This week’s questions

Be sure to read the question descriptions closely. There’s no official deadline to submit answers, but if you pick a team/player whose game has already kicked off, your answer will be marked incorrect.

Missed Weeks 1-7? No Problem!

While season-long standings are maintained, you can earn a berth to the bowl season edition by placing in the top 10% of any individual week, regardless of prior or future participation. Whenever you miss a week, your score for the season-long standings will tally as if you answered each question incorrectly.

The /r/CFB Reverse Sheep master spreadsheet (scores, standings, and more)

What is Reverse Sheep?

Reverse Sheep is a futures prediction game where the goal is to come up with answers that are both correct and unique. Each week features five questions about players, teams, point totals, and anything else I cook up.

Think of Reverse Sheep like the opposite of Family Feud. In Family Feud, you would want to be a “sheep” and follow the crowd, identifying the most popular answer. Reverse Sheep is the opposite: You want to give the least popular answer that is still correct. If you provide a correct answer, you score points equal to how many people guessed your answer. If your answer is incorrect, your score is the sum of the number of people who guessed the most popular answer PLUS the total number of unique correct answers given. Lowest score wins.

I’m confused. How about an example?

Sure. Let’s say one of the questions is: “Name an FBS player who will rush for 125+ yards this week.” Imagine 40 people are playing, and their answers break down like this, with the number of yards that player actually winds up rushing for in [brackets].

Treyveon Henderson (13 respondents) [168 rushing yards]
Omarion Hampton (10) [105]
Nick Singleton (7) [133]
Quinshon Judkins (3) [26]
Ollie Gordon II (2) [126]
Kyle Monangai (2) [190]
Donovan Edwards (1) [65]
Jalen Milroe (1) [49]
Devin Neal (1) [159]

Everyone who picked a player that eclipsed 125 yards scores points equal to how many guessed their answer. So the thirteen Henderson pickers get 13 points, the seven Singleton pickers get 7, the two Gordon pickers and the two Monangai pickers get 2, and the sole person who picked Devin Neal gets 1 point, an ace. An ace is the best possible outcome as it means you were the only person to pick a particular correct answer.

Everyone else who picked incorrectly is tagged with 18 points. That’s the number of the most popular pick (13) plus the number of correct responses given (5). Again, you are trying for the lowest score possible.

Bonuses

Throughout the course of the season, you’ll be able to earn bonuses for top performances. A bonus will allow you to give two responses to a question in the postseason, giving you two chances at a correct answer (if both answers are correct, the lower score will count). Here’s how to earn one:

Placing in the top 3 overall in a single week
Placing in the top 10 overall in the season-long standings
Placing in the top 10% for three or more consecutive weeks (streaks cannot overlap; 1-3 and 4-6 would count as two streaks, but 1-3 and 2-4 would not)
Picking two or more Aces in a single week
Finish in the top 3 of Aces for the season (3+ aces minimum)
Participate every week (1-14; Week 0 is not included for this purpose)
Beat the host (weeks 5 and 10)

There is no limit to the number of bonuses that may be earned.

How do I win?

There are prizes for finishing in the top 10 of the season-long standings as well as the top three of the postseason. There are two ways in which you can qualify for the postseason, which will be the bowl season. You need to either finish in the top 10% of players for any one week, or make the top 10% of scores across the entire season. Anyone who misses a week will be charged the highest score of the week, as if they picked every question incorrectly, plus 1 point. Even players who don’t discover the game until later in the season can still play and qualify for the postseason without disrupting the season-long standings. However you qualify, there will be a Bowl Season edition, where scores reset and we crown a bowl champion.

Note that the top 10% is a hard cutoff, rounded to the nearest whole number. If 227 people play (23 playoff spots awarded) but 8 of the top 23 have already earned playoff berths, then only 15 new postseason berths would be earned that week. In case of a tie, all players tied for the last spot would get a postseason berth.

What do I win?

Many winners choose to have their prize awarded in the form of a donation to their favorite college or a local charity. Prizes can also be awarded in the form of an e-gift card, Venmo, etc.

Gold medal (1st place) in the regular season standings - $50
Silver medal (2nd place) in the regular season standings - $30
Bronze medal (3rd place) in the regular season standings - $20
Runner-Up (4th-10th place) in the regular season standings - $10
Winner, bowl season/postseason edition - $25
Second place, bowl season/postseason edition - $10
Third place, bowl season/postseason edition - $5

What if I want to change an answer after I’ve submitted the Google Form?

If for any reason you need to change an answer (injury, suspension, changed your mind), just PM me. Please use the PM feature and not the chat. As long as it’s before kickoff of both your original pick and the one you are changing to, I’ll note the change. Make sure you get a PM back from me to confirm, otherwise bug me again if it’s been 36 or more hours.

Reverse Sheep 2024 - Weekly predictions with a dash of game theory. Play Week 8 here!