At long last the 2019 college football will kick off in less than six weeks. That means it's Pickem Time. This year I have graciously accepted the honorary title of Pickem Czar. I considered going with Pickem Commissioner, but commissioners don't seem to get much love on these boards.

Two time defending champion Buckminster Fuller has a chance for an unprecedented threepeat. And as always, perennial second place finisher copycat hopes that this will be the year he sheds the "best player never to have won" label.

Here are the rules for this year's contest (they are slightly different than last year):

The 2019 ACC Pickem season will consist of 14 weeks of regular season play. Games in Week Zero will be included in the Week 1 slate. Each week the Pickem Czar will select 15 games, including every game between an ACC team and an FBS opponent. The balance of the slate will include games of national and/or regional interest. Because all conferences now play a championship game, there will not be enough games to include Week 15 in the contest.

Each week, the player with the most correct picks (and ties) will receive 3 rep points. The second-place finisher (and ties) will get 2 rep points, and third place finishers will get one point. If 3 players tie for first place, there will be no second or third place points awarded. If 2 players tie for either first or second place there will be no third place points awarded.

In order to qualify for the season championship, a player must have competed in at least 13 of the 14 weeks, including the last two weeks of the season. The champion will be the player with the highest winning percentage for the season. Additional rep points will be awarded to the top three finishers as described above.

There will be a secondary season contest, in which the three players with the most rep points earned in the weekly contests will earn rep points as above. There is no minimum number of weeks of play required for this contest.

For all games scheduled before Saturday each week, picks must be submitted no later than one hour before the kickoff. The deadline for games scheduled on Saturday, Sunday or Monday will be 11:00 AM EST on Saturday. All entries should be submitted on the weekly Pickem thread. Once submitted, picks may be changed before the deadline by a separate post on that thread. Edits to your initial posts can only be made with permission from the Czar.

Games canceled or postponed to a date later than the following Monday will not be replaced for that week’s contest.

The weekly Pickem threads will be posted on the ACC board. However, all posters are eligible to play – even fans of other conferences. The slate of games for Week One will be posted on or about August 16. Good luck and good pickin'.

Bump.

It won't be long now. Only two weeks until the contest starts. Look for it on the ACC Board.

Final bump.

The contest will open on Friday, August 16 when I post the first week's slate of games on the ACC forum. Good luck.

The Week 1 slate has been posted on the ACC Board. Let the games begin!