The spreads are pulled from a number of websites, but I usually use www.sportbet.com unless they don't have one for a particular game.... In that case, I fall back to www.abcislands.com or www.thegreek.com.

Usually, nothing. If the spread for a game is not posted yet, you shouldn't see the buttons. That's just to make sure that you don't pick a game without knowing the real deal. If you don't see a button in a non-spreads pool, let me know using the feedback form and I'll check it out!

Go to "Your Account" in the Modules menu, Then Select "Your Info". Down at the bottom of the page, there's an Avatar control panel. Make sure you save any changes you've made to your other settings before clicking on the "Show Gallery" button, or else they will disappear when you come back from the avatar gallery.

Bragging rights ! We're not big-time gamblers, just a bunch of guys who want to prove they know more about college and/or professional football than everyone else.

The spreads on this site are always for the HOME team. If the number is positive (17.5), then the home team is FAVORED by 17 1/2 points. If the number is negative (-17.5), then the visitor is favored by 17 1/2 points.

Usually, No.
But, some pools may have different requirements... The Percentage of games you have to pick to be included in season (and weekly) stats for whatever pool you're in are displayed after you submit your picks....
The winning percentages are figured from your correct and incorrect picks; The games you don't pick do not help or hurt you. In the pools that use spreads, the games that are a push (neither team beats the spread) don't count against you either.

For any particular game: From the time the spread is posted until kickoff. All the college games start out with a start time of 0800 Central time Saturday morning; They are updated as the actual start times become available. Due to the fluid nature of College football schedules, some game times may not be updated until the last minute due to television schedule updates. I can't guarantee you'll always be able to update picks on Saturday morning, so it's best not to wait too late!
Spreads update scripts run Monday through Thursday at 7:00 A.M. and 7:00 P.M. to automatically update the spreads. If there isn't a spread posted by 7:05 P.M. Central time Thursday evening, there won't be one!

After the BCS rankings come out, that's what we use.

For Preseason, and up until the BCS rankings come out, we use the AP. Those guys watch/cover/research more games. There are some who say the coaches poll is a joke; they sincerely doubt that many of the coaches actually cast their own ballot... They are way too busy with game prep, watching film, etc. They can say who they play against is better than who else they play, but that's probably about it. some would go so far as to say they'd bet most of the time it's an assistant coach, or maybe even a Graduate Assistant that fills out a form for the coach to sign... Not that I would go that far.

use the Feedback form in the main menu to let me know which game, and your pick for that game. If the pick didn't get saved through some error of mine, and you send me the feedback before the game starts, I'll go in and manually stick it in the DB. Sometimes there are glitches in the program, but you've got to let me know to get credit for a bug-find.

Some screenshots of the pool pages for your edification:

Main Screen	Make My Picks!
Performance Graph	Team Schedules
Trivia	Overall leaders
Everyone's Picks	Elimination Pool Picks

Just what it sounds like, pretty much. Simple rules:
1. You Must pick one and only one winner per week.
2. Once you've picked a team to win, you cannot use them again during that season.
3. Pick wrong, you're 'Eliminated'.
4. Miss a week, you're 'Eliminated'.
The last man standing (so-to-speak) is the winner; whoever picks the most games correctly in a row.

Legacy stuff. A decision was made to go with a 50% only this season; you shouldn't see anything referencing 90%. If you do, drop me an E-mail using the feedback form, and I'll check it out.

Absolutely. If you want me to set up a special pool for just you and your friends, I can. You'll have to get all your friends to request membership on the website, then let me know who is supposed to be in the special pool. I'll set it up and add your pool name to the menus. Keep in mind, we're not some huge corporation, it's just me. Give me plenty of notice before the season starts, just to make sure I can get you set up on time; especially if you're wanting to run an "Elimination" pool. (and donations never hurt ;^) )