| 1.0 | Overview |
| 1.1 | Each player chooses a non-FBS school to represent him/herself. Each week, players will play head to head. Wins, losses, and ties will figure into standings. The schedule starts in late August and concludes in late November/early December. Except for the league's first week of the regular season, only Saturday games are utilized. |
| 2.0 | Picking Games |
| 2.1 | Each week, every participant will pick all 18 games which are selected by the Commissioner. They are posted on the main CKS webpage with point spreads. Once a point spread is posted, it will not change...even if it changes by the Vegas people. |
| 2.11 | 16 of the 18 games are spread evenly into four quarters. The first quarter will be games that start between 12-2:30pm est. The second quarter will be games that start between 2:30-5 pm est. The third quarter will be games that start between 5-7:30 pm est. The fourth quarter will be games that start after 7:30 pm est. This rule may be altered to adjust for an inbalance of "preferable" FBS games starting at similar times. There will be an effort to have every FBS team on the slate at least twice each year. |
| 2.12 | Players will also make 2 overtime picks, just in case their game ends in a tie. These games will be chosen randomly by the Commisssioner. |
| 3.0 | Scoring System |
| 3.1 | A point spread will be used, when picking games. If the team you pick wins (with the spread), you win that game. If you lose or tie a pick, you do not win that game. |
| 3.2 | Scoring is determined by a quarter-to-quarter method. Within a quarter, you earn a certain number of points based on how many picks you made were correct: All 4 correct picks = 14 points, 3 correct picks = 10 points, 2 correct picks = 7 points, 1 correct pick =3 points |
| 3.3 | Each season, a team will have a minimum of 12 bonuses to use. (Refer to Section 4) They can be used at any time, at any frequency during the regular season. Within a single game however, a road team can only use a maximum of one bonus. The home team may use up to three bonuses, as long as he/she has bonuses remaining. (This does not include homecoming bonus. A home team may use 4 bonuses on Homecoming Day.) |
| 3.31 | A bonused game will give you six additional points if you win that game. There are no penalties for a bonused team that loses or ties. |
| 3.4 | In case of a regulation tie, the game will be extended up to a maximum of two overtimes. For each overtime, players have submitted one pick. If the picks are different for the first overtime, then that game will break the tie. If the picks are the same, then the second overtime will be utilized. Correct overtime picks are worth 3 points each. If the game is tied after 2 OT, then the game remains a tie. (Note: The second overtime pick will not count if the first overtime period broke the tie) |
| 4.0 | Recruiting |
| 4.1 | Each player has the opportunity to "recruit" up to three extra bonuses for the following season. When the CKS season is finished, a competition will be set up in which a player picks a large selection of Bowl Games (with point spread). |
| 4.11 | Extra bonuses earned will be determined by how well you perform against all the other team. The team(s) with the best bowl record earns 3 extra bonuses for the following CKS season. The team(s) with the next best record earns 2 bonuses. Any other team with a .500 record or better earns 1 bonus. |
| 4.12 | The Bowl Competition is not required, but is highly recommended to play. It will be open to any new player that signs up to CKS prior to the competition. Otherwise, any new player starts off his/her rookie campaign with the usual 12 allocated bonuses. |
| 5.0 | League Standings |
| 5.1 | Any ties in the conference standings will be broken by the following critera: a) head-to-head record b) strength of conference schedule (if more than 4 teams in conference) c) +/- Points scored in head-to-head games d) +/- points scored in all conference games e) CKS Ranking |
| 6.0 | Determining Final Place |
| 6.1 | Final standings will based on the following criteria: (a) The top 8 teams will be the participants of the CKS playoffs. Winner is #1, Runner-Up is #2, #3 and #4 semi-final losers (#3 has higher ranking in BCS), etc. (b) Copper Bowl winner, Copper Bowl loser, Emerald Bowl winner, Emerald Bowl loser, Humanitarian Bowl winner, Humanitarian Bowl loser, Aloha Bowl winner, Aloha Bowl loser, Poinsettia Bowl winner, Poinsettia Bowl loser, Bluebonnet Bowl winner, Bluebonnet Bowl loser (c) Those not participating in the bowls will round out the standings. Within each of those groups, BCS rankings will sort the teams in their final placements. |
| 6.2 | Final standings will also be used to determine each team's lifetime power ranking for the upcoming season. The final standings will be sliced into thirds. The top third will gain one star. The middle third will remain the same. The lowest third will lose one star. |
| 6.21 | The maximum amount of stars a team can have any given time is 5. The lowest is 0. If a team has 5 stars and earns 1 more, it will remain at 5 stars. If a team has 0 stars and loses 1 more, it will remain at 0 stars. |
| 7.0 | Scheduling |
| 7.1 | CKS has 12 regular season weeks, in which each team plays 11 games and has 1 bye week. |
| 7.11 | For each scheduled game, there is a home team and a visitor team. The home team does receive a home-field advantage to be explained later in this rule book. |
| 7.12 | Along with the Commissioner's help, each member will be partly responsible for devising his/her own schedule. Prior to each season, a player will select up to 4 teams he/she would like to play. That number can be less, based on slots remaining in that player's schedule. |
| 7.13 | Every team will have at least one "neutral site" game on their schedule. Starting in 2026, all neutral site games will occur the last week of the CKS regular season. This is when conference championship and consolation games are played. | 7.14 | Teams with higher power ranking will get "first dibs" on teams they can select from. Scheduling will be created for 5* teams first. If any open slots remain, a list of available teams will be sent to those particular players. Once filled, scheduling will be completed for 4* star teams, etc... |
| 7.2 | Independent teams are not involved in the scheduling process. Their schedules are created randomly based on remaining slots of non-independent teams. |
| 7.3 | When two teams are pitted against each other for future seasons, the following criteria will be used to determine number of seasons and home/away: If a game is scheduled between two teams that have the same number of stars or just a difference of 1 star = then they will have a home-and-home series for the next two seasons. If a game is scheduled between two teams that are separated by 2 or 3 stars then a 2 for 1 schedule is created. The higher rated team gets two home games and the lower rated team gets one home game over the next three seasons. If a game is scheduled between teams that are separated by 4 or 5 stars, then the higher rated team gets one game at home. The lower rated team gets no home game. |
| 7.4 | At any given time, it is possible for a team to have more teams on their future schedule then slots available. In this scenerio, some games will be pushed back to future years. |
| 7.5 | If a team have a home-and-away games scheduled against another team, both games may be put together as a single neutral site game. This is done to help alleviate the complexity of creating a schedule or if a team has an abundance of future games contracted. |
| 7.6 | THIS RULE ENDS PRIOR TO 2026 SEASON: Each conference will vote on the number of conference games it plays. The number can vary between 6 and 8. Independent Teams do not vote on the number of games they play each other. |
| 8.0 | Forfeiture |
| 8.1 | If a player fails to make picks on-time for any given week, his/her team automatically receives a loss (and a conference loss, if applicable). No statistics will be accumulated for that week. |
| 8.2 | Meanwhile, the opposing team of a forfeiting player will still have a game in play. His/her picks will be matched against an FCS team (computer random generator...with no bonuses used). The results and statistics will count for this player. (Except a win will be assigned to the conference standings if the original opponent was a conference rival. This will happen even if the player loses against the FCS team.) |
| 8.3 | If a player forfeits more than once during a season, the Commissioner reserves the right to remove the player immediately or after the season concludes. Forfeits affect the competitive balance of the league and needs to be minimized as much as possible. |
| 9.0 | GPA/Graduation |
| 9.1 | At the conclusion of each regular season, and prior to the postseason, a letter (report card) grade will be assigned to each player based on his/her BCS finish. The grades go from A+ to F. |
| 9.11 | Each player's grades is computed into a lifetime GPA, similar to those used in schools. |
| 9.2 | Once a player finishes 4 years of play, they are eligible for consideration for Power Conference status.. If their GPA for the previous 4 seasons is at least 2.75, that player goes to the "Dean's List" and becomes a power team. |
| 10.0 | Power Conference |
| 10.1 | AMENDED 2025: Once a player enters a power conference, he/she will remain there until their 4 year-GPA falls under 1.80. If that happens, the team will be randomly assigned to a non-power conference the following season. |
| 10.2 | Power Conference members earn two advantages: 1) They have "first dibs" on scheduling. 2) Two Power-Conference teams are guaranteed 2-3 spots in the BCS playoffs. The winner of each Power Conference Championship Game automatically qualifies. The top rated BCS power (non-Champion) team, provided they finish in the Top 8 of the BCS standings, also gets a playoff spot. |
| 11.0 | Independent Teams |
| 11.1 | All new players must complete a year as an independent before playing in a conference. |
| 11.2 | Teams that finish in the bottom 6 of the BCS rankings and last in their respective non-power conferences are demoted to independent status. |
| 11.3 | When a team completes one year of independent play, it will be randomly assigned a conference the following season. |
| 12.0 | Neutral Site Games |
| 12.1 | If a game is a "neutral site", then both teams may use up to two bonuses each. |
| 12.11 | AMENDED 2025: The final regular season weekend slate of games for most conferences will be neutral sites. This was created to allow a championship game between the top 2 teams in each participating conference. The non-championship teams will play consolation games. Consolation games are not considered conference games within the standings. In the event of a tie in a conference championship game, the following tie-breaker rules will be utilized: a) regular season head-to-head b) overall conference record c) total points scored for the season d) BCS ranking |
| 12.12 | In 2026, Rule 12.11 will be amended so that ALL conferences will have a championship game the last week of the regular season. So all neutral site games will be the same week. |
| 12.13 | Non-Power teams will have at least 1 game designed at a neutral-site game. This rule was created because there is an odd number of regular season games and to keep the balance of home and road games even. |
| 13.0 | BCS Playoffs |
| 13.1 | The BCS is used to determine Top 7 rankings and help determine playoff participants. |
| 13.2 | The BCS will start after Week 4 play. |
| 13.3 | The BCS will only include teams with at least a .500 record. |
| 13.31 | Teams that are under .500 will not be considered in BCS scoring system. If it's the end of the regular season, those teams will be ranked in a separate table. This is done to solely determine final league standings/placements and demotion of teams from conferences to independent status. |
| 13.4 | The BCS playoffs will consist of 8 teams. It will include the 6 conference winners and 2 At-Large Teams. A third Power team will be included if it finished in the Top 8 of the BCS rankings. The At-Large Teams will be the top ranked BCS teams that did not win their respective conferences. |
| 13.5 | The 8 playoff teams will be seeded based on BCS rankings. #8 will play at #1, #7 vs #2, #6 vs #3, #5 vs #4. |
| 14.0 | Bowl Games |
| 14.1 | There are 6 Bowl Games. They are used to help determine final placements/standings and to award teams that performed well, but did not qualify for the playoffs. |
| 14.2 | The prestige of the Bowls will be in this order: Copper, Emerald, Humanitarian, Aloha, Poinsettia, Bluebonnet |
| 14.3 | The top 2 ranked teams in the BCS standings, that did not make the playoffs, will play each other in the Copper Bowl. The next two teams play in the Emerald Bowl, etc... |
| 14.4 | If two or more bowl spots remain unfilled due to a lack of teams that qualified, then the Bluebonnet Bowl will not be played. If just one spot remained unfilled, then the top ranked team with a losing record will take the spot. |
| 15.0 | Homecoming |
| 15.1 | Each team will have one homecoming game per season. |
| 15.2 | Every team will play one homecoming game as a visiting team. Top ranked teams will have their choice of which game to designate as homecoming. (The top five BCS ranked teams from the prior season will get first choices. Then the teams ranked 6-10 will get the next choices, etc...) Lower ranked teams will have them assigned randomly, based on what is needed to fill out schedule evenly. If a team is unable to obtain a homecoming game, due to scheduling conflicts, then that team will receive an extra seasonal bonus to compensate that loss. | 15.3 | The majority of players will designate one of their home games as "Homecoming". Some players may have their homecoming game assigned to them. (This rule is in place because a team can only play as a homecoming visitor once per season) The home team gets an extra bonus to be used only for that game. This bonus is not part of the allocated 12 (or more) you get at the start of the season. |