Bring on the Expanded Playoffs 2026

Bring on the
Expanded Playoffs 2026

Welcome to the College Football Point Spread Pool. Pick Big 5 matchups weekly against locked spreads, track live cover statuses, and climb the group leaderboard.

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Matchups & Scores
Community & Rules
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This Week's Games

Pick the team to cover Against The Spread (ATS). Picks lock at game kickoff.

0 / 0 Selected Make your Against-The-Spread picks

Save & Submit Week Selections

Select a team for every matchup to enable submission.

Group Picks by Week

View all player selections and real-time cover statuses for each matchup.

A = Autopick was used. Autopicked weeks/games are not eligible for the Perfect Week, Bowling Champion, or Last Place prizes.

Special Pick

10 Bonus Points

Pick the 2026 National Champion. Correct prediction earns 10 bonus points.

Group Special Picks

0 Submissions
Player Predicted Champion Submitted
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Leaderboard

Track individual weekly scores and full season cumulative standings.

A = Autopick was used. Autopicked weeks/games are not eligible for the Perfect Week, Bowling Champion, or Last Place prizes.

Chat Forum

Start topics, share predictions, and comment on pool discussions.

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How to Play

$40 Buy-In • 18–24 Weekly ATS Matchups • Payouts, Bonuses & Special Picks

Buy-In: $40

Weekly Schedule & Key Action Dates

Before Week 1 Kickoff (9/3 @ 6pm MT)

Special Pick & $40 Buy-In

Submit your $40 pool entry fee and make your National Championship prediction before kickoff on 9/3 at 6:00 PM MT.

Action: Submit Special Pick & send $40 payment
Tuesday @ 12:00 PM MT (Noon)

Spreads Lock & Email Notice

Official point spread lines lock for the entire slate. An email will be sent out each week when the picksheet is ready!

Action: Check your email & start making picks
Game Kickoff Times

Individual Game Locks

Each matchup locks strictly at its scheduled kickoff. You can make or change your picks for any unstarted game right up until kickoff!

Action: Make or adjust picks before each kickoff

Winners' Payouts & Cash Prizes

Full season standings prize pool split and special bonus cash awards.

100% Payout
1st Place
70%

of the total prize pool

2nd Place
20%

of the total prize pool

3rd Place
10%

of the total prize pool

Last Place
$40 Back

Last place gets buy-in back — only if you made your own picks every week (no autopicks).

Perfect Week Bonus: $75

If anyone achieves a "perfect week" by correctly guessing all of the games on a weekly picksheet, they win $75! A week you engaged Autopick (marked A) is not eligible.

Bowling Champion: $150

Whoever has the best record specifically during postseason Bowl Games—regardless of their overall regular season standing—wins $150! Using Autopick for any game forfeits eligibility.

This Week's Games

Around 18–24 ATS Games Weekly
1 Pt Per Win
What is Against-The-Spread (ATS)? All matchups are picked against locked point spreads. The spread gives the underdog a virtual head start:
  • Favorite (-7.5): Must win by 8 or more points to cover.
  • Underdog (+7.5): Covers if they win outright OR lose by 7 points or less.
Weekly Slate: Around 18–24 top NCAA Division I matchups each week (sometimes more, sometimes less).
Per-Game Lock: Picks lock individually at kickoff. You can make or change selections for any upcoming game right up until that matchup begins.
Quick Picks: The "Quick Picks" button randomly fills unpicked games on your card. It is fully editable and does not count as an autopick!

Special Pick

NEW
10 Bonus Points
+10 Pts / Wins
National Champion Bonus Prediction (10 Points): Before the start of the first game of the season, make a prediction on which team will win the national championship next January. If your pick wins the title, you will automatically have 10 wins / points added to your season wins total!
Permanent Lock: Changes can be made up until 9/3 at 6:00 PM MT (Week 1 kickoff). No changes are permitted once locked.
Private Selections: Other players' championship picks remain hidden until the deadline passes to prevent pick copying.

Autopick Safety Feature

5 Allotted Season Autopicks • Safety Net
Max 5 Per Season
When Does It Run? (0 Picks Only)

Autopick acts strictly as an automated safety net and triggers ONLY if you have made 0 picks by kickoff of the week's first game. If you have made 1 or more picks on your own, Autopick will NOT run for any remaining games—you must complete or Quickpick remaining matchups yourself.

Editing Unstarted Games

Everyone is allotted up to 5 autopicks per season. If Autopick triggers, you can still change selections for any games that have not started yet, but the week still counts toward your 5-autopick season limit.

Marked with an "A" — and What You Forfeit

Any week (or game) generated by Autopick is flagged with a purple A on the Group Picks grid and the Leaderboard, so everyone can see it. Because those picks weren't made by you, engaging Autopick makes you ineligible for the Perfect Week bonus (for that week), the Bowling Champion prize, and the Last Place refund (which only goes to a player who made their own picks every single week and still finished last). Manually changing an autopicked game before kickoff clears the A on that individual game, but the week still counts as an Autopick week.

FAQ & Rules

Everything you need to know about buy-in, payouts, point spreads, deadlines, and Quick Picks vs Autopick.

What is the buy-in and how do I pay?

The pool buy-in is $40. Please send your payment before Week 1 kickoff via Venmo (@Emily-Recker) or contact Emily to use Zelle or PayPal.

Venmo @Emily-Recker QR code to pay the $40 pool entry fee Pay $40 to @Emily-Recker on Venmo

On your phone, tap to open the Venmo app. On a computer, scan the QR code with your phone.

What are the winners' payouts and prize structure?

Season standings payouts are split as follows:

  • 1st Place: 70% of prize pool
  • 2nd Place: 20% of prize pool
  • 3rd Place: 10% of prize pool
  • Last Place: Gets their $40 buy-in back — but only if they made their own picks every week. Using Autopick in any week forfeits the Last Place refund.

What is the Perfect Week Bonus ($75)?

If anyone achieves a "perfect week" by correctly guessing all of the games on a weekly card (100% correct ATS picks), they will win a $75 cash prize! One catch: a week in which Autopick generated your card (shown with a purple A) does not qualify — a perfect week has to be your own picks.

What is the Bowling Champion Prize ($150)?

Bowling Champion: Whoever has the best record specifically during postseason Bowl Games—regardless of their overall regular season standing—will win $150! Players who used Autopick for any game are not eligible for this prize.

How many games are picked each week and when is it ready?

Each week there will be around 18–24 games to pick (sometimes more, sometimes less). All games are Against-The-Spread (ATS). An email will be sent out each week as soon as the picksheet and locked point spreads are published and ready!

When do point spreads lock?

All point spread lines lock on Tuesdays at 12:00 PM Mountain Time (MT / Noon) for that week's slate of games. Even if sportsbook lines move later in the week, all pool participants make selections against the exact same locked spread.

When do individual game picks lock?

Picks lock strictly at the scheduled kickoff time for each individual game. You can make or change your picks for any upcoming game right up until kickoff of each game.

How is scoring calculated?

All games are Against-The-Spread (ATS). Each correct ATS pick earns 1 point (1 win).

NEW THIS YEAR: What is the Special Pick (10 Bonus Points)?

Before the start of the first game of the season (by 9/3 at 6:00 PM MT), make a prediction on which team will win the National Championship next January. If your pick wins the championship, you will automatically have 10 wins / points added to your season wins total!

What is the difference between Quick Picks and Autopick?

1. Quick Picks (Manual / Unlimited)

There is a button at the top of the picksheet labeled "Quick Picks"—using this will randomly pick the games on your picksheet (you can still change them if you like) and will not count as an autopick. It has unlimited uses anytime before kickoff.

2. Autopick (Automated Safety Net / Max 5)

Everyone is allotted 5 autopick weeks over the course of the season. Autopick is an emergency safety net that triggers ONLY if you have made 0 picks by kickoff of the first game of the week. If you have made 1 or more picks for the week, Autopick does NOT run for any remaining games. Unstarted games remain editable after autopick runs.

Autopicked weeks and games are marked with a purple A on the Group Picks grid and the Leaderboard. Engaging Autopick makes you ineligible for the Perfect Week bonus (that week), the Bowling Champion prize, and the Last Place refund. Manually editing an autopicked game before kickoff clears its A, but the week still counts as an Autopick week.

Users

Manage player roster, entry fee payment status, and admin permissions.

Registered Pool Players
0 Users

Settings

Manage pool credentials, access codes, and API settings.

Pool Settings

Tip: click the eye to reveal the current key. To change it, clear the field first, then paste the new key.

Used only as a fallback for the live game clock when ESPN doesn't provide one. Free key at collegefootballdata.com. Env var CFBD_API_KEY takes precedence.

When enabled, the server automatically updates in-game scores and live covering standings while games are actively being played.

Automatically pulls latest market lines twice daily (at midnight and noon Mountain Time) leading up to the official Tuesday 12:00 PM MT spread lock (6 total API calls/week).

When enabled, each player gets an emailed recap of their selections right after they confirm all picks for a week. Requires a Resend API key below (or a RESEND_API_KEY environment variable).

Roughly 8 hours before the first game of the current week, automatically emails only the players who still have one or more open, unmade picks. Sends once per week. Uses the "Missing Weekly Picks Reminder" template and the Resend settings below.

At 10:45 AM MT on 9/3, emails — once — every player who has not chosen a Special Pick yet (regardless of their Week 1 picks). Uses the "Special Pick Reminder" template. (If it's already past 10:45 AM MT when this goes live, it sends within a minute.) Turn off to skip.

The domain must be verified in Resend to email all players (before that, Resend only sends to your own account email). An RESEND_API_KEY / RESEND_FROM environment variable takes precedence if set.

If a player replies to a confirmation email, it goes here. The visible sender is unchanged. Leave blank to default to jpearl@gmail.com.

Saves these email settings, then sends a test to your own admin email and reports the exact result (success or the real error).

Database Backup & Snapshot Recovery db.json Snapshot

Export your full pool database (users, matchups, picks, special picks, and chat) to a single JSON snapshot, or import a backup to sync data between Render instances (cfb-ats-pickem.onrender.com and bringontheexpandedplayoffs.com).

Automatic Safety Snapshot: Restoring a database always saves an immediate timestamped backup of the current database before applying changes, so any mistake or accidental overwrite can be reverted at any time.

Games

Email Templates

Pre-formatted emails for pool invitations, weekly reminders, standings recaps, and payment notices.

Dynamic Merge Tags: These tags are automatically replaced when copying or launching Gmail:
{access_code} {site_url} {week_number} {admin_name} {entry_fee} {venmo_handle}

Audit Log

Permanent record of pick submissions, updates, admin overrides, and spread/line changes.

0 Records
Date / Time Action Week Player Matchup & Selection Modified By Note

Costs

Track the expenses of running the pool. Add each cost with a date range, name, and amount.

Total Costs
$0.00
Total Buy-ins
$0.00
0 paid × $ entry fee
Total Costs
$0.00
All recorded expenses
Net (Buy-ins − Costs)
$0.00
Bottom line
By Category

Add a Cost

Name Category Date Range Amount Actions
Total $0.00
Expanded Playoffs
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Player Name
player@example.com
Max 60 chars

Edit how this player's name appears on the leaderboard, picks, and roster.

Toggle whether this player has submitted their pool entry fee.

Toggle between standard Player and Pool Admin privileges.

Permanently remove player account & picks

Pool Access Code

Private Pool Member Verification

Welcome to Bring on the Expanded Playoffs 2026! This pool requires an invitation access code from your pool administrator to join.

Notification

Message details go here.

Manually Add Game to Pool

Edit Game & Live Scores

Set this to force the TV badge when ESPN doesn't list a broadcast. It overrides the automatic ESPN feed for this game. Clear it to go back to automatic.

Admin Pick Management

Modify or recreate matchup selections and special picks for this player.

Weekly Matchup Selections Click a team button to set or override the pick

Edit Email Template

Configure template copy, subject, and dynamic merge tags.

Use {site_url}, {access_code}, {week_number}, {admin_name}, {entry_fee}, {venmo_handle}

Database Snapshots & Rollback

Automated backups and safety pre-restore snapshots for instant rollback.

Zero-Risk Rollback Protection

Every time you import or restore a database, the server automatically saves a complete snapshot of the previous state (cfb-pre-restore-*.json). Click "Rollback to Snapshot" on any entry below to immediately revert the database to that exact point in time.

Revert to State Before Last Restore

Undo the most recent restore operation and restore previous data.

Available Snapshots on Server 0 files