Play Roll ‘Bama Roll’s 2021 NCAA Tournament Bracket Pick ‘Em!

There’s no point in me reinventing the wheel here. I’m going to mostly copy and paste this contest from last year’s 2019’s post — right down to the cool video on bracketology from Five Points Vids, which explains why your retirement plans should not include that million dollars from Yahoo for a perfect bracket. - Erik

It’s that time again; time to gird your mental loins and deftly maneuver through 63 games and 63 picks en route to a legacy that shall last a lifetime.

Become a pick ‘em legend, nay, a pick’ em god. Or, you know, get your butt whipped and lose half of your Final Four on the first weekend — isn’t that usually how this goes?

RULES:

I’ll probably buy a tee-shirt or shoot some cash or give something to the winner. If the runner-up is off by a point, I sometimes find something for them too. But no promises. Value: $25-$50, or thereabout, plus postage...which is remarkably expensive these days, you ingrates. Since this can’t be rigged, all existing Roll ‘Bama Roll editors, authors, mods, and contributors are free to enter.

I am not responsible, nor shall Vox / SB Nation / RBR be responsible for reporting valuation of any gifts or prizes you receive — just know that the Feds ulimately got Al Capone on a tax evasion rap. You can decide what you want to do from there. Your participation is clearly predicated on accepting that we (collectively, Vox / SB Nation / RBR / Erik Evans) assume no liability if you do some dumb shit.

Sound good?

Anyway, everyone is eligible to enter and win. If you were a member of last year’s 2019 pick’ em contest, you probably already have an email invite. If you don’t, here are the pertinents:

Group Information

Group Name: Roll ‘Bama Roll 2021
Invite Link: Here
For AOL members: Copy and paste the following URL: https://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/group/14843/invitation?key=eca662fbe85479c2 (and probably rethink some life choices too).
Password: ballandoats

SCORING:

I have used the the modified Progressive Scoring system before, which weights the later rounds heavier, rather than using Yahoo’s default scoring, which can knock you out very early in the game. This incentivizes you for hoops foresight and/or blind luck, and can keep you in the game even if you lose a ton of Sweet 16 teams, for instance. More engagement, more fun.

So, we’ll still be using that, but I’ve also added another tweak this year.

Instead of using the upset multiplier, we’re going with Seed Differential. It still gives you bonuses for upsets, obviously, but the bigger the upset, the bigger your bonus. That means those earlier upsets you correctly called can pay off big. Combined with heavier later round scoring, it balances out fairly well — you can’t ride a few early upsets all the way to a win; but you should be rewarded for those improbable 14 vs. 3 upsets you called.

It looks to be a chalk-heavy tournament this year, but you can still root for madness, baby!

Here’s the scoring system:

Feel free to talk smack below, ask any questions, etc.

Best of luck to you all, and Roll Tide

#BallAndOats