Pool Rules

• Entry fee for the Canadian side is $2.00 (cheap!) - No entry limit
• Entry fee for the US side is FREE (explanation below) - limit 2 entries
  
  
• Deadline for entries is 11:00am CST, March 18, 2004. Your email must be received by that time. Web server time is the deciding factor -- BE EARLY!!
  
  
• You must pick 10 teams that are seeded 3rd or lower.



• You can also pick one #1 seed, and one #2 seed team for a total of 12 teams.
  (You are allowed to pick 3rd or lower seeds in lieu of your 1st or 2nd seeded teams if you really want to - your extra 2 picks don't have to be a 1 or 2 seed)



• For the purposes of the pool, the play-in game DOES NOT count as part of the tournament.



• The person with the most wins in Canada gets the Canadian money, PLUS a free entry into next year's pool!!!



• The person with the most wins in the USA gets a free championship T-Shirt from San Antonio (a nice one... not one from Johnny-Joe Jim-Bob on the streetcorner), plus a mind-numbing array of tacky free souvenirs (probably from Johnny-Joe Jim-Bob on the streetcorner). PLUS a free entry into next year's pool!!!


• You may be asking... WHY change the US side? Well, the number of entrants are down, the corporate crackdown on pools is in full swing, and quite frankly a few people have expressed the fact that they're "all pooled out." I (Bill) want it to be fun. So for this year, let's try something different.
• Next year - Who knows? Maybe we'll go back to $. But for now, I'd like to see more people entered and having fun. And heck, It'll give Adams and Metcalf something to jaw about - as if they need any encouragement...


• Note to Canadians: If you're nice to me (Joe) on the Trashtalk page I may bring you back a tacky souvenir from San Antonio.



• The last place finisher in each country (with at least eight wins) also gets a free entry into next year's pool.



• In the event of a tie in the same country, we choose the winner based on the following criteria:
  1. Whoever's team(s) stayed alive the longest in complete rounds. Note: The Final Four champ is considered to have stayed alive until the 7th round.
  2. Whoever picked a lower seeded team (16 is lower than 1)
  3. Whoever's #2 seeded team stayed alive the longest
  4. Whoever's #1 seeded team stayed alive the longest
  5. Split the money
  
  
• If a team is disqualified DURING THE TOURNAMENT (for ineligible players, etc.) and the NCAA rules that it should lose any or all of its’ victories, then whoever picked that team will have their results changed to match the NCAA ruling.



• If a team is disqualified AFTER THE TOURNAMENT (I consider the tourney over when the final game is complete), then the disqualified team’s results will STAND.



• This pool is open only to people we know, or people who know people we know. That is, no strangers in the pool! This will be strictly enforced for the US side.
  
• Any rule decisions by Bill and Joe are FINAL. Remember the golden rule - this is a fun pool.