College Basketball Pick'em: The Week's Best Games, Picked for You
A winter Saturday has well over a hundred Division I men's games. Nobody is picking all of them. Pick'em Builder turns college hoops into a pool your group will actually finish: one slate a week, Monday through Sunday, with the 10 best games chosen for you. Teams usually play twice a week, a midweek game and Saturday, and the slate covers both. Ranked teams and the big conferences lead the way.
Or make it personal: run a pick'em on your own conference, from the Big Ten and the SEC to the Big Sky and the Ivy League. Every pick locks at its own tip-off, and the standings update live as the games go final.
Free up to 10 players · players join with a link, no app or account · we never touch the pot
How a college basketball pick'em works here
- 1
Choose your slate
Top games (10 a week by default, or 8, 12, or 16), or your conference's games. Any Division I conference works.
- 2
Pick your scoring
Straight up, against the spread, or confidence points. Run it all season, with quarter standings so a slow November doesn't end anyone's year, or for a single week.
- 3
Send one link
Players join with a name and email. No app, no password. Players can make the whole week's picks at once in a couple of minutes, and reminders go out before the first games and again before the weekend's.
- 4
Let it score itself
Each game locks at tip-off and scores come in live. After the week's last game, everyone gets a recap and where they stand.
College hoops pool formats
Every format runs on the same weekly slate, so the group can try a new one mid-season.
Top games pick'em
Pick the winner of the week's best games, chosen by AP ranking, conference, TV slot, and how close the matchup is. The easiest pool to explain to a group.
Set this up →Conference pick'em
Your conference's games each week, 10 by default. Conference play first; in November and December, your teams' most competitive non-conference games. Perfect for alumni groups, fan sites, and the office rivalry that's really about one league.
Set this up →Against the spread
College hoops is full of 15-point favorites. Picking against the line turns those games back into real decisions. Games that never get a line grade straight up.
Set this up →Confidence points
Rank your picks from 10 down to 1. Your surest pick is worth the most, so knowing which favorite is truly safe becomes the whole game.
Set this up →
Why one slate a week
College basketball plays almost every night from November to March. A pool that asks for picks every day loses people by December, and one that lists every game is homework. One slate a week gives the season the rhythm that makes football pools work: pick the whole week in one sitting, follow along through the Saturday games, and see where you stand on Sunday.
It also keeps your group together for March. When the bracket comes out, the people who've been picking all winter are already in one place.
Tips for picking college hoops
A few things your group will learn quickly:
- •Home court matters more in college than in the NBA. Ranked teams lose on the road in conference play all the time.
- •Early-season games against small schools are often blowouts. That's why the slate favors closer matchups, and why confidence points reward knowing which ones.
- •Conference play starts in earnest around the new year, and that's when conference pools get really good.
- •Every game locks at its own tip-off, so players can wait on late injury news for Sunday games.
Built so the commissioner barely lifts a finger
Set up in about two minutes
Pick college basketball, choose top games or a conference, name the pool, and share the link.
The slate builds itself
Each week's games are chosen from the schedule automatically, with AP rankings on every team. Swap any game if you want to.
Reminders and recaps
Players get a pick reminder before the week's first games, another before the weekend's, and a recap after, so nobody needs a text from you.
Live standings
Weekly winners, season leaders, and quarter standings update as games go final.
Start any week
Launch at tip-off, after Thanksgiving, or when conference play starts. Standings begin with your first week.
Women's hoops too
Run a women's college basketball pick'em the same way, with its own AP Top 25 and conference pools.
We never touch the pot
Most college hoops pools play for bragging rights. If yours has a buy-in, you set it and the payout split, collect it yourself by Venmo, Zelle, or cash, and pay the winners. Pick'em Builder shows the rules and who's paid, and never touches the money.
Pricing
Free for pools up to 10 players — every format, live scoring, full standings. Bigger group? Unlimited is $49/year (about $4 a month) or $5/month, for as many players and pools as you want. Players always join free.
Questions
- How many games do we pick each week?
- Ten by default, chosen from the whole Monday-through-Sunday week, so both the midweek games and Saturday's are in play. The commissioner can choose 8, 12, or 16 instead, or swap any game.
- Can we run a pool for just our conference?
- Yes. Pick any Division I conference. Each week's slate is that conference's games, capped at your slate size (10 by default): conference matchups first, then in non-conference weeks your teams' most competitive games.
- When does the college basketball season start?
- The 2026–27 men's and women's seasons tip off Monday, November 2. Week 1 runs November 2–8.
- Can we pick against the spread?
- Yes. Games with a posted line are graded against the opening line; games that never get one are graded straight up.
- Is there a March Madness pool?
- March Madness pools open on Selection Sunday, March 14, 2027. A weekly pick'em keeps your group together until then.
- What does it cost?
- Free for pools up to 10 players. Unlimited is $49 a year or $5 a month and covers every pool you run. Players never pay us anything.
Related guides
Get your group set before tip-off.
Build it free in about two minutes, drop the link in the group chat, and you'll all be in one place when March comes.
Create a college basketball pick'em — free