Tuesday 4/7/26 11:00 am:  Final SPREADSHEET and CURRENT STANDINGS fully updated through the championship.  Frankly not sure what will happen to the Claude DASHBOARD once it loses connection with the latest game scores.  It could go haywire and reassign the winners.  Luckily, we still have the spreadsheet and a human being making good decisions for the well being of the Pick8. 

Monday 3/30/26 8:00 am:  SPREADSHEET and CURRENT STANDINGS fully updated through Final 4.  Check the  DASHBOARD for live updates next weekend. 

Thursday 3/26/26 10:30 pm:  SPREADSHEET and CURRENT STANDINGS fully updated through tonight's games.  DASHBOARD should be up and running in real time.  

Monday 3/23/26 8:00 am:  SPREADSHEET and CURRENT STANDINGS fully updated through round 2.  Also check out the new DASHBOARD, which will track the standings in real time.  For now, the spreadsheet remains the system of record, but this could be the future...

Saturday 3/21/26 6:00 pm:  338 entries this year.  SPREADSHEET and CURRENT STANDINGS updated through early round 2 games.

Sunday 3/15/26 9:00 pm:  Welcome back for the 21st year of the Pick 8.  No major changes this year, and expect a wild ride with the games as always.  

The rules are simple, and unchanged.  You pick 8 teams from the field of 64.  When one of your teams wins a game, you score points equal to the seed times the round #.  Check the Rules page for details.

It is $10/entry.  Last year we had a record 348 entries, and paid the top 15 spots.  Last year's winner was Doug Tubaugh's mother :) , and she took home 24% ($835) of the total prize pool.  I will determine the final payout structure on Thursday once we have the final number of entries, but expect a similar top prize and payout structure this year. 

Easy, right?  Click here to access the Google Form to enter your picks.  You'll need to provide your email address.  You can still submit multiple entries using the same email, just number your entries accordingly in the entry name field.  Let me know if you have any issues.

I will send updates of the standings periodically throughout the tournament, but I reserve the right to take up to 24 hours to get the updates out.  If you're not seeing the email updates, make sure to check your spam filter.  You can also follow along with THE spreadsheet which I will send a link to later in the week.  (Here is the 2025 SPREADSHEET for reference.)  Note, the spreadsheet works a lot better if you open in the Desktop version of Excel, rather than the web version. 

I take no cut for running the pool, and have a 100% track record for collecting the entry fees and distributing the winnings.  Please take responsibility for making your payment of your entry fee.  It helps me tremendously if I don't have to chase you down!

Finally, if you are into the details, here is the complete scoring history of the Pick 8 from 1985 (first year of 64 teams) through 2025. 

Good luck, and thanks for playing!
Jeff