2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

I setup a Google spreadsheet a couple years ago to do HE picks. Basically gave access to the sheet for all the players. They enter their own picks ; saves you a ton of work.

I thought about doing that this year, but it allows people to change their picks after they have posted (and after the game has been played). Perhaps if there were a locking option where no one could edit it after a certain time? I'm not really disappointed in the way it worked this year...wasn't too difficult for me at all. Although, I can see where having a more visible option might be enticing for a lot of people. I'm sure we can figure something out in time for next season.

 

[Siouxfaninseattle]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

Thanks for running the thread - it is great fun! I would like to see fewer bonus questions but not get rid of them completely. I am available to help also.

 

[Aerman]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

Thanks for running the thread - it is great fun! I would like to see fewer bonus questions but not get rid of them completely. I am available to help also.

Seconded, and seconded and seconded! Really enjoyed the season, even after slipping off the early national pedestal.

If I were to suggest modification, it would be towards more games and fewer bonus points. Just seems to me that after the great season 5hole had, he should have been closer to the overall top (even if he is a BC fan ). Also I little discomfited by my nearness to allbear in multiple categories. Not good to have the UNH and ME fans too close together

Wonder how the conferences fared overall. Hockey East and the Nacho are decently represented in the standings, but don't know where a lot of the players' allegiance lies.

Thanks again FS. [I wore my black Sioux jersey for the semi-, but it obviously wasn't enough ]

 

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

Thanks for running the thread - it is great fun! I would like to see fewer bonus questions but not get rid of them completely. I am available to help also.

Seconded, and seconded and seconded! Really enjoyed the season, even after slipping off the early national pedestal.

If I were to suggest modification, it would be towards more games and fewer bonus points. Just seems to me that after the great season 5hole had, he should have been closer to the overall top (even if he is a BC fan ). Also I little discomfited by my nearness to allbear in multiple categories. Not good to have the UNH and ME fans too close together

Wonder how the conferences fared overall. Hockey East and the Nacho are decently represented in the standings, but don't know where a lot of the players' allegiance lies.

Thanks again FS. [I wore my black Sioux jersey for the semi-, but it obviously wasn't enough ]

So, this season, I generally tried to find 2 games/conference each week that was a good matchup and not an easy prediction. When a conference only had 1 game represented, I did a "bonus" for that conference (i.e. shots on goal in the NCHC on Saturday if the only NCHC game was from Friday).

As far as points are concerned, the bonus only represented about 20-25% of the points scored. Moreover, there was only a couple % points difference from the "best" bonus scorer and the "worst" (taking out those that didn't predict bonus questions). In other words, it didn't really make too much of a difference in the standings. What made the difference was the increase in points given out for the games from the 1st half to the 2nd half (2 to 4) and then from the regular season to the tournaments. For example, FH12 went 80-37-13 (.665) in the first half of the season, but finished 83-63-12 (.563). It was still good enough to take home the % title, but the reason FH12 slipped in the points race was not due to bonus, but rather the 10% drop in accuracy down the home stretch when the games were worth more and others increased their accuracy.

Given all that, here are some proposed solutions that might make everyone happier...please let me know what option you prefer, or what changes to certain options you would like

GAMES PICKED w/BONUS OPTIONS:

1) We pick 15 games each week, generally spread throughout the conferences. There will be 1 bonus question each week.

2) We pick 12 games each week, 2 from each of the 6 conferences regardless of matchups. In weeks where not enough conference games are played, non-conference games or extra matchups from the conferences will be used. There will be 1 bonus question each week.

3) We pick 10 games each week, generally spread throughout the conferences. There will be 2 bonus questions each week.

4) We pick every game in college hockey (minus exhibitions). There will be only rare bonus questions, around 4-5 times/season.

5) We pick 20 games each week, generally spread throughout the conferences. There will be 1 bonus question each week.

GENERAL SCORING OPTIONS:

A) In the first half of the season, the games will be worth 2 points. In the second half of the season, the games will be worth 4 points. Points will increase for the conference and national tournaments.

B) In the first half of the season, the games will be worth 1 point. In the second half of the season, the games will be worth 2 points. Points will increase for the conference and national tournaments

C) Throughout the entire season, the games will be worth 2 points. This will include conference and national tournament games.

D) Throughout the regular season, the games will be worth 3 points, but points will go up for conference and national tournaments.

BONUS SCORING OPTIONS:

I) Each Bonus Question will be worth 5 points.

II) Each Bonus Question will be worth 10 points.

III) In the first half of the season, the bonus will be worth 5 points. In the second half of the season, the bonus will be worth 10 points.

IV) All Bonus Questions will be all or nothing, and will vary throughout the season as to how much they are worth. They will be worth at least 5 points, but never more than 15.


Obviously, there are many more options that could be created, but I thought I would use these to get a start going. If there is a perfect scenario that is included here, let me know. For example, you could say you like Option 5-A-II. We have some time before the start of next season, so no rush, but it would be nice to get things squared away as soon as possible.

Thanks once again to everyone for giving me your thoughts. I'll keep trying to improve NCAA Pick'em until it is as perfect as we can get it.

 

[97osu]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

Thank you FS23 for your time and efforts with running this. It makes scoreboard watching more interesting through the season, and I'll be back next year! I don't love the bonus stuff either, but am going to play along either way.

My picks = 5), C)

 

[Aerman]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

I vote for 1. - D. - II. And, of course, something festive for Christmas Tournaments! Can we earn candy canes?

 

[MissThundercat]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

So, this season, I generally tried to find 2 games/conference each week that was a good matchup and not an easy prediction. When a conference only had 1 game represented, I did a "bonus" for that conference (i.e. shots on goal in the NCHC on Saturday if the only NCHC game was from Friday).

As far as points are concerned, the bonus only represented about 20-25% of the points scored. Moreover, there was only a couple % points difference from the "best" bonus scorer and the "worst" (taking out those that didn't predict bonus questions). In other words, it didn't really make too much of a difference in the standings. What made the difference was the increase in points given out for the games from the 1st half to the 2nd half (2 to 4) and then from the regular season to the tournaments. For example, FH12 went 80-37-13 (.665) in the first half of the season, but finished 83-63-12 (.563). It was still good enough to take home the % title, but the reason FH12 slipped in the points race was not due to bonus, but rather the 10% drop in accuracy down the home stretch when the games were worth more and others increased their accuracy.

Given all that, here are some proposed solutions that might make everyone happier...please let me know what option you prefer, or what changes to certain options you would like

GAMES PICKED w/BONUS OPTIONS:

1) We pick 15 games each week, generally spread throughout the conferences. There will be 1 bonus question each week.

2) We pick 12 games each week, 2 from each of the 6 conferences regardless of matchups. In weeks where not enough conference games are played, non-conference games or extra matchups from the conferences will be used. There will be 1 bonus question each week.

3) We pick 10 games each week, generally spread throughout the conferences. There will be 2 bonus questions each week.

4) We pick every game in college hockey (minus exhibitions). There will be only rare bonus questions, around 4-5 times/season.

5) We pick 20 games each week, generally spread throughout the conferences. There will be 1 bonus question each week.

GENERAL SCORING OPTIONS:

A) In the first half of the season, the games will be worth 2 points. In the second half of the season, the games will be worth 4 points. Points will increase for the conference and national tournaments.

B) In the first half of the season, the games will be worth 1 point. In the second half of the season, the games will be worth 2 points. Points will increase for the conference and national tournaments

C) Throughout the entire season, the games will be worth 2 points. This will include conference and national tournament games.

D) Throughout the regular season, the games will be worth 3 points, but points will go up for conference and national tournaments.

BONUS SCORING OPTIONS:

I) Each Bonus Question will be worth 5 points.

II) Each Bonus Question will be worth 10 points.

III) In the first half of the season, the bonus will be worth 5 points. In the second half of the season, the bonus will be worth 10 points.

IV) All Bonus Questions will be all or nothing, and will vary throughout the season as to how much they are worth. They will be worth at least 5 points, but never more than 15.


Obviously, there are many more options that could be created, but I thought I would use these to get a start going. If there is a perfect scenario that is included here, let me know. For example, you could say you like Option 5-A-II. We have some time before the start of next season, so no rush, but it would be nice to get things squared away as soon as possible.

Thanks once again to everyone for giving me your thoughts. I'll keep trying to improve NCAA Pick'em until it is as perfect as we can get it.

Thank you for running this!

My picks:

1, C, I

 

[drshoen]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

FS23, thanks for running the board - I enjoyed it, and had more reason to look at scores from out of my conference.

For next year, I pick 5, D, and IV

 

[BCeagle]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

I thought about doing that this year, but it allows people to change their picks after they have posted (and after the game has been played). Perhaps if there were a locking option where no one could edit it after a certain time? I'm not really disappointed in the way it worked this year...wasn't too difficult for me at all. Although, I can see where having a more visible option might be enticing for a lot of people. I'm sure we can figure something out in time for next season.

I really have no complaints other than I wish I was able to play more of the games. I think I played or picked about half the games this season. Whatever you do, with less or more bonus points is OK with me. Thanks for all the effort and work running this. Looking forward to next season again )

 

[HoosierPioneer]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

1, C, I are my votes.

 

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

I really have no complaints other than I wish I was able to play more of the games. I think I played or picked about half the games this season. Whatever you do, with less or more bonus points is OK with me. Thanks for all the effort and work running this. Looking forward to next season again )

Anytime...I'm sure I enjoy it as much as everyone else as well.

You certainly missed out on a good chunk of games. You wound up picking 206 games out of 288 possible. You missed almost the entire first half of the season (only picked 2 of the first 11 weeks), but picked almost every game starting with the Holiday Tournaments and through the NCAA Tournament. Had you picked every week and received the average, you would have added 135 points for 728 points, just between myself and FH12.

 

[FiveHole12]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

For example, FH12 went 80-37-13 (.665) in the first half of the season, but finished 83-63-12 (.563). It was still good enough to take home the % title, but the reason FH12 slipped in the points race was not due to bonus, but rather the 10% drop in accuracy down the home stretch when the games were worth more and others increased their accuracy.

I was absolutely amazed no one passed me. My picks sucked in the second half. So what's that say about everyone else?

Thanks for doing this FS23. I enjoy Pick'em very much. I prefer a less bonus questions, but whatever you decide is fine with me.

I play two games during the season... Pick'em and Fantasy College Hockey. Between the two, one really gets a feel for what's going on in ALL of D-1 hockey. Not only the individual player stats, but the strength of the teams as well, and what makes certain teams stronger than others. That is of course, if one is paying attention.

 

[Siouxfaninseattle]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

I don't think it is necessary to have the exact same number of games every week. There might be some great match-ups one week and maybe not the next. I would like to see 12-15 games/week with one or two bonus questions/week. The number of points could vary with the question - maybe 5 points for # of minutes played in XYZ conference and 10 points for SOG (but never or rarely all or nothing for number of points). I like 2 points for games in the first half and four points in the second half. Higher points for the FF is a good idea but maybe not 25 and 50. One thing that I think would increase enthusiasm and keep people interested is more timely reporting. I realize that you are very busy, so take the offer of help that a few posters have offered!

 

[LTsatch]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

Have not been really involved here, but, would there be any interest in a USCHO NHL playoff pick-em group over at NHL.com. Apologies if I have been redundant. I would volunteer to set it up if there is interest.

 

[vizoroo]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

Think you should keep a little flexibility on the "Pick Em." Some weeks have more compelling matchups, so as long as each conference has one included, most interesting games prevail.
2. We pick 12 games each week generally spread throughout the conferences. with 1 or 2 bonus questions-surprise us
C or D until national tournament then go up.
I or II, but not all or nothing.


Hmmm, I think I did better on bonus questions than picking so ==1 point a game and at least 20 for bonus

 

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

I don't think it is necessary to have the exact same number of games every week. There might be some great match-ups one week and maybe not the next. I would like to see 12-15 games/week with one or two bonus questions/week. The number of points could vary with the question - maybe 5 points for # of minutes played in XYZ conference and 10 points for SOG (but never or rarely all or nothing for number of points). I like 2 points for games in the first half and four points in the second half. Higher points for the FF is a good idea but maybe not 25 and 50. One thing that I think would increase enthusiasm and keep people interested is more timely reporting. I realize that you are very busy, so take the offer of help that a few posters have offered!

I try to update rankings and the like each week, but obviously some weeks for me are significantly busier than others. As you said, I think I'll call on some volunteers next year to help out. I think I might wind up putting a googledoc up for the volunteers to have access to. We would continue to do pick'em on here with everyone posting their picks, and then between myself and the volunteers we would be able to input the data and figure out the points. That would allow the volunteers to post the standings whenever they were able to. I don't want to over-complicate things, but I think this might be a better way to get everyone's results back quicker.

As for having the same number of games, it just makes it easier to have one setup in excel...although not terribly difficult to change.

As for volunteers, if you want to help, just shoot me a message and we'll get a group together to figure the logistics of it out. It would be nice to have at least 1 person from each of the conferences on the "panel."

Have not been really involved here, but, would there be any interest in a USCHO NHL playoff pick-em group over at NHL.com. Apologies if I have been redundant. I would volunteer to set it up if there is interest.

I believe there is already one going on down in the Café. I think it was posted in the NHL Playoff thread. Might as well combine the two different groups to have as many posters from USCHO as possible in the same group.

I was absolutely amazed no one passed me. My picks sucked in the second half. So what's that say about everyone else?

Thanks for doing this FS23. I enjoy Pick'em very much. I prefer a less bonus questions, but whatever you decide is fine with me.

I play two games during the season... Pick'em and Fantasy College Hockey. Between the two, one really gets a feel for what's going on in ALL of D-1 hockey. Not only the individual player stats, but the strength of the teams as well, and what makes certain teams stronger than others. That is of course, if one is paying attention.

Agreed. I really enjoyed Fantasy College Hockey last season. The draft days simply didn't work out for me this year, so I wasn't able to do it. I enjoy researching and seeing teams that I normally wouldn't follow. It helps with pick'em as well, but requires more of a time commitment.

Think you should keep a little flexibility on the "Pick Em." Some weeks have more compelling matchups, so as long as each conference has one included, most interesting games prevail.
2. We pick 12 games each week generally spread throughout the conferences. with 1 or 2 bonus questions-surprise us
C or D until national tournament then go up.
I or II, but not all or nothing.


Hmmm, I think I did better on bonus questions than picking so ==1 point a game and at least 20 for bonus

I usually try to pick the "best" games...although if I wind up getting a group of volunteers, perhaps we could have a panel selecting the games.

 

[all bear]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

Yeah, less bonus, more beer would be good. Can we have cheerleaders next year ? I'd suggest throwing out everyones worst 2 or 3 weeks. This gives the guys that miss a pick or a coupla picks the chance to still be in the fracas so to speak. I'm sure whatever you end up with will be just fine, you do a good job. Its a lot of work and appreciated by us lazier bahstads.

 

[Aerman]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

Yeah, less bonus, more beer would be good. Can we have cheerleaders next year ?

Beer and cheerleaders. It is hard to properly hate some ME fans, despite my best efforts.

 

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

How does everyone feel about the following:

We pick 15 games each week, spread throughout the conferences.
Each game in the first half of the season will be worth 2 points.
Each game in the second half of the season will be worth 3 points.
Each series in the Conference Tournaments will be worth 4 points.
Regional Semifinals will be worth 3 points.
Regional Finals will be worth 4 points.
Frozen Four Semifinals will be worth 6 points.
Frozen Four Championship will be worth 8 points.

There will be 1 bonus question each week.
The bonus question will range between 5-10 points.
The bonus question will be scored depending on how close you are to the actual result (i.e. NOT all or nothing).

I will have a volunteer panel.
They will have three primary functions:
1) To submit 4-5 games from their specific conference (i.e. the ECAC panelist will submit 4-5 games featuring ECAC teams) by 11:59 Eastern on Sunday each week;
2) To help collect/input/compute data using an excel spreadsheet (likely through googledocs, but I'm open to other ideas);
3) To help resolve any disputes that come up

If you are interested on being on the panel, please message me (or post in this thread). You won't need to do everything from these functions (for example, if you're not a data guy, and just want to pick games from conference x, that's fine). I already have one person interested for Hockey East, and I'll fill the volunteer positions on a first come, first serve basis. You do not have to be a fan of the conference to be on its panel.

Anyway, let me know your thoughts, and let me know if you are interested in volunteering to be part of the panel. Hopefully next year will be the best year of pick'em yet!

 

[HoosierPioneer]

Re: 2013-2014: NCAA Weekly Pick'em

How does everyone feel about the following:

We pick 15 games each week, spread throughout the conferences.
Each game in the first half of the season will be worth 2 points.
Each game in the second half of the season will be worth 3 points.
Each series in the Conference Tournaments will be worth 4 points.
Regional Semifinals will be worth 3 points.
Regional Finals will be worth 4 points.
Frozen Four Semifinals will be worth 6 points.
Frozen Four Championship will be worth 8 points.

There will be 1 bonus question each week.
The bonus question will range between 5-10 points.
The bonus question will be scored depending on how close you are to the actual result (i.e. NOT all or nothing).

I will have a volunteer panel.
They will have three primary functions:
1) To submit 4-5 games from their specific conference (i.e. the ECAC panelist will submit 4-5 games featuring ECAC teams) by 11:59 Eastern on Sunday each week;
2) To help collect/input/compute data using an excel spreadsheet (likely through googledocs, but I'm open to other ideas);
3) To help resolve any disputes that come up

If you are interested on being on the panel, please message me (or post in this thread). You won't need to do everything from these functions (for example, if you're not a data guy, and just want to pick games from conference x, that's fine). I already have one person interested for Hockey East, and I'll fill the volunteer positions on a first come, first serve basis. You do not have to be a fan of the conference to be on its panel.

Anyway, let me know your thoughts, and let me know if you are interested in volunteering to be part of the panel. Hopefully next year will be the best year of pick'em yet!

Pick 'em is going big time! I like the scoring system. And the bonus question format. Hopefully we can get an even bigger crowd of regulars next year so I can finish even further from the top.

I'd be happy to help as part of the panel in any capacity. Even though it contradicts all of my morals to collaborate with anyone with "Fighting Sioux" in their screen name