The Jerome XXIV
The Jerome is a decades-old men’s college basketball conference tournament pick-em contest. Here’s the deal: You need to pick the winners of each conference tournament.
We keep it straightforward – you, a Google Form, and your picks for all 31 conference tournaments. That’s it. Just pick the winners and let the madness unfold. If your team wins, you score points.
How do I score points?
The Jerome is a bastion of simplicity; it is a brief reprieve from spreads and analytics, offering college basketball in its most unadulterated form. The scoring system is straight-up, and you win points based on whether your team advances to its conference tournament championship.
For each of your picks in their conference tournament:
- +0: Your pick is knocked out before reaching the finals.
- +2: Your pick loses its conference championship game.
- +5: Your pick wins its conference championship game.
- +7: Your pick wins its conference championship and is not a top two seed and plays fewer than three games at its home venue.
The most points you can score for a single team is seven, with no penalties for incorrect picks (and in fact, a selection will be required for every conference tournament).
Scoring Examples
Let’s run through some examples from The Jerome XXIII (2023-24):
- You picked the 1-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels to win the ACC. UNC lost to NC State in the conference championship, scoring you two points.
- You picked 2-seeded Illinois to win the Big Ten. Illinois beat Wisconsin in the conference championship, which was played at a neutral site, but because the Illini were a top two seed, you score five points and do not receive the bonus points.
- You picked 3-seeded Western Kentucky to win Conference USA. WKU beat UTEP in the conference championship, and because the tournament was played at a neutral site – fewer than three home games for WKU – and the Hilltoppers were not a top two seed, you score the full seven points.
What about tiebreakers?
To break ties, each submission form includes three tiebreaker questions, making a total of six. Your combined score across all six will determine your tiebreaker score. These questions will be numeric (e.g., total points scored in the ACC championship game). Should ties persist, questions will be selected at random and scored until a winner emerges.
How do I participate?
Submissions are split into two “waves,” with deadlines based on the start dates of the tournaments. On Tuesday, February 25th at 6:00 p.m. EST, a submission form for the first wave will go live on this website. The second form will go live on March 3rd.
Are there prizes?
The Jerome has always been a competition fueled by pride and bragging rights, and that won’t change. However, Burner Ball — founded by college basketball insider and burner account Trilly Donovan — is upping the stakes. The top three finishers who are paid subscribers to Burner Ball will receive a free Homefield Bomber Jacket!