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div .games-story2 li {list-style-type:disc;list-style-position:inside;line-height:22px; }Pigskin Pickem Official Rules 2016NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. THE FOLLOWING PROMOTION IS INTENDED FOR VIEWING IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ONLY (EXCLUDING PUERTO RICO, OTHER U.S. TERRITORIES AND FOREIGN TERRITORIES) AND SHALL BE CONSTRUED AND EVALUATED ACCORDING TO UNITED STATES LAW. DO NOT PROCEED WITH THIS PROMOTION IF YOU ARE NOT LOCATED IN THE UNITED STATES OR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.1. ELIGIBILITY: Pigskin Pickem (the Promotion) is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia (EXCLUDING PUERTO RICO, OTHER UNITED STATES TERRITORIES, AND FOREIGN TERRITORIES), who are thirteen (13) years or older as of the date of entry, and are registered members of ESPN.com. (Registration is further described below in Section 4.) The following are not eligible for the Promotion: (i) employees and agents of Sponsor and Promoter and their respective parent, subsidiary and affiliated companies, and each of their respective advertising/promotion agencies; and (ii) the immediate family members and/or household members of any of the persons set forth in (i) above. Immediate family members shall mean parents, step-parents, children, step-children, siblings or spouses. Household members shall mean people who share the same residence at least three (3) months a year. Participation in the Promotion constitutes Entrants full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and to Sponsors decisions. The decisions of the Sponsor regarding all matters relating to the Promotion are final and binding. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein. From all eligible entries received, the winners will be determined based on their ability to accumulate the most points in this Promotion. This Promotion is void in all U.S. Territories, (e.g., Puerto Rico and Guam) and where prohibited or restricted by law and subject to all applicable federal, state, local and municipal laws and regulations.2. SPONSOR; PROMOTERS. This Promotion is sponsored by ESPN Internet Ventures (the Sponsor). Any additional advertisers associated with the Promotion, if any, shall be deemed a Promoter for purposes of these Official Rules.3. ENTRY PAGE. To access and/or enter the Promotion, log-on to the Pigskin Pickem Frontpage during the Promotion Period and complete your entry by clicking on the Play Now for Free! button.4. ESPN.COM REGISTRATION. To enter the Promotion, you must be a registered member of ESPN.com (or one of Sponsors affiliated websites, e.g., ABC.com, ABCNews.com, DisneyOnline.com and Family.com). Registration is free.a. Not yet a Member. You may register by clicking on the applicable link on the entry page for the Promotion, and following the instructions. You will be asked to provide your e-mail address, name, birth date, gender and country of residence (collectively User Information) and to select a username and password.b. Already a Member. If you are already a member (or if you are a member of one of the Sponsors affiliated websites), then you do not need to register again. You may enter the Promotion by logging in on ESPN.com with your current username and password.c. Survey Questions or Promotional Email. You may be asked to answer survey questions or to consent to receive promotional emails or offers. This is optional. You are not required to answer questions or to give consent to receive such emails or offers in order to be eligible to play in the Promotion.d. Password. You are responsible for the secrecy of your password. Sponsor, Promoters and other third parties are not responsible or liable for any actions taken using your password.5. TIMING. Registration for the Promotion begins on Thursday, August 4, 2016 at 3:00 pm Eastern Time. The Promotion begins on Thursday, September 8, 2016 and ends on Sunday, January 1, 2017 at 8 pm Eastern Time (or upon the completion of the last game from that day) (the Promotion Period). For purposes of these official rules (the Official Rules) all times are Eastern Time (ET).6. HOW TO PLAY.a. General. The objective of the Promotion is to accumulate the most points by correctly selecting the winning pick for each U.S. professional football game during the Promotion Period. Entrants may select the Spread Scoring System, the Straight Scoring System or the Confidence Scoring System. If you do not select a scoring system, your entry will default to the Straight Scoring System.b. Selections. You may enter your selections online by following the instructions in the How to Play section of the game.c. Scoring. From all eligible entries received, the winners will be determined based on their ability to accumulate the most points during the Promotion Period. Each correct winning pick on a valid entry in both Spread Scoring and Straight Scoring will receive one (1) point. Each correct winning pick on a valid entry in Confidence Scoring will receive points equal to the assigned value you have placed on that particular game. In all scoring systems points are not lost for incorrect picks. You accumulate points from the date of your first winning pick. You may begin playing after the start of the Promotion but you will not receive any points for the football games you have missed. For example, if you have no valid winning picks for a particular week (e.g., because you didnt enter), your point total for that week would be zero (0). In order to maximize the opportunity to accrue the most points, register and submit your entry no later than the first kickoff of the first game of the professional football regular season (Thursday, September 8, 2016 at 8:30 pm ET). In the event a scheduled professional football game listed does not occur as scheduled (e.g., a game is cancelled) no points will be awarded. Ties will be broken in accordance with the tie-breaker procedure below.d. Spread Scoring System. Each Tuesday of the Promotion Period Sponsor will post a Spread on ESPN.com for the then upcoming Thursday through Monday night football games. The Spread is the expected number of points by which one team (the Favorite) is expected to beat its opponent. Once a spread is posted online it will not change unless due to a technical error or the spread is clearly inaccurate. Sponsor does not determine spreads on its own, and may, prior to posting online, add a half-point to the spread. If you choose the Spread Scoring System the winning pick is the team that has the most points after first subtracting the spread from the total points actually scored by the Favorite team. In some cases, this will mean that the winning pick is not the team that wins the game. For example: Team A vs. Team B. Team A is listed as the Favorite and the Spread is -13.5 points. If Team A wins the game by a final score of 28 to 21, the winning pick is actually Team B because subtracting 13.5 points from Team As total results in a final score of Team A 14.5 and Team B 21. Thus, Team B covers the spread.e. Straight Scoring System. If you choose the Straight Scoring System, the winning pick is the team that wins the game, i.e., scores the most points.f. Confidence Scoring System. For Confidence scoring entries, you will be required to assign each game during each Week (i.e. Week 1) a confidence point value between one (1) and up to sixteen (16), or equal to the number of games scheduled for that week if fewer than sixteen (16). The higher the number you assign to a particular game, the more confident you are that you have selected the correct team to win. You may use a specific confidence point value only once each week. If you choose the Confidence Scoring System, you receive the amount of confidence points you assigned to each game where you correctly selected the winning team. The higher the confidence point number you assign to a particular game, the more confident you are that the team you have selected will win the match-up. You do not receive or lose points for incorrect picks. You accumulate points from the date of your first winning pick.g. Lock-time. All entries will use a rolling lock which allows a player to pick any game that has yet to kick off. You will not be able to re-assign a confidence value that was previously assigned to a game that is already underway or has been completed. Selections submitted after the deadlines are considered invalid, and no points will be received. Sponsors computer is the official time keeping device for this game. h. Ties. Unless otherwise noted the Tiebreaker Game is the game played on Monday night at the end of each week (meaning the game played on the Monday after the games played on the preceding Thursday through Sunday). During Week One (1), two Monday night games are scheduled and the Tiebreaker Game will be the second game of the night. Entrants may, but are not required to, submit a predicted score for the weekly Tiebreaker Game. This prediction is used for tiebreaker purposes only. If no predicted score is submitted for an entry, it is given a default prediction of zero (0) points to zero (0) points. NOTE: Due to the fact that no Monday night game is scheduled for the 17th week of the season, the Tiebreaker Game will be the game currently scheduled for Jan. 1, 2017 at 4:25pm.OVERALL TIEBREAKERS:● Tiebreaker #1 - Higher number of points scored for Week 17● Tiebreaker #2 - Higher number of points scored for Week 16● Tiebreaker #3 - Higher number of points scored for Week 15● Tiebreaker #4 - Higher number of points scored for Week 14● Tiebreaker #5 - Higher number of points scored for Week 13 Tiebreakers will continue backwards from week thirteen (13) until week one (1).● Tiebreaker #6 - - A random draw between all remaining Entrants to determine the winner. In all cases, an entry that does not win a tiebreaker is eliminated from consideration.WEEKLY TIEBREAKERS:● Tiebreaker #1 - The entry that correctly predicted the winning pick of the Tiebreaker Game is considered the winning entry.● Tiebreaker #2 - An Entrants predicted Tiebreaker Game score is compared to the actual Tiebreaker Game. The differences between the predicted scores and actual scores for each team are added. The entry with the smallest total difference is considered the winning entry.● Tiebreaker #3 - The Entrant whose predicted score for the winning team is closest to the actual score of the winning team is considered the winning entry. ● Tiebreaker#4 - The Entrant with the highest total overall points is considered the winning entry.● Tiebreaker #4 - - A random draw between all remaining Entrants to determine the winner. In all cases, an entry that does not win a tiebreaker is eliminated from consideration.i. Limit. FIVE (5) ENTRIES PER PERSON/ PER UNIQUE ESPN.COM USER ACCOUNT (REGARDLESS OF THE NUMBER OF EMAIL ADDRESSES OR REGISTERED MEMBER ACCOUNTS).7. ENTRY. There is no entry fee required to participate in the Promotion. Only entries received online in accordance with these Official Rules will be accepted. No other forms of entry - fax, mail, email, phone or other - will be accepted. Entry materials/data that have been tampered with or altered are void. Overall Prize Winners will be determined on or about Monday, January 2, 2017. Weekly Prize Winners will be determined on an ongoing basis throughout the contest period. 8. PRIZES. The approximate retail value (ARV) of all prizes is $14,100.00.a. Overall Prizes - Six (6) Prizes:?● (i.) Straight Winner - A $2,000 Amazon.com gift card*.● (ii.) Spread Winner - A $2,000 Amazon.com gift card*.● (iii.) Confidence Winner - A $2,000 Amazon.com gift card*.● (iv.) Straight Runner Up - A $1,000 Amazon.com gift card*.● (v.) Spread Runner Up - A $1,000 Amazon.com gift card*.● (vi.) Confidence Runner Up - A $1,000 Amazon.com gift card*.TOTAL ARV for Overall prizes: $9,000.00b. Weekly Prizes - Fifty One (51) Prizes:● (i.) Seventeen (17) Straight Weekly Winner Prizes - The eligible entrant that finishes with the most points each of the 17 weeks of the Straight Promotion (and wins any tie breakers) will win a $100 Amazon.com Gift Card*. (ARV $100.00 per)● (ii.) Seventeen (17) Spread Weekly Winner Prizes - The eligible entrant that finishes with the most points each of the 17 weeks of the Spread Promotion (and wins any tie breakers) will win a $100 Amazon.com Gift Card*. (ARV $100.00 per)● (iii.) Seventeen (17) Confidence Weekly Winner Prizes - The eligible entrant that finishes with the most points each of the 17 weeks of the Spread Promotion (and wins any tie breakers) will win a $100 Amazon.com Gift Card*. (ARV $100.00 per)TOTAL ARV for Weekly Prizes: $5,100.00Odds of winning prizes depend on the total number of eligible entries received.c. Prize Restrictions If a potential winner is a minor in his/her jurisdiction of primary residence, potential winners parent/legal guardian must execute all documents and agree to all obligations and undertakings required of the potential winner in these Official Rules, both on behalf of himself/herself and the potential winning minor. Prize may be awarded in the name of, or to, parent/legal guardian. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein. Winners are solely responsible for any and all expenses, relative to participation in the Promotion (including acceptance of any prize) not specified herein.No cash or other prize substitution, assignment or transfer of prizes permitted, except at Sponsors sole discretion due to prize unavailability. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize with one of comparable value or greater value (e.g., Sponsor may opt instead to award the cash equivalent of any prize in lieu of the prize itself). THE WINNER IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL TAXES ASSOCIATED WITH THE RECEIPT OR USE OF ANY PRIZE. Prizes awarded in the form of Amazon.com Gift Card can only be used for future purchases at Amazon.com or certain of its affiliated websites. Gift Cards are NOT redeemable/exchangeable for cash. Other restrictions may apply. Prize winners should allow up to 6-8 weeks after they return their signed, notarized affidavit to receive their prize.9. ENTRY ERRORS/ NO RETURN OF ENTRIES; DISPUTES. Neither Sponsor nor Promoters are responsible for lost, late, incomplete, damaged, stolen, invalid, unintelligible or misdirected entries, which will be disqualified. Neither Sponsor nor Promoters are responsible for any unavailability of or interruptions to any service or equipment used in connection with the Promotion, including, without limitation, (1) interruptions to any network, server, Internet, website, telephone, satellite, computer or other connections (2) failures of any telephone, satellite, hardware, software or other equipment, (3) garbled, misdirected or jumbled transmissions, or traffic congestion, or (4) other errors of any kind, whether human, technical, mechanical or electronic, or (5) the incorrect or inaccurate capture of entry or other information or the failure to capture any such information.Once submitted, entries become the sole property of Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned. In the event of a dispute as to any entry, the authorized account holder, i.e., natural person associated with the entry, will be deemed to be the registrant. Potential winners may be required to show proof of identification, and Sponsor may require that the potential winner provide proof that his/her identification matches the User Information associated with the winning entry (both at the time of entry and at the time of verification of a potential winner). SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO DISQUALIFY ANY POTENTIAL WINNER IF IT DETERMINES, IN ITS SOLE DISCRETION, THAT ANY USER INFORMATION WAS CHANGED OR FALSIFIED IN ORDER TO MEET ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.10. POTENTIAL WINNERS. ALL POTENTIAL WINNING PLAYS ARE SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION BY SPONSOR, WHOSE DECISIONS ARE FINAL. SPONSOR SHALL SOLELY DETERMINE ANY FORM OF VERIFICATION. AN ENTRANT IS NOT A WINNER OF ANY PRIZE UNLESS AND UNTIL ENTRANTS ELIGIBILITY AND THE POTENTIAL WINNING ENTRY HAS BEEN VERIFIED AND ENTRANT HAS BEEN NOTIFIED THAT VERIFICATION IS COMPLETE. SPONSOR WILL NOT ACCEPT SCREEN SHOTS, AFFIDAVITS OR OTHER EVIDENCE OF WINNING IN LIEU OF ITS VALIDATION PROCESS. ANY ENTRY THAT OCCURS AFTER THE SYSTEM HAS FAILED FOR ANY REASON MAY BE DEEMED A DEFECTIVE ENTRY AND VOID.Potential winners will be notified via email (or overnight mail) sent within fifteen (15) business days following the end of the Promotion Period. It is the sole responsibility of the entrant to notify the Sponsor during the Promotion Period if his or her e-mail address has changed. To do so, click on the myESPN icon on any ESPN.com page fantasy game page, then click on the Account Information link and follow the instructions.A potential winner will be disqualified and an alternate potential winner will be selected if (i) he/she does not comply with these rules (or is otherwise determined to be ineligible), (ii) he/she does not respond to the prize notice within five (5) days of its transmission (or receipt, if mailed), or if the emailed prize notice, after three (3) attempts, is returned as undeliverable, or (iii) the prize is undeliverable for any reason. If Sponsor notifies, or seeks to deliver a prize to or otherwise attempts to contact an alternate potential winner, and such alternate potential winner is subsequently disqualified then Sponsor shall use its reasonable business judgment to determine, in its sole discretion, the disposition of the prize (e.g., may choose another alternate potential winner in a manner consistent with these rules or donate the prize to another entity, at its sole discretion).11. AFFIDAVIT OF ELIGIBILITY/LIABILITY RELEASE. As a condition of receiving a prize, potential winners may be required to complete, sign and return an Affidavit of Eligibility, a Liability Release, and, except where prohibited, a Publicity Release, within fifteen (15) days of the date stated on the prize notice. Except where prohibited, participation in this Promotion constitutes winners consent to Sponsors and Promoters, and any of their respective agents use of winners name, likeness, voice, opinions and biographical information for publicity, advertising, trade or promotional purposes in any media or manner, now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, without further payment, consideration, notice or approval.12. CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION. Participation constitutes entrants full and unconditional agreement to these official rules and to Sponsors decisions. The decisions of the Sponsor in regards to all matters of this Promotion are final and binding.Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion, to modify, cancel, terminate, and/or suspend the Promotion and to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process, violates these Official Rules, or acts in a disruptive or unsportsmanlike manner.Without limiting the foregoing, Sponsor may lock out an entrant who, in Sponsors sole judgment, has been disqualified, has questionable eligibility or is otherwise ineligible to enter. CAUTION: A PERSON WHO ATTEMPTS DELIBERATELY TO UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THIS PROMOTION OR TO ALTER OR DAMAGE A WEBSITE MAY BE SUBJECT TO CIVIL AND/OR CRIMINAL PENALTIES AND FINES; AND SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. Without limiting the foregoing, Sponsor may modify, cancel, terminate, and/or suspend the Promotion if, in the Sponsors sole opinion, an incident of any kind occurs to corrupt or impair the administration, security, integrity, fairness or play (as intended) of the Promotion, including without limitation: (a) viruses, bugs, unauthorized human intervention, fraud or technical failure; or (b) earthquake, flood, fire, storm or other natural disaster, act of God; or (c) labor controversy or threat thereof, civil disturbance or commotion, disruption of the public markets, war or armed conflict (whether or not officially declared). In the event that the U.S. professional football season is postponed, terminated early, or cancelled for any reason (such as a strike or lockout), Sponsor reserves the right to award prizes based on scores at the time the season is disrupted, or to cancel, modify or suspend the Promotion at its discretion. In the event of a cancellation or termination by the Sponsor the entrant who has accumulated the highest point total (and who wins any pending tiebreakers) at the time of any said action will be awarded the prizes, or the prizes will be awarded in such other manner deemed fair and appropriate by Sponsor.13. RELEASE AND INDEMNITY. By participating in this Promotion or receiving a prize, entrants (and in particular, winners) agree to release and to indemnify and hold harmless Sponsor, Promoters, and each of their respective related companies, and all of their respective officers, directors, employees and agents (collectively, the Released Parties) for any liability, injury, death, loss or damages to entrant or any person or entity, including without limitation damage to personal or real property, caused in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, by participation in this Promotion (or related activities) or the acceptance, possession or use/misuse of a prize.14. GAMBLING PROHIBITION. This Promotion is strictly for entertainment purposes and may not be used in connection with any form of gambling.15. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY. The Released Parties do not make any representation, warranty or guarantee, express or implied, relating to the Promotion or prizes, and are not responsible for: (1) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by entrants, printing errors or by any of the equipment, hardware, software or programming associated or used with the Promotion; (2) technical errors, defects, delays or failures of any kind, including without limitation malfunctions, interruptions or disconnections in communications lines, Internet or website access, hardware or software; (3) digital or electronic disruptions, e.g., viruses; (4) unauthorized human intervention, e.g., hacking; (5) technical or human error which may occur in connection with any aspect of the Promotion; (6) any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrants participation in the Promotion, access to, copying or downloading materials from ESPN.com or any other website, or receipt or use of any prize.16. DISPUTES/CHOICE OF LAW. Except where prohibited, each entrant agrees that: (1) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Promotion or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by state or federal courts situated in New York county, New York state, i.e., Manhattan; (2) any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, but in no event attorneys fees; and (3) no punitive, incidental, special, consequential or other damages, including without limitation lost profits may be awarded (collectively, Special Damages), and (4) entrant hereby waives all rights to claim Special Damages and all rights to have such damages multiplied or increased. New York law, without reference to New Yorks choice of law rules, governs the Promotion and all aspects related thereto.17. PRIVACY. Personally identifiable information that is submitted by entrants as part of this Promotion will be used to administer the Promotion, select prize winners and fulfill prizes, and will be treated in accordance with Sponsors privacy policy accessible on its website at www.espn.com.18. OFFICIAL RULES; WINNERS LISTS. For a copy of the Official Rules and/or list of winners, mail a self-addressed stamped envelope to the address below (Residents of VT may omit return postage). Requests must be received within thirty (30) days following the end of the Promotion (i.e., by January 31, 2017).Pigskin Pickemc/o ESPN Internet VenturesMarketing Department56 West 66th StreetNew York, NY 1002319. ADDRESS; COPYRIGHT. Sponsor is responsible for the Promotion and awarding of prizes. Sponsors address is 56 West 66th Street, New York, NY 10023. The Promotion and all accompanying materials are copyright (c) 2016 ESPN Internet Ventures.*Amazon.com is not a sponsor of this Promotion. Except as required by law, Amazon.com Gift Cards (GCs) cannot be transferred for value or redeemed for cash. GCs may be used only for purchases of eligible goods at Amazon.com or certain of its affiliated websites. For complete terms and conditions, see www.amazon.com/gc-legal. GCs are issued by ACI Gift Cards, Inc., a Washington corporation. All Amazon ?, ? & ? are IP of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. No expiration date or service fees.Mariners Jerseys 2019 . Malkin got tangled up with Detroits Luke Glendening early in the third period and his left skate took the brunt of collision with the boards behind Pittsburghs net. Ichiro Suzuki Jersey . Tests earlier this week revealed a Grade 2 left hamstring strain for Sabathia, who was hurt in last Fridays start against San Francisco. Its an injury that will require about eight weeks to heal. He finished a disappointing campaign just 14-13 with a career-worst 4. https://www.cheapmariners.com/2845k-daniel-vogelbach-jersey-mariners.html .Y. -- Syracuse has turned up the defence at the right time all season, and when High Point threatened to pull off a monumental upset the second-ranked Orange did what they do best with their quick hands and savvy play. Phillips Valdez Jersey . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. Freddy Garcia Jersey . LOUIS -- St.Game 7, 2016 NBA Finals: Kyrie Irving with a game winner. Reigning two-time MVP Stephen Curry against four-time MVP LeBron James. Clevelands curse vs. the Golden Boys of 73 wins. At one point 44.5 million people were watching LeBron vs. Steph, and the game had an average TV rating of 15.7, the highest-rated NBA game since Michael Jordans final championship dagger against the Jazz in 1998. The intrigue, storylines, and brands of the teams and players were just as captivating as the game itself. It was must-see TV.April 5, 2010, NCAA title game: Gordon Hayward comes within inches of giving Butler a national championship instead of Duke. The stars? Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack vs. Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler. Over 48 million people tuned in to at least part of a game featuring the school from Indiana, with less than 5,000 students enrolled full time, yet their final game in the 2010 season against Duke drew a 15.0 average TV rating. At the time, this was a better rating than any NBA game since 2002, and not much worse than college footballs 2010 BCS National Championship between Alabama and Texas (17.2 rating).Wait, what? How does a college sporting event featuring two teams with combined undergraduate enrollment under 11,000 outperform any game of its professional counterpart for the previous seven years? How did only 2 percent more households that same year watch the football equivalent featuring Texas and Alabama?Fall may have just begun, but for college basketball fans, March cant come soon enough. Football may be Americas game, and baseball is Americas pastime. What is college basketball? I like to call it the proud owner of the title Americas Tournament. While more people in the U.S. would rather watch football than basketball on a Thursday night, when the calendar turns to March, that gap nearly vanishes.Fans love the Cinderella, at least one of which appears in the NCAA tournament seemingly every year. George Mason, Butler, VCU and Wichita State -- all are from smaller conferences and made it to the Final Four with an 8-seed or higher in the last 11 years. No other major college or professional sport can consistently produce teams that make the unexpected happen as often as the NCAA tournament. Why?I conjecture it has to do with three main reasons:? The size of the field? Single elimination? Mis-seedingField of 68The first couple years of the College Football Playoff have been a great success. The regular season is under increased scrutiny, and youre guaranteed to get four very good teams in the playoff even if not everyone agrees they are definitely the four best. First, lets settle the obvious. The teams that make the field of 68 arent the best 68 teams in the sport. Unlike football, there is intrigue that all 351 Division I teams players control their own destiny to the national championship. Some teams way outside the best 68 in the country make the tournament. Some may argue this makes the NCAA tournament watered-down, but that couldnt be further from the truth.Although 68 teams make the tournament, in a given year generally 40-45 of those make the NCAA tournament as an at-large, which is the top 11-13 percent of all teams (19 percent of all teams make the tournament including the automatic qualifiers). This actually creates a more even playing field. Compare that to the NBA and NHL (the top 53 percent of teams make the playoffs), MLB (top 33 percent) and NFL (top 37.5 percent). If the top 40 percent of teams were in the NCAA tournament in 2016, according to ESPNs Basketball Power Index (BPI), that would have put High Point and Northeastern, teams few casual fans are familiar with, among the final teams in the field.The 2010-11 VCU Rams were an 11th-seeded at-large team and thus were considered among the top 45 teams in the country, according to the selection committee. This means they were among the top 13 percent of all the teams in the country. For a financial comparison, what kind of salary would put someone in the top 13 percent? According to the U.S. Census in 2014, the top 13 percent oof household incomes in the United States were at $145,000 per year or more.dddddddddddd Is the NCAA tournament watered-down? Its as watered-down as a country club that requires a household income of at least $145,000 to join. There may be some weaker competition in the highest seeds of the NCAA tournament bracket, but mostly it is a tournament for the basketball-rich.]Survive and advanceLets consider a few examples that may demonstrate how survive-or-go-home games increase the chances of weaker teams winning, and by extension the excitement of the tournament.Team A has a 61 percent chance to beat Team B on a neutral court. Suppose both teams get a 4 percent bump for playing at home. In a seven-game series, with Team A having home-court advantage, the probability is that Team A has a 74 percent to win the series. In a win-or-go-home, single-game elimination on a neutral court, Team A will advance only 61 percent of the time. The NCAA tournament gives weaker teams a much better chance at advancing than the NBA playoffs. Lets say teams seeded No. 13 or higher have, on average, a 7 percent chance to win a round-of-64 game. Whats the chance that at least one of them will win? The answer is 72 percent. Going back to 2002, only twice in 15 years has no team seeded 13 or higher advanced to the round of 32.Contrast this with the opening-round series in the NBA, which feature a best-of-seven format. In the past five seasons, only one team out of 20 (5 percent) among the bottom quarter of playoff teams (seeds 7 or 8) advanced past the first round (the Philadelphia 76ers upended the Chicago Bulls in 2012). In the NCAA tournament, 12 teams out of 80 (15 percent) in the bottom quarter of tourney teams (seeds 13-16) advanced out of the first round. This, of course, is a limited sample, but it demonstrates the added uncertainty and therefore excitement a single-game, win-or-go-home scenario creates.Maybe winning one game doesnt make team a Cinderella, but winning two or more does. In 2016, BPI expected an average of 2.3 teams seeded 9-16 to make the Sweet 16. In the NCAA tournament, unlike college football, it is not a question of if a small school can win on a big stage -- it is a question of, which one?Committees human errorMost of the buzz regarding the field of 68 is about who the favorite is and who got left out, but the bigger question is, Who got mis-seeded? The committee doesnt mis-seed as much when analyzing a teams resume as it does when analyzing a teams actual strength. A team may have a weak resume due to bad luck in a few games and still be one of the stronger teams in the country. BPI accounts for strength, and very often a team is much stronger than it appears.Take, for example, Mr. Davidson 2008, Stephen Curry. His team was awarded a No. 10 seed, presumably because it was in a weaker conference and glaringly had seven nonconference losses. The context of those seven, how close the games were, and where the games were played are crucial context to evaluate how good a team is. Three of those losses were to UNC, Duke and UCLA, all very good teams that season, and another was to ACC school NC State. BPI saw that the Wildcats were the 15th-best team in the nation heading into the tournament that year, a far cry from the 10th-seeded lens most people saw them through. While the 15th-best team isnt expected to be in the Elite Eight, it shouldnt be a surprise when they are.Combine having a relatively small percentage of the top teams making the tournament, the randomness that occurs from having only one game to play each round, and the perceived strength of the team sometimes being much different than reality, and you get a lot of excitement and a lot of madness. Will there be a Cinderella in the tournament? A double-digit seed in the Final Four? A small school making a name for itself? Its happened before and it will surely happen again. When? Odds-on favorite is six months from now. ' ' '