We're going to run a season-long Guess The Score contest for prizes. Here's how it works (no matter how many times I've explained the scoring system to my USC audience there are some who still don't understand it, but I promise it's very easy.)
Weekly contest
This is simple. Whoever is closest to the final score gets two free months tacked on their subscription. If anybody hits the score exactly, we throw in a $50 Amazon gift card. (Limited to the first two people who submit a correct guess in the weekly thread). So how is "closest to the final score" calculated? Very simple -- total of how many points off you are from both teams' score. For example, if you guess 31-14 Cal over UC Davis and the actual score is 24-10, then you were 7 off on Cal and 4 off on Davis, which equals 11. Your score is 11 for that week. Like golf, lowest number wins. Whoever is closest, wins the week.
Season contest
Same scoring system but averaged out over the course of the season. I will start the season standings after Week 3 or 4 when there is enough data to form meaningful rankings. But let's say your weekly scores were 20-24-21-23, then obviously your score for the standings is 22 (the average of those four). Except there's a wrinkle, everyone gets to write off two weeks of the season. So that will either be two weeks you forgot to submit a guess or your two worst scores. If you play every week, your two worst scores drop from your average. If you miss more than two weeks, you're no longer eligible for the season prize, but you can still compete for the weekly contest.
I'll warn you now, especially after a handful of weeks it becomes a BEAR to calculate the standings, and I cannot promise when they'll post each week. It just comes down to when I have time, and obviously the priority is on stories/reporting. So just brace yourself now, the standings could come on Sunday night, or Friday night or anywhere in between.
Prizes for season contest:
First place -- $100 Amazon gift card, 6 free months subscription
Second place -- $50 Amazon gift card, 4 free months subscription
Third-fifth places -- 4 free months subscription
Questions, thoughts?
Feel free to use this thread for the Week 1 predictions. You can change your guess at any point during the week. I will lock the thread before kickoff, though.
Weekly contest
This is simple. Whoever is closest to the final score gets two free months tacked on their subscription. If anybody hits the score exactly, we throw in a $50 Amazon gift card. (Limited to the first two people who submit a correct guess in the weekly thread). So how is "closest to the final score" calculated? Very simple -- total of how many points off you are from both teams' score. For example, if you guess 31-14 Cal over UC Davis and the actual score is 24-10, then you were 7 off on Cal and 4 off on Davis, which equals 11. Your score is 11 for that week. Like golf, lowest number wins. Whoever is closest, wins the week.
Season contest
Same scoring system but averaged out over the course of the season. I will start the season standings after Week 3 or 4 when there is enough data to form meaningful rankings. But let's say your weekly scores were 20-24-21-23, then obviously your score for the standings is 22 (the average of those four). Except there's a wrinkle, everyone gets to write off two weeks of the season. So that will either be two weeks you forgot to submit a guess or your two worst scores. If you play every week, your two worst scores drop from your average. If you miss more than two weeks, you're no longer eligible for the season prize, but you can still compete for the weekly contest.
I'll warn you now, especially after a handful of weeks it becomes a BEAR to calculate the standings, and I cannot promise when they'll post each week. It just comes down to when I have time, and obviously the priority is on stories/reporting. So just brace yourself now, the standings could come on Sunday night, or Friday night or anywhere in between.
Prizes for season contest:
First place -- $100 Amazon gift card, 6 free months subscription
Second place -- $50 Amazon gift card, 4 free months subscription
Third-fifth places -- 4 free months subscription
Questions, thoughts?
Feel free to use this thread for the Week 1 predictions. You can change your guess at any point during the week. I will lock the thread before kickoff, though.
