2024 Robn College Basketball Contest -- Official Rules

Welcome to the 2024 Robn College Basketball Sweepstakes (the "contest").

Read the below closely for more information about the contest.

When Is The Contest:

The contest begins the weekend of Jan. 6^th-7^th and it ends at the conclusion of the NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship Game Apr. 8^th.

When Is The General Contest Entry Deadline And How Do Contestants Enter:

Contestants may enter by:

1) Subscribing, for free, to www.robnsports.com; and

2) Filling out and submitting any (or all) weekly picks card (the "card") prior to Jan. 27th at Noon ET. The first such card, for games the weekend Jan. 6th and 7th, will be emailed to all subscribers and posted on www.robnsports.com on Jan. 4th. Future cards will be sent/posted around the same time in successive weeks.

Thus, contestants may “enter” the contest at any time over the first several weeks of the contest, even if they've missed participating in the first few weeks.

What Does It Cost To Enter:

The contest is free to enter by subscribing to www.robnsports.com, though donations are encouraged.

Who Can Play:

Anyone with an active email account, located in the U.S. and is over 18 years of age. And isn't a jackass.

What Is The Prize:

The contest prize (the "Prize") is $2,500, winner take all.

Can Contestants Refer Friends To The Contest:

Can you?! It'd be weird if you didn't.

What Do Contestants Receive For Referring Friends To The Contest:

If a contestant successfully refers another person, they receive 100 bonus winnings per person that they successfully refer (see below for more about what "winnings" are).

What Are The Segments of the Contest:

There is a week-to-week segment of the competition, which runs for 11 weekends from Jan. 6^th-7^th until March 16^th-17^th (the weekend of Selection Sunday).

There is also a tournament segment of the competition, which runs in parallel with and throughout the duration of the NCAA Tournament, and which pits contestants head to head against one another (see below). 

What Is The Objective Of Each Segment Of The Contest:

Contestants’ goal during the week-to-week segment is to accumulate as many winnings as possible and, by the end of the week-to-week segment, be among the top 64 contestants in the standings. Contestants' place in the standings shall be determined by their total amount of accumulated winnings.

Contestants in 65^th place and lower at the end of the week-to-week segment will be disqualified from the competition, while contestants in the top 64 will progress to the tournament segment of the contest.

Contestants’ goal during the tournament segment is to win each round of the tournament segment and ultimately win the entire tournament (see below) by generating more winnings than their opponent.

The tournament winner wins the prize.

What Are Points:

Contestants are given a "free play" of 1000 points (Available Free Play Points) each week to allocate across their selected picks. These points are not a "balance," not an item of value, and are not retained week over week.

Contestants must allocate all 1000 Available Free Play Points each week over one or more picks relating to college basketball games on that week's card.

Contestants may allocate the 1000 Available Free Play Points all on one pick, or across any combination of picks they choose, however, they may not allocate Available Free Play Points to two directly opposing picks.

The process described above will repeat itself each week for the remainder of the week-to-week segment. Every contestant’s Available Free Play Points during each week of the week-to-week segment is always 1,000, no matter the contestant’s winnings generated in the contest thus far, their general performance, or any other reason.

What Are Picks:

Picks are the various outcomes of games and other events that are listed on the card. At the end of each pick is a multiplier. Examples of picks include:

"Team A to win by more than 4 points - 1x"

"Team B to beat Team C - 1.5x"

"Team D to score fewer than 79 points - 1.1x"

When a contestant selects a pick, they predict that pick will occur. At the point of selection, a contestant attributes points to the selection.

What Are Winnings and How Do Contestants Generate Them:

If a contestant's selected pick is successful, then the contestant will generate winnings equal to the amount of points attributed to the pick, multiplied by the multiplier denoted at the end of the pick.

For example, if a contestant allocates all 1,000 of their Available Free Play Points on a selection of “Team B to beat Team C – 1.5x” and Team B does beat Team C, then the contestant will generate 1,500 in winnings, or 1.5 x 1,000.

How Are Winnings Tabulated:

The winnings attributable to each successful selection count toward a contestant’s total winnings for the contest, which will accumulate week over week and is what accounts for a contestant's ranking in the standings. A contestant’s cumulative winnings total is what accounts for a contestant's ranking in the standings.

Unsuccessful picks, however, count as zero winnings, not negative winnings, and do not result in a contestant "losing" or having winnings deducted from their total.

For example, if a contestant allocates all 1,000 of their Available Free Play Points in Week 1 to "Team A to win - 1x," and Team A wins, the contestant will have earned 1,000 in winnings.

If then in Week 2 the contestant allocates all 1,000 Available Free Play Points on "Team B to win - 2.4x" and Team B doesn’t win, the contestant wins zero winnings for Week 2, and their total winnings for the contest remain at 1,000.

Thus, a contestant’s winnings will always be a positive number, and will never decrease week over week.

What Games Will Contestants Be Able To Select Picks On:

Contestants will be able to select picks pertaining to between 6 and 10 weekend college basketball games selected at the Commissioner’s discretion.

Examples of potential available picks on each game include, but are not limited to: “Team A to win by more than 4 points – 1x,” “Team B to beat Team C – 1.5x,” Teams D and E to score more than 145 points combined – 1.1x,” “Team F’s Player X to score more than 14 points - 1.4x,” “Team G’s Player Y to have fewer than 5 rebounds - 1.2x.”

The majority of the games to which picks pertain will be played on Saturday, though the Commissioner reserves the right to add Friday night or Sunday day games to a given card. Contestants will not be allowed to select directly opposing picks (see below).

What Is Meant By “Not Allowed To Select Directly Opposing Picks”?

For example, let's say Team A is playing Team B.

An example of picks pertaining to that game includes:

Team A to win - 1.25x

Team B to win - 0.8x

A contestant cannot allocate points to both Team A to win and Team B to win, ensuring that they generate some winnings (since exactly one of those two picks must win).

What Happens If A Contestant Selects Directly Opposing Picks:

Contestants that select directly opposing picks during a given week of the week-to-week segment will have all of their picks for that week voided, but will not be disqualified from the contest.

Contestants that attempt this during the tournament segment will have all of their picks voided and be disqualified from the contest. 

What Happens If A Contestant Doesn’t Allocate All 1000 Available Free Play Points, Or Allocates More Than 1,000:

If a contestant allocates Available Free Play Points during the week-to-week portion of the contest in a manner that accidentally or otherwise adds up to more or less than 1,000, their allocation will be proportionately adjusted so that, cumulatively, the points will add up to 1,000.

For example, if a contestant selects two picks, 200 points on Team A to win, and 400 on Team F to win, their picks' points allocation will be manually adjusted in proportion to one another, to 333 on Team A to win and 667 on Team F to win, so that the allocated points add up to 1,000 in total. This is referred to as a Proportional Points Adjustment.

Contestants are urged to double check the amounts of Available Free Play Points they submit, and to avoid submitting incorrect amounts as much as possible, as Proportional Points Adjustments create more work for the Commissioner, and if prompted willfully is verging into the territory of jackassery.

When Is The Weekly Submission Deadline For Each Card:

The weekly deadline for card submissions during the week-to-week segment is 9am PT / Noon ET each Saturday to which the card pertains. All picks must be submitted by this deadline.

Contestants may not submit different picks at different times across different cards. Contestants must submit all picks for a week at once, on the same card.

All submitted picks are final and Available Free Play Points allocations or selected picks themselves will not be changed by the Commissioner, other than any mandatory Proportional Points Adjustments. Re-submitting of picks, cancellation of picks and submitting multiple cards are not allowed.

During the week-to-week segment, contestants who submit a card on a given week after the 9am PT / Noon ET deadline shall have their picks voided for that week and shall earn no winnings.

During the tournament segment, contestants who submit after a given tournament round’s deadline shall have their picks voided for that week and be disqualified from the contest.

What If A Contestant Wants To Select Picks On A Friday Evening Game or A Saturday Game That Tips Before The Noon ET Submission Deadline:

If a game on the card that contestants wish to select picks on has a listed tip time that is before 9am PT / Noon ET on Saturday, then the deadline for that contestant to submit all of their picks on their weekly card is the posted tip time of the earliest game on which they wish to select picks.

For example, let’s say Purdue plays Indiana on Friday night at 8pm ET, Duke plays Virginia at 4pm ET the following Saturday, and Florida plays Kentucky at 6pm ET the following Saturday.

If a contestant wishes to select picks on just Duke-Virginia and/or Florida-Kentucky, then the contestant's submission deadline is the normal 9am / Noon ET Saturday deadline.

But if the contestant wishes to also select picks on Purdue-Indiana, in addition to selecting picks on the other two games, then all of the contestant’s picks for all three games are due prior to the listed start of the Purdue-Indiana game (8pm ET) on the Friday night.

If a contestant submits a card with picks on selected, games and one or more of those selected games has already tipped at the time of card submission, all of the contestant’s picks for that week will be voided.

The Commissioner will use the submission time posted by Google Forms on the Sheet (see below) for purposes of determining the official time of a card’s submission.

When Are The Card Submission Deadlines For The Tournament Segment:

The submission deadlines for each round of the tournament segment are as follows: 

·       2pm PT / 5pm ET on Thursday Mar. 21 for the Tournament’s First Round

·       2pm PT / 5pm ET on Saturday Mar. 23 for the Tournament’s Second Round

·       2pm PT / 5pm ET on Thursday Mar. 28 for the Sweet Sixteen

·       2pm PT / 5pm ET on Saturday Mar. 30 for the Elite Eight

·       2pm PT / 5pm ET on Saturday Apr. 6 for the Final Four

·       2pm PT / 5pm ET on Monday Apr. 8 for the National Championship

What If A Contestant Doesn’t Submit A Card During A Particular Week:

If a contestant fails to submit a weekly card during one or more weeks of the week-to-week segment, they will not be disqualified from the contest, and they may simply return to the contest and submit another card the following week – provided that they've submitted at least one valid weekly card at some point prior to Jan. 27th at Noon ET (the fourth weekend of the contest).

In order for a contestant to skip weekends 5-11 of the week-to-week segment, they must have submitted at least one valid card prior to Jan. 27th at Noon ET, thereby “entering” the contest officially.

During the tournament segment, if a contestant fails to submit a card during a particular tournament round, or submits said card after the tournament round submission deadline has passed, they will automatically lose their tournament round matchup and be disqualified from the contest.  

Will Everyone’s Picks Be Visible To All Contestants At All Times:

The picks submission sheet (the "Sheet") that lists all contestants’ selected picks for the week will not be made public until after that week's or that tournament round's corresponding submission deadline.

This means that contestants cannot view other contestants’ picks on the Sheet prior to making their own picks, and that contestants cannot have their picks influences by others' picks.

It also means that in order to receive a confirmation of their card submissions (including points allocations) at any point pre-weekly submission deadline, contestants may not reference the Sheet that tracks all picks – because there will be no such Sheet prior to the weekly deadline to submit.

If The Sheet Isn’t Public, How Can Contestants Verify What They Selected, And Verify That Their Selections Went Through:

Contestants can verify their selected picks via real-time email confirmation provided by Google Sheets, which powers the forms used to for weekly card submission.  

They can obtain real-time email confirmation of their selected picks at the time of card submission by typing in their email address to the Google Forms sheet correctly.

If contestants do not type their email address in correctly, Google Forms will not send them a confirmation of their submission, and thus, contestants will not receive a confirmation of their selected picks.

If contestants do not receive a confirmation of their card submission and their selected picks, and would like one, or would like to confirm whether their submission went through successfully, they may request a confirmation from commissioner@playrobn.com at any time. The Commissioner will do his best to get back to the contestant prior to the submission deadline, but no promises can be made in this regard.

Contestants assume all obligation to confirm that their selected picks were successfully submitted on a valid weekly card, and any pick or picks that is/are not recorded in the Sheet shall not count for purposes of this contest.

How Are Winnings Calculated:

Contestants will receive winnings for any of their successful selected picks in accordance with the multiplier of the pick.

If, for example, a contestant allocates 500 Available Free Play Points to “Team A to win by more than 4 points – 1x” and Team A does in fact win by more than 4 points, then the contestant will receive 1 x 400, or 400, winnings added to their winnings total. If the same contestant allocates their other 500 Available Free Play Points to “Team C to win vs. Team D – 1.5x” and Team C does in fact beat Team D, then the contestant will receive 1.5 x 400, or 600, winnings added to their winnings total.

In either example, the contestant will not lose winnings or receive negative winnings in the event their selected pick is not successful. The contestant’s winnings for that pick will simply be zero, and their seasonlong total of winnings to date will remain unchanged.

If the Team A wins by more than 4 points, but Team C doesn’t defeat Team D, the contestant will receive a total of 500 in winnings, reflective of their successful selection of Team A winning by more than 4 points. 

A contestant’s winnings in a given week will be tabulated and added their previous total, and be presented in a week-to-week standings document. This tabulation of winnings will determine a contestant’s place in the weekly standings.

How Do Contestants Qualify For The Tournament Segment:

At the end of the week-to-week segment (Week 11, or Mar. 16^th-17^th), contestants whose winnings total ranks 65^th or lower will be disqualified from the competition.

The 64 contestants with the highest cumulative winnings totals from the preceding weeks of the week-to-week segment will progress to the tournament segment of the contest.

These 64 contestants will be entered into a 64-person bracket, organized by seed. A contestant’s seed will be equal to their ranking at the end of the week-to-week segment.

Contestants will be pitted in head-to-head matchups against an opponent, as determined by the bracket seeding.

How Do Head-To-Head Matchups In The Tournament Segment Work:

In the first round of the tournament segment, the 1^st seed plays the 64^th seed, the 2^nd seed plays the 63^rd seed, etc. The rounds of the real-life NCAA Tournament mirror the rounds of the tournament segment of the contest – so the first round of the contest's tournament segment takes place during the first-round games of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Mar. 21^st-22^nd, and so on and so forth.

Contestants playing against one another in the tournament segment will each try to generate more winnings than the other by selecting picks on first round NCAA Tournament games. Whichever contestant generates more winnings from picks made with their available points, wins that round of the tournament segment, and advances to the next round. Winning contestants will repeat this process in each successive round they advance to.

Similar to the week-to-week segment, each contestant must allocate the entirety of their available points during each round of the tournament, across as many or as few selected picks as they see fit.

Also similar to the week-to-week segment, their Available Points reset each round, and is the same for each round of the tournament that they advance to.

Do Contestants Also Have 1,000 Available Free Play Points To Allocate During Each Round Of The Tournament Segment:

Unlike the week-to-week segment, a contestant’s available points in the first round, and in each successive round of the tournament segment, is not 1,000.

When the bracket for the tournament segment is released and contestants’ seeds are announced, each contestant will be sent their new available points total for each round of the tournament segment only. This will be referred to as Available Tournament Free Play Points.

This is the new balance that the contestant must allocate all of across selected picks in each round of the tournament segment, regardless of any previous winnings. 

The one-seed’s Available Tournament Free Play Points will be 2,000 points. The two seed will have a slightly fewer available points, the three seed will have a slightly fewer, etc., all the way down to the 64^th seed, who will have 1,000 Available Tournament Free Play Points (see Appendix A for details).

Why Do Different Seeds Have Different Available Tournament Free Play Points:

This is done in order to reward contestants who finish higher in the standings in the week-to-week segment and really excel during the first 11 weeks. By giving weight to regular season performance, contestants are not just incentivized to qualify for the tournament, but to get as high of a seed as possible.

Without this reward, there would be no incentive during the week-to-week segment for anyone to finish higher than 64^th, and in the final weeks of the week-to-week segment, contestants could play conservatively to try to limp into to the top 64, or worse, not play at all.

By the same token, despite what it may seem like, the amounts of Available Tournament Free Play Points are not so discrepant from one another that lower seeds have no mathematical chance to advance in a head-to-head matchup during the tournament segment. In fact, the contrary is true.

Below are some examples of the most disparate Available Free Play Points totals, belonging to the 1 seed and 64 seed. These examples show ways the 64 seed can win.

How Can A Lower Seed Beat A Higher Seed In A Tournament Round If A Lower Seed Has Fewer Points To Allocate:

How Even The Lowest Seed Can Win – Example 1

The 1 seed has 2,000 Available Tournament Free Play Points it must allocate across the Thursday/Friday first round NCAA Tournament games. The 64 seed has 1,000 Available Tournament Free Play Points.

The 64 seed has to try to generate more winnings than the 1 seed in spite of having fewer points. The 1 seed allocates 1000 on “Team A to win by more than 7 points – 1x”, 500 on “Team G to win by more than 4 points – 1x”, and 500 on “Team S to win or lose by fewer than 6 points – 1x”.

The 64 seed allocates 500 on “Team C to beat Team D – 2.1x” and allocates 500 on “Team F to beat Team E – 2.5x”.

The 1-seed’s Team A and Team G selected picks do not win, but their selected Team S pick wins. The 1 seed finishes with 500 in winnings, because they allocated 500 points on Team S at a 1x multiplier (1 x 500 = 500).

The 64-seed’s Team C pick does not win but its Team F pick wins. The 64 seed finishes with 1250 in winnings, because they allocated 500 points on Team F at a 2.5x multiplier (2.5 x 500 = 1,250).

Because 1250 > 500, the 64 seed wins the round and the 1 seed is eliminated from the contest.

The 64 seed’s Available Tournament Free Play Points resets to 1,000 for the second round, where they will play the winner of the 32-seed vs. 33-seed matchup.

How Even The Lowest Seed Can Win – Example 2

The 1 seed allocates all of its 2,000 points on “Team A to win by more than 7 points – 1x”.

The 64-seed allocates 500 points on “Team C to beat Team D – 2.1x” and allocates 500 on “Team F to beat Team E – 2.5x”.

The 1-seed’s Team A selection wins. The 1-seed finishes with 2,000 in winnings.

The 64 seed’s Team C and Team F selections also win. Team A doesn’t win by seven points, but Team C and Team F both win. The 64 seed finishes with 2,300 in winnings (1,050 from the Team C pick plus 1,250 from the Team F pick).

Because 2,300 > 2,000, the 64 seed wins the round and the 1 seed is eliminated from the contest.

The 64 seed’s Available Tournament Free Play Points resets to 1,000 for the second round, where they will play the winner of the 32-seed vs. 33-seed matchup.

How Even The Lowest Seed Can Win – Example 3

The 1 seed allocates 1,000 points on “Team A to win by more than 7 points – 1x” and 1,000 points on “Team X to win, or to lose by fewer than 4 points – 1.2x”.

The 64-seed allocates 500 points on “Team C to beat Team D – 2.1x” and allocates 500 points on “Team F to beat Team E – 2.5x”.

The 1-seed’s Team A selection wins, but its Team X selection does not. The 1 seed finishes with 1,000 in winnings.

The 64-seed’s Team C selection wins but its Team F selection loses. The 64 seed finishes with 1,050 in winnings.

Because 1,050 > 1,000, the 64 seed wins the round and the 1 seed is eliminated from the contest.

The 64 seed’s Available Tournament Free Play Points resets to 1,000 for the second round, where they will play the winner of the 32-seed vs. 33-seed matchup.

What Happens If, During The Tournament Segment, A Contestant Doesn’t Allocate All Of, Or Allocates More Than, Their Available Tournament Free Play Points 

Similar to the week-to-week segment, if a contestant submits a card during the tournament segment on which its allocated points add up to more or less than their Available Tournament Free Play Points, their allocations will undergo a Proportional Balance Adjustment so that, proportionately, they add up to that contestant’s allotted Available Tournament Free Play Points total.

What Other Ways To Earn Winnings Are There, Other Than By Making Winning Picks?

There is one additional way to generate winnings in the contest outside of making successful picks. If a contestant (the "referrer") refers another person (the "referee") to the contest and the referee submits at least one valid picks card prior to Jan. 27th at Noon ET, then the referrer will earn a one-time bonus of 100 Onions (“Referral Bonus Winnings”).

This offer is good for up to five referees, for a total of 500 Referral Bonus Winnings to the referrer. All Referral Bonus Winnings will be credited to a contestant’s ongoing winnings total prior to Week 5.

Those who have played in any previous Robn (i.e. "Onions") competitions are eligible referrers, but are not eligible referees. A referee may only be referred once, by one referrer.

To be eligible for any Referral Bonus Winnings, any referee must note on a submitted entry form the name and email of who referred them.

The Commissioner will check with each referee to validate the referrer’s claim.

If a referee 1) indicates they were referred by someone who never signs up, or 2) claims after Jan. 27th at Noon ET that someone referred them, or 3) the referrer claims they didn't refer the purported referee, then the referrer will not receive any Referral Bonus Winnings pertaining to the referee in question.

Appendix A:

Each tournament seed’s Available Tournament Free Play Points to allocate in each round of the tournament segment is as follows: