Excel Spreadsheets Help

How to Play Super Bowl Squares 2026: Patriots vs Seahawks Edition

2026-01-26T07:38:00.000-08:00

The 2026 Super Bowl is almost here, and whether you’re cheering for the Seattle Seahawks, the New England Patriots, or just tuning in for the commercials and halftime show, adding a Super Bowl Squares game is one of the easiest ways to boost the excitement at your watch party. This updated guide explains exactly how to play Super Bowl Squares for 2026, plus tips for using spreadsheets to manage your pool effortlessly.

What Is a Super Bowl Squares Game?

Super Bowl Squares—also called box pools—is a simple, luck‑based game that keeps everyone engaged from kickoff to the final whistle. Players "buy" squares on a 10×10 grid, and winners are determined by the last digit of each team’s score at the end of each quarter and the final score. With 100 possible score combinations, it makes watching the Big Game that much more exciting!

How to Set Up Your 2026 Super Bowl Squares Game

1. Create the 10×10 Grid

You can draw the grid on paper, but using a spreadsheet makes everything cleaner and easier to manage. Here’s the basic setup:

Label the top row (0–9) with the last digit of the Seattle Seahawks’ score.
Label the left column (0–9) with the last digit of the New England Patriots’ score.

Each square represents a unique score pairing.
For example:
Row 3 (Patriots) × Column 7 (Seahawks) = Patriots score ending in 3, Seahawks score ending in 7.

Already want it done for you?

I’ve created spreadsheet templates that automate the entire process:

Super Bowl Squares – 54 Ways to Play

A classic, streamlined version released in 2021.

Clean layout
Choose your scoring style
Click Generate Squares
The sheet automatically hides/unhides the correct scoring system

Super Bowl Squares Unlimited

For players who want total customization.

No pre‑built scoring systems
Macros build your scoring rules dynamically
Infinite ways to play based on your preference

2. Sell the Squares

Invite friends, family, coworkers—anyone watching the game. Set a price per square (commonly $1, $5, or $10). Participants claim squares by writing their names in the boxes or typing them directly into your spreadsheet. Or make up a point value system instead of using dollars.

3. Assign Numbers Randomly

To keep things fair, wait until all squares are filled before assigning numbers 0–9 to the rows and columns.

If you’re using my spreadsheet templates, just click Generate Random Numbers and the sheet handles everything automatically.

How to Play Super Bowl Squares During the 2026 Seahawks vs. Patriots Game

1. Check the Score at the End of Each Quarter

You’ll record the last digit of each team’s score at:

End of 1st quarter
Halftime
End of 3rd quarter
Final score

Example:
If the Seahawks lead 17–14, the digits are 7 (Seahawks) and 4 (Patriots).

My spreadsheets also have the option to score every minute or every time the score changes.

2. Find the Winning Square

Locate the square where the Seahawks’ digit (top row) intersects with the Patriots’ digit (left column).
The name in that square wins the prize for that quarter.

3. Distribute the Prize Pool

A common payout structure:

1st Quarter: 20%
Halftime: 20%
3rd Quarter: 20%
Final Score: 40%

You can adjust these percentages however you like. Total should match to 100%.

Why Use a Spreadsheet for Super Bowl Squares?

✔ Better Organization -Names, numbers, payouts, and winners stay clean and error‑free.

✔ Easy Sharing - Perfect for remote participants—share via Google Sheets or email.

✔ Custom Features -Add automatic highlighting, payout formulas, or alternate scoring rules.

✔ Eco‑Friendly -No printing, no paper, no mess.

Tips for Hosting a Great Super Bowl Squares Game

Keep it lighthearted: It’s a game of chance—make sure everyone knows it’s just for fun.
Explain the rules early: Share your payout structure before kickoff.
Include everyone: Even non‑football fans love the suspense of Super Bowl Squares.

Start Playing Super Bowl Squares for the 2026 Seahawks vs. Patriots Super Bowl

A Super Bowl Squares 2026 game is the perfect way to add excitement to your Seahawks vs. Patriots watch party. With a spreadsheet doing the heavy lifting, you can focus on the food, the fun, and every big play.

Set up your grid, gather your players, and get ready to celebrate every touchdown, field goal, and winning square.

Download 2026 Super Bowl Squares here

*If you’re using iOS or cannot enable macros you will not be able to use this sheet, sorry. There is a simple printable PDF in the download and there is a Google sheet.

You also might need to make sure the folder the spreadsheet is downloaded to is a Trusted located in Excel. See this article for how to check.

Let me know in the comments below what version of the squares template you'll be using and what team you're rooting for!

2025 College Football Bowl Pick'em and Playoff Bracket

2025-12-08T15:32:00.000-08:00

It's the most wonderful time of the year - college football bowl season! The college football conference championships were played this past weekend which means the 2025 NCAA college football bowl season is here again. It’s time to make your picks and predictions about who you think will win each bowl game. One of the best times of the holiday season is being able to talk trash to your relatives about their terrible bowl picks.

This year has the added bonus of the new, expanded college football playoff - it's the second year of the twelve team playoff. As such, I've included a college football playoff bracket within this Excel file. There is the option to play just the bowls, just the playoff bracket, or both! If you've used my Super Bowl Squares template, you'll be familiar with how it works - there is a setup screen where you pick your options then click a button and the spreadsheet adjusts to how you want to play.

The bowl prediction sheets include the football helmet designs for every team (taken from my 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!

There are multiple ways to play college football bowl pick'em. What I call "regular" is every game is worth 1 point. The other way I call Confidence Picks: each player "bet" points 1 to 35 on each game based on how confident they are their choice is correct. Player with the most points wins. Example: player bets 35 points and gets it correct = 35 points. Bets 25 points on another game, gets it wrong = 0 points awarded.

For the college football playoff bracket, the pool manager can decide if each game is worth the same amount (1 point) or if each round the points increase: round 1 = 1 point, round 2 = 2 points, etc.

Download the 2025 CFP Bowl Prediction Pool Manager.xlsm file here

2025 Bowl Game Trivia

Second year of 12 team playoff bracket
35 bowl games with 70 teams
3 teams with a losing record (5-7)
Best record: Indiana 13-0
Birmingham Bowl features two teams from the same conference (SUN vs SUN)
11 teams with 6-6 record (18 teams last year)
18 teams with double digit wins (23 in 2023, 16 in 2022, 23 in 2021, in 2020 there were 5, 22 in 2019)
Teams with winning records that declined bowl games: Iowa State at 8-4, Kansas State at 6-6 and Notre Dame at 10-2
Other teams that declined bowls: Florida State, Auburn, UCF, Baylor, Kansas, Rutgers, Temple
Lopsided matchups (in terms of records): Utah 10-2 vs Nebraska 7-5, Wake Forest 8-4 vs Miss st 5-7
Does anyone actually want to watch this?
6-6 Georgia Southern vs 5-7 App State (already played this year)
5-7 Rice vs 6-6 Texas State

Download the CFP Pool Manager and Single Entry Form here

Have fun! As always, I welcome any feedback or ideas for improvement.

NFL Helmet Schedule 2025 Spreadsheet — Free Download!

2025-05-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

The 2025 NFL schedule is finally here — and once again, I’ve fired up Excel to build something way better than your basic, boring grid. Thanks to some clever automation, I created the brand-new NFL Helmet Schedule 2025 spreadsheet in under a minute!

✅ All 32 teams
✅ 18 weeks of games (17 regular season games + 1 bye week)
✅ 544 helmets — all in one easy-to-read, printable spreadsheet

No more hunting through cluttered tables or confusing text schedules. Now you can see every game for every week with your favorite team’s helmet front and center! Use the filters to sort the schedule by division or individual teams.

Get the NFL Helmet Schedule for 2025-2026

📥 Download the free spreadsheet here

🎥 Watch the quick demo video below to see how fast it is to update the NFL helmet schedule each season using this automated template.

Yes — it’s printable too!
Save it as a PDF, print it out for your office, locker room, or man cave, and track the whole 2025-2026 NFL season at a glance. If you hang it up, I’d love to see it — tag me on Twitter or email a pic!

Heads up — an email is required to download.
This is so I can let you know when the 2026 NFL schedule spreadsheet is ready and send out any mid-season updates if needed. I’ll never spam you or sell your info.

Got ideas for new features or tweaks to improve it? Drop a comment — I’m always looking for ways to make this the best football schedule tracker out there for fans like you!

Keywords:
2025 NFL schedule spreadsheet, NFL helmet schedule 2025, printable NFL schedule 2025-2026, NFL schedule with team helmets, NFL game schedule Excel download, 2025 NFL season dates and weeks, pro football helmet schedule 2025

How to play Super Bowl Squares 2025

2025-01-26T20:10:00.000-08:00

The Super Bowl is just around the corner, and whether you’re rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs, the Philadelphia Eagles, or simply enjoying the commercials and halftime show, adding a Super Bowl squares game to your party can bring extra excitement to the big day. This guide will explain how to set up and play a Super Bowl squares game, along with tips on using a spreadsheet to make managing the game easier.

What Is a Super Bowl Squares Game?

Super Bowl squares, also known as "box pools," is a fun and easy game of chance that requires minimal preparation and guarantees engagement throughout all four quarters of the game. It works by filling a 10x10 grid with 100 squares, each representing a potential score combination for the game. Participants buy squares, and the winners are determined by the last digit of each team’s score at the end of each quarter and the final score.

Setting Up Your Super Bowl Squares Game

1. Create the Grid

The first step is creating the 10x10 grid. You can do this on paper or, better yet, use a spreadsheet for ease of organization. Here’s how it works:

Label the rows from 0 to 9 across the top (representing the last digit of the Philadelphia Eagles’ score).
Label the columns from 0 to 9 along the side (representing the last digit of the Kansas City Chiefs’ score).

Each square in the grid represents a unique combination of the teams’ scores. For example, the square at row 3, column 7 corresponds to an Eagles score ending in 3 and a Chiefs score ending in 7.

I've already taken care of this step and made it as easy as possible to play. First, choose which of my spreadsheet templates you want to use:

2025 Super Bowl Squares - 54 Ways to Play

Released in 2021, this is the more "classic" and straightforward way to play. When you first open the sheet, it has a nice clean look with only one sheet visible. You select the options for how you want to play, click Generate Squares, and it sets up the sheet exactly for the version you want to play. The way it works is all the scoring systems are already built into the sheet. If you go to the Squares or the Manager sheet you will find many hidden rows or columns. The Generate Squares macro simply hides or unhides the data based on the user’s selections.

Super Bowl LVIII Squares Unlimited

54 ways to play apparently wasn't enough as I still received numerous requests for customizations and more features. This lead to the creation of a new approach to the template: Super Bowl Squares Unlimited. The main difference in how it works is there are no pre-built scoring systems. Instead, they are built on the fly by macros based on the user's input; therefore there are an infinite number of ways to play.

2. Sell the Squares

Invite your friends, family, or colleagues to buy squares in the grid. You can set a price per square (e.g., $1, $5, or $10), which will determine the total prize pool. Participants can claim squares by writing their names in the chosen boxes if using paper, or you can type their names into the cells of your spreadsheet.

3. Assign Numbers Randomly

To keep the game fair, wait until all the squares are filled before assigning the numbers 0-9 to the rows and columns. This ensures no one can strategically pick a square based on the scores. Since my spreadsheets are macro-enabled, just click the "generate random numbers" button. Easy!

Playing the Game

Once the Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles kicks off, here’s how the game unfolds:

Check the Scores Each Quarter At the end of each quarter (first quarter, halftime, third quarter, and final score), take note of the last digit of each team’s score. For example, if the Eagles are leading 17-14, the numbers to look at are 7 (Eagles) and 4 (Chiefs).
Find the Winning Square Locate the square where the row for the Eagles’ last digit intersects with the column for the Chiefs’ last digit. The name in that square is the winner for that quarter.
Distribute the Prizes Divide the prize pool among the winners. A common distribution is 20% of the pot for the first three quarters and 40% for the final score. However, you can adjust the percentages as you see fit.

Why Use a Super Bowl Squares Spreadsheet?

Using a spreadsheet offers several advantages over a paper grid:

Organization: A spreadsheet keeps all the names, squares, and scores neat and tidy, reducing the chance of errors.
Accessibility: If your participants are remote, you can share the spreadsheet via Google Sheets or email so everyone can follow along.
Customization: You can add features like automatic highlighting of winning squares or formulas to calculate payouts.
Eco-Friendly: Going digital eliminates the need for printing paper grids..

Tips for Hosting a Successful Super Bowl Squares Game

Keep It Fun: Make sure everyone knows it’s a game of chance and keep the focus on having fun.
Communicate Clearly: Share the rules and payout structure before the game starts.
Engage Everyone: Include participants who might not be big football fans—this game is simple enough for anyone to enjoy.

Start Playing 2025 Super Bowl Squares Now!

Playing a Super Bowl squares game is a fantastic way to enhance your watch party for the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles showdown. Using a spreadsheet simplifies the setup and management, allowing you to focus on the game, the snacks, and the company. So, gather your friends, set up your grid, and get ready to cheer for every touchdown, field goal, and winning square!

Download 2025 Super Bowl Squares here

*If you’re using iOS or cannot enable macros you will not be able to use this sheet, sorry. There is a simple printable PDF in the download and there is a Google sheet.

You also might need to make sure the folder the spreadsheet is downloaded to is a Trusted located in Excel. See this article for how to check.

Let me know in the comments below what version of the squares template you'll be using and what team you're rooting for! Man, I wish we had the Detroit Lions or Washington Commanders to root for...

2024 College Football Bowl Pick'em and Playoff Bracket

2024-12-08T20:53:00.000-08:00

It's the most wonderful time of the year - college football bowl season! The college football conference championships were played this past weekend which means the 2024 NCAA college football bowl season is here again. It’s time to make your picks and predictions about who you think will win each bowl game. One of the best times of the holiday season is being able to talk trash to your relatives about their terrible bowl picks.

This year has the added bonus of the new, expanded college football playoff - growing from four to twelve teams. As such, I've included a college football playoff bracket within this Excel file. There is the option to play just the bowls, just the playoff bracket, or both! If you've used my Super Bowl Squares template, you'll be familiar with how it works - there is a setup screen where you pick your options then click a button and the spreadsheet adjusts to how you want to play.

There are multiple ways to play college football bowl pick'em. What I call "regular" is every game is worth 1 point. The other way I call Confidence Picks: each player "bet" points 1 to 35 on each game based on how confident they are their choice is correct. Player with the most points wins Example: player bets 35 points and gets it correct = 35 points. Bets 25 points on another game, gets it wrong = 0 points awarded.

For the college football playoff bracket, the pool manager can decide if each game is worth the same amount (1 point) or if each round the points increase: round 1 = 1 point, round 2 = 2 points, etc.

Download the 2024 CFP Bowl Prediction Pool Manager.xlsm file here

2024 College Football Bowl TRIVIA

First year of 12 team playoff bracket
35 bowl games with 70 teams
No teams with a losing record
Best record: Oregon 13-0
There are only 2 teams left in the Pac-12
The Alamo Bowl features two teams from the same conference (Big 12 vs Big 12)
18 teams with 6-6 record (21 teams last year)
21 teams with double digit wins (23 in 2023, 16 in 2022, 23 in 2021, in 2020 there were 5, 22 in 2019)
One loss teams: Army, Indiana, Notre Dame, Boise State
Lopsided matchups (in terms of records): Memphis 10-2 vs WMU 6-6, UNLV 10-3 vs Cal (6-6)

Download the CFP Pool Manager and Single Entry Form here

Have fun! As always, I welcome any feedback or ideas for improvement.

Generate A Random Number In Google Sheets

2024-09-25T19:38:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about trying to transfer one of my most popular spreadsheet templates, Super Bowl Squares, from Excel to Google sheets. However, macros do not work in Google sheets. I was thinking about trying to recreate at least some of them, and the first problem to solve was how to make a random number generator script in Google Sheets.

Here's how you can create a Google Apps Script to generate random numbers between 0 and 9 in cells A1 to A9 without any repeats.

Steps to Create the Google Apps Script:

Open your Google Sheet.
Click on Extensions in the menu.
Select Apps Script.
Delete any existing code in the script editor, and paste the following code:


function generateRandomNumbers() {
  // Create an array with numbers 0 to 9
  var numbers = Array.from({length: 10}, (_, i) => i);

  // Shuffle the array
  for (var i = numbers.length - 1; i > 0; i--) {
    var j = Math.floor(Math.random() * (i + 1));
    var temp = numbers[i];
    numbers[i] = numbers[j];
    numbers[j] = temp;
  }

  // Get the active spreadsheet and sheet
  var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveSheet();

  // Place the shuffled numbers in cells A1 to A9
  for (var k = 0; k < 9; k++) {
    sheet.getRange(k + 1, 1).setValue(numbers[k]);
  }
}

Save the script by clicking the disk icon or pressing Ctrl + S. You can name it something like RandomNumberGenerator.
Close the Apps Script editor.
Back in your Google Sheet, go to Extensions -> Macros -> Import and then select your generateRandomNumbers function.

How to Run the Random Number Generator Script:

To run the script, go to Extensions -> Macros -> generateRandomNumbers.
The script will place random numbers between 0 and 9 in cells A1 to A9, with no repeats.

If this is your first time running the script, Google Sheets may ask you for permission to run the script. Approve the permissions to proceed.

In my templates, I make macros easy to use by running them from a button click. Yes, you can run the script from a button in Google Sheets too! Here’s how you can set it up:

Step 1: Create the Script

Open your Google Sheet.
Click on Extensions in the menu.
Select Apps Script.
Delete any existing code in the script editor, and paste the script provided above.
Save the script by clicking the disk icon or pressing Ctrl + S.

Step 2: Add a Button to Google Sheets

Insert a Drawing (for the Button):
- Go to your Google Sheet.
- Click on Insert -> Drawing.
- Click on the Text Box icon in the Drawing toolbar and draw a text box.
- Type in a label for your button, such as "Generate Numbers."
- Format the text and shape as you like.
- Click Save and Close. The button will now appear on your sheet.
Assign the Script to the Button:
- Click on the drawing (the button) you just created.
- Click on the three vertical dots in the top right corner of the button, and select Assign script.
- In the text box that appears, type the name of your script function, which is generateRandomNumbersInRow.
- Click OK.

Step 3: Use the Button

Now, whenever you click the button, the generateRandomNumbersInRow script will run, and random numbers will be placed in the cells G3 to P3.

This provides a user-friendly way to trigger the script without needing to go through the menu every time. The first problem is solved! Onto the next one...

Weighted Olympic Medal Count 2024

2024-08-05T20:58:00.000-07:00

In honor of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games currently being held Paris, France, I've updated my Microsoft Excel spreadsheet template for the medal count as I did for the 2022 Winter Games, 2020 (2021) Summer Olympic Games, 2018 Winter Olympics, 2016 Summer Olympic Games, 2014 Winter Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics.

There are two primary methods most websites appear to be ranking the 2024 medal count. Most sites rank countries by the total number of Olympic medals won. Other sites, like the International Olympic Committee (or IOC) rank countries by their gold medal count. And others rank by other factors like per capita or GDP.

Pictured below is a bar chart showing all medals won for the top countries (as of the time of this posting on 2-14-22). The bar chart is created in Excel by highlighting the data then going to Insert>Bar>Stacked Bar chart. Change the colors of the bars by right clicking on them then use the drop down menu to select the data you want to change.

See the latest official medal count here.

I’ve devised my own ranking system to give each Olympic medal a weight where the silver is worth half a gold medal and a bronze is worth only a quarter of the gold. Based on this new scoring system, previous Olympic results suddenly became quite interesting. However, for the 2024 Summer Games not too much actually changes (so far, will revisit after more events are completed). The first five countries ranking is unchanged. It gets really interesting in the 25-35 range.

Download the 2024 Olympic Games medal count spreadsheet and see for yourself.

I’ve shared my Olympic Medal Count spreadsheet and listed out the Olympic medals by country. How would you weight each medal against the others? Comment below and share any of your Olympic medal rating systems!

NFL 33 Pool Template

2024-07-31T20:07:00.000-07:00

If you've been following me for any amount of time you know I love a good football spreadsheet game, like Super Bowl Squares or College Football Bowl Pick'em. Recently a reader made me aware of a new game I had never heard of before and I just had to turn it into an Excel template to play this fall.

Introducing the NFL 33 Pool spreadsheet!

Here's how to play: players are assigned an NFL each week of the 18 game season and if your team scores 33 points, you win!

But that's not all. If that was the only way to play the spreadsheet would have been far too simple to make. My Excel template allows the pool manager to select different options so you can play how you want to.

First, select the number of players, which can be between 1 and 32.

Second, choose if you want the target score to be the same every week, or change every week.

Next, choose if the winner requires hitting the exact target score, whoever gets closest on a weekly basis, or add up the scores for the whole season.

Finally, choose if you want players to keep the same NFL teams all season or to be assigned a different team every week.

How to Play NFL 33 Game

Watch the video below to learn how to play football 33 and see how the spreadsheet works:

How the NFL 33 Pool Spreadsheet Works

In the Pool sheet from column C to T a random number is generated. Each number corresponds to team on the Lists sheet. Change the numbers manually if you want to manually change the teams. Uses conditional formatting to turn cell green if scores exactly match. This sheet uses macros. Macros must be enabled. Document must be saved in trusted location. Go to Trust Center settings to modify if needed.

Download the NFL 33 Pool template here.

Have you ever played a NFL 33 Pool game before? Is this your first time hearing about it? Let me know in the comments below.

Facebook Marketplace Sales Tracking Template Updated

2024-06-26T11:24:00.000-07:00

I've sold 227 items on Facebook marketplace. Here's what I've learned:

The day of the week when I make the most sales on Facebook marketplace is Wednesday, followed by Tuesday and Sunday. The worst day of the week for sales is Friday, followed by Saturday and Monday.

I've been selling on Facebook Marketplace since July 2020 and by far the best months for most sales have been November and December, with February and April being the worst.

56% of my sales have been picked up by the customer in-person, while 44% paid for shipping on top of the cost of the item.

The average length of time to sell an item on Facebook Marketplace is 112 days. The longest sale took 828 days (or 2.2 years)!

54% of customers will try to barter or negotiate a lower price than what you have initially listed the item for. On average, customers will try to reduce your price by 20%, so you should account for this when listing your items.

Example: if you want to make $50 off a product, list it for $60.

Do you want to track this data for yourself?

Download my free Facebook Marketplace Sales Tracking spreadsheet here.

I recently updated my template. You can now use this one spreadsheet to track sales for various marketplaces, such as Mercari, Ebay, Craiglist, Whatnot, etc. Previously you had to manually drag down formulas and added new listings at the bottom. Now you simply click a button and a new row is automatically added via VBA macro at the top for you to add the listing info. All the data is in the Summary sheet and update automatically via Excel formulas.

Have you ever sold anything on Facebook Marketplace and if so do you track your sales? Have any tips for me or questions? Let me know via comment or email!

NFL Helmet Schedule 2024 Spreadsheet

2024-05-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

The 2024 NFL schedule was released yesterday and since I used my Excel skills to automate the creation of this spreadsheet I was able to create the NFL Helmet Schedule in less than a minute! All 32 teams, all 18 weeks of the season (now 17 games plus one bye week), all in one spreadsheet. But instead of looking like this boring mess:

You can see all 544 helmets!

Get the 2024 - 2025 NFL Schedule with Helmets here

Watch the video below to see just how easy it is to update the NFL helmet schedule spreadsheet since it has been automated:

As you can see, the NFL helmet schedule is printable too. You can save the spreadsheet as a PDF file or print it out and pin it up in your cubicle at work. If you do, please email or tweet me a picture of it hanging up - I'd love to see it!

Please note, an email is required to download it. I do this so you will be automatically updated you if changes or additions are made and will update you when the next year’s schedule is ready. I do not use your email for anything else.

As always, I welcome any comments or suggestions about how to fix or improve the sheet! How can I improve this football spreadsheet into something you’ll use all the time during pro-football season? What future features would you like to see?

Excel Sports Bet Tracking Spreadsheet Updated

2024-04-08T19:42:00.000-07:00

I've updated the Sports Bet Tracking spreadsheet template with some of the features you've been requesting! The upgrades include:

American or Decimal Odds

Choose between American or Decimal odds by using a drop down list on the first sheet. All bets need to use the same odds type and you shouldn't change it once set.

What's the difference between American and Decimal odds?

Decimal odds (European odds) represent the potential return of a bet, including the original stake, as a multiple of the stake. The odds are presented as a single number, usually with two decimal places. Example: 2.5

American odds, also known as moneyline odds, are a popular format for expressing the likelihood of a particular outcome in sports betting, especially in the United States. American odds can be positive or negative numbers and indicate how much profit a bettor would make on a $100 wager if the bet is successful. They provide a straightforward way for bettors to understand the potential profit or risk associated with a particular bet. Example: -205, +155

Change to Macro Enabled Worksheet

The format of the bet tracking spreadsheet has been changed from .xlsx to .xlsm as I've added a few simple macros.

Click the "Add New Bet" button to input a new bet. Previously you had to scroll to the bottom of the Bet Tracker sheet to add a new bet and potentially drag down all formulas to track the stats. Now the newest bet will always be at the top and you won't have to manually manipulate any formulas.

If you want to clear all your bets there is a button that will do that but be careful - the action cannot be undone.

I don't think macros will work on MAC/iOS/APPLE devices, so you might have to manually drag down the formulas.

Cash Out and Voided Bets can now be tracked

The ability to Cash Out has also been added as well as void or push bets can now be tracked. If you cash out, enter the value you cashed out for in column K, otherwise leave column K blank. If you want to track void or cancelled bets you can select Void from the drop down then delete your wager amount and leave it blank since you get that money back.

How to Transfer Information From Old Versions

In the Bet Tracker sheet, I think columns A through K should be the same so you can copy and paste those, then drag down the formulas in row 2 for columns M-Y.

Download the Sports Bet Tracking spreadsheet for FREE here.

Let me know what you think about the improvements to the Sports Bet Tracking Spreadsheet in the comments below! And as always, I valuable your feedback if you have ideas for even more improvements.

2024 March Madness Brackets and Basketball Squares

2024-03-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

If you're looking for 2024 March Madness Brackets, no, I won't be posting any here or making my own. Once again, I will be using the best March Madness brackets in Excel, created by David Tyler (and I will continue to use his until he decides to no longer update them). They’re very polished and easy to use. There are only 68 teams in the field but the spreadsheet is already setup to handle up to 128 teams, if they expand in the future. There are two sheets: the bracket and the pool manager. Instructions are included but its very intuitive. Take a look:

As I’ve said countless times before, you can learn a lot by looking at Excel templates made by others. Here are 5 things I do when examining a new spreadsheet using David's March Madness brackets as example.

March Madness Squares

When I created my new Super Bowl Squares Unlimited spreadsheet for last month's football game, I had the goal in mind to be able to use the same sheet for other sports, like basketball. I tweaked my template a little and now you can use it for March Madness Squares!

There's multiple ways you could go about playing March Madness Squares:

1. Everyone keeps the same random numbers for every game
2. The random numbers change for every round
3. The random numbers change for every game

Here's a quick demo of how to use squares for basketball:

You can play either way with my spreadsheet. I designed it to be very versatile. Payout percentage can change per round as well. Update the settings how you want them then you click Generate Scoreboard once for every game, so 32 times in the first round. There are a lot of other options built in that can be ignored - it's all up to you!

Will you be playing 2024 March Madness Brackets, March Madness Squares, or both? Let me know in the comments below.

Super Bowl Squares 2024 - The BEST Excel Templates

2024-01-28T20:52:00.000-08:00

It's finally time to play Super Bowl Squares! As the biggest sporting event of the year approaches, hardcore football and casual fans alike gear up for an unforgettable Super Bowl experience. To add an extra layer of excitement to your game day festivities, I'm here to introduce you to the magic of Super Bowl Squares and simplify the process with my specially crafted and powerful Excel template. Whether you're a seasoned veteran or a newcomer to this classic game of chance, my template is designed to make organizing and tracking your Super Bowl Squares pool a breeze. Let's get to it!

I’ve been making Super Bowl Squares templates available for you to download since 2012 and the latest versions are the most versatile yet. There are two templates to choose from, I'll explain the pros and cons of each.

2024 Super Bowl Squares - 54 Ways to Play

The way it works is all the scoring systems are already built into the sheet. If you go to the Squares or the Manager sheet you will find many hidden rows or columns. The Generate Squares macro simply hides or unhides the data based on the user’s selections.

Download 2024 Super Bowl Squares here

Super Bowl LVIII Squares Unlimited

This sheet offers the most flexibility but might take some getting used to. At first it may be a little difficult to understand how the scoring works, so I recommend you watch this video:

Download 2024 Super Bowl Squares here

*If you’re using iOS or cannot enable macros you will not be able to use this sheet, sorry. There is a simple printable PDF in the download and there is a Google sheet.

You also might need to make sure the folder the spreadsheet is downloaded to is a Trusted located in Excel. See this article for how to check.

Get ready to elevate your Super Bowl party with a touch of friendly competition, a dash of luck, and the convenience of our user-friendly Excel template. Let me know in the comments below what version of the squares template you'll be using and what team you're rooting for! My heart breaks for Detroit Lions fans - you were so close to earning a trip to your first Super Bowl!

Girl Scout Cookie Tracking Spreadsheet Template

2024-01-19T07:15:00.000-08:00

My daughter is in Girl Scouts and her troop wanted to sell Girl Scout cookies for the first time this year. In order to sell Girl Scout cookies you need an adult to be the TCPC: Troop Cookie Program Coordinate. Or as my daughter said, "We need you to be the Cookie Daddy!" I figured all this meant was they needed someone to manage an Excel spreadsheet for all the cookie sales so I agreed.

Little did I know what was in store as there is much more to it. First is all the training and webinars, background check, volunteer forms, etc. Then when it comes to finally sell cookies, there are no spreadsheets; they've got Digital Cookie online selling platform and eBudde management system. While the eBudde system and tools seem to have all the information needed on the backend, the front end is very confusing for a new user. It's very confusing and cumbersome and the key information the TCPC needs to know is spread out over different pages. Seriously, if you have to have numerous training sessions to explain how everything works and people are still asking tons of questions, your system is too complicated.

So I decided to make a spreadsheet!

Introducing the Girl Scout Cooking Tracking Template:

With this spreadsheet you still have to manually input all the cookie sale information from eBudde but now all the information you need to know is shown visually on just two sheets and is easy to understand. Here's how to use the cookie tracker:

On the sales summary page, copy and paste your Girl Scouts. Then input each of their Digital Cookie sales, which are broken into four categories:

1. Cookies to be hand delivered (from the Initial Orders page in eBudde)

2. Donated cookies for Operation Salute

3. Any cookie sales from paper order forms that need to be input manually

4. Orders that will be shipped direct from the bakery (from the Girl Orders page)

Next, you can input each Girl Scout's goal for how many packages they want to sell. These will add up at the bottom to show the overall Troop Cookie Goal. There is a donut graph to show the troop's progress towards their goal.

On the right it shows the Instant Rewards and how many packages it takes to reach. Once a girl has reached the goal, the formula automatically shows as having achieved it.

On the next sheet, we have a breakdown of how many of each type of girl scout cookie has been sold (thin mints being the most popular, obviously). As the cookie daddy and the person responsible for picking up the cookies from the cookie cupboard to distribute to the troop, the most important info is the number of cases of each type of cookie I need to pickup.

There is another sheet in my template that explains some of the terminology, the key being the word "box" is never used. The girls sell "packages" of cookies and 12 of those packages make up a case. The cookies are never mixed up in different cases and if you only sell one package of LemonUps, you have to pickup an entire case of LemonUps.

The Girl Scout Cooking Tracking Spreadsheet shows you exactly how many cases of each cookie you need and how many unsold packages in each case. The unsold cookies from the initial order can be used to sell in-person during the booth phase.

I added a sheet you can use as a template for booth signups.

Download the Girl Scout Cookie Tracking Spreadsheet Template here.

2023 College Football Bowl Prediction Pool

2023-12-03T19:44:00.000-08:00

The college football conference championships were played this past weekend which means the 2023 NCAA college football bowl season is here again! Therefore, it’s time to make your picks and predictions about who you think will win each bowl game. One of the best times of the holiday season (other than giving and receiving gifts) is being able to talk trash to your relatives about their terrible bowl picks.

This year has the added bonus of not just single bowl games but the tenth and final year of a four team playoff to determine the national champion. Starting in 2024 the college football playoff will expand to twelve teams (couldn't have been one year earlier, could it). Can't wait to see how that plays out!

But let's not get ahead of ourselves and just enjoy that fact that the SEC was ALMOST left out of the playoff for the first time. It's good to see at least one new team make the CFB playoff. Here's the full breakdown of bowl teams per conference:

There are multiple ways to play Bowl pick'em. Features for this year's 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, or however you want to customize it.
Updated leaderboard tab with new stats
Separate entry sheet to pass out to participants or co-workers that can be imported automatically by a built-in macro
Complete NCAA college football bowl schedule with game times and TV stations
New stat sheet to track each conference's record during bowl season. Graph shows total conference teams and total conference wins

Download the CFP Pool Manager and Single Entry Form here

Bowl Pick'em Game For Google Sheets

Unlike many of my other spreadsheets, macros are not critical for the Bowl prediction pool. If you have a Google drive account you should be able to upload the pool manager and use it inside Google sheets. Participants can make their picks directly in the sheet using the drop down lists and everyone can see the scoreboard update in real time. All the formulas should work. Insert new columns where it says in order to add more players. The macro to import single player picks won't work but it is not needed. Try it if you want to play that way and let me know if you find any issues in Google sheets.

College Football Bowl Pick'em with Confidence Points

If you watch the video above you can see how this works. Each player can select confidence picks where they rank each game according to how confident they are in their pick. If you're super confident Georgia is going to roll over Ohio State you would rank that game 42 from the drop down list and would receive 42 points if you're correct. If you're not so sure Michigan will beat TCU you might only rank that game 1 or 2 points.

Download the 2023 CFP Bowl Prediction Pool Manager.xlsm file here

Have fun! As always, I welcome any feedback or ideas for improvement.

2023 NFL Helmet Schedule Spreadsheet

2023-05-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

The 2023 NFL schedule was released yesterday and since I used my Excel skills to automate the creation of this spreadsheet I was able to create the NFL Helmet Schedule in less than a minute! All 32 teams, all 18 weeks of the season (now 17 games plus one bye week), all in one spreadsheet:

A job that used to take hour by moving helmets manually is now so easy to do. Yes, that's why I love the power of macros and automation. I wrote the macro myself but nowadays you could probably just ask ChatGPT to write the macro for you.

On previous versions of the sheet I divided out the two conferences on separate sheets: NFC and AFC. This year, I’ve put all the teams into one sheet. However, there is a new filter option where you can filter by NFC or AFC or even by division: AFC North, AFC South, etc.

Download the 2023 NFL Helmet Schedule Spreadsheet here

Watch the video below to see how the filter works. I also so a tip in Excel how to select multiple objects at once with the mouse. And I walk through the populate helmets macro code as well. Lots of good stuff here!

2023 March Madness Squares

2023-03-11T21:15:00.005-08:00

Super Bowl squares are a popular game often played during the Super Bowl where participants select squares on a grid, with each square assigned a specific combination of numbers. The goal is to correctly predict the final score of the game based on the last digit of each team's score.

While Super Bowl squares are typically played during the Super Bowl, the concept can also be applied to March Madness. To play this game, you can create a grid with 100 squares, just like in the Super Bowl squares game. Instead of using the final score of the game, the grid will be based on the final score of each March Madness game.

Each square in the grid represents a combination of the final score of the two teams playing in the game. For example, if the final score of a game is 85-76, the winner would be the square where the "5" intersects with the "6" on the grid. You can assign a prize to each square, and participants can buy as many squares as they want.

There's multiple ways you could go about playing March Madness Squares:

1. Everyone keeps the same random numbers for every game

2. The random numbers change for every round

3. The random numbers change for every game

You can play either way with my spreadsheet. I designed it to be very versatile. Payout percentage can change per round as well. Update the settings how you want them then you click Generate Scoreboard once for every game, so 32 times in the first round. There are a lot of other options built in that can be ignored - it's all up to you!

Download March Madness Squares here.

Usually, when it comes to March Madness I use David Tyler's incredible brackets in Excel. I'll still be using them this year but in addition I plan on trying March Madness Squares for the first time. Have you ever played before?

Try it and let me know what you think!

Super Bowl Squares 2023 - Unlimited Ways to Play

2023-01-29T19:53:00.005-08:00

Since 54 ways to play still wasn't enough, I've created a new version of my Super Bowl Squares template that should allow nearly limitless ways to play. I'm going to show you how to use it and what make it awesome. But first, let's take a quick look back at the evolution of my football grid game template.

I’ve been making Super Bowl Squares templates available for you to download for over 10 years now. The first version in 2012 was very plain and simple and was basically just meant to be printed.

I started adding more features and automation in 2014, beginning with a button you would click that runs a macro to generate the random numbers.

The problem I soon discovered is there are countless ways to play Super Bowl Squares. Initially, I tried to account for different ways to play by having multiple sheets within the workbook. But this got very messy very quickly. A new user would open the template and could be very confused by all the sheets. I wanted a better solution.

In 2021, I released a new version that featured 54 different ways to play Super Bowl Squares all contained within one easy to use spreadsheet. When you first open the sheet, it has a nice clean look with only one sheet visible. You select the options for how you want to play, click Generate Squares, and it sets up the sheet exactly for the version you want to play.

54 ways to play is a lot – but it is still not enough. Over the years I continued to receive countless requests for different ways to play. I don’t have time to make very specific sheets for each individual request – I needed a solution to account for unlimited ways to play.

That’s when I had the idea for Super Bowl Squares Unlimited. The main difference in how it works is there are no pre-built scoring systems. Instead, they are built on the fly by macros.

If you’re using iOS or cannot enable macros you will not be able to use this sheet, sorry. The is a simple printable PDF in the download and here is a Google sheet.

The first thing you’ll want to do is go to the Manager sheet and complete columns B and C by inputting all the player names and using the drop down to select how many squares for each. You can type the names manually into each square but you would also have to list the names on the Manager sheet and make sure they match (no typos).

Back to the Squares sheet, the buttons in the Grid Tools box are pretty self explanatory. On the squares sheet, click the Random Names button to populate the grid with the player names in random positions. Click Randomize Numbers to generate the list of random numbers. Similar to previous sheet.

The main difference that gives this sheet more flexibility is the score boards are not built in, they are generated when the user clicks the Generate Scoreboard button every time there is a scoring event. Meaning, the settings can be changed. Let’s look at some examples.

Download 2023 Super Bowl Squares here

So that’s how you use the Super Bowl Squares Unlimited spreadsheet template. I’m excited to hear your thoughts. Is it better than the previous sheet? This is brand new and hasn’t been tested too much so there could be some bugs. But I’d love to know your thoughts on which sheet you will use and why so leave me a comment or email. Thanks for watching and have fun playing Super Bowl Squares!

Elevate Your Sports Betting Game with Our Free Excel Tracking Tool

2023-01-22T19:32:00.000-08:00

Sports gambling just became legal here in Ohio and we've been flooded with sign-up offers. Since just about every sportsbook will give you free bonus bets (around $200) for a small ($5 or $10) deposit, I decided to dabble a little bit into sports betting to see what all the fuss is about. I signed up for three different sportsbook sites and quickly realized I needed a way to organize and track all my bets.

Naturally, I decided to make an Excel template to track which bets I'd made, track my earnings, and make sure I was still making a profit. First, I created a Lists sheet for all my drop down lists including which sportsbook, which sport, result, and so on. Personally, so far I've only stuck to football because that's what I follow the most and already have some interest and knowledge in it.

The Bet Tracker sheet is used to track every individual bet including the odds, wager amount, and formulas to determine the potential winnings and the actual result.

When you bet with your own money, if you win the bet you get the winnings plus your original bet back. But when you use Bonus money to place your bet, that "fake" money is not added to the winnings. I had to account for this in my Potential Winnings column formula.

If your own money then: Winnings = ((Odds/100)*Wager)+Original Wager

If bonus money then: Winnings = (Odds/100)*Wager)

=IF(E2="My$",((G2/100)*F2)+F2,((G2/100)*F2))

If you get lucky and win a bet, you'll be able to withdraw the money into your own bank or Paypal account. There's a summary sheet to track exactly how much money you've put in versus what has come out. The most important stat to me is my running total, and making sure it is well in the positive otherwise it's time to quit.

How have I done? In the past two weeks, I placed 33 bets and won 8 of them. I've only had to input $27 of my own dollars, while I've gotten to bet $650 bonus bucks. I'm not huge into taking risks, so instead of betting on crazy parleys with larger payouts, I've bet on safer, more likely outcomes but with smaller rewards. What do I plan to do with my winnings? Probably invest in an AI company since they're changing the game.

In all my years of making sports related Excel spreadsheet templates, I've never really gambled on sports. I'm not sure I'll keep gambling once my free funds run out, but it is a fun experiment while it lasts. Like playing fantasy football or Super Bowl Squares, it gives you an extra incentive for watching the game. Hey, speaking of Super Bowl Squares, I've got a new version coming out this weekend and I can't wait to hear your thoughts on it...

.Download Sports Bet Tracker.xlsx file here

Using OpenAI's ChatGPT to Update My Year in Pixels Excel Template

2023-01-08T19:36:00.000-08:00

I've been seeing more and more videos on TikTok about this mysterious new artificial intelligence program called ChatGPT. People are saying it will eventually replace Google search. But what really got my attention was a demonstration of ChatGPT writing VBA macros for Microsoft Excel. Now I knew I had to try it for myself.

I made a Year in Pixels Excel template to track my daily mood back in 2018 but haven't updated it lately. Since it's the start of a new year, I recently received some new comments and questions about how to use and modify the spreadsheet so I figured now would be a great time to update it and add a few new features. Then I had an idea - why don't I use this opportunity to update my mood tracking Excel template to try out ChatGPT? Let's give it a go!

How to have cell fill color conditional formatting change based on the color of another cell?

The request from a user that got me thinking was "how to easily change the colors in my year in pixels sheet?" An experienced Excel user could probably ascertain the colors are applied by conditional formatting formula rules. However, for users who are not Excel savvy, it's not very obvious and there should be an easier way to change the colors. As far as I know, there is none, or at least no easy way in my current version of Excel, to have the fill color in the conditional formatting reference another cell's color. So instead, I will have a macro update the conditional formatting rules at the click of a button. Let's jump over to ChatGPT.

How does ChatGPT work?

Here's the answer after asking it directly:

GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a type of language model developed by OpenAI that uses a transformer neural network architecture to generate text. GPT is trained on a large dataset of text and uses this training to generate new text that is similar in style and content to the training data.

ChatGPT is a variant of GPT that has been fine-tuned on a specific task, such as having conversations with humans. To fine-tune GPT for this task, ChatGPT is trained on a large dataset of conversation data and learns to predict the next word in a conversation based on the words that came before it.

When you input a message to ChatGPT, it processes the message and uses its knowledge of language and conversation patterns to generate a response. It does this by predicting the next word in the conversation based on the input it has received and the context of the conversation so far. The output of ChatGPT is then a response that is generated based on this prediction.

One thing to keep in mind right off the bat: ChatGPT is not always right. It says it right there on the main page under limitations: may occasionally generate incorrect information; may occasionally produce harmful instructions.

For example, I asked "list the ten tallest roller coasters in the world" which should be fairly easy and instead it produces a list that is incorrect and doesn't even make sense.

Not a great start but let's see how it does creating a macro from scratch. 

Creating Custom VBA Macros Automatically with ChatGPT

I wasn't sure how specific I needed to be so I decided to err on the side of caution, plus I thought the more detailed I am the less modification I'll probably need to do later. Now I ask ChatGPT: "create a vba macro to make a new conditional formatting rule where range is C4 to N34, if cell value = 5 then change the fill color to the same color as in cell P12." Then it began typing and my jaw dropped.

I copied and pasted the code into Excel VBA editor and it worked! One thing I forgot is this macro will just add new rules applied to the same range. I need to delete all the existing formatting rules before adding new ones, so I ask ChapGPT:

I added the above code to the earlier response and linked it to a newly added button on my sheet. Now a user can change the fill color of a cell, click the button, and the fill colors update automatically to match.

If you want to see all this play out in real time, watch the video I recorded below:

Thoughts on the Future of ChatGPT

It's awesome that it doesn't just spit out the code, but it also suggests how you might need to modify it AND tells you how to run the macro as well. Even though I've only asked it to make simple macros, I already see how this program could save a lot of time.

I'm not done experimenting but so far ChatGPT seems like a much better option over Recoding macros or Google searches that might take you a few tries to find exactly what you're looking for. Especially when you can get custom code on the fly. On one hand, I feel a little obsolete, but on the other I also don't think ChatGPT will completely be replacing programmers just yet as you can see I still had to understand the code and modify it to fit my exact needs.

Download my Year in Pixels template for free here and try it for yourself. Open the macro editor to view the final codes written by ChatGPT.

2022 College Football Bowl Prediction Pool

2022-12-04T19:53:00.006-08:00

The college football conference championships were played this past weekend which means the 2022 NCAA college football bowl season is here again! Therefore, it’s time to make your picks and predictions about who you think will win each bowl game. One of the best times of the holiday season (other than giving and receiving gifts) is being able to talk trash to your relatives about their terrible bowl picks.

This year has the added bonus of not just single bowl games but the ninth year of a four team playoff to determine the national champion. And it was recently announced this will be the second to last year of the four team format as starting in 2024 the college football playoff will expand to twelve teams. Can't wait to see how that plays out!

But let's not get ahead of ourselves and just enjoy that fact that for the first time the playoff doesn't have Alabama or Clemson in it! It's good to see at least one new team make the CFB playoff. Here's the full breakdown of bowl teams per conference:

There are multiple ways to play Bowl pick'em. Features for this year's 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, or however you want to customize it.
Updated leaderboard tab with new stats
Separate entry sheet to pass out to participants or co-workers that can be imported automatically by a built-in macro
Complete NCAA college football bowl schedule with game times and TV stations
New stat sheet to track each conference's record during bowl season. Graph shows total conference teams and total conference wins

Download the CFP Pool Manager and Single Entry Form here

Bowl Pick'em Game For Google Sheets

College Football Bowl Pick'em with Confidence Points

Download the 2022 CFP Bowl Prediction Pool Manager.xlsm file here

Have fun! As always, I welcome any feedback or ideas for improvement.

How to change relative hyperlink to exact link in Excel

2022-06-21T19:31:00.000-07:00

You may have used the HYPERLINK function in Excel before but what you may not have released is your links can be either relative or absolute (or sometimes called exact or specific). What does this even mean? And how do you change from relative to exact?

What Are Absolute and Relative Hyperlinks?

An absolute hyperlink reference, or what I call an exact link to the specific file location, shows the entire path to the referenced file. For example: C:\Documents\User\MyExcelFile.xlsm

A relative hyperlink is a link to another file relative to where the current workbook is saved at. So the above example's relative link would look like this: User\MyExcelFile.xlsm

The advantage of using a relative link is you can change the names of everything in the path and the relative links will still work (useful if you have a document with hundreds of links). In our same example, you could change the C: drive to D:\Documents\User\MyExcelFile.xlsmor you could change the Documents folder to C:\MyDocuments\ and all your links will still work because they're still in the same folder/subfolder relationship.

However, the problem with using all relative links is that is you copy or do a Save As on the original template containing all the links and place it in a different folder location, the relative links will no longer work. This is because they are no longer in the same relative location to the parent folder. If you copied the entire folder structure into the new location it would work but you probably don't want to do that.

How to Change Relative Links to Exact Links

Instead, you could have both types of hyperlinks within your Excel file. Here's how to easily transform relative hyperlinks into absolute links.

First, I wrote a simple VBA macro to get the relative hyperlink address and put them into a helper column.

Sub CreateHyperLinks()

'find the last row in column B

Dim LastRow As Long

LastRow = Cells(Rows.Count, 2).End(xlUp).Row

On Error Resume Next

Dim i As Integer

For i = 3 To LastRow

Cells(i, 3) = Cells(i, 2).Hyperlinks(1).Address

Next

End Sub

You should only really have to run this macro once, unless the sub folder structure changes.

The next column I used the HYPERLINK function to combine the part location in the yellow squares with the address from the macro generated column.

=HYPERLINK(C1&C4,B4)

If the parent folder location changes, you just simply update the location in the yellow square and all the links will automatically be updated.

Still confused? I try to explain in this how to video:

Does that make sense? I hope this saves you time from having to redo any hyperlinks in your Excel spreadsheets.

2022 NFL Helmet Schedule Spreadsheet

2022-06-12T16:19:00.008-07:00

As I explained last year, I finally automated this spreadsheet so I was able to create the 2022 NFL Helmet Schedule in less than a minute! All 32 teams, all 18 weeks of the season (now 17 games plus one bye week), all in one spreadsheet:

A job that used to take hour by moving helmets manually is now so easy to do. Yes, that's why I love the power of macros and automation. See how fast the sheet can be created by watching this clip:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nick (@ntweisen)

Download the 2022 NFL Helmet Schedule Spreadsheet here

Watch the video below to see how the filter works. I also so a tip in Excel how to select multiple objects at once with the mouse. And I walk through the populate helmets macro code as well. Lots of good stuff here!

The Best FREE Template to Automatically Create Folders From Excel

2022-04-25T19:51:00.004-07:00

One topic I've been discussing for more than ten years, and keep coming back to with improvements, is how to automatically create folders from Excel. I originally shared a simple macro to make folders back in 2011. More recently, I showed how to add hyperlinks back to the newly created folders. But I was never quite happy with these programs. So now I'm back with a better, more powerful, and easy to use template that will instantly create folders for you.

This Excel template to create folders will teach you:

How to use a macro to automatically create folders from Excel (duh)
How to change the color of a toggle button (and how to use a toggle button in Excel)
How to add hyperlinks to folders
Conditional formatting to change cell color based on combo box selection
How to copy existing folder names into Excel
How to duplicate a file structure

As I've done with all my recent templates, I try to make them look as clean as possible when the user first opens the sheet so as not to overwhelm them. I like to use yellow to clearly show the cells that require user input. Command buttons make running your macros very easy.

I envision this template being used in two primary ways: to create a set of new folders from scratch (their names manually typed in), or to quickly duplicate an existing file structure.

First, enter the location in the first yellow box where you want the new folders to be created. Next, type the folder names in the column. Or, if you want to duplicate existing folders, select the folders in explorer, hold down shift and right click, copy as Path. Use find and replace to remove the path. See in this example video:

One unique feature about this template is it allows the user to choose from one of four different options about how they want the folders to be named.

You can download this Folder Generator template for free, just enter a 0 here, an examine the VBA macro code yourself:

Quick VBA tip: To change the color of a toggle button once it is clicked (toggled on or toggled off), use this code:

Private Sub ToggleButton1_Click()

If ToggleButton1.Value = True Then ToggleButton1.BackColor = vbGreen

If ToggleButton1.Value = False Then ToggleButton1.BackColor = vbWhite

End Sub

Do you find this template to be useful? If so, please let me know in the comments below!

Free Meeting Scheduling Excel Template

2022-03-28T04:00:00.010-07:00

How often do you ask friends, family, or coworkers which day is the best to get together? Whether it’s a meeting, party, trip, or some other occasion I find myself in these situations all the time. There are several apps and online calendars available to help you coordinate which day works for everyone involved. I used to use a site called Doodle all the time. The problem with these services is they are not always free, they’re constantly changing and you have to keep relearning how to use them, you have to make an online account, and so on. So I did what I always do – I decided to make an Excel template to determine which day works best for meetings and events!

I used a lot of the same concepts and macro code from my Super Bowl Squares spreadsheet. When you first open the spreadsheet you are greeted by a simple, clean setup page. Here you’ll manually input the number of participants, meeting subject and description.

Next, you’ll enter the start and end dates of the days you want the participants to choose from. It’s very important that these two cells ONLY contain dates. To restrict a user to only being able to enter a date in a cell, go to Data > Data Validation. Under Allow select Date. Be sure to enter a custom error message so if a user makes a mistake they understand what needs to be entered.

When the user clicks Generate Schedule the Schedule sheet is unhidden. The schedule can handle up to 100 participants and up to 365 days. However, you probably won’t need all that so the macro will automatically hide all the rows and columns not needed to make it easy for the user to input their information.

A lot of good Excel tips can be gleaned from examining the event timing spreadsheet. Here's a quick summary of what can be learned by dissecting this free Excel template:

How to add and use Option buttons
How to use data validation to restrict entry in a cell to a date
How to use data validation to restrict entry in a cell to an email address
How to get the day of the week from a date
How to use command buttons and assign specific macros to them
How to send emails from Excel with hyperlinks
How to use a formula to show only weekends in Excel
How to use conditional formatting to change cell color based on cell value
How to hide command buttons by macro

Download the Meeting Scheduler Template here.

Watch How to Coordinate Meetings with Excel

If you want to see how this spreadsheet works and some tips like how to limit a cell where a user can only input a date then watch the video below:

Try it out and let me know if you think it’s a legitimate replacement for Doodle, Calendly or whatever meeting scheduling apps you currently use.