We've done this the last couple of years and it's worked out well. It's definitely a fun wrinkle to a NCAA tournament pool. You pick one team each day of the tournament to win straight-up. If they win, you advance. If they lose, you're out. The last man standing wins the pot. You can only pick a team once so you may not want to use a #1 seed on the first day. The only exception to the "one pick per day" rule is in the Elite 8 round where you will still have to pick two teams, but you can pick both the Saturday games, both the Sunday games, or one of each.

Feel free to share this with anyone not on the board.

The pool is at https://sm.app.splashsports.com/contest/?jCode=3eb640ee13594cbc8109fc82ba777bdb

It's $50 to join, but Splash Sports does charge $1/entry, so please send me $51. PM me for paypal or venmo details.

@Jack Straw , I got your payment.

Time for the rest of you to start signing up.

i will most definitely be in.

In and paid same Venmo from before

Got it!

One thing to be careful of: picks are due before the start of the day's first game. I thought in the past you could wait and pick a late game, but not anymore. So make sure your picks for Day 1 are in by Thursday morning.

Your defending co-champ is back. All bow before me.

In...sent paypal

Got it!

On 3/11/2026 at 7:42 PM, HornOnTheBayou said:

We've done this the last couple of years and it's worked out well. It's definitely a fun wrinkle to a NCAA tournament pool. You pick one team each day of the tournament to win straight-up. If they win, you advance. If they lose, you're out. The last man standing wins the pot. You can only pick a team once so you may not want to use a #1 seed on the first day. The only exception to the "one pick per day" rule is in the Elite 8 round where you will still have to pick two teams, but you can pick both the Saturday games, both the Sunday games, or one of each.

Feel free to share this with anyone not on the board.

The pool is at https://sm.app.splashsports.com/contest/?jCode=3eb640ee13594cbc8109fc82ba777bdb

It's $50 to join, but Splash Sports does charge $1/entry, so please send me $51. PM me for paypal or venmo details.

In. LMK if you 're doing my contest, if so I'll send you $26, if not $51, since mine is $25.

2 minutes ago, TXSooner518 said:

In. LMK if you 're doing my contest, if so I'll send you $26, if not $51, since mine is $25.

Yeah, I'll do yours. Have you posted details about it yet?

1 minute ago, HornOnTheBayou said:

Yeah, I'll do yours. Have you posted details about it yet?

just bumped it

2 minutes ago, TXSooner518 said:

just bumped it

Cool. And I just got your payment.

In and paid

6 minutes ago, PantsTent said:

In and paid

Got it!

In, paid.

11 minutes ago, MrX said:

In, paid.

Got it!

In and paid!

In and paid. If you don't lose on the first day, I think this one gets really fun.

Don't forget to get your Day 1 pick in by tomorrow at 11 AM.

In & paid

Down goes Wisconsin and @MrX !

It’s been real y’all!

Bounced back and forth between Wisky and Nebraska one too many times.

Damn Mr. X

Boy, a lot of y'all showed a lot of faith in Nebraska winning their first tournament game ever. No way I was doing that.

1 minute ago, closetojumping said:

Boy, a lot of y'all showed a lot of faith in Nebraska winning their first tournament game ever. No way I was doing that.

Have to navigate the delicate balance of picking a team to win who you hope will immediately lose their next game!

Is the "seed total" a new wrinkle this year if there is a tiebreaker - like highest total wins? I don't remember seeing that in the past, and it ended in a tie last year.

53 minutes ago, KingBobo81 said:

Is the "seed total" a new wrinkle this year if there is a tiebreaker - like highest total wins? I don't remember seeing that in the past, and it ended in a tie last year.

That was an option for breaking ties, but I turned it off.

It's Day 3 and nearly everyone is still alive. Make sure to get your pick in before 11 AM.

Edited March 21Mar 21 by HornOnTheBayou

Fuck I forgot about this one until just now. Tough day today anyway, I probably would have gone Arkansas.

Oh well good luck and remember those deadlines! ugh

Sorry, chief. You'll get us next year.

You got three more hours to get your picks in. Today should be a fun one. I imagine we have to lose a few people today.

Edited March 22Mar 22 by HornOnTheBayou

I took Purdue because I couldn’t see another time in which I could muster ANY confidence to pick them. I feel certain I’ll regret it.

Just now, closetojumping said:

I took Purdue because I couldn’t see another time in which I could muster ANY confidence to pick them. I feel certain I’ll regret it.

Same here. I don’t like picking high seeds this early, but Purdue is an exception.

Yep, it looks like 6 out of 13 of y'all took Purdue.

They were the only "sure thing" that I don't plan on picking later. Pretty simple calculus.

Now us non-Purdue pickers have to wrestle with that great moral dilemma. Do we consider picking them on Thursday?

Lol getting taken out by a 1 seed in first weekend is something.

Fuck Florida forever

Not ideal for me and a few others that every pick I/we made thus far has survived. Going to have to make some gross choices coming up soon!

I may have backed myself into a corner by avoiding the Gonzaga-Texas game and picking Purdue instead. Now it's <gulp> Nebraska or burn Arizona tomorrow. Ain't touching Houston/Illinois with a 10-foot pole.

Fuckin Florida blowing it screwed up the plan. No me likey.

Edited March 25Mar 25 by Darth Tron

Today is my exit, I can feel it. I can take Nebraska, or Iowa, or Arizona, or UH, or Texas. Good grief. If I can get to tomorrow, I like my choices. Today, nope.

Same - it is either gamble today or later, and the odds don't look good either way. The dates of the games are a real screw, as today's slates give really limited options as opposed to tomorrow.

Edited March 26Mar 26 by KingBobo81

Looking at the picks now that they're live. Definitely going to be some left behind after this evening.

I guess I'm the only traitor that picked Purdue.

Thank you, Iowa! I’m back, baby!

It looks like there will be at least a couple of people still alive for the Saturday/Sunday games, so just a couple of reminders.

1) Friday is a normal day. Pick one game only.

2) The Saturday and Sunday games are combined. You need to pick two games, but they can be two Saturday, two Sunday, or one of each. I'm not sure when the deadline is, so even if you're picking the two Sunday games, play it safe and pick them before the Saturday games start. If it doesn't lock, you can always change them if you want.

3) If no one goes 2-0 for Saturday/Sunday, anyone who goes 1-1 will advance. I'm not sure if the pool site will see it like that, but that's how we're playing it.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Looks like this thing continuing is all on Iowa State winning tonight, otherwise @PantsTent is getting an early win.

49 minutes ago, KingBobo81 said:

Looks like this thing continuing is all on Iowa State winning tonight, otherwise @PantsTent is getting an early win.

Stated when UConn was kicking the shit out of MSU…whoops

Yeah games are close now but there’s a path. Just got home from baseball walking off ou sucks.

Before baseball was my daughter’s ceremony at Moody to receive her honors cord for graduation. Nice day on campus plus this win makes a pretty good day.

[Jim Nantz] And the pants tent is pitched! [/Jim Nantz]

Congrats, sir! Check your dm when you get a second and I'll get your money sent out.

And to everyone else, thanks for another great year! I noticed that ESPN is doing an eliminator challenge now, so I think I'll switch us over there next year unless they're any objections. I did it with a couple of friends this year and it ran the same as the splashsports.