MANO-A-MANO COLLEGE FOOTBALL CONTEST

OFFICIAL RULES FOR 2009

 How the Game is Played

The pool of contest players is divided into conferences, with the number of conferences and the number of players per conference to be determined by the total number of players.  A weekly schedule is created, pitting every player against a different player each week.  Players pick the winners (NOTE: ALL MANO PICKS ARE AGAINST THE SPREAD) for ten Division I-A college football games which have been selected by administrators for each week.   Players then assign confidence points to each of their ten picks, with 10 points assigned to the pick with the highest confidence level, down to1 point for the least confident pick. Players’ scores are then determined by adding up the points for all games that were picked correctly.  (Minimum score = 0, Maximum score  = 10 + 9 + 8 + ... + 2 + 1 = 55.)  Between the two opponents in each week’s Mano a Mano matchup, a Win is declared if one player scores more points than the other, with a Loss being declared for the loser. Win/Loss records are thus accumulated throughout the season.  At the regular season’s end, the conference champions and any wildcard winner(s) will advance to the playoffs for a shot at the Mano a Mano Championship.
Note: the Mano a Mano 2009 regular season will be 12 weeks long.

 How to Sign Up

Send an e-mail to acbanes@yahoo.com.  Include the player’s name you want to use for the contest, your e-mail address*, your favorite division I-A college football team, and any Mano conference preference.  Please also indicate if you are a returning Mano player, or if you will be participating this year as a Mano Rookie.

The deadline to sign-up is Sunday, August 30, 2009 at 11:59 P.M. or when we have 84 confirmed players.

* There is a maximum of one entry per league for each e-mail address.

Conference Set-up

Each participant has the option of either selecting the conference in which they wish to participate or having contest administrators randomly place them into a conference.  The number of conferences depends on the total number of players who sign up, with the goal being 7 conferences of 12 teams in each conference.  Contest administrators reserve the right to alter league and conference set-ups as needed to ensure all the conferences contain a nearly equal number of players.

Weekly Schedules - revise

Once conference assignments have been made, the Mano-a-Mano schedule will be finalized for the entire length of the contest season and posted at the official Mano site.  This schedule will match contest participants against each other from week to week.  Each player will have the opportunity to play all players within their conference and will match-up against Conference Consensus one week.  

Weekly Games

Each week the contest begins by 6:00 PM(CT) Tuesday with the posting of that week’s ten games and point spreads on the official Mano-a-Mano forum maintained at fcstop25.com and at the official Mano-a-Mano website, manofootball.com.

The spreads used for each game selected will be pulled directly from the Yahoo! Sports "Odds" page via BetOnline.com.

The games will be listed as follows:     Favored Team    Point Spread     Underdog

Here is an example:                              

Game 1         Florida            1 1/2           Georgia

Game 2         Utah              1 1/2           BYU

Game 3         Pitt                2 1/2           Syracuse

Game 4         Florida St.        3 1/2           Miami-Fla.

Game 5         Alabama          3 1/2           Tennessee

Game 6         Texas              4 1/2           Oklahoma

Game 7         Toledo            5 1/2           Bowling Green

Game 8         Michigan         6 1/2           Ohio State

Game 9         Boise St.         7 1/2           Fresno St.

Game 10       USC              8 1/2           UCLA

All games will be listed with half-point spreads (e.g. 3 1/2 rather than 3 or 4) to eliminate pushes (i.e. games that are tied ATS).  We will try to ensure that contest point spreads mirror the published “Latest Lines” for all games used.  However, the point spreads published on Tuesday are final regardless of whether they coincide with the Vegas odds.  We will try to select the 10 most intriguing match-ups from week to week and will try to get a variety of teams throughout the season.  If you have any suggestions for games to use for any week, please post them on the  message board on Mondays.

 Weekly Picks

Once the games and point spreads are announced, players may begin submitting their picks for that week.  Picks may be submitted until 6:00 PM(CT) on the Friday leading up to that weeks action.  Picks are submitted by clicking on the "Submission Page" link located on the Mano-a-Mano website.  You may also submit picks (within the required time frame) by posting them directly in the Mano forum.  Please be sure to specify all pertinent information including your Mano name, your picks for the winners (against the spread) for all 10 games, and the confidence points for all 10 games.  When assigning confidence points, assign 10 to the game pick that you feel the most confident about, then assign 9 points to your next most confident pick, and so on down to assigning 1 point to your least confident pick. Do not assign the same confidence points to more than one game in a given week.  (As a numerical check, the total sum of all your confidence points should be equal to 55.)  We ask that you submit picks on time so that we can post all players picks on the website by 12:00 AM on Saturday, so that all players can review their picks, review their opponent’s picks, and review the picks of all other contest participants.  If your picks are not posted correctly, or if you wish to change one or more of your picks, we will allow last minute changes. Any changes can only be accomplished by posting your changes on the Mano-a-Mano message board prior to 10:00 AM on Saturday. We ask that you use this last-minute option as a one-time exception.  Timely posting of picks will allow for all players to have the ability to easily find all picks that have been posted in one place instead of having to scan through several message board posts containing numerous changes. Anyone failing to submit picks for a given week within the required deadline will automatically receive a Loss for that week of the competition.  It is the responsibility of all players to review their picks once they have been posted on the website on Friday to ensure that their picks were received and posted accurately.  Picks posted are final unless modified on the message board prior to 10:00 AM Saturday.  If you notice that your picks have not been received or have not been posted accurately, simply post your picks on the message board prior to 10:00 AM Saturday.

ANY PICKS NOT SUBMITTED BY 6:00 PM (CT) WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. PLEASE REALIZE THAT THIS IS SOMETHING KBANES AND I DO IN OUR SPARE TIME AND CANNOT BE AVAILABLE EVERY SATURDAY MORNING DUE TO PRIOR ENGAGEMENTS.

 Weekly Results

For each game a player picks correctly, the confidence points assigned to that game are added to that player’s weekly score (points are not deducted for incorrectly picked games, which score zero points).  In each Mano-a-Mano match-up, the player who scores the most points will get credited with a Win for that week, while the player with the least points will be credited with a Loss.  Yes, it is very possible for such a match-up to end in a tie, and tie-breakers for weekly match-ups, based on assigned confidence levels, are explained below.  Weekly results will be posted to each player’s seasonal standings and will accumulate throughout each week of the contest.  The outcomes of the weekly match-ups will be officially posted on the website by noon on Monday.

 What happens if my Mano opponent fails to submit picks?

As stated above any player who fails to submit picks will automatically receive a Loss for that given week.  If a player is matched against an opponent who fails to submit picks, that player will then compete against the Conference Consensus for that week.  If the player has better luck making picks than the his conference foes, then that player receives a Win for that week, otherwise a Loss (with usual tie-breakers in case of a tie).  Conference Consensus will be calculated by adding up the total number of selections(FAV or DOG) and the total number of confidence points placed on that game. If there are more FAV's than DOG's, then the FAV will be the consensus for that game, if not, the DOG will be the consensus. The total number of points will be tallied for each game and will be ranked from 10-1 based on total points placed. In the event of a tie, a coin will be flipped by contest administrators to determine the consensus. In 2006 there were 24 games against the Mano Consensus, which had a season record of 12-12. If I get around to it I'll figure out what Consensus's record was for 2007.

 Player Standings

Players conference standing, including W/L record, accuracy %, total points scored, and games behind the conference leader accumulate throughout the contest season based upon all weekly results.  This information will determine which players qualify for the Mano-a-Mano playoffs at the end of the Mano-a-Mano regular season.  Weekly player standings will be officially posted on the website by noon on Monday.

 Tie-breaker(s) for Weekly Results

 If opponents earn the same points for their picks, here are the tie-breakers:

1. Most games picked correctly.

2. Whoever correctly picked their 10 point game.

3. Whoever correctly picked their 9 point game.

and so on.

So if both players earn 20 points for their picks, then the first tie-breaker is who picked the most games correctly.  If both picked 6 of 10 correctly, then the next tie-breaker is who picked their 10 point game correctly, if both or neither picked the 10 point game correctly then the next tie-breaker is who picked the 9 point game correctly and so on all the way down until the tie is broken.  If by some chance the tie is still not broken after all of these tie-breakers, both players will earn a tie for that weekly competition.  The exception to players earning a tie would be during a playoff match-up.  In that situation, if a tie is not broken by all of the tie breaker methods listed above, then the final tie-breaker would be whichever player had the better accuracy % rate on their picks throughout the entire contest season.

 Playoff Details

At the conclusion of the Mano-a-Mano regular season, 24 players will earn a spot in the Mano-a-Mano playoffs.  The 24 participants will consist of conference winners and wildcard winners.  The conference winners will be the player in each conference with the best win/loss record during the regular season.  The wildcard winner(s) will be the player(s) who have earned the highest number of points during the regular season AND are not conference champions.  Playoff seedings will work as follows.  The 7 conference champions will be seeded from #1 thru #7 based upon total points, then by accuracy %. The player with the most points scored, who is not a conference champ will be seeded #8, with ties broken by head-to-head matchup ,then by season accuracy %, then by most games picked correctly for the season, and then most points scored in Week 12, etc. The 16 wildcard winners will be seeded from #9 thru #24 based upon points, then head-to-head matchup(if applicable), then by accuracy %.  The first round of the Mano Playoffs will pair the 16 wildcard winners against each other(#9 vs. #24, #16 vs. #17, etc.).  Winners from the first round will advance to the second round where the tournament will function as a normal, single-elimination tournament. Those who advance will move on to the quarterfinals, and then possibly on to the semifinals and then possibly to the Mano-a-Mano championship game.  One loss and you are out.  Players are NOT reseeded after any round of the Playoffs. Playoff forecasts will be provided each week during the second half of the contest regular season and all playoff qualifiers will be announced at the conclusion of the regular season.

 Tie-breaker(s) for Conference Winners

If players in the same conference have an identical Win/Loss record at the end of the regular season, here are the tiebreakers to determine the conference winner:

1. Head-to-head W/L record.

2. Most total points earned during the season.

3. Most number of games picked correctly.

4. Most points earned in week 12.

and so on.

 Tie-breaker(s) for Wildcard Winners

If more than one player, who is not a conference champion, has accumulated the most total points throughout the regular season, here are the tiebreakers to determine the wildcard winner(s):

1. Head-to-head match-up (if applicable)

2. Best W/L record (for breaking ties between players within the same conference)

3. Most games picked correctly in the season.

4. Most points earned in week 12.

and so on.

 Contest Administration

Contest administrators reserve the right to make decisions relating to the contest at their discretion.  Judgments rendered by contest administrators are final.  

 Weekly Summary:

MONDAY:   Prior week results and updated standings will be posted on the manofootball.com website by noon.

TUESDAY:   Upcoming week’s games and point spreads will be posted on the manofootball.com website by 6:00 PM.

WEDNESDAY:        Players submit picks.

THURSDAY: Players submit picks.

FRIDAY:      All players’ picks must be submitted by 6:00 PM(CT) via the submission form at manofootball.com.

SATURDAY:          All last-minute changes/picks must be posted on the Mano a Mano message board by 10:00 AM (CT).

SUNDAY:              Rejoicing and sobbing.

The contest begins with games to be played on Saturday, September 3, 2009, which means picks for Week # 1 will be due by 6:00 pm Friday, September 2, 2009.       

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us at any time by posting a message on the Mano a Mano board, or by sending e-mail to acbanes@yahoo.com.

We're looking forward to a great season — Good luck to all!!!