Rules
Your house rules
have a home.
Your scoring, your tiebreakers, the traditions your group has built. You decide how the pool runs. We help you make it work.
NFL Playoff Bracket Pools
Give your group a bracket to follow.
Have members predict the whole postseason before Wild Card weekend, including their Super Bowl champion. Correct picks earn points, and the highest total wins. You set the scoring and collect one bracket per entry, with no new picks to chase each round.
Members predict advancement and the champion before play begins. Set points by round and explain how NFL reseeding affects matchups and credit for later picks.
$1 per entry for the playoffs. Nothing upfront.
Let’s make Picksheet work for your pool.
Already have pool rules? Paste them in. Still figuring it out? Tell us what you have in mind.No account needed.
Tell us about itSet up your bracket pool
Set points, matchup credit, and tiebreakers.
A full NFL bracket has 13 games. Choose how much each round is worth and how to score a team that wins against a different opponent.
Give later rounds more weight.
A 1/2/4/8 schedule awards 1 point per Wild Card winner, 2 per Divisional winner, 4 per conference champion, and 8 for the Super Bowl champion. Equal points per win is a simpler alternative.
Score the winner or the exact matchup.
The NFL reseeds after Wild Card weekend, so later opponents can change. Award credit for the right team winning a round regardless of opponent, or require both the winner and opponent to be correct.
Choose how to break ties.
Closest to the combined Super Bowl score is a simple starting point. With different point values by round, most correct picks can also break a tie.
Your pool’s rules
Bracket rules for your group.
Keep your group’s scoring system, entry limits, and house rules. A full bracket locks upfront, so the deadline and credit for later picks deserve special attention.
Format and bracket
- Full playoff bracket
- Predict all 13 games before Wild Card weekend: six Wild Card winners, four Divisional winners, two conference champions, and the Super Bowl champion.
- Starting later
- Start a separate bracket at the Divisional round or conference championships. Members predict the remaining rounds before that pool’s opening game.
- NFL reseeding
- In each conference, the No. 1 seed faces the lowest-seeded Wild Card winner. Use each entry’s predicted winners to form its Divisional matchups; actual results may produce different opponents.
- First-round byes
- The No. 1 seed in each conference starts in the Divisional round. A bye is not a picked win and earns no game points.
- Entries per person
- Allow one bracket each, or set a limit on multiple entries.
Scoring
- Points by round
- Give every correct pick the same value, or increase values in later rounds. For example, use 1, 2, 4, and 8 points from Wild Card through the Super Bowl.
- Credit for later picks
- Score a correctly predicted team winning that round regardless of opponent, or require the exact matchup as well. Apply the same rule to every entry.
- Upset bonuses
- Optionally add points for lower-seeded winners. Specify the bonus formula and which rounds qualify.
- Incorrect picks
- An incorrect pick earns no points. Points already earned stay on the entry’s total; other correct selections can still score.
- Eliminated teams
- A team that loses cannot earn points in later rounds. Members keep their original bracket rather than replacing that team.
Deadlines and entries
- Bracket deadline
- Lock the full bracket before the first included game, rather than opening new picks each round.
- Changes before lock
- Let members revise their brackets until the deadline. Changing an early winner can also change the later picks they need to make.
- Incomplete brackets
- Require every selection and any tiebreaker, or state how blanks score if you accept partial entries.
- Late entries
- Close entry at the bracket deadline, or use a stated late-entry rule. Never award retroactive credit for a game that has already started.
Ties and the finish
- Final standings
- Rank entries by total bracket points. Picking the Super Bowl champion does not automatically beat a higher-scoring bracket.
- Super Bowl total
- Collect a combined-score prediction before brackets lock. For tied entries, compare how close each prediction is to the actual total.
- Most correct picks
- Useful when rounds have different values. With equal points per pick and no bonuses, tied totals already mean the same number of correct picks.
- Tiebreaker order
- Choose which criteria apply and in what order. State how you’ll resolve any ties that remain.
Visibility and control
- Seeing other picks
- Keep brackets hidden until the pool’s deadline, then reveal the full submitted brackets.
- 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
- Commissioner picks are flagged “C”.
- Entry management
- Keep track of who has joined, how many entries they have, and who still owes their dues.
Don’t see your house rule? Tell us what it is.
Your house rules
People
Your pool.
Your people.
Your members won’t be added to a marketing list or shown sportsbook promotions. You decide who joins.
Support
Get help from
a real person.
A setup question, a scoring issue, a house rule you want to try: you’ll hear from the people building Picksheet.
Football pool pricing
$1 per entry. For the playoffs. Nothing upfront.
Pay only for the entries you keep.
- No credit card to start
- No minimum charge
- Set up before inviting anyone
Before brackets lock.
A few details that differ from a fixed tournament bracket.
How does NFL reseeding affect a bracket pool?
After Wild Card weekend, the No. 1 seed in each conference plays the lowest-seeded winner. If seeds 2, 4, and 6 advance, the Divisional games are 1 vs. 6 and 2 vs. 4. Members build their brackets from their own predictions, so the real matchups may differ. Your scoring rule determines whether a later pick needs just the winning team or the exact matchup too.
Do members make new picks each round?
Not in a full bracket pool. Members submit their entire playoff prediction before the opening game. Picking again when each round’s actual matchups are known is round-by-round playoff pick’em, even if the picks are displayed in a bracket. Compare round-by-round playoff pick’em.
What happens if someone’s Super Bowl pick loses early?
That team can no longer earn future points, but the entry keeps points already earned and can score with its other correct picks. Whether it can still win the pool depends on the scoring, remaining selections, and everyone else’s brackets.
Do the teams with a bye earn Wild Card points?
No. A bye is not a game win. The two No. 1 seeds enter in the Divisional round, where members can start earning points for correctly picking them to win.
Can we start after Wild Card weekend?
Yes. Start a new bracket with the eight teams left for the Divisional round, or the four conference finalists. Collect predictions for all remaining games before that new pool begins, without counting games already played.
What does hosting cost?
$1 for each entry you keep in the new pool, with nothing upfront and no minimum. The new pool is billed separately.
For your group
Let’s get your bracket pool ready.
Tell us how your group scores its bracket. Send your rules sheet or last year’s spreadsheet, and we’ll help you work through the setup.