Printable 2016 NFL Playoff Bracket

The 2015-2016 NFL Playoffs are set to begin on Saturday, January 9th a week after the end of the crazy 2015 regular season. Two wildcard games will be played Saturday, January 9 and two games will be played Sunday, January 10. Second round games will be played Saturday and Sunday, January 16 and 17. Third round games will be played Sunday, January 24. The NFL SuperBowl, number 50!, will be played Sunday, February 7th. 

I've once again created a printable 2016 NFL playoff bracket with team helmets that you can download for free to use in your office pools. The spreadsheet also includes the complete 2015 NFL playoff schedule including game times, dates, and TV stations. Download the file by clicking the link below (file is hosted on Box.com):

2016 NFL Playoff Bracket.xls download

As a Browns fan, it's hard to once again see two other teams in our division make it to the playoffs while we miss out! And we still don't have the answer at quarterback. Sigh... So who are you cheering for?

If you enjoy this spreadsheet, please use the share buttons to send to your family, friends, and coworkers. Also, be sure to check back after the playoffs are over and I’ll be posting my Superbowl squares spreadsheet.

Top 5 Excel Help Posts From 2015

2015 is coming to a close so it’s that time of year to sit back and reflect about what transpired this past year and what is to come. Listed below are the top five most popular Excel tips or how-to guides I posted in 2015.

1. 11 Excel lessons from the best March Madness template
2. How to send emails with custom subject lines
3. How to import data from one Excel spreadsheet into another
4. 8 simple rules to make your spreadsheets look better
5. How to input military time into Excel

On December 6th, Excel Spreadsheets Help turned six years old! Sometime in the first quarter of 2016 I expect this little blog to surpass the 1.5 million page view mark, no small accomplishment. Sadly, I posted fewer articles in 2015 than any other year, so my goal for 2016 is to at least double the number of tips I wrote this past year.

What did you accomplish in 2015? What are your Excel spreadsheet goals for 2016? How can I help you achieve your goals? What would you like to see more of in 2016? Anything specific?

Have a great holiday season, thanks for your continued support. See you in 2016!

2015 NCAA Bowl Prediction Pool with Playoff Bracket

The 2015 NCAA college football bowl season is here again which means it’s time to make your picks and predictions about who you think will win each game. One of the best times of the holiday season (other than giving and receiving gifts) is gathering around the TV and rooting for your Alma mater or hometown football team. This year has the added bonus of not just single bowl games but the second year of a four team playoff to determine the national champion.

 

Features and upgrades for the bowl prediction pool over the previous college football bowl pool manager spreadsheets include the following:

• Easy method to make each bowl game worth a different point value, so the national championship game and semi-finals can be worth more points
• Updated leaderboard tab with new stats
• Separate entry sheet to pass out to participants/co-workers
• Complete NCAA college football bowl schedule with game times and TV stations
• New stat sheet to track each conference's record during bowl season
• The bowl prediction sheets include the football helmet designs for every team (taken from the 2015 college football helmet schedule spreadsheet), their win-loss record, and the logo for all bowl games. I added the helmets so those players who aren't big college football fans can pick a winner based on their favorite helmet design!

Fun Facts: Last year, Fresno State was the only team with a losing record (6-7) while Florida State had the best record at 13-0. This year, there are three teams with identical losing records of 5-7: Minnesota, Nebraska, and San Jose State.

The beauty of this football bowl manager is you will not have to change or modify any formulas yourself (unless you want to of course). Instructions are included within the Excel file and shows you exactly how to add more players (either manually or by using the button that is linked to a macro).

There are now three ways to add participant’s data:

1. Manual entry using the drop down lists
2. Copy and paste from the selection sheet to the bowl manager
3. Use the import macro to automatically import a player’s data into the pool manager by way of a macro (not yet ready to use, check back soon)

I will explain how it works in a later post. But if you were wondering about the nuts and bolts, my spreadsheet uses the rank without ties formula: =RANK(num, ref) + COUNTIF(range,num)-1. in column A, for bowl games with really long names (I’m looking at you San Diego County Credit union Poinsettia Bowl) I use the excel shortcut alt+enter to add text to the next line.

To download the college bowl pool spreadsheets simply click the link below which will take you to the box.com, where the file is hosted. Next, click on the “Download” link in the upper right hand corner. That’s it!

2015 College Football Bowl Pool Manager.xlsm download
2015 College Football Bowl Prediction Entry Form.xls download

Here's a quick screen capture video to show you quickly how the spreadsheet works and how to insert new player columns:


Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, find any bugs, or have any suggestions for improvement. I love that people are using this Bowl Prediction Game to help raise money for charity, that's so awesome to hear! What team are you rooting for?

2015 Holiday Gift Guide for Excel Users

The 2015 holiday season is officially upon us here in the United States which means it’s time for my annual gift giving guide. I used to panic every year whenever my spouse, parents, and siblings asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I needed to give them an idea otherwise I’d end up with an ugly sweater or some random gadget I would never use. So to help alleviate some of my stress I started compiling my own holiday gift guide. It’s kind of like the big toy catalog you used to get as a kid, only this is for adults. I’ve made a list of items I think would be very useful or exciting for your fellow Excel users, sorted by different categories. Some of these items I already use on a daily basis and others are things that are on my own personal wish list. Enjoy!

EXCEL BOOKS

For the first time ever, I am giving a discount on my paperback book, 76 Excel Tips to Improve Your Productivity and Efficiency. For 20% off use discount code: 2F5RYRQC when purchasing directly from CreateSpace here: https://www.createspace.com/4754053

Excel 2013 Power Programming with VBA by John Walkenbach. This book covers all the methods and tools you need to know in order to program with Excel.

OTHER BOOKS WORTH READING

Another shameless self-plug. For the first time ever, I am giving a discount on my paperback book Coasters 101: An Engineer’s Guide to Roller Coaster Design. Ever wonder how roller coasters are made so you scream your head off but return safely to the station every time? For 25% off, enter discount code: UY8WJQMM when purchasing directly from: https://www.createspace.com/3737443

The Martian by Andy Weir. If you only read one (fiction) book this year, The Martian has to be the one. I absolutely love this book (haven’t seen the movie yet). As soon as I finished it the first time, I immediately re-read it – something I’ve never done before.It’s about an astronaut (with a great sense of humor) who gets left behind on a mission to Mars and has to figure out how to survive. If you’re interested in space exploration, problem solving, engineering, chemistry, botany, or disco + 70s TV shows, I highly recommend you read The Martian. Maybe the best book I’ve read in the past five years.

Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Lost Stars by Claudia Gray. If you’re a Star Wars fan like I am you’re probably anxiously awaiting The Force Awakens movie on December 18th. This book will wet your appetite before the movie comes out. The story takes place during the original trilogy but offers a new perspective in which the main characters don’t really know anything about The Force, the Jedi, the Dark Side, etc. which I think is a theme that will carry over into The Force Awakens. The story also ends about a year or two after The Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi and does contain the Battle of Jakku and how at least one of those Star Destroyers ends up smashed on the desert planet. If you’re only going to read one Star Wars related book, this is the one.

What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions. This book contains hilarious and informative answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask, like: What if everyone on earth aimed a laser pointer at the moon at the same time? What if you could drain all the water from the oceans? What if all the lightning in the world struck the same place? Very fun and interesting read!

TOOLS FOR WORK

Laser Pointer. This laser pointer always comes in handy when it’s time for a meeting or presentation. Plus, it doubles as a toy to keep your cats entertained.

Chromecast – I actually have used Chromecast at my day job before. I’ve created screen capture videos and uploaded them to YouTube, then I use the very portable Chromecast to display the videos directly on a TV (haven’t used the Amazon equivalent, so not sure if it works the same).

Microsoft Surface 2: There are newer, more powerful Surface tablets available but they're pretty expensive, running around $1000. The Surface 2 is now pretty affordable at around $250 and is still one of the best tablets for Excel and other Microsoft Office products. In fact, it comes with fully functional versions of Excel, Word, Outlook, Powerpoint, and Onenote for free. As far as I know, no other tablet has anything comparable. 32 and 64GB versions are available.

Excel Quick Reference Sheet - Laminated quick reference showing step-by-step instructions and shortcuts for how to use Microsoft Office Excel 2013.

TECH, GADGETS, AND TOYS

Google Cardboard – Google Cardboard is described as Virtual Reality (VR) on a budget. Gives you a taste of the capabilities of the Oculus Rift at a fraction of the cost. Though be warned it may cause motion sickness if the app you’re looking at doesn’t perfectly track your head movement. It’s fun to assemble and play with.

Dash and Dot – programmable robots. If you’re into programming things like Excel macros and you want to teach your kids the joys of programming then I’ve found the perfect gift for you. These cute robots are designed to help introduce children to the wonderful world of programming. Oh, and they’re fun for adults too! Can’t wait to use this with my son in a few years.

YOUR SUGGESTIONS?

Are you putting any of these items on your holiday wish list? If so, let me know which ones in the comments below. Do have anything you’d like to recommend to me?

RACI Matrix Template in Excel

The RACI Matrix is a powerful tool to assist in the identification of roles and assigning of cross-functional responsibilities to a project deliverable or activity. The RACI  or RASCI (pronounced ‘race ski’) matrix is a responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) to clarify expectations on the level of their participation. To begin using the RACI template, follow these steps:

1. Across the top row, identify who will be the project’s participants.
2. Down the first column, determine the functions, decisions, tasks and activities that will make up the process or project.
3. Simply place an R, A, C, I or any appropriate combination in each of the applicable roles for each activity. Each activity should have at least one individual accountable while there may be shared responsibilities depending on the activity.

What does RACI (or RASCI) stand for?

• Responsibility = person or role responsible for ensuring that the item is completed
• Accountable = person or role responsible for actually doing or completing the item 
• Consulted = person or role whose subject matter expertise is required in order to complete the item
• Informed = person or role that needs to be kept informed of the status of item completion 
• Supported = the roles/groups/departments that provide the resources and hence support that task 

 Download the RACI Matrix Template.xls file here

Have you ever used a RACI or RASCI matrix at your job or project?

Schedule Meeting Time Template

Having trouble finding the best time to meet with your team? Use this Excel template to find the perfect date or time for your meeting. Here’s how to use the meeting scheduler template: Enter your name in the input field, then use the drop down menu to add a check mark into the time slots you are available. If you’re not available, then leave it blank. When all the required meeting attendees enter their available times, the spreadsheet shows you the first and second best meeting times.

One thing this template will demonstrate is how to insert a check mark in Excel. Go to the top tab "Insert" then in click the "Symbol" button on the far right. A dialog box will appear and you need to select "Wingdings" from the drop down list at the top left. Scroll through the symbols until you find the check mark (wingdings: 252). If you copy and paste the check into a new sheet you may see a ü symbol instead. Simply change the font of that cell to wingdings to get the check mark back.

The next thing you’ll see by dissecting this template will show you how to use a check mark in a drop down list. Another function you can examine is how to use conditional formatting to color a cell based on the cell’s value. In this case, we want to color our cell green if it contains a check mark and red if left blank. As you can see, you will use the "ü" symbol in the formula.

Download the Easy Meeting Schedule Template.xls 

There are similar online tools to help you schedule meetings but most require a fee to unlock all the features. Instead you can use and modify this free Excel template. You could add more functionality, like adding a formula to automatically send an email once you’ve picked the meeting time.

Do you think this template will be useful to you?

Excel Quick Tips: Count Unique Values

I’ve got an extremely short but valuable Excel tip for you today: how to count the number of unique values in a range. Sometimes you need to count values in a row or column but not if they repeat. To count only the unique numbers or words in Excel, use the following formulas depending on:

If there are no blank cells:

=SUMPRODUCT(1/COUNTIF(Range, Range))

With or without blank cells:

=SUMPRODUCT((Range<>"")/COUNTIF(Range,Range&""))

Replace Range with A1:A7 for example. 

COUNTIF is probably the function you’re most used to that will count based on a given condition. SUMPRODUCT returns the sum of the product in the range.  SUMPRODUCT functions as an array formula, you just don't have to enter it as such. 

To see how this formula works step by step, click on the cell that contains the formula, then go to Formula tab, and click Evaluate Formula and you can cycle through each step in the calculation.

For more, see the index of Excel tips page.