament


• 4 points for a seeding of 5 through 8 in the tournament


• 2 points for a seeding of 9 through 16 in the tournament

• 2 points for a first round win


• 4 points for a second round win


• 6 points for a Sweet 16 win


• 8 points for an Elite 8 win


• 10 points for a Final Four win


• 12 points for a Championship Game win

The scoring is identical to last year.

Rule clarification for the 2009-2010 post-season:   As has been the case in the most recent past, 65 teams will be announced on Selection Sunday.   By determination of the selection committee, the 64th and 65th ranked teams will participate in a "play-in" game to determine which team will be the 64th and final team invited to the NCAA Tournament.

The scoring for that game will be as follows:   the loser of the game will receive no seeding points as they officially will not be a seeded team for the tournament.   The winner of that game will receive two points (for the win) as well as their two seeding points for the tourney.

In the unlikely event of a game(s) forfeited after completion...

We follow "Vegas rules" – once a game is final, points will be awarded accordingly.   At no time will we go back and take away wins for any forfeited games, thus eliminating any retroactive changes to a team’s overall (or conference) record.

COMMUNICATION / PAYOUTS

A master listing of the rosters of all of the pool participants will be provided on the Pool Standings website as soon as possible after the deadline.   Any and all other communication will be done on the Pool News page or Message Board.

Please remember that I post information on the website as soon as I can.   Once the above deadline has passed, it should take at least a week to verify that all entries have been received.

Pool standings, NCAA Conference standings, and individual Division I team point breakdowns should be available on a daily basis.   If for some reason you cannot access any of the sites, check with someone you know -- or drop me an email.   It is most likely a problem with your browser or ISP, as most people had no trouble in the past obtaining timely updates.   It might be easiest if you make this site your homepage; usually found on your web browser under Tools > Internet Options.

Prize breakdowns will be made available soon after the deadline. All entry fee monies will be awarded; as in years past, the last place "winner" will have its entire entry fee refunded.

Good luck -- and have fun.