How the game works

Think March Madness, but for the ballroom. You build a full bracket before the season plays out: who goes home each week, your final five in order, and the Mirrorball champion. As real results come in, you earn points for how close each call was.

Scoring

Called the exact week a couple went home (or their exact finale place)	10 pts
Off by one week (or one finale place)	6 pts
Off by two	3 pts
Each real finalist you had in your final five (bonus)	+5 pts
Correct champion (bonus)	+25 pts

If a couple you had in your finale goes home early, the distance counts from the finale week. If a couple you sent home early makes the finale, the distance counts from the week you picked.

Joining late

Finale points, meaning the exact-place points, the finalist bonus and the champion bonus, are scaled by how many couples were still in when you first submitted your bracket. Picking the champion from 14 couples is worth the full 25; picking from a handful is not. Weekly elimination points are not scaled, because weeks decided before you joined already score zero.

Joined with 14 couples left	finale points ×100% · champion worth 25
Joined with 12 couples left	finale points ×85% · champion worth 21
Joined with 10 couples left	finale points ×69% · champion worth 17
Joined with 8 couples left	finale points ×54% · champion worth 13
Joined with 5 couples left	finale points ×31% · champion worth 8

The schedule

Week 1 was the two-night premiere: one man and one woman went home. From Week 2 on, everyone competes together and one couple goes home each week through Week 10.
The finale ranks the last five couples. If ABC announces a double-elimination week or a different finale size, the bracket schedule updates and your remaining picks stay put.

Locking

Once you submit your bracket it is final. No edits, no rebuilds, so nobody can adjust after seeing how the season is going.
New brackets can't be submitted while a show is airing, from 7 p.m. Central on Tuesday until results are posted.
Join late and the couples already decided are filled in with their real result, worth zero points. Everyone else is still fair game.

Ties

Ties on points break on the number of exact calls, then on who submitted their bracket first.