Coros NCAA XC Prediction Contest Scores Are out

What am I missing about the scoring methodology? My scores just seem funky.

For instance, why do I earn 44 points for predicting Elise Stearns at 10th (she placed 4th) but only 24 points for predicting Hilda Olemomoi at 7th (she placed 6th)? Is it that you get a 20 point bonus if one of your top-10 picks places top-5? Seems kinda weird.

You get a 50 pt bonus if any of your picks get in top 5, and a 25 pt bonus if they are in 6-10 and then there are penalties for how many spots you are off by. But I agree it does not feel tight that if 2 people pick a person to be say 3rd, and 10th and the points scored difference is minimal if the actual place is 4. While picking spots exactly is largely luck other than maybe a clear favorite or top 2 (like this year). Disclaimer: I benefitted from this in the contest in which they say I placed 19th.

Says I have negative 2000 points lol, oooof.

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I’m also interested in how the scoring works. Another odd one from me:

- Predicted Tulsa 6th and they got 9th: 4 points

- Predicted Colorado 5th and they got 8th: -12 points

That seems odd. Would be interested in having more details

there is a link to the scoring rules - I think another area for possible improvement is the inclusion of "other" athletes. I selected an other in my top 10 but did it as as I though Jepkuri of OSU was a top runner - and she had a tough day. But another "other" did well so I benefitted from that.

But I picked Markezich for 7 and she got 8 so I scored 24 (25-1), while picking Stearns for 9 (she got 4th) scored me 45 (50-5). I would think I should score higher for almost nailing the Markezich pick.

That being said I am not sure exactly how I would set up the scoring rules.

The Team Prediction Contests
You will be given points for making correct picks and will have points subtracted off for making incorrect picks.
You get the most point for picking the top 5 teams in the country in order.
Pick the 1st 5 teams, correctly in order: 300 points
Pick the 1-4 in order correctly: 270 points
Pick 1-3 in order correctly: 230 points
Pick 1-2 correctly: 180 points
Pick 1st: 120 points
You also get 20 points for each team you pick in the top 5, that finishes in the top 5 but that are not in the correct order. So if you pick 1st correctly and then have 3 more teams in the top 5, but not in the right order you'll get 120 points for picking first right (see above) + 20 * 3 (teams in the top 5) = 180 total points.
You will get 10 points for each team you pick in places 6-10 that finish anywhere in the top 10.
You also will be penalized for how far off your picks are. For each team you pick in the top 5, who isn't in the spot you pick them you will lose 4 points for every spot they are off. So if you pick LetsRun.com University to finish 1st, and they finish 21st, you're off by 20 places. Thus you would lose 20 places * 4 points= -80 points. For teams that you pick in spots 6 through 10 you will lose 2 points for each pick you are off. So you pick a team 6th and they finish 10th (or 2nd) you are off by 4 spots and lose 4*2 = 8 points.
Team Tie Breaker (tie breakers will only be used to determine the winner of the contest): The first tie breaker is who picked the most amount of teams that finished in the top 10 in their top 10. After that the tiebreaker is to draw from a hat.
The Individual Prediction Contest
The individual scoring will be similarly as the team scoring but it will be explained slightly differently . You will be asked to pick the top 10 individuals (don't worry we give you a list of 40-50 to choose from and have a form chart for the women). For each of your picks in that finishes in the top 5, regardless of where you have them picked, you will receive 50 points. For each of your picks, regardless of were you have them picked, that finishes in the top 10, you will receive 25 points. Thus if all of your top 10 picks finish in the top 10 but the wrong order you would receive 5 x 50 + 5 x 25 which is 375 points before we subtract points for not picking them in the correct position exactly..
Now, we will penalize you for not being accurate in your picks. Since the individual picking is harder than the team picking, you will only lose one point for each spot that one of your picks is off. Additionally, the most points you can lose on any one pick is limited to 25. So if someone drops out or runs really horribly, your losses will be capped at 25 points on them. Miss a few picks by a lot in the individual scoring contest and you are looking at having negative points pretty quickly.
But the key to the contest is the bonus points you get for picking the top 5 dead on. The bonus is as follows:
1st place correct: 200 point bonus (250 total points as you'll get 50 for being in top 5 as well)
1-2 in order correctly: 300 point bonus (400 total points as you'll get 50 for each in the top 5 as well, thus it's a 100 extra for nailing 2nd right)
1-3 in order correctly: 375 point bonus (525 total points as you'll get 50 for each in the top 5 as well, thus it's 75 extra for nailng 3rd)
1-4 in order correctly: 425 point bonus (625 total points as you'll get 50 for each in the top 5 as well, thus it's 50 extra for nailing 4th)
1-5 in order correctly: 450 point bonus (700 total points as you'll get 50 for each in the top 5 as well, thus it's 25 extra for nailing 5th)
1-2 correct::
We will not let you pick from all the individuals in the race. If the person you want to select is not on our list you can select "Other" to pick them.

The scoring rules aren't perfect but the teams you pick for top 5 are more important than the teams you pick 6-10.

We probably should just ask people for their top 5.