2024 MTL NCAAM CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT LEAGUE RULES

The Monster Teaser League (“MTL”) NCAAM Conference Tournament League is a commissioner style league where groups of friends, acquaintances and/or colleagues come together, led by a commissioner, to compete against each other making teaser style parlay picks for each round of the NCAAM Conference Tournament (see rule 2 below for # of picks and teaser points per round). MTL will be using the six major conferences for this format (ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac 12 and SEC). Each of the six (6) rounds represents a new round of competition where winners and losers are established.

To win, similar to a parlay, cover all of your picks, each round, against a teased spread known as the “MTL Spread''. You lose when you fail to cover one or more of your picks against the MTL Spread. Every round, each losing team concedes to each winning team your leagues commissioner-determined MTL Point amount.  Wins and Losses for each round are tabulated and tracked on the “Standings'' page of the MonsterTeaserLeague.com website and your commissioner will reconcile the standings at the end of the NCAAM Conference Tournament.

Following are the specific rules for MTL NCAAM Conference Tournament:

  1. MTL POINTS: The per round # of points that each losing team concedes to each winning team.  Determined by each league’s Commissioner. It’s important for Commissioners and Teams to know that the overall risk factor in your MTL league is a function of BOTH MTL Points and League Size. BOTH variables need to be managed to effectively manage the risk factor and set expectations for the teams in the league.
  2. MTL SPREADS / # of PICKS PER ROUND / ROUNDS: The MTL Spread is the published Vegas spread plus (+) the number of teaser points, shown below by round, applied to EACH chosen pick. Spreads will be posted live as they become available. Once posted on the “My Picks” page of MonsterTeaserLeague.com, spreads are locked and will not change. However, games initially listed without a spread (“OFF”) may be updated to include a spread at any time prior to the scheduled start time of that game.

This is a fast paced league with 6 rounds of action occurring quickly over 6 successive days.  Check the website often for spreads and note the number of picks and amount of teaser points below for each round:

ROUND 1 - Tuesday March 12th (Big 12 & ACC only) - 3 picks +8 points* w O/U Totals        

ROUND 2 - Wednesday  March 13th (all 6 conferences) - 4 picks +11 points

ROUND 3 - Thursday March 14th (all 6 conferences) - 4 picks +11 points

ROUND 4 - Friday March 15th (all 6 conferences) - 4 picks +11 points

ROUND 5 - Saturday March 16th (all 6 conferences) - 4 picks +11 points* w O/U Totals

ROUND 6 - Sunday March 17th (Big Ten & SEC only) - 1 pick +0 points* w O/U Totals

*Rounds 1, 5 & 6 - The teaser format changes during these rounds since there are fewer games to choose from, MTL expands the number of picking options by making the OVER/UNDER Totals available for selection as shown above.

  1. A WIN: Cover all your picks in a given round and win for that round (see rule 6).
  2. A LOSS: Fail to cover 1 or more picks in a given round and get a loss for that round (see rule 6).

IMPORTANT: a “push” or “tie” with the MTL Spread is a loss.

  1. A PENALTY: Fail to cover 2 or more picks in a given round and incur a Penalty Pot Fee (see rules 10 & 11).
  2. IMPLICATIONS OF WINS & LOSSES: Each round, winners and losers will be established.  Win and receive from each losing team the number of MTL POINTS the commissioner has set for your league.  Conversely, lose and concede to each winning team the number of MTL Points the commissioner has set for your league.  All MTL Points accumulated or conceded shall accrue over the duration of your league, and a running total will be tracked on the “Standings” page of MonsterTeaserLeague.com.

Example: Suppose in a given round, in a league with 25 teams, there are 10 teams that win and 15 teams that lose. In a League with a MTL Point amount of 20 MTL Points, a winning team would gain 20 MTL Points from each of the 15 losing teams, for a total winning of 300 MTL Points for that round. Conversely, a losing team would concede to each of the 10 winning teams 20 MTL Points, for a total loss of 200 MTL Points for that round.

  1. LEAGUE SIZE: Generally speaking, the bigger the better and to reduce risk, if desired, adjust the MTL Points. The size of a league is determined by the league Commissioner. A league must have at least 2 members and there is no cap on members. The ideal league size is between 20 and 50 members. It’s a little less fun but fine to play with as little as 10 teams.
  2. PICK DEADLINE / MAKING PICKS: The pick deadline for each game is the posted START TIME of each game as shown on the “My Picks” page of MonsterTeaserLeague.com.  

Note: The posted Start Time is the pick deadline for each game regardless of the actual time the game starts. actual start times vary due to live broadcast fluctuations and prior games that run late or go into overtime. So be sure to get your picks in prior to posted Start Times and refresh your browser to verify your pick slip is accurate.

MAKING PICKS: Every round, each Team shall submit its picks via the website, MonsterTeaserLeague.com. Each Team shall make the number of picks shown above in Rule 2, per round, to cover against a teased spread known as the MTL Spread. The MTL Spread is the published Vegas spread plus (+) the number of teaser points, shown above in Rule 2 by round, applied to EACH chosen pick.  

Example: Indiana is playing Michigan State in Round 1 and Indiana is favored by 6 points (i.e. Indiana -6). The Vegas spread would be IU -6 and MSU +6, and the MTL Spread would be IU +2 (-6+8=+2) and MSU +14 (+6+8=+14). So, in Round 1, if a Team wanted to pick the following NCAA teams and associated Vegas spreads: Indiana -6; Duke +20; St. John’s -8; and Creighton -5.5, their picks and associated MTL Spreads for that round would be: Indiana +2; Duke +28; St John’s +0 (or even); and Creighton +2.5.

Note: Due to the nature of a teaser MTL Spread, it is possible to pick both teams in a game. We call this “THE STRADDLE”. Picking both teams is essentially saying that you believe the game will finish close to the Vegas spread. Also, the example above uses +8 points but note that in some rounds you make 4, 3, or 1 pick and the teaser is +11, +8 and 0 points respectively.

Note: Teams who submit partial picks for early games and lose should still submit the remainder of their picks  because there are still implications for the Penalty Pot (see rules 5, 10 & 11) .

Note: when making picks on the website, you will ALWAYS be able to edit, change, remove and/or re-select picks so long as the posted tipoff time for that game has not occurred.  

Note: you can pick a team as many times as you want.

  1. LATE PICKS: Teams that fail to submit the required number of picks by the Pick Deadline will be assessed a LOSS for that round and incur the corresponding Penalty Pot consequences assuming each un pick not submitted is considered a pick that did not cover. All deadlines are strictly enforced and no exceptions for technology related issues or user errors will be granted.
  2. PENALTY POT: In addition to the standard win/loss structure set forth above, each commissioner shall have the option of using the Penalty Pot feature which creates separation within the standings so there are less ties and it also adds excitement and consequences for making really bad picks!  MTL Points in the Penalty Pot will accumulate over the course of the season and are tracked on the MTL website.  Upon the conclusion of the season,  the Penalty Pot will be reconciled based on the Penalty Pot Distribution set by the commissioner.

There are two Penalty Pot options, (i) the Standard Penalty Pot, and (ii) the Progressive Penalty Pot.  The Penalty Pot structure is customizable by the commissioner, but we recommend a Standard Penalty Pot Fee be set at 2x the MTL Points and the Progressive Penalty Pot Fee be set at 2x for 2 incorrect picks, 3x for 3 incorrect picks and 4x for 4 incorrect picks. Penalty Pot fees are assessed each round to any team that does not cover 2, 3 or 4 of its 4 picks in a given round.

Example Standard Penalty Pot (using recommended settings from above): If a team loses by failing to cover 1 of its 4 picks, then it is NOT subjected to any Penalty Pot. However, if a team loses by failing to cover 2 or more of its 4 picks, then that team shall incur a Penalty and concede 2x MTL Point amount to the Penalty Pot that round. Teams are subject to the Penalty Pot each round of the season where 2 or more picks are required.

Example Progressive Penalty Pot (using recommended settings from above): If a team loses by failing to cover 1 of its 4 picks, then it is NOT subjected to any Penalty Pot. However, if a team loses by failing to cover 2 of its 4 picks, then that team shall concede 2x the MTL Point amount to the Penalty Pot. If a team loses by failing to cover 3 of its 4 picks, then that team shall concede 3x the MTL Point amount to the Penalty Pot and if that team lost all 4 picks it would concede 4x the MTL Point amount. Teams are subject to the Penalty Pot each round of the season where 2 or more picks are required.

  1. PENALTY POT MTL POINT DISTRIBUTION: The commissioner shall award the MTL Points from the Penalty Pot as the commissioner sees fit. However, MTL will provide a Penalty Pot rank on the “Standings” page of MonsterTeaserLeague.com which is determined first by the best Win-Loss records and then by the lowest number of Penalties incurred over the course of the season.

The commissioners Penalty Pot settings provide for several distribution options that each commissioner can pick from. MTL suggests distributing the Penalty Pot MTL Points to the 1st through 5th place finishers based on the following distribution percentages: 1st = 40% | 2nd = 30% | 3rd = 15% | 4th = 10% | 5th = 5%.  If there are any ties, the MTL POINTS shall be split accordingly. There are infinite ways to distribute the MTL Points in the Penalty Pot, if a commissioner would like a custom option, please contact MTL.

Note: Teams are always subject to Penalty Pot fees but are only eligible to win MTL Points distributed from the Penalty Pot if they have participated in EVERY round of the season.   

  1. MTL REGISTRATION FEE: A fee of $25 per team must be paid to MTL prior to being able to submit picks and participate in a league. Payments are now securely handled through MonsterTeaserLeague.com and we accept all credit cards and many forms of online payments like Apple Pay and Google Pay. Teams will be directed to pay via the registration process. If a team is new to the MTL platform it will receive a discount of 50% off the MTL Registration Fee.
  2. COMMISH RULES: The Commissioner of each league has the authority to change, modify or establish new rules as situations arise that require addressing. The Commissioner ruling will be final and enforceable on all teams who have opted to play MTL.

If there are any questions on game rules or league management, please contact us. We are here to help support all commissioners and leagues!

- Monster Teaser League

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