How it works
Know the game before the clock starts.
Every pool shows its visibility, roster size, order, clock, draft guide, and point system before anyone drafts. Roster size, draft guide, and point rules lock at draft start; each team is final when its pick is accepted.
Draft format
Strict snake, with the whole order visible.
Each pool has 2–12 players and up to 12 teams per player. The roster must fit within the 138-program field, so a 12-player pool can select at most 11 teams per player. Round one runs from the first seat to the last; round two reverses; later rounds continue alternating.
Public pools can be created and started during the first three tournament weeks, until Week 4 begins on September 19 at noon ET. Private pools can be created and started anytime, and mock drafts are always available. A public draft that starts in time may finish afterward.
The organizer chooses a pick clock from 60 seconds up to 24 hours, or no clock at all for a slow draft. If a timed clock expires, CFBPools selects the highest available team from the frozen 2026 preseason guide. Autopick does not remove the player’s seat.
Back to top2026 point system
How scoring works
Every win scores. Upsets score more: knock off a big favorite and one win can be worth four points, while the smallest win award is one point. Beating an FCS team adds a flat 1.00, a bowl win outside the playoff adds a flat 2.00, and playoff wins climb from 2 to 8.
Every 2026 pool uses the point values below. They were set before the season and stay fixed all year.
Point values
Regular-season wins: 1.00–4.00 points. The bigger the upset, the more a win is worth.
- FBS-vs-FBS regular-season win
- 1.00–4.00
- FBS-vs-FCS win
- +1.00
- Conference title win
- +2.00
- Non-CFP bowl win
- +2.00
- CFP berth
- 0.00
- CFP first-round win
- +2.00
- Quarterfinal win
- +4.00
- Semifinal win
- +6.00
- National title win
- +8.00
The 138-team guide and team estimates can be refreshed before competition. For each eligible game, the team’s modeled win chance is then set before kickoff and never changed afterward. A 75% favorite earns 1.33 points, a 50–50 team earns 2.00, and a team at 25% or below earns the 4.00-point maximum. These are model estimates, not live betting odds.
Keep the result between 1.00 and 4.00 points. A loss earns 0.
Worked regular-season examples
If the team wins, the formula produces these values. If it loses, it earns zero.
| Team’s locked chance to win | Points if the team wins |
|---|---|
| 90% | 1.11 |
| 75% | 1.33 |
| 60% | 1.67 |
| 50% | 2.00 |
| 40% | 2.50 |
| 25% or lower | 4.00 |
Conference and playoff points
These are added to regular-season points as the team advances.
| Achievement | Points | When it is earned |
|---|---|---|
| Conference championship win | +2.00 | Awarded once for the title game; it is not also a regular-season win. |
| Non-CFP bowl win | +2.00 | Two flat points for an official bowl win outside the CFP. |
| CFP berth | 0.00 | Selection alone does not add points. |
| CFP first-round win | +2.00 | Added after an official first-round win; byes skip straight to the quarterfinal. |
| Quarterfinal win | +4.00 | Added after an official quarterfinal win. |
| Semifinal win | +6.00 | Added after an official semifinal win. |
| National championship win | +8.00 | Added after the title-game win. |
Eligible results
FBS wins and the CFP path count.
Before kickoff, each FBS-vs-FBS matchup receives a modeled win chance from the latest approved team estimates and game context. Win points equal 1.00 divided by that chance, with a 1.00 minimum and 4.00 maximum. A conference-championship win receives the title-game value instead. FBS-vs-FCS wins score a flat 1.00, non-CFP bowl wins a flat 2.00, and CFP wins use the fixed round values.
The pre-game win chance is locked before kickoff and cannot be changed after the result. If source data is corrected, the correction is recorded clearly.
CFP wins are additive. A first-round win earns its own value, a top-four seed with a bye starts at the quarterfinal, and each later win adds its listed round value.
Back to topStanding order
Ties follow a published order.
CFBPools sorts by total points, then CFP points, conference-title points, and eligible regular-season wins. If every performance field is still equal, a random tiebreak value fixed before the draft resolves the order; it cannot be chosen after results are known.
Back to topSeason updates
Rosters stay fixed. Game chances lock before kickoff.
Team information and preseason estimates can be refreshed before competition without changing the point formula or any accepted pick. Roster size, draft guide, and point rules lock when the draft starts. Each team is final when its pick is accepted. Each eligible matchup's scoring chance is recorded before kickoff and cannot be changed after the result.
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