The 2011 HP Fantasy Challenge

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WE HAVE A WINNER!  

Final results from week 14 are in and the 6th annual HP Fantasy Challenge is officially in the books. This year’s winner is team Dutch Oven. Second place is Digifolk Junky and Amerigo Chattin takes third.

Congrats to the winners. I will be in touch with you shortly so you can claim your prize.

As for everyone else–especially those of you who have been here from the beginning–thanks again for a spirited competition and for your continued readership at HP.

See you next year! HP

Previous Winners
2006 — Jim Rob
2007 — The Warlords
2008 — Swamp Nuggets
2009 — Herschel For Heisman
2010 — Swamp Nuggets
2011 — Dutch Oven

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The Basics

Each contestant in the HP Fantasy Challenge begins with the same 12-member team consisting of the players Heismanpundit.com considers to be the leading candidates for the most prestigious award in sports.

This year’s team is in the table on the right sidebar.

In addition to these 12 players, each participant will be allowed to select one wildcard player of his or her choice to add to his or her team, making a total of 13 players per squad to be played over the course of the 14-week season (there will be one bye week, so plan accordingly).

Each week of the season, you will come to this page and select your player for that week. But choose wisely: He can’t be played again for the rest of the season.

The players accumulate points via their stats and, at the end of the year, the contestant with the most points wins the grand prize: Two tickets to the 2012 BCS Title Game!

Second prize is a copy of the new book by Mike Leach and Bruce Feldman: Swing Your Sword.

Third prize is an exclusive copy of the 2011 Heisman handbook, courtesy of the Heisman Trophy Trust.

All you have to do is come to this site and enter your player each week in the form provided on the right side of the page. As long as he is entered before kickoff of the game that week, he will be eligible to earn points for your team.

Playing the Game

Once your team is set and payment is received, you will pick one (and only one) candidate from your team to play during each week of the season (there is room for one bye).

You will select the player by coming to this page and entering that player’s name (along with your name, email and team name for authentification purposes) before that player’s game kicks off.  The tab to enter the player is located on the right side of the page and is titled: Make Your HP Fantasy Challenge Pick.  All you have to do is click on it and fill out the form accordingly.

Once the player is entered, his stats from that game will produce your points for that week. However, he can’t be used again for the rest of the season.

Scoring for The Challenge will take place during games played between Thursday, Sept. 1, 2011 and Sunday, Dec. 4, 2011.  Games played before or after those dates are not eligible to be included.

The Challenge is like a chess game. You must think ahead and study the schedules and matchups to decide which player to play on which week.

For instance, should you play Trent Richardson against a weak team and risk him being pulled early in a blowout, or wait until he plays a tougher team and gets more carries? What if Denard Robinson doesn’t gel in Brady Hoke’s system until mid-season? Will Marcus Lattimore suffer a sophomore slump?

Injuries are a part of the game and if a player is hurt during the season, then there is no replacement for him (if one of the pre-set players is hurt before the year, we will provide a replacement).

The winner will be announced on Sunday, Dec. 4 here at Heismanpundit.com.  If there is a tie for any of the top three spots, our tiebreaker mechanism will go into effect: The contestants will be asked to predict the total number of first place and total number of second place votes collected by the winner of the 2011 Heisman Trophy (out of 925).  The person who is closest to the winner’s first-place vote total–to be announced the following Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011–will win the prize.  In the unlikely event of yet another tie, the contestant who also most closely predicted the second-place totals will be the winner.

How The HP Fantasy Challenge Is Scored

General Scoring

6 pts per rushing or receiving TD
6 pts for player returning kick/punt for TD
4 pts per passing TD
2 pts per rushing or receiving 2 pt conversion (note: teams do not receive points for yardage gained during the conversion)
2 pts per passing 2 pt conversion
1 pt per 10 yards rushing or receiving
1 pt per 25 yards passing

Bonus Points

2 pts per rushing or receiving TD of 40 yards or more
2 pts per passing TD of 40 yards or more
(note: the player must score a touchdown to score the points)

Penalty Points

-2 pts per intercepted pass
-2 pts per fumble lost

Tracking Your Progress

Once the season starts, this page will feature a leaderboard where you can check your scores against the other players.  Scores will be updated every Sunday and posted at this page.

If any issues arise (for instance, you might have trouble viewing portions of this page in Firefox), or if you have any questions, just email us at hpfantasychallenge@gmail.com.