PLEASE READ AND UNDERSTAND THE RULES BEFORE THE SHOOTOUT BEGINS!
Download the bracket (PDF) to your computer by clicking on the BRACKET tab from the menu bar at the top of this site and then clicking on the DOWNLOAD button. This will automatically download a the bracket to your computer. Your computer should have a folder named “Downloads” and that is where the bracket will land on your system. Open the file, fill out the entire tournament bracket with your selections, and then save or print the file so that you have a record of it. When you are ready, create an eMail, attach your bracket to that eMail, and send to bigtexasshootout@gmail.com You can do me an additional favor by renaming your file to your submission name if you know how to do that.
TIEBREAKERS: The first tiebreaker is determined by the date your chips are received. If you follow the rules and get your chips in on time then you will be in the first group. After that your chances of winning a tiebreaker diminishes each passing day you are late. The next tiebreaker is total points Championship Game. On the bottom of the bracket you are asked to predict the total number of points of the final game. If you do not enter a prediction, you will not be asked for a score if you forget to enter one. Your pick will be considered to be 0 if one is not entered. This number will be used to break all ties.
ENTRY DEADLINE: All entries must be received by 7:00 am, EST, Thursday, March 21, 2024. After submitting your entry, please refer back to the home page of the official website www.bigtexasshootout.com to verify that your entry has been received. We have experienced some trouble receiving entries in the past so please check the Entries Received list and make sure your name is on it. This is YOUR responsibility to check. If you are submitting multiple entries make sure we are able to differentiate the entries by clearly identifying each with a “I”, “II”, “III”, and so on. If you use an alias name, please make sure it is clear who the entry belongs to.
SECOND CHANCE SELECTIONS: After the first weekend of games are played, the field will be narrowed down to sixteen teams. You will then need to select the winners for a new bracket that will be posted on the website. These second chance selections are only worth about 1/2 the points that your original selections were. (See point values listed below) At this point, you actually have two brackets from which you can receive points. If you are new to this competition and are confused, please ask Greg or John Painter, or the person who introduced you to this tournament for clarification. If you do not turn in 2nd Chance picks, then you will receive only the points from your first bracket. Your selections from your first bracket WILL NOT carry over to your 2nd Chance picks.
PLAY-IN GAMES: Scoring for the Big Texas Shootout begins on Thursday even though there are four play-in games that take place on Tuesday and Wednesday. To allow everyone time to think about their selections, we have given folks the opportunity to have a two for the price of one pick on the play-in games. If you chose any play-in team to win a game (and they happen to lose that play-in game) you still get the team that defeats them for as long as they are in the tournament. You also get the luxury of bonus points from the seed regardless of whether you picked them or not. In horse racing this is known as a field bet.
POINT VALUES (Please! Please! Please! Read and Understand!)
We here at the Shootout like to reward those who can predict the upsets. Several years ago we successfully implemented a new scoring system where contestants first received points for selecting the winner of each game and then receiving BONUS points for being able to pick which lower seeded teams can defeat the favorites. That scoring system will continue this year and will be again implemented on the Second Chance Bracket as well.
BONUS points will be awarded by determining the variance between each team’s seeding. For example, if a 12th seeded team defeats a 5th seeded team, then those gurus that correctly predicted that outcome would receive 7 additional bonus points. Example two would be if a 6th seeded team defeats a 3rd seeded team, then those that predicted that correctly would receive 3 bonus points. Make sense? I sure hope so.
As stated earlier, the BONUS points will be “in addition” to the points awarded for each correct selection of a winner. Here are those point values by round:
Correct selections of 1st Round games are worth 2 point each. Correct selections of 2nd Round games are worth 4 points each. Correct selections of 3rd Round games are worth 7 points each. Correct selections of 4th Round games are worth 10 points each. Correct selections of the Final Two are worth 15 points each. Correct selections of the NCAA Champion is worth 20 points.
SECOND CHANCE POINTS Each correct guess of a Final Eight team, is worth 2 points each. Each correct guess of a Final Four team, is worth 5 points each. Correct championship game teams, is worth 8 points each. Correct selection of this year’s NCAA Champion is worth 10 points.
BONUS POINTS ARE AWARDED ON THE SECOND CHANCE BRACKETS just like described above in rule 6.
Entry fee is $10 (we refer to these as chips) per entry. I would prefer for everyone to use electronic payments if possible as it makes it so much easier on me.
For electronic payments I use: Venmo: @gregpainter14 Zelle: greg.painter@sbcglobal.net PayPal: I do not accept payments through PayPal
If you can’t handle technology and still need to send in your payments I still accept Cash or Checks (make checks payable to Greg Painter, not BTS Commissioner or any other name. Banks have a problem with than.
You can send payments to this address: Greg Painter PO Box 215 Sulphur Springs, IN 47388
If you have any questions about this or anything else related to the Shootout you can reach out to me through the Contact menu option at the top of this website.