1. NEW IN 2016: The entry fee is $60, which pays for the entire season. There are no weekly entry fees. The entry fee must be paid before the player's first selected game begins in Week 1. If the entry fee is not paid by that time, the picks in Week 1 will not count.

2. Each week, players will attempt to pick the winners of five football games picking against the point spreads posted on the Pigskin Mania website. Choices of games are limited to those listed in the point spreads. NCAA games which involve an FCS team (formerly known as Division 1-AA) are not included in the point spreads. Both teams in a game have to be FBS teams (formerly known as Division 1-A) for the game to be eligible to be played.

3. A pick is declared a win only if the team selected BEATS the point spread. A tie or "push" counts as a loss for both teams.

4. Each week, players must pick two NCAA games and two NFL games. For the fifth game, players have the option of picking either an NCAA or NFL game. This rule is in effect from Week 2 through Week 12. In Week 1 there are no NFL games scheduled so all five picks are from the NCAA schedule. From Week 13 through the end of the season, players may pick any combination of games, up to five NCAA games or five NFL games.

5. The weekly pool is on a Thursday through Monday schedule. Monday night games are part of the previous weekend's schedule. Games played Tuesday and Wednesday during the regular season are not part of the schedule and are not eligible to be selected. They will not appear in the Official Point Spreads. In Weeks 17 and 18, the pool will be on a Tuesday through Monday schedule to allow for all the bowl games to be eligible to be picked. Official point spreads for Weeks 17 and 18 will be posted by 10 a.m. MST on Tuesday those weeks. Games in Week 19 are all played between Saturday and Monday of that week, so the schedule will revert to the previous schedule and point spreads will be posted on Thursday.

6. The season will start with games the weekend of Thursday, Sept. 1 through Monday, Sept. 5, 2016. Week 1 is an all-NCAA schedule. The season continues for 19 weeks through the NFL Wild Card playoff games and the College Football Playoff championship game from Jan. 7 through Jan. 9, 2017.

7. The deadline to submit picks each week is prior to the start of any one of the player's five games selected. If a game has already started, a player may no longer pick that game, but can pick any other game that has not begun.

8. The required mode of reporting picks is the Picks Page at http://www.pigskinmania.net/fbpicks.php. If that is not available to you or if the Picks Page is not working, you can send picks by e-mail to poolmaster@pigskinmania.net. If you are really in a pinch, you may text or phone in your picks to The Poolmaster's cell phone at (520) 444-3883.

9. Once players make their five picks, they can change any or all of those picks up until any one of their five selected games has started. At the time any one of the five selected games has begun, a player's picks are locked and no further changes can be made to any of the picks with the exception of a cancelled game. (See Rule #16 regarding cancellation of games.)

10. Players must make all five of their picks at once. Players are not allowed to pick NCAA games, and then make NFL picks at a later time. Once a player's NCAA games have started, the player may not add NFL games to the picks.

11. Scheduled game times are listed with the point spreads. It remains the responsibility of the player to know the ACTUAL start time. In the event a game time changes, the actual time a game starts will determine whether it is eligible to be picked regardless of the time listed with the point spreads. Be advised there have been instances where weather or other considerations have caused game times to change to an earlier start, even as much as a day earlier. Likewise, if a game starts later than the time posted with the point spreads, it is eligible to be played up until the game actually begins. We will attempt to keep the listed game times current, but will not guarantee that the listed times are correct.

12. NEW IN 2016: If there is an error in the point spreads that is detected at least two hours before the first scheduled game in the point spreads, it may be corrected and will become the official spread. If the incorrect point spread is not detected at least two hours before the first scheduled game, it will remain as the official spread. If there is a correction in the points spreads, it will be noted on the page without indicating which game was involved. There will be no indication of errors that remain in the point spreads.

13. It is the sole responsibility of players to remember to report picks. Players will not receive reminders. Players who do not report picks will receive zero points for the week and will have five disqualified picks, making the player ineligible for last-place prize money.

14. If a player forgets or is unable to submit picks until there are fewer than five remaining eligible picks, the player may submit as many picks as are available. For instance, if during the NCAA regular season a player doesn't make picks until after all NCAA games have been played, the player may submit 3 NFL picks and a Lock to try to score some points. When submitting fewer than five picks, choose No Pick in the drop-down menu where you cannot make a valid pick. No Pick is the last selection in the menus.

15. When making picks, NCAA teams are designated by the name of their school. NFL teams are designated by their mascots. For example, when you select Arizona you have selected the Arizona Wildcats and not the Arizona Cardinals. The other NCAA teams with matching NFL teams are Buffalo (Bills), Cincinnati (Bengals), Houston (Texans), Miami (Dolphins), Minnesota (Vikings), Pittsburgh (Steelers), Tennessee (Titans) and Washington (Redskins).

16. A game that has NO LINE or NL in the posted point spreads is not eligible to be picked. If a game with NO LINE is selected, a player can change that pick until the start of the player's first scheduled game as described in Rule #9. If the game is not changed before any one of the player's other games starts, it counts as a loss and a disqualified pick.

17. A point spread of zero will be designated as PK (pick 'em) on the point spreads which means the winner of the game covers the point spread.

18. If a player picks both teams in the same game, the favorite in the game becomes the pick. If the game is a PK (pick 'em), the home team becomes the pick. The other pick is declared a disqualified pick under Rule #29.

19. If a player duplicates a pick, only one of those picks will count. The other pick is declared a disqualified pick under Rule #29 and is a loss.

20. In the unlikely event that a game chosen by a player is cancelled, the player can replace that pick with a game that has not yet begun. If an NCAA game is cancelled and a player is not aware of the cancellation until after all NCAA games have been completed, the player may choose an NFL game even if it results in failure to meet the requirement of 2 NCAA + 2 NFL + option. If a player does not replace the cancelled game before all the weekend games are completed, the pick becomes a loss and a disqualified pick. To submit a replacement pick, go to the Picks Page and select your replacement in one of the drop down menus. For the remaining selections select "No Pick" which is the last choice in each of the menus. If the Picks Page is unavailable to you, you may submit the replacement pick by email at poolmaster@pigskinmania.net, text or phone message at (520) 444-3883.

21. Lock of the Week (The Jon Wilner Rule)

    1. Each week, players have the option of declaring one of their picks a "LOCK."

    2. The Lock of the Week must be one of the five games in your picks.

    3. If you pick a Lock that is not one of those five games, the Lock is omitted from your picks.

    4. Players are awarded an additional 0.5 points for picking their Lock of the Week correctly, and are penalized 0.5 points for an incorrect pick.

22. The Pigskin Special

    1. Each week, The Poolmaster will designate one game as the Pigskin Special. The designation will go to the one game each week - either NCAA or NFL - that appears to be the game that is generating the most attention from the fans, media and sports talk shows. The Poolmaster will accept input from players, but reserves the right to evaluate the entire weekend's schedule and make the final selection.

    2. Anyone who selects the Pigskin Special among their five games assumes the same risk as if they played a Lock of the Week. Choosing the game correctly results in an additional 0.5 points. A loss results in minus 0.5 points.

    3. Players do not have the option of removing the premium point value on the Pigskin Special. If you play the Pigskin Special, whether or not you are aware it is the Pigskin Special, you risk the additional points.

    4. The Pigskin Special is in addition to the Lock of the Week, which creates the potential for a maximum high score of 6.0 points for a perfect week with the Lock and Special and a possible low of -1.0 point for someone who plays both and loses all their games.

    5. The Pigskin Special will be selected and posted on the website with the weekly update. If there is no line on the game on Thursday, there will be no Pigskin Special that week. In the event a Pigskin Special in a given week has no line early in the week, the game can be changed by midnight Wednesday. If it is not changed, the Founding Fathers have the authority to schedule two Pigskin Specials at a future date.

23. Season standings are based on total wins plus points for the Lock of the Week and the Pigskin Special.

24. All prize money, including weekly prizes, will be paid out at the end of the season. 100% of entry fees are paid out to players minus the direct cost associated with the hosting of the PM website by an independent provider. The Poolmaster earns no financial benefit for the operation of the pool.

25. NEW FOR 2016: Weekly Prizes - A player must pick all five games correctly to win a weekly prize. Picking all five games correctly, including the Lock of the Week AND the Pigskin Special for a score of 6.0 is worth $60. Picking all five games correctly which results in a score of 5.5 or 5.0 pays $30. A score of 5.0 where the player picks four of five games correctly does not pay a prize.

26. In an effort to include the College Football Playoff championship game as part of the pool, the season extends to that weekend with the following adjustment: There will be only five games to pick from in Week 19, four NFL wildcard games and the CFB Championship. This creates the possibility of an inordinate number of perfect weeks. If the number of perfect weeks in Week 19 is equal to or less than the highest number of perfect weeks in any of the first 18 weeks, then perfect weeks will pay the same as the rest of the season with $60 for a score of 6.0 and $30 for all other perfect weeks. If the number of perfect weeks in Week 19 is more than the highest number of perfect weeks in any of the first 18 weeks, then ALL perfect weeks will pay $30.

27. NEW FOR 2016: Season Prizes: Season prize money will be awarded to the top 100 players in the standings. Prize money for the Top 25 finishers will be determined by percentage of the pot remaining after weekly prizes, prizes to 26th through 100th place, last-place prize, and expenses. (The projected dollar amounts in the chart below are based on 800 entries and the same ratio of weekly prize money per player as in the 2015 season.)

28. There will be no tiebreakers for final standings. If there is a tie, players involved in the tie will split prize money. Example: If there is a two-way tie for third, prize money for third and fourth place will be combined and divided evenly among those two players.

29. A player is no longer eligible for the last-place prize if the player accumulates three (3) or more disqualified picks. A pick is disqualified for any one of the following reasons:

    1. The game involving the pick has already started

    2. The game with the pick has no line

    3. The pick is a duplicate

    4. The pick is not playing

    5. A player picks both teams in the same game

    6. A player makes less than five picks in a week (Example: if a player makes only three picks, the two missing picks are disqualified picks)

30. The PM Rules Committee is made up of the 8 active Founding Fathers, The Founding Fathers will rule upon any unusual circumstances which arise and require formation or interpretation of a rule. The list of Founding Fathers can be found on the Founding Fathers Page. All rulings will be made in the best interests of the game. Any Founding Father who is involved in the circumstance in question will not participate in the ruling.

Updated: June 23, 2016