CONFIDENCE POOLS

The concept behind a Confidence Pool involves you choosing which teams you believe will win each game that is played during a week of the NFL season. You rank each game in accordance to the confidence level of that team winning. The higher your confidence in a team winning, the higher the point number should be that you assign to the team. You can do this either using the point-spread or straight up, depending on the configuration option chosen by the Commissioner. You will want to understand the configuration options chosen by the commissioner when the league was created so you can properly make your weekly choices.

The Commissioner will use the MFS configuration wizard to step through the different settings available, such as, the league type, the number of weeks to drop from the season total and all tie-breaker decisions. Some of the other configuration choices provided is the number of teams allowed in the pool and a game lock option; this is used when the commissioner wants the members to be able to make their choice right up until the start of the first game of the week or whether each game will lock once it begins.

Other configuration options provided allow the Commissioner to decide whether autopicks are allowed in the Confidence Pool and how many times a team can actually use autopicks or whether they must manually enter their picks each week. The Commissioner will be able to designate how many Drop Weeks to grant, which remove the worst week(s) for each team, and to prioritize the weekly and season tie-breakers used for positions in the standings in case of a tie.

To play the game, you must place a different weighting, also known as a confidence value, on each matchup winner. Within the NFL season, when there are no bye weeks, there are 16 NFL matchups. So, when you are choosing the matchup that you feel the most confident about, the one that you consider your easiest winner, you should assign it a confidence value of 16. With the matchup that you feel the least confident about, you would want to assign it a confidence value of 1. In between that range, you will fill in your picks according. In the end, you will have assigned 136 confidence points (16+15+14+...+3+2+1=136).

The points for a Confidence Pool are totaled each week throughout the season. You will receive the points you assigned for the winners that you accurately predict. For the games that you picked incorrectly, you will receive a zero. The person with the most points at the end of season, after Drop Weeks are factored in, is the person who wins the first place prize. Some pools may actually pay out a prize for the weekly winners as well.

The configuration options available at MFS are listed below. When playing in a Private Confidence Pool make sure you understand the pool’s configuration and how it impacts your picking strategy. The possible setting options and descriptions are listed below. If you have questions or would like a bit more info about these settings, make sure to visit our FAQ section.
 

Settings:                                                                                                                                                                                           

League Type: This setting determines if each pool member will pick the Winning team straight up or using the point spread. Picking the Winning team Straight Up is the default.
Tie-handling: It is rare for an actual tie game to happen in the NFL, but it is possible during the regular season. Ties when using the point spread is not uncommon. This option dictates how to handle any Tie situation. The default setting is to award all teams a Win, no matter which team they picked to win.
Drop Weeks: This setting determines if each pool member should have their worst week(s) dropped from the overall record. The default setting is 0 weeks, which means all weeks will count.
Max Autopicks: This value determines how many times MFS will autopick a team for pool members that do not have all picks submitted by the start of the first game of the week, which is when Autopicks are triggered. The autopick logic depends on the choice the pool members make on their Team Settings. The default number of autopicks per team is 17. If this number is changed to 0, MFS will not make any picks for pool members that fail to submit a pick. Pool members failing to make a pick on any game(s) before the Lock deadline will receive a Loss for each unpicked game.
Lock Picks: This option determines when the Lock Deadline occurs. It will either occur at the start of the first game of the week, on a designated day and time, or if each game should lock individually when it starts. The default Lock deadline is for each game to lock individually when it starts.
Hide Picks Until Start of Last Game: This setting dictates when each pool member can see the picks made by other pool members. The choices are to see all picks after the start of the last game of the week or to see the picks for each game after they are locked. The default is to show the picks for games after they have locked (started). The best place to view all picks is in the Poolwide Picks report in the Reports section of the pool.
Weekly Picks Are Optional: Generally pools are played over an extended period of time. However, this setting allows a pool to effectively be played on a weekly basis. The season standings are still maintained either way. The default is to make weekly picks mandatory.
Extend Into Playoffs If the Confidence Pool begins during the NFL regular season, this setting determines if it ends at the end of the regular season or after the Super Bowl. The default setting is to not extend into the NFL playoffs.