Comments on: How do I run a simple online NCAA Tournament pool?

Question: How do I run a simple online NCAA Tournament pool?

brain_drain — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 16:19:31 -0800

What's the easiest and least-intrusive way to run an NCAA tournament pool online?

I may get stuck running my office's NCAA basketball tournament pool this year. Traditionally, it is administered using paper entries. This requires a lot of manual labor to tally up the picks for each round of games and to calculate overall results.

I would love to be able to set up an online pool that would allow people to submit their entries on a website, and that would automatically tally up the results and show the standings. ESPN and CBS Sportsline have services like this. However, those sites require registration, and I fear that many of my colleagues, some of whom are not internet-savvy, will balk at having to register to enter the pool (and, more importantly, will come complaining to me about having to do so).

Are there any websites that would allow me to run the pool as described above, but would not require users to fill out detailed registration forms? It doesn't have to be fancy or secure -- just simple and non-intrusive.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

By: JMOZ

JMOZ — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 16:42:55 -0800

Our office pool uses Yahoo fantasy sports. Many people have Yahoo IDs already, and others don't seem to mind much.

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 17:57:04 -0800

If you can't get them to sign up and fill out the online entry themselves, just do it for them. It may be additional work for you at the outset, but it will save you from manually scoring all the sheets, and keep you from making errors. That is what I have done in past years.

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 17:58:09 -0800

I should clarify -- have them make their picks on paper and then you copy them into the online entry. Don't actually make their picks for them.

By: sachinag

sachinag — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 18:47:53 -0800

I built an Excel sheet for this (for a job interview, actually). It worked pretty well for 8 people.

By: Steve3

Steve3 — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 18:53:43 -0800

We've built our office pools using this for a couple of years now. Works quite well, but requires a bit server abilities to set it up.

Your co-workers will just have to go a website that you host, fill out who they are and their picks, and you're set.

By: jerryg99

jerryg99 — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 19:23:04 -0800

Try out foxsports fantasy sports, or last year ESPN had a great online site as well.

On re-reading, you don't want people to register... nevermind.

By: Kwantsar

Kwantsar — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 20:14:43 -0800

If you have a spare hour, I recommend taking responsibility and using this guy's Excel solution.

By: bove

bove — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 08:42:00 -0800

I just saw this online, but there are: Microsoft Office Bracket Templates

These would seem to be perfect for you.

By: brain_drain

brain_drain — Sat, 18 Mar 2006 10:56:20 -0800

Thanks for all the suggestions! I followed some of these leads and ended up going with Turbo Tourney, which is pretty slick, easy to manage, and produces a wide variety of standings and updates.