Bet on America, Play FantasySCOTUS

Ever wished you could join a fantasy league, but aren't sure your sports knowledge is up to par? Well, this might just be your thing. Four years ago, Houston law professor Josh Blackman created the online game FantasySCOTUS, in which people predict how the U.S. Supreme Court will vote in each case during a single term. Yes, that's right. A fantasy league for the nine justices of the Supreme Court.

Blackman, who teaches at South Texas College of Law, came up with the idea for the site back in 2009, and built it in just a month. 24 hours after the launch, the site already had 1,000 subscribers. Today more than 20,000 players, typically lawyers and law students, use the site.

As well as offering Supreme Court enthusiasts the chance to seriously nerd out, FantasySCOTUS functions as a unique educational tool.

How many Supreme Court Justices can you name? You might know Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Ruth Ginsberg, and maybe you could name a couple more at a push. But beyond that? Well, it turns out if you named just one, you're already doing better than most. An alarming two-thirds of Americans can't name any justices at all. Just one percent can correctly name all nine.

This is where the awesomeness of FantasySCOTUS comes in to play. The game gives its participants the opportunity to become familiar with all of the justices and their values, gain an understanding of what it is Supreme Court justices do all day and learn about the impact of the decisions they make.

In fact, the educational aspect is so important to Blackman that he founded the Harlan Institute, a nonprofit which introduces high school students to the system of justice in the United States, focusing on Supreme Court cases. FantasySCOTUS is a key element of the Harlan Institute program.

Thinking of joining FantasySCOTUS? Here's how it works. You get ten points for each decision you correctly predict for each justice. If you guess all nine correctly on a single case, you get a 100 point bonus. If you're the winner at the end of the season then you get a fancy golden gavel with your name inscribed on it and — perhaps more importantly — the title of "chief justice."

If you're already a Supreme Court know-it-all and think you have a good shot at joining the league's best players — who, by the by, are 75 to 80 percent accurate — then now is the perfect time to give it a go. The winner of the past three years, Jacob Berlove, has decided he doesn't want to play any more, so there's at least a slim chance that golden gavel could be yours.

You can play here.