How it works

The slate

Every VCU women’s game gets the same three cards, in the same order. That is what makes it a habit instead of a novelty.

• The Call — how it finishes, in bands: VCU by 10+, VCU by 1–9, opponent by 1–9, opponent by 10+. Being right about a close loss counts. That matters in a rebuilding season.
• The Number — one team stat, over or under a line we set before the season. Assists, threes made, opponent points, turnovers forced. It rotates. You cannot answer it without deciding what to watch for.
• The Room — announced attendance, in bands, with the last home game as the reference point. Home games only. The one market that points at the thing we are actually trying to move.

Scoring

• Every correct call pays 100 points as a base.
• Conviction. Before picks lock you rank your calls 3×, 2×, 1× — one each, no repeats. A correct call pays its base times its multiplier. You are not choosing whether to be confident; you are choosing what you are most confident about.
• Underdog. If the correct option was taken by fewer than 25% of players, that call pays half again more. Being right when everyone else was wrong is worth more than being right about the obvious thing.
• Sweep. Every market correct: +150.
• Streak. Consecutive games with picks in earn a small bonus. One missed game is forgiven; two in a row resets it.
• Nothing ever goes down. There is no staking, no risk, no losing points. Ever.

A perfect ordinary night is 750 points. The realistic best night — everything right, underdog on your 3× — is 900.

Timing

• Picks open when a game becomes the next one up, and lock at tip. You can change them right up until then.
• Results post after the final. The board holds them for about two days, then the next game goes up and you get one email.
• Road games run two markets (no Room). Conviction is 3× and 2×.
• Postponed or cancelled games are skipped. No points either way.

The rules

• Free to play. No entry fee, no purchase, no money at any stage.
• No cash prizes. Points have no cash value and cannot be transferred or redeemed for money.
• Team and game outcomes only. There are no individual player markets and there never will be.
• VCU student-athletes, coaches and athletics staff may not participate.
• Attendance resolves on the announced figure, as published in the box score. Announced and actual differ; the announced number is the one that counts.
• The Number resolves on the official box score. A result exactly on the line counts as under — which is why lines end in .5.
• One account per person. We may remove accounts that game the system.
• Points may be spent, later, on digital things: roster breakdowns, gameday guides, preview packs. Never on anything physical, never on anything with a price tag.

This is a free prediction contest in the mould of a bracket challenge. It is not wagering, and we don’t use that vocabulary — no bets, odds, stakes or wagers here.