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College Football Playoff Survivor Pools
A playoff winner each round. A tougher choice every time.
Have members pick a team to win in each College Football Playoff round. In a one-life, no-repeat pool, a loss ends the entry’s run and each winning pick uses up a team. With just four rounds, plan for byes, the shrinking field, and a shared finish.
Pick a winner each round and stay alive under your pool’s rules. Plan team reuse, extra picks, and the finish as the field narrows to the national championship.
$1 per entry for the playoff. Nothing upfront.
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Tell us about itPlan your CFP survivor pool
Four rounds. Make each one count.
The 12-team playoff has four first-round games, four quarterfinals, two semifinals, and one national championship. Set pick counts and team-use rules around that schedule.
Choose your picks by round.
Start with one pick each round (1/1/1/1), or require two in the first round (2/1/1/1) for a tougher opening. Extra picks also use up more teams. The semifinals offer only two games and the championship only one, so check that your rules leave an eligible pick.
Set the finish before the first pick.
Several entries can reach the championship together, and an entry can get there having already used both finalists. Choose a prize split or tiebreaker, and decide whether to allow a final-round reuse exception or finish earlier. If everyone loses in one round, state whether they share the finish, use a tiebreaker, or return when another round remains.
Your pool’s rules
Survivor rules for the playoff field.
Keep the survivor rules your group likes, then set the pick counts, team eligibility, and ending rules for the CFP. Choose the variations your group wants to play.
Format and rounds
- Starting round
- The first round, quarterfinals, semifinals, or national championship. A new pool starts with fresh entries and team-use histories.
- Where it ends
- The national championship, or an earlier playoff round you choose.
- Objective
- Pick teams to win, or run a pick-to-lose variation.
- How picks resolve
- Straight up, or against the pool’s posted spread.
- Entries per person
- One each, or a cap you choose.
- Entry deadline
- Close entries at the opening deadline, or allow late entries under your missed-pick and lives rules.
Picks and team use
- Picks per round
- One pick each round, or a different count for each round. Set the count to fit the games and eligible teams remaining.
- Team reuse
- Use each team once, allow a limited number of uses, or allow repeat picks throughout the pool.
- Picking against a team
- Limit how often an entry can pick against the same opponent, or leave it unrestricted.
- Eligible teams
- Only teams playing in the current round. Seeds 1–4 have first-round byes, so they become possible picks in the quarterfinals. A bye is not a winning pick.
- No eligible team left
- Treat an unfilled pick as a missed pick, or establish a team-use reset or exception before play begins.
Lives and the finish
- Total lives
- One life for elimination on the first incorrect pick, or extra lives to keep entries in longer.
- Multi-pick losses
- Lose one life per incorrect pick, or one life for a round containing any incorrect picks. Two wrong picks can therefore cost two lives or one.
- A missed pick
- Lose a life for an unfilled pick, or use an automatic pick from the entry’s eligible teams.
- ATS pushes
- Count a pick that lands exactly on the spread as correct or incorrect. Set this rule if your posted lines can be whole numbers.
- Everyone out in one round
- Let entries eliminated that round share the win or use your tiebreaker to decide the winner. Alternatively, revive them under your wipeout rule if another round remains.
- Survivors at the finish
- Share the win, or break ties using predicted total points in the national championship, remaining lives, winning margins, or another stated rule. Establish any prize splits before play.
- Rebuys
- Allow commissioner-managed re-entry under a stated cutoff, or keep elimination final.
Deadlines and game changes
- Pick deadline
- The round’s first kickoff, each game’s kickoff, or a day and time you set. A game that starts before the deadline still locks at kickoff.
- Round-specific deadlines
- Use a different deadline for a particular round. Account for games spread across multiple days and state the time zone.
- Postponed or cancelled games
- Establish whether a pick waits for the rescheduled result, can be replaced, or receives another stated outcome. Decide whether the team counts as used.
Visibility and control
- Seeing other picks
- As each game locks, or all at once at the deadline
- Point spreads
- Shown on the pick sheet, or kept off it. A pool that plays against the spread always shows them
- How ATS spreads get set
- Automatically from the market at any day and time, or manually. Unused for straight-up pools; the time is ignored in manual mode
- Half-point ATS spreads
- Automatic spreads always use half-points, so games cannot push; manual spreads are not guaranteed to use half-points
- Commissioner picks
- Enter and fix picks for a member, or turn that off
- Commissioner visibility
- Always off. Nobody sees a pick before it locks, you included
- Rules text
- A rules page generated from your settings, plus a note in your own words
- Audit markers
- Always on. Commissioner picks are flagged "C" and revivals "R"
- Advance picks
- Submit future-round picks once the eligible matchups are known, subject to the entry’s team-use rules.
- Entry management
- Keep track of who has joined, how many entries they have, and who still owes their dues.
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Football pool pricing
$1 per entry. For the playoff. Nothing upfront.
Pay only for the entries you keep.
- No credit card to start
- No minimum charge
- Set up before inviting anyone
Before the first playoff pick.
A small field makes team use and the finish worth settling early.
Can members pick a team with a first-round bye?
Not during the first round. Seeds 1–4 do not play until the quarterfinals. They become eligible then, subject to your pool’s team-use rules. The CFP bracket stays fixed through the championship; it does not reseed.
What if an entry has used both championship teams?
Under a no-repeat rule, it has no legal pick. Apply your stated missed-pick consequence, or establish a championship reuse exception before play. An automatic pick cannot supply an ineligible team. You can also choose to end the pool before the championship.
Can we start in the quarterfinals?
Yes. Start a fresh pool in the quarterfinals or another later round. Everyone begins with their own unused-team history. Fewer rounds mean fewer chances to separate entries, so revisit your pick counts and tiebreaker or prize-splitting rules.
How do two-pick rounds work?
Require two different eligible teams and explain whether each incorrect pick costs a life or the round costs at most one. In a one-life pool, either losing pick eliminates the entry. Decide how any unfilled pick is treated, including when no eligible team remains.
Can we include bowls outside the playoff?
Use bowl survivor for a wider postseason schedule. You can group bowls and CFP games into your own picking rounds. This CFP-only format follows the playoff rounds, including games hosted by bowls. Explore Bowl Survivor.
What if we want everyone picking through the championship?
Choose CFP pick’em if you want members to pick every matchup and earn points without elimination. Survivor instead keeps only the entries that meet your survival rules in contention. Compare CFP Pick’em.
For your group
Bring your CFP survivor rules.
Tell us your starting round, picks per round, and how your group wants to handle team reuse and the finish. We’ll help you put the pool together.