What: Twenty-five invited handicappers compete - with no entry fee required - in a season-long contest with $30,000 in prizes awarded.

When: Friday, September 5 through Friday, January 16, 2026 (20 weeks)

Where: VSiN studio in the Circa sportsbook

Contest format and plays

Seven plays per week for each of the first 18 weeks, and the plays must be college and NFL full-game sides and totals (no props, team totals or first-half plays) with one designated as the Best Bet (BB). Contestants are limited to four college football totals per week.

Three plays per week for Week 19 and Week 20, and the plays will come from the NFL and College Football Playoff schedule, with the January 19, 2026 national championship game representing the final game of the contest.

Plays will be graded as one point for a win - a Best Bet winner is worth 1.5 points - and a half-point for a push. If a game is canceled or postponed, it's graded to be worth a half-point; all games, including any postponed games, must be played by the following Thursday; a postponed game would be graded to be worth a half-point.

The Best Bet (BB) point total will be used as a tiebreaker if needed.

Use the Circa Sports lines posted at 10 a.m. PT Fridays. All contestants are using the same lines. Any contestant failing to designate a Best Bet will get a zero for the Best Bet record that week.

All plays must be submitted via VSIN.com no later than 3 p.m. PT each Friday; any contestant who misses the deadline gets zero points for the week.

Prize structure

Circa owner Derek Stevens is awarding $30,000 in total prize money: $15,000 for the winner, $8,000 for second place, $4,000 for third place, $2,000 for fourth place and $1,000 for fifth place. The winner also receives a trophy and a green jacket.

Contest field/format

The contest begins Friday, September 5 and continues each Friday through January 16, 2026.

In December and January during the college bowl season, any games scheduled through the following Thursday can be used in the contest (and any games must be scored as final on that Thursday to count). For the final week, only games scheduled through Monday, January 19 can be used in the contest (and any game must be scored as final on that Monday to count).

If there is a disruption to the weekly football schedule and more than 50% of the scheduled NFL games get canceled, all remaining contestants will continue to the following week.

Elimination rounds

At the conclusion of Week 9 of the NFL schedule (the Friday, October 31 contest week), the two contestants with the lowest point totals will be cut.

The same elimination process - with one exception - will continue each week for the following seven weeks through Week 16 of the NFL schedule (the Friday, December 19 contest week). The two contestants with the lowest point totals will be cut each week through Week 15; at the conclusion of Week 16, the three contestants with the lowest point totals will be cut.

At the conclusion of NFL Week 16, the eight remaining contestants compete to the end.

If there is a tie for last place in any elimination week, the Best Bet (BB) point total for the two or more contestants will be used as a tiebreaker to cut one contestant; if there still is a tie, the most recent week's Best Bet (BB) result will be the tiebreaker, and that process of grading Best Bets continues in reverse order until the tie is broken.

(Derek Stevens has the authority to make a final ruling on any contest rules disputes.)