NCAA college football
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Pick the weekend’s biggest matchups. Battle a local fan each week. Three Saturdays, three head-to-head showdowns, and more money on the line for charity.
Nothing to join right now.
Dates for the next one are to be decided. They appear here as soon as they are — or pick another sport below, which may well be running.
What you buy
A season is sold in stretches, and you buy as many or as few as you like. Every pick in one is made in one sitting, and that is the last thing it asks of you.
A three-week stretch
4 a seasonYou pick the published slate for those three weeks — around thirty-six games.
3 battle rounds inside it, each against a fan from your own city — or, once in a while, a rivalry battle against another city altogether.
- Week 130% at stake
- Week 230% at stake
- Week 320% at stake
Banked for your charity the moment it locks10%
Mad4Change, which is what pays the card fees10%
That is the whole of it: 30 + 30 + 20 + 10 + 10 = 100. The first 10% is your charity’s whatever happens next, and we never ask you to cover the card fee on top. From $20, in whole dollars, and you can top it up until it locks. Buy one, several, or the lot in a single payment.
The postseason
once a seasonYou pick all eleven postseason games, from the opening round to the title game.
3 battle rounds inside it, each against a fan from your own city — or, once in a while, a rivalry battle against another city altogether.
- Opening round30% at stake
- Quarter-finals30% at stake
- Semi-finals and the title game20% at stake
Banked for your charity the moment it locks10%
Mad4Change, which is what pays the card fees10%
That is the whole of it: 30 + 30 + 20 + 10 + 10 = 100. The first 10% is your charity’s whatever happens next, and we never ask you to cover the card fee on top. From $20, in whole dollars, and you can top it up until it locks.
The field
Who you are picking between, and what it took them to get there.
134
teams in the top division
Far too many to pick from. About sixty play on a given Saturday, so each week we publish a slate of the ten or twelve that matter and everybody picks the same ones — which is the only thing that makes two fans' scores comparable.
12
reach the postseason
The five highest-ranked conference champions are in, plus the seven best teams after them. The top four seeds skip the opening round, which is played on the higher seed's own campus rather than at a neutral site.
11
games decide it
Four opening games, four quarter-finals, two semi-finals and the title game. It runs from just before Christmas into the third week of January.
How it works
- Division 1 plays about sixty games a Saturday, so each week we publish a slate: the ten or twelve that matter. Everyone picks the same ones, which is what makes the scores comparable.
- Buy a three-week stretch and pick its whole slate up front. Each week inside it is a battle round.
- Starting a group? A group can choose one conference and pick only those games instead — an alumni group playing its own conference, week after week.
- Leave a game blank and your backup rule fills it in when the stretch locks, so you are never out of a round.
Every round is a new battle
Each round, you face one other fan. Pick more games correctly and you take a bigger share of the round for your charity. Then the slate resets, the matchups change, and you battle someone new.
- Round 1new opponent
- Round 2new opponent
- Round 3new opponent
Round 1, Philadelphia
Made-up exampleBlitzForGood
Won the roundPlaying for Hometown Food Pantry
Correct picks
9
Stake
$20.00
SteelCitySteve
Lost the roundPlaying for Kids' Hospital Fund
Correct picks
7
Stake
$20.00
BlitzForGood picked more games right, so the two stakes of $20.00 come together as $40.00:
$28.00
banked for Hometown Food Pantry
Guaranteed. It can never be lost again.
$12.00
carried into round 2
BlitzForGood starts the next round with more at stake.
SteelCitySteve keeps every dollar already banked for Kids' Hospital Fund, and still has a stake waiting in rounds 2 to 3.
Level on correct picks? We look at your score across every round so far, then at who called the games fewer fans got right. If you are still inseparable it is a genuine tie, and each of you keeps your own stake — split the same way a win is, so you both carry something into the next round. In the last round there is no next round, so it is all banked.
Who do you battle?
Your friends, in a group
Start a group, send the link by email or text, and you are matched inside your group first. It is the office pool, except the bragging rights come with donations.
- Set your own buy-in for the group, at or above the $20 minimum.
- Four ready members and your group plays on its own.
- Friends in another city can join and you all battle each other — each of you still playing for a charity where you live.
Your city, in the open pool
No group? You are matched with another fan from your city. Different charities battling each other is the whole point, so the money moves around the city rather than in a circle.
- Matched with someone who gave a similar amount, so it stays fair.
- We avoid pairing you with the same charity, or the same opponent twice.
- Odd number of fans? Three of you battle, and the top score takes both stakes.
Where a $100 donation goes
When the tournament starts, your donation gets put to work. Some is locked in for your charity right away, some is set aside for each battle round, and a small portion helps keep Mad4Change running.
Then the fun starts. Each round gives you a chance to steal a bigger share of the money for your charity. Lose one battle? No problem. You’re back the next round with a new opponent and another shot to take more for your cause.
An example of how a stretch like this one splits. Each stretch carries its own figures, and you will see them before you donate to it.
| Block | Share | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| At stake in Week 1 | 30% | $30.00 |
| At stake in Week 2 | 30% | $30.00 |
| At stake in Week 3 | 20% | $20.00 |
| Banked for your charity right away | 10% | $10.00 |
| Mad4Change operational expenses | 10% | $10.00 |
Win a round and you take your opponent's stake for it: a percentage is banked for your charity and the rest carries into your next round. The last round banks everything.
What if I win every round?
Assuming each opponent staked the same as you. This is the best case, not a promise.
| Round | You stake | Round total | Banked | Carried |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banked at the start | — | — | $10.00 | — |
| Week 1 | $30.00 | $60.00 | $42.00 | $18.00 |
| Week 2 | $48.00 | $96.00 | $67.20 | $28.80 |
| Week 3 | $48.80 | $97.60 | $97.60 | — |
| Total for your charity | $216.80 | |||
Lose every round instead and your charity still keeps the $10.00 banked at the start, while your stakes bank for other fans' charities. Either way, 90% of every dollar reaches a charity.
Worth knowing about NCAA college football
A group can play one conference instead
Alumni who only care about their own conference can start a group that picks only those games. It comes with a catch worth knowing before you start one: a conference group has picked a different set of games from everyone else, so there is nobody to pair its members with outside it. It has to reach the minimum of four on its own or it does not run.
When it runs
2027 season
- Registration opens
- August 1, 2027
- First game
- August 28, 2027
- Last game
- December 4, 2027
Dates are from the published schedule and can move for television. Picks close the moment your first game starts, and we remind you before that.
City vs city
Example — the real race starts when the first season opensBattle local fans. Back local charities. Keep the money in your city.
Then, when a rivalry battle comes up, your city gets a chance to steal a bigger share from another city’s total — all while competing to see which city can raise the most for home.
Philadelphia
LeadingPhiladelphia and South Jersey
$6,417.50
banked for Philadelphia charities
- Fans playing
- 174
- Per fan
- $36.88
Pittsburgh
Western Pennsylvania
$4,863.00
banked for Pittsburgh charities
- Fans playing
- 118
- Per fan
- $41.21
- Philadelphia: $6,417.50
- Pittsburgh: $4,863.00
- Combined: $11,280.50 for local charities
Philadelphia leads on the total, but Pittsburgh fans bank more each ($41.21 per fan). Bring more fans and the total follows.
Not in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh? You can still play: pick the city you want to raise money for.