From: alc@netcom.com (Chris Stassen)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.college
Subject: CFPOOL: Introduction to 7th Annual Net College Football Pool
Summary: new scoring, otherwise same as before
Date: 20 Aug 92 03:39:57 GMT
Reply-To: stassen@alc.com
Organization: The Lion's Den, San Jose

This is the introduction to and rules for the college football pool.  Those of
you who don't want to hear about the pool can kill "CFPOOL" in subject lines
to avoid all of the postings (from me) that relate to it.

    The college football pool is played for fun and net.bragging.rights
    (i.e., NOT money or prizes).  This is the pool's seventh season.
    The pool is a "confidence value" pool, meaning that entrants pick
    outright winners of games (no point spreads) and assign different
    point values which are awarded for each correct pick.  There is a pool
    each week (where possible) and a final entry for bowl games.

Below is a more detailed description of the rules, format for entry, etc.


[A] GAME LISTS & ENTERING:

    The regular season will include games every Saturday 9/5 through 11/21.
    Entries with 15-20 games will be posted a week in advance.	Game lists
    and/or result postings will be sent by Email to those who request this
    service.  Only Saturday games are included.  The entry/game-list posting
    looks like this:

	      +-----------------------------------
	      | Game list for 11/5:
	      |
	      | 	Ohio State at Michigan
	      | 	Oklahoma at Nebraska
	      | 	Texas at Texas A&M
	      | 	UCLA at USC
	      | 	Auburn at Alabama
	      |
	      | [News and reminders will appear at the bottom.]
	      +-----------------------------------

    Entries should be sent by Email to "stassen@alc.com".  Posted entries
    will not be scored.  If multiple entries are to be sent from a single
    account, please make arrangements with me in advance.  Entries that
    are received later than the first game's kickoff may not be accepted
    (at my discretion).

    All those who enter early (entry received by Wednesday afternoon) will
    receive via Email a recap sheet of all early entrants' entries.  My own
    picks will be in the recap ("so what?").

[B] ENTRY FORMAT:

    Proper formatting of entries greatly speeds up the scoring process,
    as they are scored by a relatively dumb set of computer programs.
    Format the entry as follows:

    1. Place a line with only '$' immediately above the predictions.
    2. Make predictions on consecutive lines following the '$' line.
    3. Place the predicted winner's name first on each line.
    4. Use exactly the same spelling/abbreviation as my posted list.
    5. Order predictions by 'confidence' (see below).

    An example entry for the sample game list (above) looks like this:

	      +-----------------------------------
	      | If you have comments you want me to see, put them at
	      | the top of your mail.  I don't always see the bottom.
	      |
	      | $
	      | Oklahoma
	      | TCU	   (NOTE: *NOT* 'Texas Christian'!)
	      | Alabama
	      | UCLA sucks (text after team's name is ignored)
	      | Ohio State
	      +-----------------------------------

[C] WEEKLY SCORING:

    Perfect score is 1,000 points every week (regardless of the number of
    games that week).  One's score is the total of the "confidence values"
    for each line where one placed the name of a winning team.	The lines
    nearest the '$' (at the top) are worth the most points; those near the
    end of the entry are worth the least.  For example, when there are 15
    games on the list, the confidence values are:

      1) 119.53    4)  89.80   7)  67.47   10)	50.69	13)  38.08
      2) 108.66    5)  81.63   8)  61.33   11)	46.08	14)  34.62
      3)  98.78    6)  74.21   9)  55.76   12)	41.89	15)  31.47

    A tie game usually scores half of the associated confidence value.
    However, if a tying team is listed in the bottom 'N' confidence values
    (where 'N' is the number of ties that week), full credit is awarded
    for the pick.  This ensures that a perfect score is still 1,000 points.
    (And it gives some extra credit to those who had very little confidence
    in a game that didn't end up with a winner.)

    There is a 40-point bonus for having the highest score for the week.
    In the event of a tie for first place, the bonus is divided up evenly.
    Weekly results and year-to-date totals will usually be posted Sunday
    (the day after all of the games).

[D] END-OF-SEASON:

    The bowl games pool is worth 2,000 points, double the usual.  Everyone
    gets a recap sheet because the games are spread out over so many days.

    I will be out of town until January 4, but the final results will be
    posted shortly thereafter.	The year-total winner will be declared on
    the basis of each entrant's best 12 scores.  The worst two scores (out
    of 12 scores for the regular season plus 2 [identical] scores for bowls)
    will be dropped.  (Your score is zero for weeks that you don't enter.)

    Note that this is a change from previous years' scoring, where the highest
    outright total won the pool.  I am experimenting with this system because
    previous entrants have requested a system that allows someone to miss a
    week (or two) without losing their chances of winning the year.

[E] STRATEGY TIPS:

    Note that in a 15-game pool (listed above) one receives more points for
    one's top confidence pick than one does for the bottom three picks put
    together.  It is helpful to excel at picking game winners, but the key
    strategy is in ordering one's picks (i.e., assigning confidence values).

    One can be an average winner-picker (about 70% efficiency) and still win
    the pool almost every week if all of one's incorrect picks are at the
    lower confidence levels.  In fact, there has never been a perfect score
    in this pool (out of several thousand entries over six years).

[F] ADMINISTRIVIA:

    If you plan to drop out of the pool, please let me know.  I'll miss your
    participation, but your notification will at least save me from continuing
    to perform bookkeeping work on your old scores.

    Copies of the scoring software are available upon Email request.  It is
    written in 'C' to run on most Unix platforms.  I only ask that any
    improvements be passed back to me.

    I will try to have an entry for the Vegas Line (confidence sorted by
    size of spread) and the User Consensus.  Charlie Richter has in the
    past made an entry for Sagarin's system.

    A volunteer for a Dunkel Entry would be appreciated.  Such systems
    generally finish in the top half of entrants, but not in the top 
    quarter.

    r.s.f.c'ers are encouraged to enter their own rankings programs in the
    competition (ordering picks by predicted margin of victory).  The
    best non-human entrant earns bragging rights for its owner, too.
-- 
Chris Stassen						stassen@alc.com
DISCLAIMER:  My employer's account, but not their opinions.