The 2024-25 NCAA Basketball Tip Off Tournament is Final: Our Winner is Dan Sohler (Pool Closing & Payouts)

Congrats to Dan Sohler for winning back-to-back early season NCAA Basketball Tip Off Tournaments in 2024 and now 2025. He should be the newest Nebraska Cornhuskers fan after that Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship game where they knocked off Oregon State 78-66 to secure his win. Sohler put together 13 wins, no tiebreaker needed, and had an accuracy rate of almost 45%. The tournaments this year were much more difficult to predict than last year, as we had 3 people at 50% or higher last year. 🏀🥇

Here is the link to the final standings and they are also attached to this email. Overall, we had 6 people win money with the following payouts. 💰

If you won money, please reach out to me and confirm how you would like to be paid out (I'd be happy to apply any winnings to the conference tournament pool coming up in a few months). Be on the lookout for the first communication on that pool later in January. I hope everyone enjoyed this pool, have a Happy New Year! 🥳

Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Championship Game Preview

It all comes down to the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship game, and the Nebraska Cornhuskers, on Christmas Day to determine the winner of our 2024-25 NCAA Basketball Tip Off Tournament pool. The only college basketball being played on Christmas Day will be the 4 tournament games, with the championship game set with Oregon State taking on Nebraska. I love that we have a great battle for first, second, and third place in our pool! 🎅 

Here is the link to the current standings as we prepare to wrap up our pool and the last of the bracketed college basketball early season tournaments. I have outlined the path for each of the top 4 people. 

• Sohler: If Nebraska wins, Sohler wins. If Nebraska loses, Sohler will need to rely on the third tiebreaker to hold off Jenn, which is the closest Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship game total. 🥇🥈

• Jenn: Her only path to victory is a Nebraska loss, and to win the third tiebreaker, which is  the closest Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship game total. Jenn can come in first, second, or third. 🥇🥈🥉

• Tim: The best he can do is 2nd place with a Nebraska win (he would have the 2nd tiebreaker over Jenn). Tim can come in second, third, or fourth. 🥈🥉

• Novak: The best he can do is 3rd place with a Nebraska loss + win the third tiebreaker over Tim. 🥉

For everyone else not in the top 4, you will still want to pay close attention to the championship game, as we are all eligible for payouts. 💰

• Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Winner (Christmas Bonus 🎅) - The person who correctly picks the winner of this Christmas Day championship game will win $150. 4 people are still alive for this, including Ryan in 8th place

• Closest Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship game final score total (More Christmas Bonus 🎅)  - The person with the closest championship game score wins $50. Even if you're in last place, with no other wins, you will have the opportunity to recoup your $50 on this final early season tournament championship game.

Good luck to everyone as we wrap up the 2024-25 NCAA Basketball Tip Off Tournament pool and move on to conference play after the holidays and gear up for conference tournaments and March Madness! 🏀

Next Up: Don Haskins Basketball Invitational

On Friday, 12/20, the Don Haskins Basketball Invitational will tip off in El Paso, Texas. This is a 4-team tournament featuring Akron, Jackson State, Yale, and UTEP that will be played over two days. Yale and UTEP are the only teams that matter for our pool. 🏀 

A Yale win will knock out Novak from finishing top 3, and allows Jenn, Sohler, and Tim to fight out those top 3 spots. However, a UTEP win will put Novak in a tie for 3rd place with Tim, and on the heels of Sohler and Jenn. With so many unique picks for the last remaining tournament, we could have a fun battle for first place in the pool. 🥇

Here is the link to the current standings as we prepare for this epic Don Haskins Basketball Invitational on Friday. I'll post the next few updates on the blog before sending out the final standings and payouts next week. For everyone else not in the top 4, you will still want to pay close attention to the last tournament taking place over Christmas, the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, as we are all eligible for payouts. The details are below:

• Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Winner (Christmas Bonus 🎅) - The person who correctly picks the winner of this Christmas Day championship game will win $150.

• Closest Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship game final score total (More Christmas Bonus 🎅)  - The person with the closest championship game score wins $50. Even if you're in last place, with no other wins, you will have the opportunity to recoup your $50 on this final early season tournament championship game.

We have pool related action on 6 of the 8 teams playing in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, which almost ensures a nice payout for a few people unless we see a substantial upset. Even the bottom feeders like B.I., Balls Boy, and Iannuzzi have a shot at up to $200 on Christmas Day! I will post a future blog entry wrapping up the Don Haskins Basketball Invitational and previewing the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. 🌴

Good luck to everyone as we're at the home stretch of the early season tournaments wrapping up. ☘

Big 5 Classic Championship Game Preview

On Saturday, 12/7, at least one tournament fires back up, and that is The Big 5 Classic championship game in Philly. Saint Joseph's will take on LaSalle, but the only pool significance that this likely has pertains to 3rd place, possibly a run at 1st or 2nd, and maybe some pride for a few others towards the bottom of the standings. 🏀 

Novak is sitting in 4th place with his Saint Joseph's pick, but he is 2 points off 3rd place, and 3 points away from 1st place. Normally, this would be a big hill to climb, but he does have 3 unique picks for the 3 remaining tournaments, which means if he goes 3-0, and wins the tiebreaker, he takes 1st place. I will be rooting for Saint Joseph's just to make Jenn, Sohler, and Tim have to sweat out the final two championship games. 🏆

Here are the current standings as we head into this very important Big 5 Classic championship game, with a lot at stake for 4 people in the pool. I am looking forward to an exciting finish to our pool as we head into conference play and eventually the conference tournament pool! 😄

Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis Bloodbath

This blog entry was supposed to be announcing who in our pool won the Bad Bow Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis $150 bonus pot, however we all got this one very wrong. In an upset, Oklahoma/Louisville ended up winning that tournament, leading to a loss for the entire pool. The $150 bonus pot now rolls into the overall payout for the final pool standings. This is what makes college basketball so exciting, it really is very hard to predict most of the time. 🏀

With 24 of the 29 early season college basketball tournaments now complete, we have a clear picture on who can win the pool, and who is eliminated. For anyone that has been eliminated from the top 3, we still have the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Christmas bonus on 12/25, where you can win up to $200. I won't get into the breakdown of that tournament just yet, but we do have 6 of the 8 teams picked for our pool, which makes me hopeful that someone will receive a big payout. 💰

Looking at the updated standings we see that Sohler is in the driver's seat to win this pool, but Jenn and Tim have enough unique picks, plus the tiebreaker, that they are all in contention for first. However, if Jenn and/or Tim slip up, we have 5 people competing to take that 3rd place spot. Accuracy is down this season, last year's pool we had 3 people over 50% accuracy, this year we have nobody near 50% accuracy.

We still have 2 tournaments that are wrapping up on Saturday before we get a break for a week. The first tournament championship to be played on Saturday will be the Arizona Tip-Off (Desert Division) with Weber State vs. Pepperdine. The Final Championship of the day will be played in the evening where Alabama will face Oregon in the Players Era Thanksgiving Festival. 🦃

Gardner-Webb, Auburn, Michigan, SMU, and The LMU Lions Are Early Season Tournament Champions

We had 5 more champions crowned today in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, Fort Myers Tip-Off (Beach Division), Acrisure Holiday Invitational, Cancun Challenge (Mayan Division), and Cancun Challenge (Riviera Division). Below is a breakdown of the winners, along with how each one impacted our pool standings. 55% of the bracketed early season tournaments are now complete, 14% are in progress, and 31% have not yet tipped off. 🏀

Reviewing today's action, Auburn beat Memphis in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational this afternoon, giving important wins to Tim, Sohler, and our very own game show host. Over in the Fort Myers Tip-Off (Beach Division) Michigan blew the doors off Xavier, giving Sohler and Grimmer key wins, creating a log jam at the top of the standings. Over in the Cancun double-header, Gardner-Webb won the Cancun Challenge (Mayan Division) while LMU won the Cancun Challenge (Riviera Division). Finally, heading over to the Acrisure Holiday Invitational, SMU knocked off Washington in a fun, face-paced, late-night game.

Here are the updated standings with all of today's tournament championship action, including losses from tournaments that were in progress today, but not necessarily a championship game. The big winners today were Jenn and Sohler, jumping into a 1st place tie with 9 points and a 47.4% accuracy, proving how quickly things can change. Novak and Tim are hanging on right behind them with 8 points and over 40% accuracy. Finally, Freddy Fazbear and the game show host each have 6 points, remaining within striking distance. Those of us with 5 points or less are running out of time and need to essentially go perfect to be in contention.

For the first time in many years, we do not have any championship games on Thanksgiving Day, but we do have a whopping 6 new tournaments tipping off on Turkey Day! Have a great Thanksgiving holiday watching some great college basketball games, saving us from terrible NFL matchups. 🦃

4 More Tournament Champions Crowned Today

We had champions crowned today in the Cayman Island Classic, Fort Myers Tip-Off (Palms Division), Sunshine Slam (Beach Bracket), and Sunshine Slam (Ocean Bracket). Now that I have some more time on my hands, I will break down each of the championship games and preview the Wednesday games. Almost half of the tournaments are now complete. 😮

The first championship crowned today was Miami (OH), as they knocked off Mercer 75-72 in the Fort Myers Tip-Off (Palms Division). Over half the pool walked away with a win, however Tim lost this one which allowed the field to catch up to him, and eventually pass him up in the standings. 🌴

In a championship game where we nobody picked the winner, Boston College knocked out Boise State with a buzzer beating 3-pointer to win the Cayman Island Classic, leaving no impact to our pool besides all red for everyone. It's always amazing to see nobody with a winner with out 8 options, but that is what makes college basketball great, the unexpected! 🏝

Finally, we saw Clemson win the Sunshine Slam (Beach Bracket), and Radford win the Sunshine Slam (Ocean Bracket) in our final championship games of the evening. Novak and Jenn benefited from those wins, leapfrogging Tim for 1st and 2nd place respectively. The rest of the field is starting to fall away from the top 4.

Here are the updated standings with all of today's tournament action, including losses from tournaments that tipped off today. In the Cancun Challenge (Mayan Division) Gardner-Webb stormed back to knock of Southeastern Louisiana, handing out 2 pool losses. While over in the Players Era Thanksgiving Festival San Diego State upset Creighton, knocking out 4 people from our pool. This is just a sample of what happened tonight outside of the championship games. 🏀 

Wednesday will bring us 5 championship games and 1 new tournament tipping off. The new tournament tipping off is critical to our pool as it is the Bad Bow Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis, the winner receives $150 (split evenly for any ties). Looking ahead, only 2 people have lone wolf picks, and can take the entire $150. Heffron with Providence, and Iannuzzi with Indiana. An Arizona or Gonzaga win would mean a tie across multiple people, and if another team wins that $150 just rolls into the main pot. 💰

2024-25 NCAA Basketball Early Season Tournament Pool Updated Standings

We have had a wild week of tournament games, and non-tournament games, with some significant impacts to our pool. We're starting to see some separation in the standings, and while no one is out of it yet, being at the bottom is never a good thing. We still have a few championship games wrapping up over the next few days, and 34% of the tournaments have not even tipped off yet, so we still have a long way to go. 🏀

Standings Link

2024-25 NCAA Basketball Tip Off Pool

Below paints a picture of how things are shaking out with everyone's picks. Tim is leading the way with 4 points, and a 40% accuracy rate. Next, we have a 3-way tie for second place between Jack, Jenn, and Novak, all with 3 points and hitting at a 30% accuracy rate. Finally, Freddy Fazbear is hanging on with 3 points, however his accuracy is only 27.3%. 

Nobody is running away with this yet, we still have a whole slate of critical tournament games wrapping up over the next few days. As a group, we are doing surprisingly bad at this so far, typically we have a few people hanging around 50% accuracy. 💥

We have 4 more championship games today, depending on what time they wrap up I will post updated standings with a blog entry tonight. If you need it, here is the blog link. Good luck to everyone this week, enjoy all the basketball that we have!

7 Tournaments Tip Off Thursday, 11/21 and Friday, 11/22

Starting tomorrow, Thursday, 11/21, and Friday, 11/22 we have 7 early season tournaments tipping off, with all of them wrapping up no later than Monday, 11/24. I will preview each of the tournaments below, highlighting any significant impacts to our pool. I will also be updating the standings as teams are knocked out. I likely will not be posting another blog entry until after these 7 tournaments are complete, so hang on to the standings link. 🏀

Before we get into the preview, we do have some additional updates to the standings from the Big 5 Classic as the 12/7 championship game matchup is almost set. Pool favorite Villanova has been eliminated, and the only team left from our pool is Saint Joseph's. They will be matched up against the winner of Temple vs. LaSalle, teams that nobody in our pool picked. Novak is off to a great start, he has the only "perfect bracket" remaining, already securing a win, and having Saint Joseph's still in play.

Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship (11/21 Tip; 11/22 Championship Game)

Only 4 teams are featured in this tournament, and we have action on all teams in our pool, which means at least one person is going to come out a winner. Tennessee is the big pool favorite with 62% of the picks, while Jenn is all alone with Virginia. This tournament will be quick, tipping off on Thursday, 11/21 and wrapping up the next day.

Legends Classic Presented by Old Trapper (11/21 Tip; 11/22 Championship Game)

This will also be a tournament that only has 4 teams, tipping off on Thursday, 11/21 and wrapping up the next day. Texas Tech is the big favorite with 62% of our pool picks, with the remaining picks on Texas. We all stayed away from Syracuse and Saint Joseph's, which means it's possible that nobody wins this tournament.

Boardwalk Battle (11/21 Tip; 11/23 Championship Game)

In our first 8-team tournament to tip off, we will have quarterfinals, semifinals, and a championship game spanning across 3 days. 38% of our picks are on James Madison. and from there it is all over place. The only teams not selected in our pool are Stetson and Toledo, leaving 6 picks across 13 entries. This could be a key tournament that determines the winner of the pool.

Myrtle Beach Invitational (11/21 Tip; 11/24 Championship Game)

In another 8-team tournament, this one spanning across 4 days, we have a good collection of high mid-majors that will be battling it out. Ohio makes up 38% of our picks, with 3 teams not even being selected at all. Those teams are Middle Tennessee, Portland, and Texas State. Jack is stilling at the top of the standings and the only one rolling with Wright State. If Jack wins this tournament and the Boardwalk Battle, he is going to be well positioned for the remaining tournaments.

Shriners Hospital Charleston Classic (11/21 Tip; 11/24 Championship Game)

This next tournament also has 8 teams, also spanning across 4 days, and we are rooting for 5 of the 8 teams playing. Miami is our pool favorite with just over 50% of the picks, with a few people on Seton Hall and Drake, while a few fly solo on Drake and VCU. This looks to be a fun bracket with a few potential upsets.

Greenbriar Tip-Off Mountain Division (11/22 Tip; 11/24 Championship Game)

Our first Friday tournament brings us back to the Greenbrier tip-off, this time we are in the Mountain Division, featuring much better teams. This is a small tournament with only a field of 4 teams, but nobody in our pool selected Central Florida. We are almost evenly split between Pittsburgh and Wisconsin, with a few LSU picks. Depending how Thursday goes, many of us may be rooting for a Central Florida run.

U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam (11/22 Tip; 11/25 Championship Game)

The final tournament in this group of 7 brings us another 8-team field made up mostly of mid-majors, and Kansas State. Not surprisingly, 70% of our group's picks are on Kansas State, with Illinois State, Liberty, and Longwood receiving a few votes. Half the field went unpicked, but it seems like the favorite winning won't have a huge impact to our standings.

That wraps up our preview of 7 big tournaments that will get us through the upcoming weekend, the next blog entry will be a combination of our updating pool standings and the Cayman Island Classic tournament preview. 🏝

Until then, I will be trying my best to keep the standings updated as teams are knocked out, and I'll be enjoying all the tournament action from Vegas! 🎰

UT Rio Grand Valley Wins the Greenbrier Tip-Off (River Division) Tournament

In a game that was played in a conference room, UT Rio Grand Valley is our first early season tournament winner, taking the River Division of the Greenbriar Tip-Off with a final score of 83-59 over Tennessee Tech. Jack and Novak are on top of the pool standings with that win, and are now off to a strong start. 🥇

The standings are updated and things will be quiet until the next group of tournaments start on Thursday, 11/21. The majority of the tournaments will take place between 11/21 -11/30. I'll post a blog entry prior to Thursday, 11/21 to preview the tournaments that will be tipping off. We're just getting started! 🏀

Greenbrier Tip-Off (River Division) Starts Today

Our second early season tournament starting up this afternoon is the Greenbriar Tip-Off (River Division) which features 4 teams. Charleston Southern, Tennessee Tech, UT Rio Grand Valley, and VMI. It takes a die-hard college basketball fan to pay attention to this tournament, and it doesn't even look like these games are available to watch on TV, but you can stream them from the tournament website. However, the positive is we will have our first early season tournament champion crowned by tomorrow evening, Saturday, 11/16! 🏀

Looking at the Greenbriar Tip-Off (River Division) from the lens of our pool, we have all 4 teams chosen, which means at least one of us will get the first win of the pool. If we break it down, Tennessee Tech is the most popular pick, with Charleston Southern very close behind. B.I. stands alone with VMI.

Looking back at the only tournament in action, although we have seen a few losses in the Big 5 Classic tournament, we have not had any losses in the pool standings yet due to the round robin format of that tournament. 

Below is the link to the standings as I will update standings even if I don't post a blog entry, but I do expect at least one blog entry this weekend since we have our first championship game. After that, it may go quiet for about a week.

Standings Link
2024-25 NCAA Basketball Tip Off Pool

Our First Tournament Tips Off Tonight: The Big 5 Classic

Our first tournament tips off tonight with the Big 5 Classic, which is taking place first on college campuses, but finishing at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. 4 of the 6 teams will be in action later today. This is the oddest format of all the tournaments as 6 schools will be separated into two, three-team pods:

Pod 1

Drexel, La Salle, and Temple

Pod 2

Penn, Saint Joseph’s, and Villanova

Each team will play the other two teams from their pod at their individual on-campus arenas. Then, all teams will participate in the Toyota Big 5 Classic tripleheader at Wells Fargo Center on December 7. The first seed in each pod will compete for the Big 5 championship, the second-place teams in each pod compete for third place, and the third seeds compete for fifth place. This means a loss on campus may eliminate a team's ability to with this championship, along with your ability to win this one if your team loses on campus. 🏀

Our pool favorite is Villanova with 41% of the picks, but Drexel and Saint Joeseph's were picked as well. That means we're only on half the teams in this tournament, so we can run into a scenario where nobody wins the Big 5 Classic.

Below is a reminder on where you can get the blog link, as I won't be sending every update via e-mail going forward, also included is the link for the standings. Save and bookmark those links if you want to stay up to date on all the tournaments and our pool standings. 💾

Blog Link
https://2024-25ncaabasketballtipoffchallenge.blogspot.com
 
Standings Link
2024-25 NCAA Basketball Tip Off Pool

These tournaments can be a bit wonky, so if we find out any teams back out, new teams are added, or the format changes, I will give everyone the opportunity to re-pick for that specific tournament. I think last year we ended up deleting/removing an entire tournament, but let's hope it goes smoother this year.

Good Luck Everyone! 🍀

2024-25 NCAA Basketball Early Season Tournament Pool Picks Are In

The 2024-25 NCAA basketball early season tournaments pool picks are in and the master spreadsheet is updated with all our selections! 😛

We may see a few late entries trickle in, but I'll update those if they come in. Please look very carefully through all your picks and if I made an error that needs to be changed reach out to me immediately, as the Big 5 Classic tips off this evening. 🏀

If you're reading this via e-mail, the master spreadsheets are both attached and located via this link. Click on and bookmark this link as I will update the standings multiple times each week. Also, the blog link is below as e-mail updates will be rare. I attempt to post 1-2 blog entries each week.

Blog Link

https://2024-25ncaabasketballtipoffchallenge.blogspot.com

 

Standings Link

2024-25 NCAA Basketball Tip Off Pool

Let's get some of the basics out of the way...

I know many of you are challenged by technology and spreadsheets, so I will always have 2 versions of the spreadsheet posted. 

• Fun Version: 2024_25 College Basketball Tip Off Master (This has all the features and functionality to show things like "Accuracy" and "Max Points Available")

• Boring Version: 2024_25 College Basketball Tip Off Master Light (This will error out many of the added features that I worked hard on, but at least you can still see standings and picks)

Hint when opening: Make sure when you open the excel document you are clicking on "Enable Editing" and "Enable Content" to ensure everything loads and you have all the fun features enabled. If you're accessing the document from the standings link I would recommend downloading the excel file and then opening the document.

The spreadsheet will outline your overall standings, Wins, and Losses, which all calculate into your Accuracy, Max Points Available, and Your Projected Total; you will always have a clear picture of where you stand.

If you scroll down past everyone's picks, you will see a conference snapshot that includes valuable information about each conference tournament such as:

• Important dates
• Game location
• Pool favorites
• X information

Please look very carefully through all of your picks and if I made an error that needs to be changed reach out to me immediately. A change can only be made if a mistake was made by me when entering your picks, no going back to change your picks because you realize how terrible they are now. No changes for any reason will be allowed after the games tip off in the evening today Tuesday, 11/12/24.

Payment information on where to send your $50. 💰

• Zelle (Preferred): Rick Donegan 630-885-2873
• Venmo: @Rick-Donegan
• Cashapp: $RickDonegan
• Address: 1140 Venetian Court; Naperville, IL 60540  
• In Person
• PayPal (Not preferred, but if it's your only option please send money using the friends and family option): rwdpeanut@gmail.com

Any non-payment, or attempt to arrange payment, by Sunday, 11/17/24 will result in your entry being removed and a permanent pool ban. I'm not going to spend my time chasing down money.

The Big 5 Classic starts tonight! I'll post a short blog entry later this afternoon previewing the format of this specific tournament and how it impacts our pool. 

Good Luck Everyone! 🍀

2024-25 NCAA Basketball Tip Off Pool Sign Up Now Live

Happy College Basketball Opening Day! 🏀

We are now only 8 days away from the first of the 29 bracket style NCAA basketball early season tournaments tipping off, and it is time to submit your pool picks! 😍

Included below is a detailed rundown of the rules, key dates, and payment information. Additionally, an excel sheet is attached that is to be filled out with your picks and returned no later than 11:59p CST on Monday, 11/11/24. Late entries might be accepted, however once a tournament tips off, that specific tournament will count as a loss for you. Unlike the conference tournament pool, no real benefit in waiting until the last minute to submit your picks. ⌚

Let's get started...

This will be our 2nd year of running this pool for a larger group, below are the details of the pool, with the goal being to pick the winner of each early season NCAA Basketball tournament. The game is very simple, all you do is pick who you think is going to win each of the 29 bracket style NCAA early season tournaments. 🏀

The entry fee will be $50 with the following payout structure:

• 1st place receives a 60% payout
• 2nd place receives a 25% payout
• 3rd place receives a 15% payout

This pool has a very easy scoring system. The person with the most correct picks, wins the pool. Since these teams are not seeded, bonus points are not a thing like in our conference tournament pool. All ties in the standings are settled using the following tiebreakers:

1. Overall total
2. Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship winner
3. Closest Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship game total

Win money without winning the pool. 🤑

The pool is meant to be fun and keep people in it as long as possible, all the way to the last game played on Christmas Day. No matter where you're at in the standings you can still win money 3 different ways even if you're outside the top 3 in the standings. It's likely we'll have some ties, so the money gets split among all winners in the event of a tie. Technically, you can be towards the bottom of the standings and still win every one of these categories.

• Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis (Black Friday Bonus 🦃) - The person who correctly picks the winner of this HUGE Black Friday championship game will win $150.

• Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Winner (Christmas Bonus 🎅) - The person who correctly picks the winner of this Christmas Day championship game will win $150.

• Closest Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship game final score total (More Christmas Bonus 🎅)  - The person with the closest championship game score wins $50. Even if you're in last place, with no other wins, you will have the opportunity to recoup your $50 on this final early season tournament championship game.

As these early season tournaments begin and end at different dates between 11/12/24 - 12/25/24, I will post a weekly, and sometimes daily, blog and standings update via the link below. ▼

Blog Link

https://2024-25ncaabasketballtipoffchallenge.blogspot.com

 

Standings Link

2024-25 NCAA Basketball Tip Off Pool

Here are the steps to enter the pool:

1. Fill out the attached spreadsheet with the team you think will win each of the 29 early season tournaments using the dropdown provided for each conference.
2. Do not forget to pick the total of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship game as that may be an important tiebreaker, along with a payout if you are the closest, regardless of where you're at in the standings.
3. Ensure your name (or nickname) is included along with your e-mail address.
4. E-mail me a copy no later than 11:59p CST on Monday, 11/11/24.
5. If filling out a spreadsheet is not for you, or you're attempting to use google sheets and it's not working, feel free to call, e-mail, message, WhatsApp, text or smoke signal me your picks.

It really shouldn't take longer than 5-10 minutes to fill everything out as I included a dropdown list for each conference to allow easy and accurate selections for that conference. You will not see seed numbers as these teams are not seeded. These early season tournaments are much smaller than the conference tournaments, with only 4-8 total teams, so less choices should make this quicker to pick. 

I will send out a master spreadsheet with everyone's picks prior to the first early season tip off tournament game, including my picks.

Payment information on where to send your $50. 💰

• Zelle (Preferred): Rick Donegan 630-885-2873
• Venmo: @Rick-Donegan
• Address: 1140 Venetian Court; Naperville, IL 60540  
• In Person
• PayPal (Not preferred, but if it's your only option please send money using the friends and family option): rwdpeanut@gmail.com

Any non-payment, or attempt to arrange payment, by Sunday, 11/17/24 will result in your entry being removed and a permanent pool ban on all pools. 🚫

Good Luck Everyone! 🍀

2024-25 NCAA Basketball Tip Off Pool Coming Soon!

We are back for year 2 of the NCAA Basketball Tip Off Pool. It is only 1 week away from the start of the 2024-25 college basketball season tipping off, which means early season bracketed tournament time is around the corner! 🎉

If we have enough interest for this pool again, then next week, the week of 11/3/2024, I will send out the rules, and entry sheet, for the 2024-25 NCAA Basketball Tip Off Tournament pool. This will be our 2nd year of running this pool for a larger group. I'm also open to any feedback or proposed rule changes you may have after last year. 🏀

Below is a preview of the rules for the 2024-25 pool. If you are interested in playing, please let me know and I will reserve a spot for you. The game is very simple, all you do is pick who you think is going to win each of the 29 NCAA early season bracketed tournaments.

These early season tip-off tournaments are similar to conference tournaments, as they are teams that play in a bracket style pool. The difference is that these are teams from all different conferences, typically limited to 4-8 teams, and no team is seeded.

Even if you're not a die-hard college basketball fan, these are fun tournaments to watch throughout November and December as they are played in fun locations, mid-majors are mixed in with the major programs, and it's a good way to learn about the teams before conference tournaments and March Madness!

Last season Dan Sohler took home $390 with his 1st place win. 💸

The entry fee will be $50 with the following payout structure:

• 1st place receives a 60% payout
• 2nd place receives a 25% payout
• 3rd place receives a 15% payout

This pool has a very easy scoring system. The person with the most correct picks, wins the pool. Since these teams are not seeded, bonus points are not a thing like in our conference tournament pool. All ties in the standings are settled using the following tiebreakers:

1. Overall total
2. Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship winner
3. Closest Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship game total

Also, you can win money without winning the pool. 🤑

The pool is meant to be fun and keep people in it as long as possible, all the way to the last game played on Christmas Day. No matter where you're at in the standings you can still win money 3 different ways even if you're outside the top 3 in the standings. It's likely we'll have some ties, so the money gets split among all winners in the event of a tie. Technically, you can be towards the bottom of the standings and still win every one of these categories.

• Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis (Black Friday Bonus 🦃) - The person who correctly picks the winner of this HUGE Black Friday championship game will win $150.

• Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Winner (Christmas Bonus 🎅) - The person who correctly picks the winner of this Christmas Day championship game will win $150.

• Closest Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship game final score total (More Christmas Bonus 🎅)  - The person with the closest championship game score wins $50. Even if you're in last place, with no other wins, you will have the opportunity to recoup your $50 on this final early season tournament championship game.

As these early season tournaments begin and end at different dates between 11/12/24 - 12/25/24, I will post a weekly, and sometimes daily, blog and standings update via the link below.

https://2024-25ncaabasketballtipoffchallenge.blogspot.com

Make sure you save this blog link, subscribe, and put it in your favorites so you're always up to date. More details coming the week of 11/3/24.🏀

Thank You!

Rick Donegan