Gator Pick'em 2024 Info 

   Welcome to the 2024 version of Gator Pick'em.

    Here are a few things that you should know before you get started:

• We pick against the spread. This means that the team with the negative number after their name in parenthesis, "(-13)" for example, is FAVORED to win that game by that many points. If they win by less than the spread, then they are a LOSING pick. In the event that they win by exactly the spread, we have a PUSH which is scored as a win for either pick. The spread is shown as negative because it is subtracted from the favored team's score before comparison to the underdog's score. The one who still has the higher score after this adjustment is the winning pick.
  Let's say a game has the following line:

  LSU (-12.5)   vs.   Vandy

  If LSU wins the game 36-24, then the "spread winner" is computed by taking 36, subtracting 12.5, and comparing the result to 24. In this case:

  36 - 12.5 = 23.5

  And because 23.5 is less than 24, Vandy is the "spread winner" even though LSU won the game (LSU is the "straight" or "straight up" winner).

  Still confused? Ask John and see if he can do a better job explaining than me.

• Favorites are selected by default the first time you go to the picks page each week. Because more favorites tend to be picked than underdogs, this is simply for your convenience (less clicking). They are NOT automatically selected as your picks for the week, you'll have to click to save them as your picks. We make it easy, but we're not playing the game for you.

• Usernames/passwords are kept from year-to-year, so you should continue to use your username and password from the previous season(s). If you haven't played on the current system (2003 onward), you will need to create a new account by clicking on the "register" link on the login page (below the login box). If you already have an account, please use it rather than creating a new one. Username and password reminders are emailed to people at the beginning of the season for people who played in the prior season, but if you have any other issues with logging in, let Oz know.

• Each week is usually open for picking some time on Monday or Tuesday and the previous week scored by Monday evening (depending on my travel to/from games mostly). You will receive email when the new week's game is up and when the previous one is scored. John also announces this (and the week's winner) on GatorNews/Talk.

• Pick 'em closes one hour prior to the start-time of the first game included in the picks and the close time is displayed under the main menu (We try to stick mostly to Saturday games so this is typically around 11am Saturday, though Thursday night games are becoming more and more popular -- keep this in mind). You can edit your picks as many times as you want heading up to the deadline (don't be afraid to make some initial picks on Tuesday and then go back and change them later if you'd like -- Remember: Your picks are not locked in until pick'em closes for the week).

• In order to show up in the overall scores for the season, you will need to make picks for at least half of the weeks that have been played. This is done to keep the scoreboard clean of people who only pick for a week or two. Obviously, people will also only show-up in the per-week scoreboard for weeks they have picked.

• While I hope the system is fairly stable and works well, you may find the occasional bug. If you have any bug reports, feature requests, comments, etc. please email Oz about it. You can also take a look at the To-Do List to see if it's already there. I will try to be as responsive as possible to any bug reports or administrative requests. However, I get especially busy during football season, so please try to be patient if you don't hear from me right away.

• Thanks for playing and...Go Gators!

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