Super Bracket

You do get it, don't you?

Someone’s #1 in his NCAA bracket and his name rhymes with Clark. That’s right, it appears I have emerged from the blood bath that was the first two rounds in first place. Granted, I’ve lost two of my Final Four teams and I’m against a severely apathetic field of competitors–but who cares? The point is I’m winning.

It was some exciting, upset-pallooza action…and I don’t even watch Basketball. Honestly, I’d rather workout than watch the NBA (I guess some people like working out, but not me).

Anyway, I love the tension of the NCAA tournament so much I began thinking about what else someone could do to make the casual sports watcher, such as myself, more interested. Then I thought of it: what if the NCAA tournament wasn’t the only bracket you filled out, what if I created a…

SUPER BRACKET!!!

Think of it, a year long passive sport watcher’s Tour De Tournaments. There are all sorts of competitions  throughout the year that are conducive to bracket-ish creation: The Stanley Cup Finals, Premier League Soccer, Tennis Grand Slams, College Sports, F1 Racing, and, yes, even NASCAR.

Now, before you go “I’m not interested in any of those sports,” just read along and keep in the back of your head a random Saturday in February where you want SOMETHING to care about:

Super Bracket Tournament Rules:

Each tournament/Pick’m league/Race is one “leg” of the 15 leg Super Bracket. A player’s performance in one leg of the journey will earn them a certain number of points. For example, if a person were to win the Horse Racing leg, then they would win the highest number of points which would, in turn, be added to their overall Super Bracket total. See example, below:

Leg  #5 point alottment (6 player tournament) (sample):

First Place: 7 points (Player 2)  ————->  Scores added to overall points (below)
Second Place: 5 points  (Player 6)
Third Place:     4 points  (Player5)
Fourth Place:   3 points  (Player 4)
Fifth Place:     2 points  (Player 1)
Sixth Place: 1 points   (Player 3)

Overall Point Total (after Leg #5)

1.  Player 5:     45 +4=49
2.  Player 2:    39+7=46
3.  Player 6      32+5=37
4.  Player 1       29+2=31
5. Player 3       25+1=26
6. Player 4        22+3=25

Not too complicated, right? Person with the highest total at the end of all 15 legs is the winner.

Now, here are a list of my proposed legs and their corresponding rules.

Legs:

1. Tennis

• Event: Wimbledon (Mens)
• Schedule: June 20th-July 3rd
• Type: 128 person tournament.
• Rules: Each player is given 10 to 12 players, which will create a team. There will be a default auto-draft based on overall ranking (that can be changed if there are more serious tennis nuts involved that want to have a formal draft). Points will be awarded for a tennis player’s advancement in a round and added to the Superbracket players’ overall team total. Points for correct answers:

Round 1: 1
Round 2: 2
Round 3: 4
Round of 16: 8
Quarterfinals: 16
Semifinals: 32
Finals: 64

2. Baseball

• Event: Major League Baseball Playoffs
• Schedule: September 30th (Playoffs begin)—October 19th (World Series Begins)
• Type: 8 team tournament (1-5 game series, 2-7 game series’).
• Rules: Pick winners for each round. Also, players will indicate (1) how many games it will take their winner to advance in each round and, more generally, (2)  the score of each final game in each series. Closest in both (1) series predictions and (2) final game predictions gets 1 point added to their overall score. Ties are permissible. Points for Correct answers:

Division Series: 1
League Championships: 2
World Series: 4

3. Football (Pro)

• Event: NFL Playoffs
• Schedule: If played (potential lockout), January 7th-February 5th.
• Type: 12 team tournament.
• Rules: Pick winners for each round. Additional two points awarded to winner of each round that most closely picks the score of individual game. Points for Correct Picks:

First Round: 1
Second Round: 2
Conference Championships: 4
Super Bowl: 8

4. Basketball (Pro)

• Event: NBA Playoffs
• Schedule: April 16-May-ish
• Type: 16 team tournament (7 game series’).
• Rules: Pick winners for each round.  Also, players will indicate (1) how many games it will take their winner to advance in each round and, more generally, (2)  the score of each final game in each series. Closest in both (1) series predictions and (2) final game predictions gets 1 point added to their overall score. Ties are permissible. Points for Correct answers:

First Round: 1
Second Round: 2
Conference finals: 4
Finals: 8

5.Hockey

• Event: Stanley Cup Playoffs
• Schedule: Starts April 10th
• Type: 16 team tournament (7 game series’).
• Rule: Pick winners for each round.  Also, players will indicate (1) how many games it will take their winner to advance in each round and, more generally, (2)  the score of each final game in each series. Of those picking correctly for a series, an additional point is available (1) series predictions and (2) final game goal predictions gets 1 point added to their overall score. Ties are permissible. Points for correct picks:

First Round: 1
Second Round: 2
Conference Finals: 4
Stanley Cup Finals: 8

6. Soccer

• Event: UEFA Champions League
• Schedule: February to May
• Type : 32 team tournament.
• Points for correct answers: Round of 16: 1; Quarterfinals: 2; Semifinals: 4; Finals: 8.

7. Basketball (College)

• Event: NCAA Tournament
• Schedule: March 13-April 2.
• Type: 64 team tournament.
• Rules: Points for correct answers:

Round 1: 1
Round 2: 2
Sweet 16: 4
Elite 8: 8
Final 4: 16
Final: 32*

*Tie-breaker determined by closest guessed score of final game.

8. Formula 1 Racing

• Event: TBD
• Date: TBD
• Rules: 24 car race (12 teams). Each player will choose from the pool teams (depending on the number of players). Choosing order is based on player’s ranking prior to the race. First place would choose first and so on. The player with the lowest combined-team placing wins (i.e. If player 3 has a team whose cars finish 2nd and 9th, their total would be 11. Lowest scores win.).

9. Stock Car Racing

• Event: Daytona 500
• Date: February, TBD
• Type: 43 car race.
• Rules: Each player will choose a certain number of cars from a pool (number will depend on the number of players). Choosing order is based on player’s ranking prior to the race. First place would choose first and so on. The player with the lowest combined-team placing wins  (i.e. If player 3 has a  team whose cars finish 2nd, 9th, 16th, and 32nd, their total would be 59. Lowest score wins and so on.).

10. College Football

• Events: All NCAA 1-A Bowl Games
• Dates: Mid-December to Early January
• Rules: The person to pick the most bowl games correctly wins…and so on. Tie breaker: pick score of National Championship game.

11. Golf

• Event: PGA Matchplay Championships (Tournament)
• Schedule: February 23-February 28
• Type: 64 player tournament.
• Rules: Pick winners for each round. Highest point total wins. Points for correct answers:

Round 1:                      1
Round 2:                      2
Round 3:                      4
Quarterfinals:            8
Semi Finals:              16
Final:                          32*

*Ties-breaker: pick score of final

12. Cycling

• Event: The Tour de France
• Schedule: July 3-July 25
• Type: Bicycle race with 100s of racers
• Rules: Each player is assigned a formal cycling team based on their current ranking at the time of the selection. First place picks first. Whichever player’s team wins the Tour wins the most points (points determined when number of Superbracket players is determined). Players will be given 1 additional point if a rider on their team wins a stage. Team with rider winning the Tour will be given 5 additional points.

13. Poker

• Event: World Series of Poker (Main Event)
• Date: July 7th-July 19th, Final Table comes back in November for 1 day.
• Type: Card playing tournament with 100s of players.
• Rules: 30 of the top poker players in the world, based on annual winnings, will be placed into a pool. Each player will be given a certain number of players in the pool, which forms a “team” of players. The “team” with the highest earnings at the main event wins.

14. Horse Racing

• Event: Kentucky Derby
• Date: May 7th
• Rule: 20 horses (maximum) race (note: usually a few drop out at the gates)
• Rules: Each player will pick two to three horses (depending on the number of players) which will create a “team”. Order of choices based on their current rank in the Super Bracket (First goes first). The combined finish of a Superbracket player’s team will be totaled to get a combined score (see Formula 1 Racing Rules). In addition, each player will be asked to wager on who will win (get first place), place (get first or second), or show (get first, second, or third) in the entire field. If correct: Win: 5 points; place: 3 points; show: 1 points. If their horse gets higher than their prediction, they win the points of the position they picked (but no higher). All points are totaled for a combined score. Tie-Breaker: place of their second horse in their “team”. Horses that are no-shows will be considered placing last.

15. Supercross

• Event: Monster Energy Supercross Series Race TBD
• Date:  TBD
• Type: 40 Rider race. There are two preliminary heats in which the top 9 riders advance to the final. 2 Riders then come from a 22 Rider, 6 lap “last chance qualifier”. Final has 20 riders.
• Rules: Each player will be assigned a certain number of riders, depending on the number of players. The player with the riders finishing a combined-highest will win (see F1 Racing rules).

Well, I’m on Spring Break and I’m off to do the Dave and Buster’s Sextatholon (another one of my random, yet highly intriguing games). Let me know if you are at all interested in taking part in the Super Bracket or have any suggestions. I think it could be fun. If you didn’t read this far, I should tell you that I cut the break line in your friend’s car…not you, reader. You made it out alive…this time.

P.S. I found this pic searching for “Horse Racing Glory”