Rules

Build your bubble

Before the deadline, choose any number of eligible college-football teams. That set is your bubble. You may edit and resubmit it as often as you like before entries lock.

Your entry also includes a prediction for the combined points scored by both teams in the national championship game.

Deadline and privacy

Entries lock at 11:59 p.m. Central Time on August 28, 2026. The server clock and contest record control the deadline.

No player can see another player's bubble before the lock. After the deadline, submitted bubbles and leaderboard details become public.

How to win

1. Your bubble succeeds only if it contains all four eventual College Football Playoff semifinalists.
2. If your bubble omits even one semifinalist, it does not qualify to win.
3. Among successful entries, the smallest bubble wins.
4. If one successful entry has the unique smallest bubble, it wins as soon as all four semifinalists are official.
5. If multiple successful entries share the smallest bubble size, the closest national-championship total-points prediction wins. Equal differences share the win.
6. If no bubble contains all four semifinalists, there is no winner.

Odds and administration

Championship odds are a dated, informational snapshot used only to sort and label the team list. They are not live, guaranteed, or a recommendation.

The commissioner records official semifinalists and the title-game total, and corrections create a new audited result revision. Fatal Four does not process payments, wagers, punishments, or group stakes.