Point spreads explained

A point spread is a handicap that evens out a lopsided matchup. Instead of asking who wins, it asks whether the favorite wins by more than a set number of points. You'll see spreads next to games on Pickem League, and they come into play in a few bonus picks.

Reading a spread

When a team is listed at −7, it's the favorite by 7 points. The other team is +7, the underdog. A spread of 0, shown as PK (pick'em), means the game is considered even.

Spreads sometimes end in .5, like −3.5. That half point exists so the game can't land exactly on the number.

Covering the spread

The favorite covers if it wins by more than the spread. The underdog covers if it loses by less than the spread, or wins outright.

For example, with a team at −7: if it wins 28–17 (by 11), it covers. If it wins 24–20 (by 4), it wins the game but doesn't cover, and the underdog covers instead. If it wins by exactly 7, that's a push: neither side covers.

Where spreads show up on Pickem League

Your weekly picks are straight winners — the spread is just there as a guide. Spreads matter in a few optional places:

• Game of the Week (and the NBA's Game of the Night): an optional pick of which team covers, worth +20 by default.
• The Accuracy leaderboard: it gives more credit for correctly calling close games and upsets than for stacking heavy favorites.
• Calls: picks against the spread, staked with league points, which you can share for friends to ride or fade.

A note on what this is

Pickem League is a free game. Points are just a score: they can't be bought, sold, or exchanged for money or anything of value. Spreads are shown for the same reason sports coverage shows them — they're the clearest way to describe how close a matchup is expected to be.