NCAA Prediction Contest and How You Can Join

By: Garrett Zatlin

It's finally time, After nearly two and half months of waiting, we will finally see who our champions of the 2016 NCAA indoor season will be!

Of course, what nationals showdown would be complete without some predictions? Last indoor season, Caleb Gatchell pulled away by five points to get the win over yours truly. Luckily, I redeemed myself by beating Fox during outdoor nationals by one point. And who could forget Jarrett taking down my unstoppable fantasy team by a little over 10 points for the XC championships? Here at Etrain, we take our predictions pretty seriously. 

With the championships starting on Friday, March 11th that means we have to get our predictions ready. So far, most of the writers are on board to do predictions (I even have some of their picks already), but we are always willing to bring more people on board!

How Do The Predictions Work?

We'll be doing the same thing as indoor states for PA! Here's how Jarrett explained it...

"There will be two levels of competition [...] make sure you write down your top 8 in each of the five events. However, not everyone is a super fan, but everyone should be able to get involved! So you can also enter your top 5 in each of the five events and be scored in the smaller competition.

And even if you don't want to float out a top 5, still feel free to throw up predictions and attach a name. I'll give a shout out in the recap section if one of your bold predictions ends up being correct!

If you're wondering how this is going to be scored, it's like cross country where the lowest score will win. The idea is, closest to being accurate wins with bonuses for picking the (NCAA) champs correctly. If you pick a (NCAA) champ correctly, you get a -3 bonus, otherwise you a positive score based on how far away you were from being correct. So for example, say I predict
1. Caleb
2. Alex
3. Paul

And the actual results are:
1. Caleb
2. Paul
5. Alex

Then my score would be -3 + 1 + 3 = 1"

We will only be scoring the five distance events (800, Mile, 3000, 5000, DMR).

How Can I Submit My Predictions?
We have multiple ways of collecting predictions! You can...

• email me at garrettzatlin@gmail.com
• find any of the writers on Facebook and message us there
• message our Etrain account on Twitter (@TheRealTrain11)
• comment below on this post

Be sure to attach some type of name so we can give you proper credit! Of course, you do not have to use your real name if you don't want to. A nickname, username, or some type of label would be more than fine. We respect that some people would like to remain anonymous.

When Must I Submit My Predictions By?
With the distance events starting on Friday, we ask that you submit your predictions by 1:00pm on Thursday (if you need more time just let me know). It takes a bit to gather all the predictions together into one post.

Other Info/Resources?
If you're gonna make predictions, you gotta be prepared! Don't worry though, we've got you covered...

National Championships
Entries (Flotrack)
National Ranks (TFRRS)
Reactions To NCAA Scratches (Etrain)
Schedule of Events (ncaa.com)

In-Season Analysis
Weekend Review #1
Weekend Review #2
Weekend Review #3
Weekend Review #4
Weekend Review #5
Running Is Our Valentine: Weekend Spotlight
Show Me The Money
Weekend Review #6
Weekend Review #7
Millrose Mile Preview
Weekend Review #8
Weekend Review #9

Pre-Season Analysis
800 Preview
Mile Preview
By The Numbers


If you have any questions at all, feel free to reach out! Thanks and Train On.