...or give me Florida Gulf Coast. Once again our entrants have proven that when it comes to predicting conference champions we can compete with a monkey flipping coins.
So far this season, 14 conferences have played tournament games. And so far, the majority of our contestants are dead wrong in at least seven (7) of those 14. To our credit, we were correct in the OVC (Belmont was chosen by 81 of us), and still have a shot in six other tournaments that are still going on.
But first, let's take a look at our many errors. Leading the way is Liberty, chosen by none of us, a team that beat our favorite Charleston Southern (taken by 56) in the Big South. The Sun Belt championship won't be played until tonight, but since the championship game participants are Florida International (chosen by 0) and Western Kentucky (also chosen by 0), it's safe to say that's two goose eggs for the rabble.
The MAAC also plays its championship game tonight, but while none of our contestants chose Manhattan, at least there were 11 of us who took Iona (Adams, Baumgarten, Frame, Gorentstein, Harlan, D Kedson, M Kline, M Paston 1, M Paston 2, Sanders, and Serri). The NEC finishes its tournament tomorrow, pitting Mt. Saint Mary's (selected by none of us -- see the trend here) against Long Island U. (taken by only Gorenstein and M Leach). The America East final won't happen until Saturday, but when it does it'll feature Albany (chosen by 7: Broder, Frame, Gorenstein, Steitz, M Josephs, J McAtee, Selig) and Vermont (liked by 8: Bi Acchione, Atkinson, Colleran, Cristinzio, Pogach, Sanders, Templeton, Yolles).
Two tourneys that have finished also finished with champions chosen by the few, rather than the many. In the Atlantic Sun, Florida Gulf Coast (picked by 28) beat out Mercer (69). And in the MVC, Creighton (40) outlasted Wichita State (52).
As we said earlier, six other tournaments have started in which the majority of us still have a chance. In the Colonial, Northeastern (liked by 69 entrants) faces James Madison (favored by only four: Brindisi, Gorenstein, M Josephs, Leace). In the Horizon, Valparaiso (73) takes on Wright State (another "zero hero"). In the Patriot League, Bucknell (88) hopes to hold on against Lafayette (yet another "goose egg gamer"). In the Southern conference, it's Davidson (90) against Charleston (5: Bi Acchione, Eberly, Gorenstein (seems like we're typing his name a lot, doesn't it?), Hahn, D Kornfeld). In the WCC, Gonzaga (93) tries to tame St. Mary's (6: Canning, Cristinzio, D Kedson, Kovalski, Pogach, Yolles). Finally, the Summit semifinals feature South Dakota State (63), North Dakota State (24), Western Illinois (9), and Oakland (4).
The Ivy League, the only conference that doesn't hold a tournament, also crowned its automatic qualifier, and not surprisingly it was Harvard (chosen by 91), the team that was winning the Ivy when the pool was due. Thus spoiling the always-unlikely scenario spun by dreamers like Alberts, Canning, Cristinzio, Harlan, Steitz, D Kornfeld, Leace, Sa Leach, and B Whiteside.
With five conference winners in the books, we have standings, as well as a ten-way tie for first (among Biebel 1, Biebel 2, Blatt, B Brenner, Crotty, M Kline, Moscow, Selarnick, B Wright, and G Wright) with 20 points. Just behind the many leaders are eight more entrants with 18 points (Frame, Grossman, D Kedson, B Peloso, Rybaltowski, Templeton, Warner, Yolles). Down at the bottom, six contestants have a meager 8 points (Hymowitz, Leace, Sa Leach, Sanders, Watson, B Whiteside), and eleven more are almost as bad (with 10 points: J Broder, J Donadio, Harlan, Kaelin, Karlsruher, M Kleiman, D Kornfeld, M Leach, M McAtee, Pogach, Sciarabba). Full standings may be found at the link on the right of this page.
Tonight, conference champs will be determined in the Colonial, MAAC, Southern, Sun Belt, and WCC. Happy watching.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Well, isn't this embarrassing?
After all the clever remarks about how easy it is to know which teams are ineligible, here's one we missed: regular season SWAC winner Texas Southern is not allowed to participate in either the SWAC tournament or the NCAA tournament due to various NCAA violations. That's apparently news to 24 entrants, including commissioner D Kedson.
And in fairness to the contestants we called out in our earlier post, it's only right we list those who failed to ferret out the truth about Texas Southern, too: Adams, Alberts, Baumgarten, Booth, B Brenner, Butscher, Coach Doc, J Donadio, Gorenstein, Harlan, Huffnagle, D Kedson, P Leach, Su Leach, M McAtee, M Peloso, Pogach, Rubinson, Rybaltowski, Sanders, Serri, Templeton, G Wright, and Yolles.
That is all.
And in fairness to the contestants we called out in our earlier post, it's only right we list those who failed to ferret out the truth about Texas Southern, too: Adams, Alberts, Baumgarten, Booth, B Brenner, Butscher, Coach Doc, J Donadio, Gorenstein, Harlan, Huffnagle, D Kedson, P Leach, Su Leach, M McAtee, M Peloso, Pogach, Rubinson, Rybaltowski, Sanders, Serri, Templeton, G Wright, and Yolles.
That is all.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Not such a High Point
Two more days have passed, giving us two more days of bad predictions to discuss. The biggest surprise of Thursday/Friday was the demise of High Point in the Big South. Well, at least it was a surprise to 15 of our contestants. Also out are Jacksonville (Colleran, Gorenstein) and Stetson (Sa Leach) in the Atlantic Sun, Eastern Kentucky (Booth, J Donadio, Frame, Hymowitz, Su Leach, J McAtee, and Watson) and Tennessee State (Brenner) in the OVC, and BYU (Brenner) in the WCC.
Brenner deserves mention for losing three of his conference champions (High Point, Tennessee St., BYU) in two days, all before the first conference championship has even been decided. Also deserving similar mention are J Donadio (unhappy with High Point, Eastern Kentucky, Towson) and Sa Leach (low about High Point, Stetson, Eastern Kentucky). Down two already are Nocilla (High Point, Ark-Pine Bluff), Rubinson (High Point, Quinnipiac), Gorenstein (Jacksonville, Coastal Carolina), Booth (Eastern Kentucky, UNCA), and J McAtee (Eastern Kentucky, UNCA) (along with Bi Acchione, M Kline, M Wanger, Grossman, Steitz, Cristinzio, Leace, and M Peloso, all of whom were mentioned in our previous post).
The first two dancers will be chosen today. In the Atlantic Sun, Mercer (chosen by 69 of us) squares off against Florida Gulf Coast (chosen by 28), and in the OVC it's Belmont (81) vs. Murray State (11).
Tune in tomorrow for more fun, fun, fun.
Brenner deserves mention for losing three of his conference champions (High Point, Tennessee St., BYU) in two days, all before the first conference championship has even been decided. Also deserving similar mention are J Donadio (unhappy with High Point, Eastern Kentucky, Towson) and Sa Leach (low about High Point, Stetson, Eastern Kentucky). Down two already are Nocilla (High Point, Ark-Pine Bluff), Rubinson (High Point, Quinnipiac), Gorenstein (Jacksonville, Coastal Carolina), Booth (Eastern Kentucky, UNCA), and J McAtee (Eastern Kentucky, UNCA) (along with Bi Acchione, M Kline, M Wanger, Grossman, Steitz, Cristinzio, Leace, and M Peloso, all of whom were mentioned in our previous post).
The first two dancers will be chosen today. In the Atlantic Sun, Mercer (chosen by 69 of us) squares off against Florida Gulf Coast (chosen by 28), and in the OVC it's Belmont (81) vs. Murray State (11).
Tune in tomorrow for more fun, fun, fun.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
The Madness Begins
According to ESPN, "week one" of Championship Week is upon us. How can something named "Championship Week" have more than one week in it? Well remember, these are the same people who when Joe Lunardi updates his page, flash his latest guesses on their news crawler as "breaking news." Kentucky moves from 'last four in' to 'first four out.' Oh, my.
But obviously we all have to live with the foibles of the Worldwide Leader. After all, we wouldn't want either Dennis Rodman or North Korea to threaten a nuclear attack against us, would we?
Tuesday marked the first conference tournament games of 2013. So it also marked the first failures for our contestants, as 17 entrants lost a conference winner on the opening day. UNC-Ashville got clobbered by Longwood in the first round of the Big South tournament, contrary to the predictions of Bi Acchione, Booth, Grossman, Steitz, M Josephs, M Kline, D Kornfeld, M Leach, Su Leach, J McAtee, L Schlegel, R Simon, and M Wanger, while also in the Big South, Coastal Carolina (chosen by Coach Doc, Gorenstein, Karlsruher and Sanders) was whipped by Liberty. Day two of week one of the Week was marked by 24 additional contestants with punctured dreams, 23 of whom picked Bryant in the Northeast conference (though unfortunately they are too numerous to conveniently mention individually). Finally, much to the commissioners' pronunciative delight, someone also picked Quinnipiac (Rubinson).
In an impressive display of anti-acumen, Bi Acchione, M Kline, and M Wanger have each in the first two days lost two of their conference champions (all choosing both UNCA and Bryant). If you count those who chose ineligible conference champions, then you can add Grossman, Steitz, Cristinzio, J Donadio, Leace, and M Peloso to this illustrious group.
Tonight we have conference tournament games from the Atlantic Sun, Big South, MVC, OVC, and WCC. Make sure to watch that ESPN news crawler!
But obviously we all have to live with the foibles of the Worldwide Leader. After all, we wouldn't want either Dennis Rodman or North Korea to threaten a nuclear attack against us, would we?
Tuesday marked the first conference tournament games of 2013. So it also marked the first failures for our contestants, as 17 entrants lost a conference winner on the opening day. UNC-Ashville got clobbered by Longwood in the first round of the Big South tournament, contrary to the predictions of Bi Acchione, Booth, Grossman, Steitz, M Josephs, M Kline, D Kornfeld, M Leach, Su Leach, J McAtee, L Schlegel, R Simon, and M Wanger, while also in the Big South, Coastal Carolina (chosen by Coach Doc, Gorenstein, Karlsruher and Sanders) was whipped by Liberty. Day two of week one of the Week was marked by 24 additional contestants with punctured dreams, 23 of whom picked Bryant in the Northeast conference (though unfortunately they are too numerous to conveniently mention individually). Finally, much to the commissioners' pronunciative delight, someone also picked Quinnipiac (Rubinson).
In an impressive display of anti-acumen, Bi Acchione, M Kline, and M Wanger have each in the first two days lost two of their conference champions (all choosing both UNCA and Bryant). If you count those who chose ineligible conference champions, then you can add Grossman, Steitz, Cristinzio, J Donadio, Leace, and M Peloso to this illustrious group.
Tonight we have conference tournament games from the Atlantic Sun, Big South, MVC, OVC, and WCC. Make sure to watch that ESPN news crawler!
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Things that make us happy, things that make us shake our heads
Well, they're pretty much the same thing, aren't they?
First, only on the happy side, the game is afoot! It's March and that's just about the happiest month in sports. No head shaking about that. So let's move on.
We tried to be helpful, we really did. We blogged about illegal Wild Cards. We sent e-mails. We posted Rules. We alerted the local authorities to be on the lookout. But apparently nothing we can do will keep some entrants from thumbing their noses at us when it comes to their Wild Card selections.
As usual, however, we get the last laugh. This year, verbal spankings go to M Wanger, who chose Marquette as his Wild Card (#18 in the AP Top 25 posted with the Rules) and Day, who chose #13 Ohio State. The Scofflaw of the Year award goes to self-proclaimed "Urbans Angels" member Frame, who tried to slip #2 Duke by us with her Wild Card selection. Nice try, Angel.
Our well-timed warning post also cautioned would-be entrants against choosing teams that are ineligible for the NCAA tournament, and we specifically mentioned Connecticut, although you wouldn't know it from the at-large selections of Bland, Brenner, B Brenner, Cristinzio, Eberly, Grossman, Steitz, Kaelin, D Kornfeld, McKillip, P Ripley, Selig, Watson, M Wanger (two mentions already -- it might end up being a long contest for this guy), and B Wright, all of whom selected the ineligible Huskies.
Also mentioned in the article we linked were Arkansas-Pine Bluff (chosen to win its conference by Baum, Eberly, Steitz, Henry, Leace, S Leach, and Nocilla) and Towson (chosen to win its conference by Atkinson, Barone, J Donadio, and Huffnagle).
Not mentioned in that particular article (but easily found in a simple google search) is UCF, who the NCAA banned from the tournament due to violations, much to the chagrin of Frame, Hahn, Steitz, Kaelin, M Kline, and B Wright. A little trickier to find (but still not very hard) are teams that are eligible to be selected at-large but weren't invited to play in their conference tournament (because they're leaving next season for another conference). So it's not a total loss for those who chose Boston University to win the America East conference (Baum, Grossman, M Leach, S Leach, and M Peloso) or Georgia State in the Colonial (Cristinzio) -- we wish you all good luck with the committee.
The funny thing is, other then possibly UConn, none of the above selections were mainstream. So it's somewhat ironic that eight people (Baum, Cristinzio, Eberly, Grossman, S Leach, Kaelin, Steitz, and B Wright) picked multiple upsets that were not only improbable, but downright impossible. Steitz gets special mention for selecting three such teams (UConn, UCF, and Arkansas-Pine Bluff).
Finally, we are delighted to announce the return of the famed "Wamser Maneuver," named after a contestant who, in the early days of the pool, made waves by choosing one or more teams into his Final Four that he did not choose into his Elite Eight. Wamser's technique has long since evolved to the point where he now selects one or more teams into his Final Four without even entering the contest, but we still call the move by its original moniker. Whatever we call it, however, it's been quite a few years since somebody felt empowered enough to try it, and this year we salute Coach Doc for thinking enough of Georgetown to call them a Final Four team, but not thinking enough of the Hoyas to predict them into the Elite Eight.
Some fun. More to follow.
First, only on the happy side, the game is afoot! It's March and that's just about the happiest month in sports. No head shaking about that. So let's move on.
We tried to be helpful, we really did. We blogged about illegal Wild Cards. We sent e-mails. We posted Rules. We alerted the local authorities to be on the lookout. But apparently nothing we can do will keep some entrants from thumbing their noses at us when it comes to their Wild Card selections.
As usual, however, we get the last laugh. This year, verbal spankings go to M Wanger, who chose Marquette as his Wild Card (#18 in the AP Top 25 posted with the Rules) and Day, who chose #13 Ohio State. The Scofflaw of the Year award goes to self-proclaimed "Urbans Angels" member Frame, who tried to slip #2 Duke by us with her Wild Card selection. Nice try, Angel.
Our well-timed warning post also cautioned would-be entrants against choosing teams that are ineligible for the NCAA tournament, and we specifically mentioned Connecticut, although you wouldn't know it from the at-large selections of Bland, Brenner, B Brenner, Cristinzio, Eberly, Grossman, Steitz, Kaelin, D Kornfeld, McKillip, P Ripley, Selig, Watson, M Wanger (two mentions already -- it might end up being a long contest for this guy), and B Wright, all of whom selected the ineligible Huskies.
Also mentioned in the article we linked were Arkansas-Pine Bluff (chosen to win its conference by Baum, Eberly, Steitz, Henry, Leace, S Leach, and Nocilla) and Towson (chosen to win its conference by Atkinson, Barone, J Donadio, and Huffnagle).
Not mentioned in that particular article (but easily found in a simple google search) is UCF, who the NCAA banned from the tournament due to violations, much to the chagrin of Frame, Hahn, Steitz, Kaelin, M Kline, and B Wright. A little trickier to find (but still not very hard) are teams that are eligible to be selected at-large but weren't invited to play in their conference tournament (because they're leaving next season for another conference). So it's not a total loss for those who chose Boston University to win the America East conference (Baum, Grossman, M Leach, S Leach, and M Peloso) or Georgia State in the Colonial (Cristinzio) -- we wish you all good luck with the committee.
The funny thing is, other then possibly UConn, none of the above selections were mainstream. So it's somewhat ironic that eight people (Baum, Cristinzio, Eberly, Grossman, S Leach, Kaelin, Steitz, and B Wright) picked multiple upsets that were not only improbable, but downright impossible. Steitz gets special mention for selecting three such teams (UConn, UCF, and Arkansas-Pine Bluff).
Finally, we are delighted to announce the return of the famed "Wamser Maneuver," named after a contestant who, in the early days of the pool, made waves by choosing one or more teams into his Final Four that he did not choose into his Elite Eight. Wamser's technique has long since evolved to the point where he now selects one or more teams into his Final Four without even entering the contest, but we still call the move by its original moniker. Whatever we call it, however, it's been quite a few years since somebody felt empowered enough to try it, and this year we salute Coach Doc for thinking enough of Georgetown to call them a Final Four team, but not thinking enough of the Hoyas to predict them into the Elite Eight.
Some fun. More to follow.
Get Smart
Anyone who has ever watched Maxwell Smart bumble across the television or the big screen, or even listened to the old Toto song, knows the value of 99.
Well this year, we're proud to announce that 99 contestants have dipped their toes into the pool. That's two more than last year, and it's always good to move in the right direction. We don't yet know how many are paying entrants, but we do know whoever wins will have bested almost a hundred other college basketball fans.
So here we go. Good luck to all.
Well this year, we're proud to announce that 99 contestants have dipped their toes into the pool. That's two more than last year, and it's always good to move in the right direction. We don't yet know how many are paying entrants, but we do know whoever wins will have bested almost a hundred other college basketball fans.
So here we go. Good luck to all.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Helpful Hints
Back in the day, when the Entry Form was made of paper, the Commissioners used to delight in pointing out our entrants' mistakes (in our periodic newsletters*). Every time some hapless contestant only chose two Final Four teams or picked Illinois three times or chose Southwest Missouri State** to both win their conference and make the field at-large, we'd point it out and laugh and laugh. And don't even get us started on creative pool-related spelling (Perdue, anyone?).
Then we came up with the bright idea to do everything electronically. The new-fangled Entry Form makes it easier for everyone, but it does seemingly give us fewer opportunities to harp on the inadequacies of our entrants, much to the chagrin of many. Sure, we can't stop a participant from picking Quinnipiac***, but most silly errors are caught by the form. No longer can a contestant misspell their favorite team or select a team multiple times or choose the wrong number of Elite Eight squads. It's almost boring.
But there are still a couple of pitfalls our contestants can potentially run into. For example, every single year at least a couple of contestants decide to choose a Wild Card that is listed in the AP Top 25 linked on the Entry Form. Either they forget the rule completely or they use a more current Top 25, an act which clearly does not comport with the Official Rules. So if you're filling out the Entry Form sometime between now and the due date of Thursday, February 28, 2013, remember to use the AP Top 25 from 2/11/2013, NOT the current Top 25.
Another potential sticky wicket is when entrants have their hearts set on choosing a team that is ineligible to compete in the NCAA tournament. This season, for example, the new rule requiring a minimum Academic Progress Rate has knocked several schools from competing in the Tournament, including Connecticut. While you are certainly free to select such teams on your Entry Form, our advice is to refrain from such conduct.
So don't say we never did anything for you.****
---------------------------------------------------------------
* -- also published on el papel, unlike this nifty blog
** -- Now saddled with the much less amusing moniker of Missouri State.
*** -- Nor, of course, would we want to.
**** -- OK, go ahead and say it. Obviously we're only pointing this stuff out so when some entrants inevitably do these things anyway, we can doubly embarrass them by linking back to this blog entry. We need something to write about over the next six weeks, don't we?
Then we came up with the bright idea to do everything electronically. The new-fangled Entry Form makes it easier for everyone, but it does seemingly give us fewer opportunities to harp on the inadequacies of our entrants, much to the chagrin of many. Sure, we can't stop a participant from picking Quinnipiac***, but most silly errors are caught by the form. No longer can a contestant misspell their favorite team or select a team multiple times or choose the wrong number of Elite Eight squads. It's almost boring.
But there are still a couple of pitfalls our contestants can potentially run into. For example, every single year at least a couple of contestants decide to choose a Wild Card that is listed in the AP Top 25 linked on the Entry Form. Either they forget the rule completely or they use a more current Top 25, an act which clearly does not comport with the Official Rules. So if you're filling out the Entry Form sometime between now and the due date of Thursday, February 28, 2013, remember to use the AP Top 25 from 2/11/2013, NOT the current Top 25.
Another potential sticky wicket is when entrants have their hearts set on choosing a team that is ineligible to compete in the NCAA tournament. This season, for example, the new rule requiring a minimum Academic Progress Rate has knocked several schools from competing in the Tournament, including Connecticut. While you are certainly free to select such teams on your Entry Form, our advice is to refrain from such conduct.
So don't say we never did anything for you.****
---------------------------------------------------------------
* -- also published on el papel, unlike this nifty blog
** -- Now saddled with the much less amusing moniker of Missouri State.
*** -- Nor, of course, would we want to.
**** -- OK, go ahead and say it. Obviously we're only pointing this stuff out so when some entrants inevitably do these things anyway, we can doubly embarrass them by linking back to this blog entry. We need something to write about over the next six weeks, don't we?
Monday, February 11, 2013
Here we go
It has been a quarter of a century since the world was without our Pre-NCAA contest. And we'd hate to go back to the eighties, wouldn't we? Remember those hairstyles?
Well, we'll do our part: The TWENTY FOURTH annual Pre-NCAA Contest is ready to roll.
Here's the entry form.
Here are the rules.
So make a splash -- jump on into the Pool.
Well, we'll do our part: The TWENTY FOURTH annual Pre-NCAA Contest is ready to roll.
Here's the entry form.
Here are the rules.
So make a splash -- jump on into the Pool.
Monday, April 2, 2012
UK > KU
Well, it's done. The tournament is over and Kentucky has become the youngest team ever to win an NCAA championship.
Congratulations to Harlan (356), Buddy Acchione (330), and 9 year old Jack Whiteside (327), who guaranteed that he'd beat his aunt (Booth (245)) and ended up beating a lot of other folks as well.
If we feel up to it, we'll post All Name teams tomorrow. If we don't feel up to it, we won't. Otherwise, it's been another fun season. See you next February.
Congratulations to Harlan (356), Buddy Acchione (330), and 9 year old Jack Whiteside (327), who guaranteed that he'd beat his aunt (Booth (245)) and ended up beating a lot of other folks as well.
If we feel up to it, we'll post All Name teams tomorrow. If we don't feel up to it, we won't. Otherwise, it's been another fun season. See you next February.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
A O "K"
An all blue "K" team final. Kentucky, with three freshmen and two sophomores starting, and only one upperclassman in its rotation, would be the youngest team ever to win a championship. If they win. Kansas, with four juniors and a senior in its starting lineup, has the experience usually necessary to win a championship, but seemingly less talent. Hmmm.
Harlan wins the first place money, no matter what, although if Kansas wins we'll have the added bonus of being able to make fun of Kovolski for winning the pool but failing to pay for it. No matter how you slice it, some Whiteside is going to win some $$$, meaning no matter what, Booth has to live with once again being trashtalked by a close in-law relative.
Tune in Monday for the end of the ride.
Harlan wins the first place money, no matter what, although if Kansas wins we'll have the added bonus of being able to make fun of Kovolski for winning the pool but failing to pay for it. No matter how you slice it, some Whiteside is going to win some $$$, meaning no matter what, Booth has to live with once again being trashtalked by a close in-law relative.
Tune in Monday for the end of the ride.
Friday, March 30, 2012
The big question...
Who's gonna win? No, not the tournament. If we knew that, the average Commissioner (261.0) would be a lot more than a lousy conference champion ahead of the average pool entrant (255.46). Honestly, who cares whether Kentucky can beat some in-state rival, when the winner of our contest is up in the air?
So, here goes (note that we had 77 paying entrants this year):
IF KENTUCKY WINS:
Harlan 356
Bud Acchione 330
J Whiteside 327
IF KANSAS WINS:
Kovolski** 319
Harlan 316
Nowakowski 315
B Whiteside 314
C Whiteside 314
** Note that Kovolski chose to be a non-paying entrant, playing for the pure joy of competition and obviously disinterested in mundane things like money. So, like Crotty in 2010, a Kansas win on Monday will make Kovolski our champion... but Harlan will score the cash.
IF OHIO STATE WINS:
D Kedson 344
Harlan 316
Steinhardt 301
IF LOUISVILLE WINS:
Harlan 316
D Kedson 304
Steinhardt 301
Congratulations to our contest winners, whomever they may turn out to be.
So, here goes (note that we had 77 paying entrants this year):
IF KENTUCKY WINS:
Harlan 356
Bud Acchione 330
J Whiteside 327
IF KANSAS WINS:
Kovolski** 319
Harlan 316
Nowakowski 315
B Whiteside 314
C Whiteside 314
** Note that Kovolski chose to be a non-paying entrant, playing for the pure joy of competition and obviously disinterested in mundane things like money. So, like Crotty in 2010, a Kansas win on Monday will make Kovolski our champion... but Harlan will score the cash.
IF OHIO STATE WINS:
D Kedson 344
Harlan 316
Steinhardt 301
IF LOUISVILLE WINS:
Harlan 316
D Kedson 304
Steinhardt 301
Congratulations to our contest winners, whomever they may turn out to be.
Rivalicious
Two more Whitesides entered this year's fray, and it seemed to hurt C Whiteside's mojo. The famed and fabled "Shabba" put up only 274 points, losing to his nine year old son, J Whiteside (287) and just scraping by with a tie against his nine year old daughter, B Whiteside (274). McKillip (275) continued his ownership of his colleague. For the first time in three years, even co-worker Butscher (277) joined the C Whiteside-topping fun. C Whiteside did manage to avoid the ultimate ignominy, however, as Booth's performance (245) was less than "Nantastic."
Long-deceased Haklar claims to be close to the Almighty except he's not "chattty chatty," and her score (236) backs that up. D'Zuro (253) beat up on his dead mother, but lost by 22 to K Sullivan (275), his future-Nobel-laureate wife. K Sullivan said she hoped she didn't make B Peloso cry this year, and while she pounded her annual whipping boy, we'd say she got her wish, as we assume B Peloso's tears were caused entirely by his embarrassing scoring total (213). As you might guess, B Peloso also lost to his Duke-loving wife, M Peloso (282) by almost 70 points.
Last year, K Ripley (238) blamed her low point total on going into labor during the contest, but this year it appears parenthood is a long-term malady. The former dominant member of the Ripley/Wanger clan lost handily to both husband P Ripley (270) and father R Wanger (272). For years, P Ripley has tried unsuccessfully to beat out father-in-law R Wanger, and this year he both did and didn't, as his 270 points lost out to R Wanger 1 (272) but beat R Wanger 2 (264).
It's not just K Ripley, though. Also rumored to be with child is S Adams (278) who for the first time in recent memory trails father Coach Doc (286). It might not be the fetus, though, as it just seems to be a good year for fathers generally. R Schlegel (258) has a comfortable lead over offspring L Schlegel (246), and D Josephs (277) completely dominated son and co-commissioner M Josephs (218). Mike Mc (251) handled youngster Owen Mc (247), as well as grandpa Joe Mc (237).
In Leach World, P Leach (278) dispatched daughters S Leach (239) and Madison Leach (212), as well as in-law Pogach (259) and patriarch E Leach (263).
J Donadio (246), on the other hand, seems to have completely lost control of his own family, getting stomped by both daughter L Donadio (274) and son Jr Donadio (271), although he salvaged a sliver of his dignity by edging son N Donadio (241).
G Wright (243) smacked around her husband, B Wright (242), for the third straight year, but at least this year B Wright got within 67 points of his spouse.
It has been awhile since all three of the Alliterative Acchiones have graced our contest with their simultaneous presence. This year, the Easter bragging rights go to Bud Acchione (290) by a comfortable margin over Bill Acchione (265) and Butch Acchione (224). In the Kornfeld family, R Kornfeld (244) can sleep easier knowing he once again punished brother D Kornfeld (215) and eked by daughter's boyfriend J Hoffman (242).
Among those admitting to a DBR affiliation, Kedsy (304) and ACCBballFan (271) topped Superdave (257) and gam7 (256).
And, as usual, several contestants chose to beat themselves: M Paston 2 (257) edged M Paston 1 (253); R Wanger 1 (272) shoved past R Wanger 2 (264); and Brenner (242) lost to both B Brenner (243) and Brett Steven B (249).
Long-deceased Haklar claims to be close to the Almighty except he's not "chattty chatty," and her score (236) backs that up. D'Zuro (253) beat up on his dead mother, but lost by 22 to K Sullivan (275), his future-Nobel-laureate wife. K Sullivan said she hoped she didn't make B Peloso cry this year, and while she pounded her annual whipping boy, we'd say she got her wish, as we assume B Peloso's tears were caused entirely by his embarrassing scoring total (213). As you might guess, B Peloso also lost to his Duke-loving wife, M Peloso (282) by almost 70 points.
Last year, K Ripley (238) blamed her low point total on going into labor during the contest, but this year it appears parenthood is a long-term malady. The former dominant member of the Ripley/Wanger clan lost handily to both husband P Ripley (270) and father R Wanger (272). For years, P Ripley has tried unsuccessfully to beat out father-in-law R Wanger, and this year he both did and didn't, as his 270 points lost out to R Wanger 1 (272) but beat R Wanger 2 (264).
It's not just K Ripley, though. Also rumored to be with child is S Adams (278) who for the first time in recent memory trails father Coach Doc (286). It might not be the fetus, though, as it just seems to be a good year for fathers generally. R Schlegel (258) has a comfortable lead over offspring L Schlegel (246), and D Josephs (277) completely dominated son and co-commissioner M Josephs (218). Mike Mc (251) handled youngster Owen Mc (247), as well as grandpa Joe Mc (237).
In Leach World, P Leach (278) dispatched daughters S Leach (239) and Madison Leach (212), as well as in-law Pogach (259) and patriarch E Leach (263).
J Donadio (246), on the other hand, seems to have completely lost control of his own family, getting stomped by both daughter L Donadio (274) and son Jr Donadio (271), although he salvaged a sliver of his dignity by edging son N Donadio (241).
G Wright (243) smacked around her husband, B Wright (242), for the third straight year, but at least this year B Wright got within 67 points of his spouse.
It has been awhile since all three of the Alliterative Acchiones have graced our contest with their simultaneous presence. This year, the Easter bragging rights go to Bud Acchione (290) by a comfortable margin over Bill Acchione (265) and Butch Acchione (224). In the Kornfeld family, R Kornfeld (244) can sleep easier knowing he once again punished brother D Kornfeld (215) and eked by daughter's boyfriend J Hoffman (242).
Among those admitting to a DBR affiliation, Kedsy (304) and ACCBballFan (271) topped Superdave (257) and gam7 (256).
And, as usual, several contestants chose to beat themselves: M Paston 2 (257) edged M Paston 1 (253); R Wanger 1 (272) shoved past R Wanger 2 (264); and Brenner (242) lost to both B Brenner (243) and Brett Steven B (249).
Thursday, March 29, 2012
T-T-Tag Team Tallies
A lot of close races this year, starting with our annual Tag Team competition, which is currently in a dead heat. Whiteside and his Detractors average an outstanding 272.0 points, but so does a new group, Members of DBR (272.0). Trailing the co-leaders are the Ripley Believe-it-or-nots (261.0), just ahead of the Donadios (258.0). Last year's shocking winner, the Leach Gang (250.20) has begun to descend toward its natural position, although at the moment the Gang currently leads the D'Zuro Group (249.83) and the Urban Engineers (249.67), both by less than a point. Secure in the cellar, 16+ points behind even the Leaches, is the Kornfeld Confab, averaging an embarrassing 233.67 points.
EDIT: We apologize to the Alliterative Acchiones (259.67) for forgetting to add their team score in the above paragraph. The Acchiones themselves will have to apologize for finishing less than ten points ahead of the Leaches.
We'd offer to apologize for also forgetting to include the Big Mc's (245.33), but with their score, we assume they'd rather thank us.
Males (256.97) are skating just three and a half points ahead of females (253.47), despite the ladies occupying two of the top three spots in the standings. Humans (256.34) have scratched and clawed their way above Felines (256.0) by a mere third of a point while Lawyers (248.20) and Spiny Anteaters (240.0) trail both. Bureaucratic corporate departments (181.0) probably don't even deserve to be part of this discussion.
In the name game, Andrew (272.0) and Chris (272.0) are tied for tops, just ahead of Ed (269.0) and Randy (268.0). If you're thinking of naming your next child Al (261.50), David (261.40), Mike (261.0), Nick (260.0), Luke (260.0), John (259.80), Rick (259.0), or Kevin (258.50), just go ahead and flip a coin. When it comes to picking pools, they're all more or less equivalent (eight names within 3 points of each other). If you're contemplating naming your future offspring George (252.0), Bob (247.60), Brett (244.67), Fred (243.0), Colin (239.0), or Matt (238.0), we recommend birth control.
When it comes to favorite colleges, our top four performances all came from schools who entirely missed the NCAA Tournament: Washington (286.0), Duquesne (279.0), Pittsburgh (277.50), and Delaware (277.0). Arch-rivals North Carolina (268.0) and Duke (267.88) are separated by an eyelash, while ACC would-be-rival Maryland (265.7) is carrying their bags. Indiana (273.0) rules the Big 10 over Penn State (256.25), Northwestern (242.0), and Michigan (210.0), while Pitt (277.50) leads the Big East over Villanova (259.50), UConn (253.0), and Syracuse (216.0). Only three of the Philadelphia Big Five are represented, and this year's trophy goes to Temple (262.22) over Villanova (259.50) and Penn (252.50). Drexel (255.0), who really wants to be in the Big Five but realistically never will be, can still compete. Among Division III schools, Widener (268.0) controls the landscape over Johns Hopkins (247.0) and Carnegie Mellon (168.0). We have no Kentucky fans in our contest, but the other members of last year's Final Four -- UConn (253.0), Butler (243.0), and VCU (239.5) -- all showed why they're not back again this season.
When it comes to gambling acumen, Washington DC (272.0) may not be a state, but other than Louisiana (282.0), it's the best we got. Maryland (261.33) and California (259.33) are slightly better than Pennsylvania (257.34), and a lot better than New Jersey (252.0), Florida (251.0), and Illinois (248.0). Next year, if you feel the urge to fill in a pool from New York (245.67), Michigan (244.0), or Virginia (242.80), we recommend you ignore it. And if you live in Delaware (209.0), you might as well just mail your check now.
Among Pennsylvanians, both Philadelphia (232.25) and Pittsburgh (266.67) have to bow down to the "Alabama inbetween" (274.0). Philadelphia's PA suburbs (256.97) have edged ahead of the NJ suburbs (256.0). Around the nation, the Far West (259.33) has a better angle than the Deep South (257.20), while the DMV (248.30) has boasting rights over the Midwest (246.0). Apparently there's little difference between Africa (240.0), New York City (239.50), and the Afterlife (236.0).
Computer professionals (277.33) and Writers (275.0) seem to know what they're doing. Accountants (266.0) can jiggle the numbers a little better than Engineers (258.57) and those in the Financial industries (248.67). Teachers (279.0) should command the respect of Students (248.13), but we all know better, don't we? People who think they know things, like Executives (252.0) and Attorneys (248.20), probably ought to consider Retirement (257.75).
EDIT: We apologize to the Alliterative Acchiones (259.67) for forgetting to add their team score in the above paragraph. The Acchiones themselves will have to apologize for finishing less than ten points ahead of the Leaches.
We'd offer to apologize for also forgetting to include the Big Mc's (245.33), but with their score, we assume they'd rather thank us.
Males (256.97) are skating just three and a half points ahead of females (253.47), despite the ladies occupying two of the top three spots in the standings. Humans (256.34) have scratched and clawed their way above Felines (256.0) by a mere third of a point while Lawyers (248.20) and Spiny Anteaters (240.0) trail both. Bureaucratic corporate departments (181.0) probably don't even deserve to be part of this discussion.
In the name game, Andrew (272.0) and Chris (272.0) are tied for tops, just ahead of Ed (269.0) and Randy (268.0). If you're thinking of naming your next child Al (261.50), David (261.40), Mike (261.0), Nick (260.0), Luke (260.0), John (259.80), Rick (259.0), or Kevin (258.50), just go ahead and flip a coin. When it comes to picking pools, they're all more or less equivalent (eight names within 3 points of each other). If you're contemplating naming your future offspring George (252.0), Bob (247.60), Brett (244.67), Fred (243.0), Colin (239.0), or Matt (238.0), we recommend birth control.
When it comes to favorite colleges, our top four performances all came from schools who entirely missed the NCAA Tournament: Washington (286.0), Duquesne (279.0), Pittsburgh (277.50), and Delaware (277.0). Arch-rivals North Carolina (268.0) and Duke (267.88) are separated by an eyelash, while ACC would-be-rival Maryland (265.7) is carrying their bags. Indiana (273.0) rules the Big 10 over Penn State (256.25), Northwestern (242.0), and Michigan (210.0), while Pitt (277.50) leads the Big East over Villanova (259.50), UConn (253.0), and Syracuse (216.0). Only three of the Philadelphia Big Five are represented, and this year's trophy goes to Temple (262.22) over Villanova (259.50) and Penn (252.50). Drexel (255.0), who really wants to be in the Big Five but realistically never will be, can still compete. Among Division III schools, Widener (268.0) controls the landscape over Johns Hopkins (247.0) and Carnegie Mellon (168.0). We have no Kentucky fans in our contest, but the other members of last year's Final Four -- UConn (253.0), Butler (243.0), and VCU (239.5) -- all showed why they're not back again this season.
When it comes to gambling acumen, Washington DC (272.0) may not be a state, but other than Louisiana (282.0), it's the best we got. Maryland (261.33) and California (259.33) are slightly better than Pennsylvania (257.34), and a lot better than New Jersey (252.0), Florida (251.0), and Illinois (248.0). Next year, if you feel the urge to fill in a pool from New York (245.67), Michigan (244.0), or Virginia (242.80), we recommend you ignore it. And if you live in Delaware (209.0), you might as well just mail your check now.
Among Pennsylvanians, both Philadelphia (232.25) and Pittsburgh (266.67) have to bow down to the "Alabama inbetween" (274.0). Philadelphia's PA suburbs (256.97) have edged ahead of the NJ suburbs (256.0). Around the nation, the Far West (259.33) has a better angle than the Deep South (257.20), while the DMV (248.30) has boasting rights over the Midwest (246.0). Apparently there's little difference between Africa (240.0), New York City (239.50), and the Afterlife (236.0).
Computer professionals (277.33) and Writers (275.0) seem to know what they're doing. Accountants (266.0) can jiggle the numbers a little better than Engineers (258.57) and those in the Financial industries (248.67). Teachers (279.0) should command the respect of Students (248.13), but we all know better, don't we? People who think they know things, like Executives (252.0) and Attorneys (248.20), probably ought to consider Retirement (257.75).
Sunday, March 25, 2012
All Four
Kentucky (chosen by 81 entrants) and Kansas (37) rounded out the Final Four today, joining Ohio State (23) and Louisville (nobody), and moving Harlan (316 points) into the lead. D Kedson (304) and Steinhardt (301) linger behind the leader, followed by Bud Acchione (290), J Whiteside (287), Coach Doc, Huffnagle, and Patashnik (all three with 286).
Only two contestants (Harlan and K Sullivan) accurately predicted three of the Final Four. Forty six entrants picked a paltry two of the Four, 43 selected a single correct Final Four team, and five entrants managed not to guess any correctly, despite the Final Four containing three of the top eight seeded teams. For the record, the names of those five entrants are: D Kornfeld, B Peloso, Quint, M Josephs, and Spitz.
About the only thing uglier than Spitz's performance was Baylor's uniforms, as the otherwise savvy architect combined her Final Four goose egg with only two accurate Elite Eight selections to tally only 168 points and drop behind HR (181) into last place, a status not likely to be improved by Spitz's choice of North Carolina as her national champion.
Full standings (along with everyone's choice for national champion) may be seen from the link on the right hand side of the page. In the next few days we'll be posting Tag Team totals and grudge match results, and hopefully also this year's All Name Team selections.
Only two contestants (Harlan and K Sullivan) accurately predicted three of the Final Four. Forty six entrants picked a paltry two of the Four, 43 selected a single correct Final Four team, and five entrants managed not to guess any correctly, despite the Final Four containing three of the top eight seeded teams. For the record, the names of those five entrants are: D Kornfeld, B Peloso, Quint, M Josephs, and Spitz.
About the only thing uglier than Spitz's performance was Baylor's uniforms, as the otherwise savvy architect combined her Final Four goose egg with only two accurate Elite Eight selections to tally only 168 points and drop behind HR (181) into last place, a status not likely to be improved by Spitz's choice of North Carolina as her national champion.
Full standings (along with everyone's choice for national champion) may be seen from the link on the right hand side of the page. In the next few days we'll be posting Tag Team totals and grudge match results, and hopefully also this year's All Name Team selections.
Friday, March 23, 2012
OH!
No state had ever gotten four teams to the Sweet 16. Until this year, when Ohio State, Cincinnati, Xavier, and Ohio U made it. No #13 seed had ever advanced to the Elite Eight. Until... well, that one's going to have to wait, after #13 Ohio University fell to sort-of-mighty North Carolina in overtime. Baylor and Kansas also had tough times beating double-digit seeds (Baylor over #10 Xavier by 5; Kansas over #11 NC State by 3), but in the end the higher seeds all won tonight, making our contestants look much better than they deserve.
Fifteen entrants got six right out of the Elite Eight, 45 fielded five on the high side, 23 managed four correct, and 11 contestants guessed just three. The two entrants at the bottom of the standings, HR (last place with 161 points) and Spitz (168) figured out a mere two Elite Eight teams in an accurate manner.
D Kedson remains on top, with 264 points, still followed by M Peloso (262), Steinhardt (261), and Harlan (256). D Kedson (Kentucky, Duke, Baylor, Ohio State) and Steinhardt (Kentucky, Michigan State, Kansas, UNC) will get a minimum of one and a maximum of two Final Four teams, while M Peloso (Duke, Kentucky, UNC, Syracuse) and Harlan (Kentucky, Kansas, Ohio State, and Michigan State) can range anywhere from zero to three Final Four teams, perhaps leaving the door open for someone like J Whiteside (247 points; Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Syracuse), Huffnagle (246 points; Kentucky, Michigan State, Ohio State, Syracuse), or Coach Doc (246 points and all four of Kansas, Kentucky, UNC, and Syracuse alive) to surge into the lead.
We won't have to wait long to find out.
Fifteen entrants got six right out of the Elite Eight, 45 fielded five on the high side, 23 managed four correct, and 11 contestants guessed just three. The two entrants at the bottom of the standings, HR (last place with 161 points) and Spitz (168) figured out a mere two Elite Eight teams in an accurate manner.
D Kedson remains on top, with 264 points, still followed by M Peloso (262), Steinhardt (261), and Harlan (256). D Kedson (Kentucky, Duke, Baylor, Ohio State) and Steinhardt (Kentucky, Michigan State, Kansas, UNC) will get a minimum of one and a maximum of two Final Four teams, while M Peloso (Duke, Kentucky, UNC, Syracuse) and Harlan (Kentucky, Kansas, Ohio State, and Michigan State) can range anywhere from zero to three Final Four teams, perhaps leaving the door open for someone like J Whiteside (247 points; Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Syracuse), Huffnagle (246 points; Kentucky, Michigan State, Ohio State, Syracuse), or Coach Doc (246 points and all four of Kansas, Kentucky, UNC, and Syracuse alive) to surge into the lead.
We won't have to wait long to find out.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Half of Eight
First night of Sweet 16 activity, and it's Syracuse (chosen by 90 of us to reach the Elite Eight) by one measly point over Wisconsin, along with Ohio State (61), Florida (12), and Louisville (9).
Ten of us got three of the four: R Wanger 2, Kovolski, Crotts, Leace, Patashnik, M Kline, M Peloso, Mahalko, Pogach, and D Kedson. Updated standings (which may be found through the link on the right hand side of the page) show D Kedson temporarily in first place, with 234 points, followed by M Peloso (232), Steinhardt (231), and Harlan (226).
Of course it doesn't mean much until the rest of the Elite Eight is revealed, tomorrow night. Kentucky (selected by 90), Kansas (78), and UNC (78) are the favorites, although we doubt too many contestants counted on Kendall Marshall breaking his wrist. Baylor (26) and Indiana (6: Brenner, J Broder, T Joseph, Selarnick, Spitz, Brett Steven B) have at least some support. NC State (M Kline), Ohio (nobody), and Xavier (nobody) have exactly one (1) vote combined.
Stay tuned.
Ten of us got three of the four: R Wanger 2, Kovolski, Crotts, Leace, Patashnik, M Kline, M Peloso, Mahalko, Pogach, and D Kedson. Updated standings (which may be found through the link on the right hand side of the page) show D Kedson temporarily in first place, with 234 points, followed by M Peloso (232), Steinhardt (231), and Harlan (226).
Of course it doesn't mean much until the rest of the Elite Eight is revealed, tomorrow night. Kentucky (selected by 90), Kansas (78), and UNC (78) are the favorites, although we doubt too many contestants counted on Kendall Marshall breaking his wrist. Baylor (26) and Indiana (6: Brenner, J Broder, T Joseph, Selarnick, Spitz, Brett Steven B) have at least some support. NC State (M Kline), Ohio (nobody), and Xavier (nobody) have exactly one (1) vote combined.
Stay tuned.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Fourbles
Not surprisingly, our Final Four predictions more or less mirror our Elite Eight choices. In this case, only three entrants picked Final Four teams that didn't make the field. And two of those three choices (Seton Hall, picked by HR, and Northwestern, taken by Brenner) aren't playing anywhere anymore. Day should feel proud that his choice, Washington, is at least still alive in the NIT.
Seven teams taken by at least one contestant to make the Final Four didn't even make the final 32: Missouri (selected by 30), Duke (29), Indiana (2), Notre Dame (1), Wichita State (1), UConn (1), and Michigan (1). Another three teams (Georgetown (2), Iowa State (2), and Florida State (2)) dropped by the wayside in the second round.
Overall, 34 of us still have all four Final Four teams standing; 54 of us still have three. Eight edgy entrants are holding tight to a mere two Final Four teams: Pogach, B Peloso, Joe Mc, Butch Acchione, Pangolin Palace, Atkinson, HR, and D Kornfeld.
Full Final Four breakdown may be perused here.
Seven teams taken by at least one contestant to make the Final Four didn't even make the final 32: Missouri (selected by 30), Duke (29), Indiana (2), Notre Dame (1), Wichita State (1), UConn (1), and Michigan (1). Another three teams (Georgetown (2), Iowa State (2), and Florida State (2)) dropped by the wayside in the second round.
Overall, 34 of us still have all four Final Four teams standing; 54 of us still have three. Eight edgy entrants are holding tight to a mere two Final Four teams: Pogach, B Peloso, Joe Mc, Butch Acchione, Pangolin Palace, Atkinson, HR, and D Kornfeld.
Full Final Four breakdown may be perused here.
Eight track
Let's start off by saying five (5) entrants chose Elite Eight teams that didn't even make the tournament. And we are delighted to name them: Spitz decided on Drexel, Day wished for Washington, Packman picked Minnesota, and Brenner brainstormed for Northwestern. In a performance for the ages, HR selected Drexel, Seton Hall, and Pittsburgh (a team who went 5-13 in the Big East). Wow. Just wow, right?
Another ten teams who one or more of our contestants selected to make the Elite Eight dropped out after the first round: Duke (chosen by 66), Missouri (64), Wichita State (10), Michigan (8), Temple (5), Notre Dame (4), UNLV (3), UConn (2), St. Mary's (2), and San Diego State (1). Seven more teams we liked went down before the end of the first weekend: Georgetown (12), Murray State (6), Florida State (5), Vanderbilt (3), Gonzaga (1), Kansas State (1), and Iowa State (1).
Despite all that, 22 poolsters still have seven Elite Eight teams remaining; 49 have six left; and 21 have five. Three unfortunates are sitting with a paltry four (4) Elite Eight teams that are still alive: D Baum, co-commissioner M Josephs, and perennial bottom feeder Mad Leach, who this year is actually ahead of seven other contestants (at least for now). HR, of course, is one of them, currently in dead last place, with little hope of making a comeback thanks to a lousy two (2) Elite Eight teams left. If you're looking for the next big upsets, those two teams are Syracuse and Kansas.
Full breakdown of our Final Eight choices may be found here.
Another ten teams who one or more of our contestants selected to make the Elite Eight dropped out after the first round: Duke (chosen by 66), Missouri (64), Wichita State (10), Michigan (8), Temple (5), Notre Dame (4), UNLV (3), UConn (2), St. Mary's (2), and San Diego State (1). Seven more teams we liked went down before the end of the first weekend: Georgetown (12), Murray State (6), Florida State (5), Vanderbilt (3), Gonzaga (1), Kansas State (1), and Iowa State (1).
Despite all that, 22 poolsters still have seven Elite Eight teams remaining; 49 have six left; and 21 have five. Three unfortunates are sitting with a paltry four (4) Elite Eight teams that are still alive: D Baum, co-commissioner M Josephs, and perennial bottom feeder Mad Leach, who this year is actually ahead of seven other contestants (at least for now). HR, of course, is one of them, currently in dead last place, with little hope of making a comeback thanks to a lousy two (2) Elite Eight teams left. If you're looking for the next big upsets, those two teams are Syracuse and Kansas.
Full breakdown of our Final Eight choices may be found here.
Monday, March 19, 2012
We're back
Sorry about our weekend absence. The tournament's heading into the Sweet 16 now, and this is generally the round where clever entrants charge through the ranks on the backs of their astute wild card selections... Oh, wait, we're talking about our entrants. In what may be a record (although we're too lazy to check; it certainly ties a record), a grand total of zero (0) contestants had a wild card that reached the Sweet 16. That's zero, zilch, nada, the big oh. Nobody.
Six wild card selections did manage to reach the round of 32 and thus garnered a critical (albeit single) point for those savvy enough to select them:
Vanderbilt (Barone, Butscher, Fitch, S Leach, C Whiteside)
Iowa State (B Brenner, T Joseph, Leace, Yolles)
Kansas State (C Brown, HR, Brett Steven B)
Gonzaga (Alberts, Pogach, Slayen)
St. Louis (Paston 1, Warner)
Purdue (BRENNER)
Congratulations, all. If you win by 1 point, you have your wild card selection to thank.
Updated standings may be found using the link on the right hand side of the page. Tomorrow, we'll give a full Final Eight and Final Four analysis.
Six wild card selections did manage to reach the round of 32 and thus garnered a critical (albeit single) point for those savvy enough to select them:
Vanderbilt (Barone, Butscher, Fitch, S Leach, C Whiteside)
Iowa State (B Brenner, T Joseph, Leace, Yolles)
Kansas State (C Brown, HR, Brett Steven B)
Gonzaga (Alberts, Pogach, Slayen)
St. Louis (Paston 1, Warner)
Purdue (BRENNER)
Congratulations, all. If you win by 1 point, you have your wild card selection to thank.
Updated standings may be found using the link on the right hand side of the page. Tomorrow, we'll give a full Final Eight and Final Four analysis.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Yikes!
To think, just yesterday we complained that there hadn't been enough upsets. Well, today seven double-digit seeds advanced, bringing the tournament total up to nine, including two #2 seeds, Missouri and Duke, failing to make the 2nd round, something that hadn't happened to even one #2 seed since before D Kornfeld last picked a valid wild card (2001, to be precise).
Strangely, other than Missouri losing to Norfolk State, eight of the nine upsets happened in two regions: the South, where #10 Xavier, #11 Colorado, #12 VCU, and #15 Lehigh advanced; and the Midwest, where #10 Purdue, #11 NC State, #12 South Florida, and #13 Ohio all moved forward.
Lots of entries suffered big damage today, but this particular Duke fan commissioner is too tired and too depressed to analyze it now. We'll try to get to it tomorrow.
Strangely, other than Missouri losing to Norfolk State, eight of the nine upsets happened in two regions: the South, where #10 Xavier, #11 Colorado, #12 VCU, and #15 Lehigh advanced; and the Midwest, where #10 Purdue, #11 NC State, #12 South Florida, and #13 Ohio all moved forward.
Lots of entries suffered big damage today, but this particular Duke fan commissioner is too tired and too depressed to analyze it now. We'll try to get to it tomorrow.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Yawn
Twelve and a half hours of first round action and all we get is two lousy upsets? At least one of them rocked the pool, though, as our overwhelming favorite for wild card, Wichita State, went down to VCU. So when it comes to wild card points, the 30 of us who took the Shockers now get nothing and like it. In addition, ten of us incorrectly took Wichita into the Elite Eight.
Connecticut (picked by Crotty and Huffnagle as wild card, by J Hoffman and Rybaltowski into the Elite Eight, and by J Hoffman into the Final Four) also failed to survive the first day. The only other losses that meant anything to our contestants were UNLV (picked by M Josephs, M Leach, and B Wright into the Elite Eight), Long Beach State (chosen by M Josephs and Templeton as wild card), and Southern Mississippi, which was D Kornfeld's first legal wild card selection since 2003. Ah well, we suppose legality isn't everything.
In real life, Colorado won its first NCAA tournament game in 15 years and VCU won it's third first round game in six years, seeded 11 or lower all three times.
Actually, for VCU it's more amazing than that. In the past six years, they've made the tournament four times, seeded 11 three times and 12 this year. From those lowly seeds, their record so far in the four tournaments is 7-3, with the three losses being a 1 point loss to UCLA, an overtime loss to Pitt, and a loss in the Final Four. Next up for the Rams: #4 seed Indiana on Saturday night.
The most exciting moment of the day was watching UNC Ashville come within a few egregious calls of accomplishing something no 16 seed ever has -- finding truTV in their local cable lineup. The most terrifying moment of the day was when Baylor took the court in their truly heinous day-glo green uniforms. Oh, also, don't sell your hair to a wig shop.
That is all.
Connecticut (picked by Crotty and Huffnagle as wild card, by J Hoffman and Rybaltowski into the Elite Eight, and by J Hoffman into the Final Four) also failed to survive the first day. The only other losses that meant anything to our contestants were UNLV (picked by M Josephs, M Leach, and B Wright into the Elite Eight), Long Beach State (chosen by M Josephs and Templeton as wild card), and Southern Mississippi, which was D Kornfeld's first legal wild card selection since 2003. Ah well, we suppose legality isn't everything.
In real life, Colorado won its first NCAA tournament game in 15 years and VCU won it's third first round game in six years, seeded 11 or lower all three times.
Actually, for VCU it's more amazing than that. In the past six years, they've made the tournament four times, seeded 11 three times and 12 this year. From those lowly seeds, their record so far in the four tournaments is 7-3, with the three losses being a 1 point loss to UCLA, an overtime loss to Pitt, and a loss in the Final Four. Next up for the Rams: #4 seed Indiana on Saturday night.
The most exciting moment of the day was watching UNC Ashville come within a few egregious calls of accomplishing something no 16 seed ever has -- finding truTV in their local cable lineup. The most terrifying moment of the day was when Baylor took the court in their truly heinous day-glo green uniforms. Oh, also, don't sell your hair to a wig shop.
That is all.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Imbalanced
A lot of entrants out there are undoubtedly saying to themselves, "I may be in 53rd place now, but just wait until I get my Elite Eight and Final Four points!" Although unless those entrants are all Kovolski (who is actually in 53rd place) most of them probably need a remedial counting course.
An even bigger issue for some contestants is their unfortunate decision to pick a whole bunch of Elite Eight or Final Four teams from a single region. Brett Steven B, for example, chose five (5) teams from the South region (Baylor, Duke, Indiana, Iowa State, and Kentucky), meaning at least three of his choices aren't getting him any points.
Eight other entrants went with four (4) Elite Eight teams from the same region. For example, Babenzien and B Peloso both liked Baylor, Duke, Notre Dame, and Kentucky in the South. Also in the South, J Broder has Kentucky, Indiana, Wichita State, and Baylor, and Pangolin Palace preferred Duke, Kentucky, Baylor, and Wichita State. Baum selected Temple, Georgetown, Kansas, and UNC in the Midwest, while Haklar chose Michigan State, Missouri, Louisville, and Florida in the West. Baumgarten picked a pattern of Western M's: Michigan State, Murray State, Missouri, and Marquette. And another Western M, Mahalko wins the prize for choosing fully half his Elite Eight from the same sub-region, going with Missouri, Marquette, Murray State, and Florida.
Another eight entrants have three teams in each of two regions: Selig (South and Midwest); C Brown (South and Midwest); D Kedson (South and East); K Sullivan (South and West); L Donadio (South and West); P Leach (Midwest and West); S Leach (Midwest and West); and T Joseph (South and Midwest). Including those eight, 61 contestants have three teams packed into one regional, while the remaining 26 entrants have perfect proportions (or at least that's what they say on their Facebook pages).
Perhaps even worse than the above, four crafty contestants managed to cram three of their Final Four teams into one region. B Brenner, C Brown, and D Kedson all called on Kentucky, Duke, and Baylor in the South. Haklar placed her faith in Michigan State, Missouri, and Florida in the West.
Nine savvy poolsters avoided that pitfall, but still managed to choose two Final Four teams from each of two regions and zero from the other two: Selig (East and South, noteworthy because his triple-Elite Eight picks were South and Midwest, meaning he somehow avoided picking anybody in the West region for anything); B Peloso (West and South); B Wright (East and South); Bud Acchione (West and South); Fitch (West and South); Speakes (East and South); George B (East and South); R Wanger (East and Midwest); and R Simon (East and South). Including those nine, 68 entrants have two Final Four teams in one region, while 24 contestants correctly corralled one from each region.
We'll divulge our complete analysis of the Elite Eight and Final Four later in the week.
In game action, the play-in games are over, and it's a shame nobody watched. On Tuesday, Western Kentucky, the only team in this year's field with a losing record, rallied from 16 down to stun Mississippi State, and BYU pulled an even bigger stunner, overcoming a 25 point deficit to beat Iona in the biggest comeback in NCAA tournament history. This evening, relative underdogs Vermont and South Florida put the beatdown on Lamar and California, respectively.
While most people are somewhat indifferent to the above information, we'd like to dish out a big "bummer" to two contestants whose wild cards didn't even make the official bracket: George B, who picked Cal as his wild card, and K Sullivan who picked Iona.
The main event begins in about 11 hours. We'll be in front of a TV and hope you are too.
An even bigger issue for some contestants is their unfortunate decision to pick a whole bunch of Elite Eight or Final Four teams from a single region. Brett Steven B, for example, chose five (5) teams from the South region (Baylor, Duke, Indiana, Iowa State, and Kentucky), meaning at least three of his choices aren't getting him any points.
Eight other entrants went with four (4) Elite Eight teams from the same region. For example, Babenzien and B Peloso both liked Baylor, Duke, Notre Dame, and Kentucky in the South. Also in the South, J Broder has Kentucky, Indiana, Wichita State, and Baylor, and Pangolin Palace preferred Duke, Kentucky, Baylor, and Wichita State. Baum selected Temple, Georgetown, Kansas, and UNC in the Midwest, while Haklar chose Michigan State, Missouri, Louisville, and Florida in the West. Baumgarten picked a pattern of Western M's: Michigan State, Murray State, Missouri, and Marquette. And another Western M, Mahalko wins the prize for choosing fully half his Elite Eight from the same sub-region, going with Missouri, Marquette, Murray State, and Florida.
Another eight entrants have three teams in each of two regions: Selig (South and Midwest); C Brown (South and Midwest); D Kedson (South and East); K Sullivan (South and West); L Donadio (South and West); P Leach (Midwest and West); S Leach (Midwest and West); and T Joseph (South and Midwest). Including those eight, 61 contestants have three teams packed into one regional, while the remaining 26 entrants have perfect proportions (or at least that's what they say on their Facebook pages).
Perhaps even worse than the above, four crafty contestants managed to cram three of their Final Four teams into one region. B Brenner, C Brown, and D Kedson all called on Kentucky, Duke, and Baylor in the South. Haklar placed her faith in Michigan State, Missouri, and Florida in the West.
Nine savvy poolsters avoided that pitfall, but still managed to choose two Final Four teams from each of two regions and zero from the other two: Selig (East and South, noteworthy because his triple-Elite Eight picks were South and Midwest, meaning he somehow avoided picking anybody in the West region for anything); B Peloso (West and South); B Wright (East and South); Bud Acchione (West and South); Fitch (West and South); Speakes (East and South); George B (East and South); R Wanger (East and Midwest); and R Simon (East and South). Including those nine, 68 entrants have two Final Four teams in one region, while 24 contestants correctly corralled one from each region.
We'll divulge our complete analysis of the Elite Eight and Final Four later in the week.
In game action, the play-in games are over, and it's a shame nobody watched. On Tuesday, Western Kentucky, the only team in this year's field with a losing record, rallied from 16 down to stun Mississippi State, and BYU pulled an even bigger stunner, overcoming a 25 point deficit to beat Iona in the biggest comeback in NCAA tournament history. This evening, relative underdogs Vermont and South Florida put the beatdown on Lamar and California, respectively.
While most people are somewhat indifferent to the above information, we'd like to dish out a big "bummer" to two contestants whose wild cards didn't even make the official bracket: George B, who picked Cal as his wild card, and K Sullivan who picked Iona.
The main event begins in about 11 hours. We'll be in front of a TV and hope you are too.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Mind meld
Well, our contestants appear to have been in lock step with the Selection Committee, although we're not sure if that's a good or bad thing. Our four most popular Champions are the four #1 seeds: Kentucky (34); Syracuse (20); Michigan State (9); and North Carolina (8). Our next four most popular Champions are the four #2 seeds: Kansas (7); Missouri (5: Haklar, Pogach, Joe Mc, K Ripley, Rybaltowski); Duke (5: C Brown, Claude, Jr. Donadio, G Meyer, K Sullivan); and Ohio State (4: Butch Acchione, George B, D Kedson, Selarnik). The only other champions chosen were #3 Baylor (3: Booth, B Brenner, D Kornfeld) and #4 Wisconsin (L Schlegel).
One thing we'd like to mention, however, is that our contestants have been correct about the national champion exactly five (5) times in 22 years (that would be a 22.7% success rate). So we wouldn't feel so good if we were Kentucky right now. Or anybody else, for that matter.
One thing we'd like to mention, however, is that our contestants have been correct about the national champion exactly five (5) times in 22 years (that would be a 22.7% success rate). So we wouldn't feel so good if we were Kentucky right now. Or anybody else, for that matter.
Wild is a state of mind
We've already written about our three rulebreaking entrants, who chose illegal, immoral, and otherwise naughty wild cards. So there's really no need to drag Blatt, Babenzien, and current leader Steinhardt out of their tar-and-feather coated five-by-eight cells and parade them naked in front of a jeering crowd again, is there? Honestly, is there? Well, since when does "need" have anything to do with it?
We bring this up primarily as a brief introduction before we bring a second group into the limelight. That group being the ten (10) contestants who chose wild cards that didn't even make the field. Yes, that's right, over 13.5% of our entrants have guaranteed themselves zero (0) wild card points before the Tournament even starts. Pretty impressive, right?
To be fair to Day, Doherty, L Schlegel, B Wright (all of whom selected Drexel), J Hoffman (Northwestern), Joe Mc (Seton Hall), Spitz (Valparaiso), Patashnik (Washington), Speakes (Cleveland State), and Quint (Arizona), every single one of them would be sitting pretty if this was a pre-NIT contest. So they have that going for them.
We'll breakdown our contestant's consensus choice of champions later today.
We bring this up primarily as a brief introduction before we bring a second group into the limelight. That group being the ten (10) contestants who chose wild cards that didn't even make the field. Yes, that's right, over 13.5% of our entrants have guaranteed themselves zero (0) wild card points before the Tournament even starts. Pretty impressive, right?
To be fair to Day, Doherty, L Schlegel, B Wright (all of whom selected Drexel), J Hoffman (Northwestern), Joe Mc (Seton Hall), Spitz (Valparaiso), Patashnik (Washington), Speakes (Cleveland State), and Quint (Arizona), every single one of them would be sitting pretty if this was a pre-NIT contest. So they have that going for them.
We'll breakdown our contestant's consensus choice of champions later today.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Get ready, get set...
The field has been selected. The first $100 has been awarded. And the winner of that C Note is... Steinhardt, with 211 points. Lagging in Steinhardt's wake are Harlan (206), D Baum (204), D Kedson (204), and M Peloso (202).
We'll have more analysis as the week unfolds. First play-in games are just two days away. Full standings may be found through the link on the right hand side of the page.
Vive le tournement, tres bien viola...
(that's Fake French, for all you linguists out there, or as we like to call it, Faux Francais).
We'll have more analysis as the week unfolds. First play-in games are just two days away. Full standings may be found through the link on the right hand side of the page.
Vive le tournement, tres bien viola...
(that's Fake French, for all you linguists out there, or as we like to call it, Faux Francais).
Topsy Turvy World
Vanderbilt in the SEC. Florida State in the ACC. St. Bonaventure in the Atlantic 10. But at least there's one constant in this topsy turvy world, and that's the immutable fact that our entrants couldn't pick any of them.
Congratulations to D Baum, S Leach, and Rybaltowski (Vanderbilt) and Pogach and Steinhardt (Florida State) for closing their eyes and randomly choosing the winning teams. Nobody managed to do even that for St. Bonaventure.
On the strength of her Florida State selection, Steinhardt has charged into the lead, with 104 points. D Kedson (102), Harlan (98), M Peloso (98), and C Brown (96) are breathing down the leader's neck.
Just one more conference final and the real fun begins. For what it's worth, Steinhardt, M Peloso, and C Brown have Michigan State, while D Kedson and Harlan have Ohio State.
Full updated standings can be seen from clicking the link on the right hand side of the page.
Congratulations to D Baum, S Leach, and Rybaltowski (Vanderbilt) and Pogach and Steinhardt (Florida State) for closing their eyes and randomly choosing the winning teams. Nobody managed to do even that for St. Bonaventure.
On the strength of her Florida State selection, Steinhardt has charged into the lead, with 104 points. D Kedson (102), Harlan (98), M Peloso (98), and C Brown (96) are breathing down the leader's neck.
Just one more conference final and the real fun begins. For what it's worth, Steinhardt, M Peloso, and C Brown have Michigan State, while D Kedson and Harlan have Ohio State.
Full updated standings can be seen from clicking the link on the right hand side of the page.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Buffaloed
The University of Colorado competed in 35 Big 8/Big 12 tournaments in school history. You know how many they won? We're talking goose egg, zilch, the big nada. They've now competed in precisely one (1) Pac 12 tourney and, you guessed it, they came out on top. Well, let us rephrase that. If you're playing in our contest, you didn't guess it at all. Exactly nobody in our contest picked the Buffaloes to win the Pac 12. Which quite frankly doesn't distinguish them that much from most other conference tournament winners. So far 26 automatic bids have been decided, and a majority of us chose the winner in only 11 (42.3%).
Since our last blog entry on this topic, the majority has ruled in four conferences -- the MEAC (Norfolk State, chosen by 51); Conference USA (Memphis, 72); the SWAC (Mississippi Valley State, 92); and the Big West (Long Beach State, 91). The majority was fooled in another seven conferences -- the Big 12 (Missouri, 33); America East (Vermont, 31); the MAC (Ohio, 27); the WCAC (New Mexico, 19); the Southland (Lamar, chosen by 3: Baumgarten, C Brown, B Wright); the Big East (Louisville, selected by 3: Fitch, D Kedson, Steinhardt); and the Big 12 (the aforementioned Colorado Buffaloes, picked by nobody).
It's not going to get any better in the last five tournaments, either. Tonight, in the WAC, New Mexico State (only picked by 19) faces off against Louisiana Tech (0). Tomorrow, it's Xavier (8: M Barone, Brenner, B Brenner, Brett Steven B, M Josephs, Pogach, Rybaltowski, and Steinhardt) vs. St. Bonaventure (0) in the Atlantic 10; North Carolina (46) against Florida State (2: Pogach, Steinhardt) in the ACC; Ohio State (40) v. Michigan State (49) in the Big 10; and Kentucky (89) against Vanderbilt (3: D Baum, S Leach, Rybaltowski) in the SEC. So, at most two of the five remaining champions will have been picked by a majority of us, meaning the best case scenario is we'll get it right in 13 of 31, or 41.9% of the conferences, and our worst case this year is 11 of 31 (35.5%). Which, mind-boggling as it may be, would actually be better than last year, when the majority of us were correct in only 10 of 31 (32.3%)
So, nice job, folks.
M Peloso (92 points) is still our leader, clinging to a one (1) point lead over Steinhardt (91) and D Kedson (91). Huffnagle (89), Harlan (87), Alberts (85), and C Brown (85) are all hanging around too.
Pogach (48) has pulled out of the cellar and now leads Slayen (42), although Pogach is still 9 points behind M Leach, N Donadio, and Brenner (all with 57) in the race for 3rd-to-last place.
Selection Sunday tomorrow -- stay tuned.
Since our last blog entry on this topic, the majority has ruled in four conferences -- the MEAC (Norfolk State, chosen by 51); Conference USA (Memphis, 72); the SWAC (Mississippi Valley State, 92); and the Big West (Long Beach State, 91). The majority was fooled in another seven conferences -- the Big 12 (Missouri, 33); America East (Vermont, 31); the MAC (Ohio, 27); the WCAC (New Mexico, 19); the Southland (Lamar, chosen by 3: Baumgarten, C Brown, B Wright); the Big East (Louisville, selected by 3: Fitch, D Kedson, Steinhardt); and the Big 12 (the aforementioned Colorado Buffaloes, picked by nobody).
It's not going to get any better in the last five tournaments, either. Tonight, in the WAC, New Mexico State (only picked by 19) faces off against Louisiana Tech (0). Tomorrow, it's Xavier (8: M Barone, Brenner, B Brenner, Brett Steven B, M Josephs, Pogach, Rybaltowski, and Steinhardt) vs. St. Bonaventure (0) in the Atlantic 10; North Carolina (46) against Florida State (2: Pogach, Steinhardt) in the ACC; Ohio State (40) v. Michigan State (49) in the Big 10; and Kentucky (89) against Vanderbilt (3: D Baum, S Leach, Rybaltowski) in the SEC. So, at most two of the five remaining champions will have been picked by a majority of us, meaning the best case scenario is we'll get it right in 13 of 31, or 41.9% of the conferences, and our worst case this year is 11 of 31 (35.5%). Which, mind-boggling as it may be, would actually be better than last year, when the majority of us were correct in only 10 of 31 (32.3%)
So, nice job, folks.
M Peloso (92 points) is still our leader, clinging to a one (1) point lead over Steinhardt (91) and D Kedson (91). Huffnagle (89), Harlan (87), Alberts (85), and C Brown (85) are all hanging around too.
Pogach (48) has pulled out of the cellar and now leads Slayen (42), although Pogach is still 9 points behind M Leach, N Donadio, and Brenner (all with 57) in the race for 3rd-to-last place.
Selection Sunday tomorrow -- stay tuned.
Friday, March 9, 2012
We're wrong again
Add the Big East and Big 12 to the growing number of conferences our contestants have gotten wrong. Big East favorite Syracuse (picked by 75) took a fall to Cincinnati (picked by nada), and Big 12 maven Kansas (selected by 54) dropped one to Baylor (chosen by 9).
But what do you expect from a conference that doesn't even know how to count it's own membership properly? First, the Math Gods strike down the Atlantic 10 leader, now the Big 12. All we can say is Michigan State better watch out in tomorrow's Big 10 semifinal.
But what do you expect from a conference that doesn't even know how to count it's own membership properly? First, the Math Gods strike down the Atlantic 10 leader, now the Big 12. All we can say is Michigan State better watch out in tomorrow's Big 10 semifinal.
Temple of Doom
So far this year, 15 conferences have decided their champions. Of those, a majority of our contestants have correctly chosen seven (7) of them -- Murray State (chosen by 95), Davidson (90), Harvard (90), Belmont (85), UNC Ashville (82), St. Mary's (56), and LIU (50). If you're calculating at home, that's a rousing 46.7% success rate, not quite as good as flipping a coin. The eight conferences so far that have mystified us are: Montana (40), VCU (40), South Dakota State (28), Creighton (18), Lehigh (17), Loyola-Maryland (15), Detroit (3), and Western Kentucky (0).
The Atlantic 10 doesn't decide its champion until Sunday but we can already chalk it up to the mystified side of the ledger, as overwhelming favorite Temple (selected by 69 of us) dropped its first game to UMass (chosen by C Brown, SLayen, and Leace). Also helping to wreck our collective self-esteem was Texas Arlington (picked by 88 out of our 96 entrants), who took a 20 point beating at the hands of McNeese State (guessed by Leace, Booth, Bud Acchione, R Kornfeld, and Rybaltowski).
In other Thursday night action, Washington (chosen by 36) went down in the PAC-12, and Delaware State (selected by P Leach, M Josephs, Jr. Donadio, and Alberts) made an early exit in the MEAC.
A full day is currently in swing. We'll report back later tonight with more.
The Atlantic 10 doesn't decide its champion until Sunday but we can already chalk it up to the mystified side of the ledger, as overwhelming favorite Temple (selected by 69 of us) dropped its first game to UMass (chosen by C Brown, SLayen, and Leace). Also helping to wreck our collective self-esteem was Texas Arlington (picked by 88 out of our 96 entrants), who took a 20 point beating at the hands of McNeese State (guessed by Leace, Booth, Bud Acchione, R Kornfeld, and Rybaltowski).
In other Thursday night action, Washington (chosen by 36) went down in the PAC-12, and Delaware State (selected by P Leach, M Josephs, Jr. Donadio, and Alberts) made an early exit in the MEAC.
A full day is currently in swing. We'll report back later tonight with more.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Keep on keeping on
Since our last post, seven more teams have punched their ticket, but only two of them were picked by a majority of our entrants. Lehigh (chosen by 17 of us) snagged the Patriot League automatic bid with a big victory over Bucknell (chosen by 73). In Big Sky country, Montana (40) played at home and clobbered Weber State (56). Detroit (picked only by M Josephs, Leace, and Rybaltowski) sneaked by Valparaiso (50) in the Horizon. South Dakota State (28) edged Western Illinois (0) in overtime in the Summit. And in a battle of zero heroes, Western Kentucky (0) nicked North Texas (0) in the Sun Belt.
The only conference titles we got right were the NEC, where LIU (50) beat Robert Morris (just 3, Kovolski, M Leach, and McKillip), and the Ivy, where Harvard (90) backed into the title because Penn (chosen by 5: M Josephs, Kovolski, E Leach, L Schlegel, and Pogach, who added to his already brave and impressive collection of selected also-rans) lost to arch-rival Princeton.
In other conference tournament news, Savannah State (chosen by 40 of us) lost to Hampton (chosen by none of us) in the MEAC quarterfinals. UConn (picked by 72 at-large) won their 2nd consecutive game in the Big East tournament, beating West Virginia, and now the Huskies only have another 148 games to go to win the Big East title (really only three more, just like last year). In other Big East action, Seton Hall (picked by 75 at-large) lost to Louisville, and South Florida (36) beat Villanova.
Updated standings may be found from the link on the right hand side of this page. M Peloso is now alone in first place, with 63 points, followed by Huffnagle (58) and three tied with 53 (P Leach, D Kedson, M Paston 2). Gutsy Pogach (24) is alone in last place.
No more automatic bids decided until Saturday, when 13 conference championships are on the line. Talk to you soon.
The only conference titles we got right were the NEC, where LIU (50) beat Robert Morris (just 3, Kovolski, M Leach, and McKillip), and the Ivy, where Harvard (90) backed into the title because Penn (chosen by 5: M Josephs, Kovolski, E Leach, L Schlegel, and Pogach, who added to his already brave and impressive collection of selected also-rans) lost to arch-rival Princeton.
In other conference tournament news, Savannah State (chosen by 40 of us) lost to Hampton (chosen by none of us) in the MEAC quarterfinals. UConn (picked by 72 at-large) won their 2nd consecutive game in the Big East tournament, beating West Virginia, and now the Huskies only have another 148 games to go to win the Big East title (really only three more, just like last year). In other Big East action, Seton Hall (picked by 75 at-large) lost to Louisville, and South Florida (36) beat Villanova.
Updated standings may be found from the link on the right hand side of this page. M Peloso is now alone in first place, with 63 points, followed by Huffnagle (58) and three tied with 53 (P Leach, D Kedson, M Paston 2). Gutsy Pogach (24) is alone in last place.
No more automatic bids decided until Saturday, when 13 conference championships are on the line. Talk to you soon.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Wild and Lawless
The consensus wild card in this year's contest is Wichita State (selected by 30 of us). When informed of this high honor, the Shockers went right out and proudly dropped their conference tournament semifinal game with unheralded Illinois State.
Temple (16) and Notre Dame (9) are also well liked in wild card circles, but after that it's just a morass, with 41 entrants choosing 24 teams, as follows:
Chosen by 5: Vanderbilt
Chosen by 4: Drexel, Iowa State
Chosen by 3: Gonzaga, Kansas State
Chosen by 2: UConn, Long Beach, St. Louis
Chosen by a single, solitary, not-afraid-to-stand-out contestant: Alabama, Arizona, Belmont, California, Cleveland State, Iona, Memphis, Northwestern, Purdue, Seton Hall, Southern Mississippi, Washington, and Valparaiso
The savvy among you probably tallied the above and cleverly noted that it only adds up to 38 entrants and 21 teams. Where are the remaining three, you ask?
In pool prison, of course. Every year a slew of sly scofflaws strive to slither out of satisfying the rules. And just as regularly, the ever-vigilant commissioners delight in catching the cagey criminals.
This year, co-leader Steinhardt chose illegal Louisville (ranked #24 in the AP top 25 linked from the entry form). Blatt perhaps thought we might not notice if he took #17 Creighton. And the annual award for the most brazen disregard for our simple and straightforward rules goes to Babenzien, who tried to sneak #4 Missouri past us. Your efforts have been thwarted, sir!
We have one final note related to wild cards. Over the past couple of decades there have been those who have accused the commissioners of being nattering nabobs of negativism, who only report mistakes and errors. This reputation wounds us, truly, so much so that this year we've decided to take a moment to stretch out our hands and deliver an encouraging pat on the back. To D Kornfeld who, we are absolutely thrilled to announce, made a completely legitimate, 100% legal, and in all other ways stellar wild card selection. For the first time since 2003. Well done, D Kornfeld. Well done, indeed.
Temple (16) and Notre Dame (9) are also well liked in wild card circles, but after that it's just a morass, with 41 entrants choosing 24 teams, as follows:
Chosen by 5: Vanderbilt
Chosen by 4: Drexel, Iowa State
Chosen by 3: Gonzaga, Kansas State
Chosen by 2: UConn, Long Beach, St. Louis
Chosen by a single, solitary, not-afraid-to-stand-out contestant: Alabama, Arizona, Belmont, California, Cleveland State, Iona, Memphis, Northwestern, Purdue, Seton Hall, Southern Mississippi, Washington, and Valparaiso
The savvy among you probably tallied the above and cleverly noted that it only adds up to 38 entrants and 21 teams. Where are the remaining three, you ask?
In pool prison, of course. Every year a slew of sly scofflaws strive to slither out of satisfying the rules. And just as regularly, the ever-vigilant commissioners delight in catching the cagey criminals.
This year, co-leader Steinhardt chose illegal Louisville (ranked #24 in the AP top 25 linked from the entry form). Blatt perhaps thought we might not notice if he took #17 Creighton. And the annual award for the most brazen disregard for our simple and straightforward rules goes to Babenzien, who tried to sneak #4 Missouri past us. Your efforts have been thwarted, sir!
We have one final note related to wild cards. Over the past couple of decades there have been those who have accused the commissioners of being nattering nabobs of negativism, who only report mistakes and errors. This reputation wounds us, truly, so much so that this year we've decided to take a moment to stretch out our hands and deliver an encouraging pat on the back. To D Kornfeld who, we are absolutely thrilled to announce, made a completely legitimate, 100% legal, and in all other ways stellar wild card selection. For the first time since 2003. Well done, D Kornfeld. Well done, indeed.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Dance Cards
We're up to 8 conference champions, which means we have standings. We currently have a four way tie for first, with M Peloso, Steinhardt, Templeton, and B Wright sharing the top spot with 38 points. Just behind the leaders are Day (36), Mahalko (35), Packman (35), and Bland (34). The good news for the rest of us? Steinhardt picked an illegal wild card (Louisville -- more on that story tomorrow).
In the Atlantic Sun conference, Belmont won, to the surprise of few, since 85 of our 96 entrants chose them to win. Ten of us foolishly went with Mercer (G Wright, Speakes, Butch Acchione, N Donadio, J Hoffman, HR, M Kline, S Leach, Patashnik, Slayen) and one lonely contestant chose USC Upstate (Pogach).
In the Colonial, VCU (chosen by 40) topped Drexel (51). In addition to disappointed Dragon supporters, four people plugged George Mason (M McAtee, Pogach, Quint, Slayen), and one entrant chose Old Dominion (Coach Doc),
Big South favorite UNC Ashville (82) lived up to its billing, although 13 individuals erroneously rooted for Coastal Carolina and one misguided soul selected Charleston Southern (Pogach). MAAC heavyweight Iona (72), on the other hand, couldn't seal the deal, leaving the MAAC to Loyola, Md (chosen by 15), who beat Fairfield (picked by M Josephs and S Leach) in the conference final earlier tonight. The remaining 6 MAAC votes went to Manhattan (Bud Acchione, Brenner, B Brenner, Pogach, Simon, and Brett Steven B).
In a shocker, MVC top dog Wichita State (77) succumbed yesterday to Illinois State (picked by nobody), who in turn dropped their game to Creighton (18) in overtime. S Leach liked Northern Iowa, for reasons best left unstated. In the OVC, everybody's team Murray State (95) delivered. Although apparently Booth wanted Morehead. Southern Conference hotshot Davidson (90) prevailed over Western Carolina (0), in double OT. Much to the chagrin of R Kornfeld and M Leach(UNCG), Booth and C Brown (Elon), Leace (Georgia Southern), and Pogach (Charleston).
In another overtime thriller, St. Mary's (56) took the WCC over Gonzaga (37), while three entrants wondered why they chose BYU (Atkinson, M McAtee, J Whiteside).
We're not ready to talk about individual's selections, but just reading the above we want to send out happy vibes to Pogach, who went out on a limb for George Mason (picked by 4), Manhattan (6), Charleston (nobody else), Charleston Southern (ditto), and USC Upstate (see the trend here?), and hit on none of them. More on that story later in the week, but if you're looking to place a bet, Pogach's champion is Missouri.
Six more conferences are down to their league finals: In the Summit, it's South Dakota State (28) vs. Western Illinois (0), while favorite Oral Roberts (68) wants Morehead. The Sun Belt features two directional schools (North Texas and Western Kentucky) picked by absolutely nobody we know. The America East conference pits Stonybrook (61) against Vermont (31). In the Horizon League, Valparaiso (50) faces Detroit (3 -- M Josephs, Leace, Rybaltowski), and in the Northeast Conference, LIU (50) tries to stare down Robert Morris (3 -- Kovolski, M Leach, McKillip). Finally, we'll see Bucknell (73) against Lehigh (17) in the Patriot League.
We'll be back tomorrow with more fun. Enjoy!
In the Atlantic Sun conference, Belmont won, to the surprise of few, since 85 of our 96 entrants chose them to win. Ten of us foolishly went with Mercer (G Wright, Speakes, Butch Acchione, N Donadio, J Hoffman, HR, M Kline, S Leach, Patashnik, Slayen) and one lonely contestant chose USC Upstate (Pogach).
In the Colonial, VCU (chosen by 40) topped Drexel (51). In addition to disappointed Dragon supporters, four people plugged George Mason (M McAtee, Pogach, Quint, Slayen), and one entrant chose Old Dominion (Coach Doc),
Big South favorite UNC Ashville (82) lived up to its billing, although 13 individuals erroneously rooted for Coastal Carolina and one misguided soul selected Charleston Southern (Pogach). MAAC heavyweight Iona (72), on the other hand, couldn't seal the deal, leaving the MAAC to Loyola, Md (chosen by 15), who beat Fairfield (picked by M Josephs and S Leach) in the conference final earlier tonight. The remaining 6 MAAC votes went to Manhattan (Bud Acchione, Brenner, B Brenner, Pogach, Simon, and Brett Steven B).
In a shocker, MVC top dog Wichita State (77) succumbed yesterday to Illinois State (picked by nobody), who in turn dropped their game to Creighton (18) in overtime. S Leach liked Northern Iowa, for reasons best left unstated. In the OVC, everybody's team Murray State (95) delivered. Although apparently Booth wanted Morehead. Southern Conference hotshot Davidson (90) prevailed over Western Carolina (0), in double OT. Much to the chagrin of R Kornfeld and M Leach(UNCG), Booth and C Brown (Elon), Leace (Georgia Southern), and Pogach (Charleston).
In another overtime thriller, St. Mary's (56) took the WCC over Gonzaga (37), while three entrants wondered why they chose BYU (Atkinson, M McAtee, J Whiteside).
We're not ready to talk about individual's selections, but just reading the above we want to send out happy vibes to Pogach, who went out on a limb for George Mason (picked by 4), Manhattan (6), Charleston (nobody else), Charleston Southern (ditto), and USC Upstate (see the trend here?), and hit on none of them. More on that story later in the week, but if you're looking to place a bet, Pogach's champion is Missouri.
Six more conferences are down to their league finals: In the Summit, it's South Dakota State (28) vs. Western Illinois (0), while favorite Oral Roberts (68) wants Morehead. The Sun Belt features two directional schools (North Texas and Western Kentucky) picked by absolutely nobody we know. The America East conference pits Stonybrook (61) against Vermont (31). In the Horizon League, Valparaiso (50) faces Detroit (3 -- M Josephs, Leace, Rybaltowski), and in the Northeast Conference, LIU (50) tries to stare down Robert Morris (3 -- Kovolski, M Leach, McKillip). Finally, we'll see Bucknell (73) against Lehigh (17) in the Patriot League.
We'll be back tomorrow with more fun. Enjoy!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
First Blood
It wasn't even March before 13 unfortunate individuals lost their Big South champion, as Coastal Carolina went down to VMI. Guess you guys (and we'd be happy to name you: Babenzien, Crotty, N Donadio, Eberly, HR, A Leace, S Leach, Joe Mc, Rybaltowski, R Simon, Slayen, B Whiteside, Yolles) are playing catchup now...
Also having the ignominious honor of having their March Madness end in February were High Point, Campbell, Liberty, Jacksonville, Lipscomb, Holy Cross, Navy, Army, Colgate, Eastern Kentucky, Austin Peay, and Santa Clara. But none of our entrants fell into the trap of picking any of them.
Other games with bubble implications: Poor Northwestern (chosen at-large by 50 of us) lost by 2 to Ohio State, St. Joe's (chosen by 19) lost in double OT to St. Bonaventure, and Miami (58) lost by 4 to fellow ACC bubble team NC State (27). South Florida (37) beat Louisville, and Cincinnati (80) beat Marquette.
And now March really starts.
Also having the ignominious honor of having their March Madness end in February were High Point, Campbell, Liberty, Jacksonville, Lipscomb, Holy Cross, Navy, Army, Colgate, Eastern Kentucky, Austin Peay, and Santa Clara. But none of our entrants fell into the trap of picking any of them.
Other games with bubble implications: Poor Northwestern (chosen at-large by 50 of us) lost by 2 to Ohio State, St. Joe's (chosen by 19) lost in double OT to St. Bonaventure, and Miami (58) lost by 4 to fellow ACC bubble team NC State (27). South Florida (37) beat Louisville, and Cincinnati (80) beat Marquette.
And now March really starts.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
March Madness, Bonus Edition
Since February has an extra day this year, what better time to start our contest?
The entries are in, and it looks like we have 97 entries this year (give or take). No idea yet how many are paying entries, but that's 15 more than last year, proving the contest still has legs after 23 years.
To put in context how long we've been playing the pool, our Pre-NCAA Contest is older than every player who will appear in this year's tournament -- except Florida State's Bernard James, who rumor has it served in the U.S. armed forces in the Spanish-American War.
The Horizon League began this year's first conference tournament last night. It was a bad night for Chicago, as Loyola, CHI and Illinois-Chicago both lost, along with Green Bay (formerly Wisconsin-Green Bay, as opposed to the Packers). None of our savvy entrants were tricked into picking any of those teams, however, so we're all still tied for first place.
In regular season action, Michigan State, Florida, Xavier, and UConn all lost last night. Joe Lunardi says that puts Xavier on the outside, looking in, much to the probable chagrin of the 79 of us who picked the Musketeers. He says UConn (now 7-10 in conference and guaranteed to have an under .500 conference record) is still in, but the 73 of us who picked the defending national champions at-large have to be at least a little nervous.
Perhaps last night's most important game however, happened in Missoula, Montana, where the Montana Grizzlies beat Weber State to clinch home court advantage in the Big Sky tournament. And that's big. Or at least Big Sky.
So, here we go. Sit back and enjoy the best month of the year.
The entries are in, and it looks like we have 97 entries this year (give or take). No idea yet how many are paying entries, but that's 15 more than last year, proving the contest still has legs after 23 years.
To put in context how long we've been playing the pool, our Pre-NCAA Contest is older than every player who will appear in this year's tournament -- except Florida State's Bernard James, who rumor has it served in the U.S. armed forces in the Spanish-American War.
The Horizon League began this year's first conference tournament last night. It was a bad night for Chicago, as Loyola, CHI and Illinois-Chicago both lost, along with Green Bay (formerly Wisconsin-Green Bay, as opposed to the Packers). None of our savvy entrants were tricked into picking any of those teams, however, so we're all still tied for first place.
In regular season action, Michigan State, Florida, Xavier, and UConn all lost last night. Joe Lunardi says that puts Xavier on the outside, looking in, much to the probable chagrin of the 79 of us who picked the Musketeers. He says UConn (now 7-10 in conference and guaranteed to have an under .500 conference record) is still in, but the 73 of us who picked the defending national champions at-large have to be at least a little nervous.
Perhaps last night's most important game however, happened in Missoula, Montana, where the Montana Grizzlies beat Weber State to clinch home court advantage in the Big Sky tournament. And that's big. Or at least Big Sky.
So, here we go. Sit back and enjoy the best month of the year.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Contest Deadline is MONDAY
Yes, MONDAY, February 27.
So, now would be a really good time to start looking into it.
Here's the entry form.
Here are the rules.
So, now would be a really good time to start looking into it.
Here's the entry form.
Here are the rules.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Ready to Roll
You know what they say: Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.
It's somewhat less publicized, but they also say: The TWENTY THIRD annual Pre-NCAA Contest is locked and loaded!
Here's the entry form.
Here are the rules.
So jump on into the Pool. The water's fine.
It's somewhat less publicized, but they also say: The TWENTY THIRD annual Pre-NCAA Contest is locked and loaded!
Here's the entry form.
Here are the rules.
So jump on into the Pool. The water's fine.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Not much of a dogfight, was it?
Kind of a blah ending to a fabulous tournament. Oh well.
Congratulations again to Huffnagle, E Leach, Fitch, and M Peloso. I will be contacting you in the next few days for addresses to which I can send your checks.
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P.S.: For the second straight year, the time ran out before I could post the tournament "All Name" teams. I have no idea if this "feature" was popular or not in the past, but if anybody particularly misses it, please e-mail me at prencaacontest@gmail.com and I'll make sure to get to it in a timely manner next year.
Thanks, and see you all in 2012 (assuming the Mayan calendar doesn't explode the Earth between now and then).
Congratulations again to Huffnagle, E Leach, Fitch, and M Peloso. I will be contacting you in the next few days for addresses to which I can send your checks.
-----------------
P.S.: For the second straight year, the time ran out before I could post the tournament "All Name" teams. I have no idea if this "feature" was popular or not in the past, but if anybody particularly misses it, please e-mail me at prencaacontest@gmail.com and I'll make sure to get to it in a timely manner next year.
Thanks, and see you all in 2012 (assuming the Mayan calendar doesn't explode the Earth between now and then).
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Rivalmania
Well, in Whiteside's wacky world it was deja vu all over again. His familiar foil, Butscher (185) finished just two points behind Whiteside's 187 points, a year after losing to him by one. Whiteside's workplace cronies, McKillip (193) and Canning (203), smacked his Shabbalicious behind (just as they did a year ago). And his sister-in-law, Booth (173), ventured perilously close to going off the deep end before losing to Whiteside for the 30 zillionth consecutive year. Although Booth's decision this year to quote Justin Bieber as support could possibly be considered a new low.
Haklar stated, "I've been deceased for quite some time now, yet I'm still positive I can do better than my son" (D'Zuro), but the living lad managed to beat off the ghost, 183 to 174. Even more impressive, D'Zuro (183) tied his metaphorical lab coat-wielding wife, K Sullivan (183). It was a good year for B Peloso (198), who not only surpassed K Sullivan, but also edged his own Duke-loving spouse, M Peloso (197) by a mere point.
In another contest between denizens of parallel planes, a live cat (Crosby, 208) handily outplayed a dead one (Claude, 195).
Believe it or not, P Ripley said he was "willing to talk smack to my 2 year old son (A Ripley) if I somehow beat him this year," and then he backed it up, tormenting the tiny tot, 187 to 158. P Ripley also beat his wife, K Ripley (167), for the first time in recent memory, although K Ripley blamed it on potentially going into labor during the contest for the second time in three years. At least she staved off her brother, M Wanger (165). Patriarch R Wanger (193) ruled the family with an iron fist for the third straight year.
Brothers N Donadio (172) and Jr. Donadio (172) tied, which some say is like kissing your sister, except these boys' sister, L Donadio (177) kicked both their butts. None of the siblings approached their father J Donadio's acumen, however.
In Leachdom, E Leach (217), the self-proclaimed "Senior Leach for over 75 years," has come out ahead of his entire family tree, besting son P Leach (202), and granddaughters Madison Leach and Samantha Leach (174).
In straight up father/child matches, however, the offspring are all grown up. Commissioner M Josephs (209) easily handled his old man D Josephs (193). Adams (207) put the hurt on father Coach Doc (194). And B Kleiman (183) edged his own father, M Kleiman (180), for the second straight year. The exception to this trend was R Schlegel (201), who barely kept hold of his dignity over son L Schlegel (197).
In a sibling rivalry of interstate proportions, R Kornfeld (182), of Michigan, wiped the court with D Kornfeld (173), of Pennsylvania.
Brenner (173) was completely outclassed by Brenner tha Don (191), in every way except name. Both M Paston 1 (189) and M Kline 1 (191) outscored their lower-digit counterparts, M Paston 2 (181), M Kline 2 (188), and M Kline 3 (176). Next year, fellas, you can enter just once and save a little coin.
Finally, we are at a loss for words to describe the beatdown G Wright (183) put on B Wright (115). Suggestions would be appreciated.
Haklar stated, "I've been deceased for quite some time now, yet I'm still positive I can do better than my son" (D'Zuro), but the living lad managed to beat off the ghost, 183 to 174. Even more impressive, D'Zuro (183) tied his metaphorical lab coat-wielding wife, K Sullivan (183). It was a good year for B Peloso (198), who not only surpassed K Sullivan, but also edged his own Duke-loving spouse, M Peloso (197) by a mere point.
In another contest between denizens of parallel planes, a live cat (Crosby, 208) handily outplayed a dead one (Claude, 195).
Believe it or not, P Ripley said he was "willing to talk smack to my 2 year old son (A Ripley) if I somehow beat him this year," and then he backed it up, tormenting the tiny tot, 187 to 158. P Ripley also beat his wife, K Ripley (167), for the first time in recent memory, although K Ripley blamed it on potentially going into labor during the contest for the second time in three years. At least she staved off her brother, M Wanger (165). Patriarch R Wanger (193) ruled the family with an iron fist for the third straight year.
Brothers N Donadio (172) and Jr. Donadio (172) tied, which some say is like kissing your sister, except these boys' sister, L Donadio (177) kicked both their butts. None of the siblings approached their father J Donadio's acumen, however.
In Leachdom, E Leach (217), the self-proclaimed "Senior Leach for over 75 years," has come out ahead of his entire family tree, besting son P Leach (202), and granddaughters Madison Leach and Samantha Leach (174).
In straight up father/child matches, however, the offspring are all grown up. Commissioner M Josephs (209) easily handled his old man D Josephs (193). Adams (207) put the hurt on father Coach Doc (194). And B Kleiman (183) edged his own father, M Kleiman (180), for the second straight year. The exception to this trend was R Schlegel (201), who barely kept hold of his dignity over son L Schlegel (197).
In a sibling rivalry of interstate proportions, R Kornfeld (182), of Michigan, wiped the court with D Kornfeld (173), of Pennsylvania.
Brenner (173) was completely outclassed by Brenner tha Don (191), in every way except name. Both M Paston 1 (189) and M Kline 1 (191) outscored their lower-digit counterparts, M Paston 2 (181), M Kline 2 (188), and M Kline 3 (176). Next year, fellas, you can enter just once and save a little coin.
Finally, we are at a loss for words to describe the beatdown G Wright (183) put on B Wright (115). Suggestions would be appreciated.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Tag, you're it
The Cosmic Forces have clearly aligned. Sure, #8 seed Butler and #11 seed VCU are in the Final Four, but that's nothing compared to our news: The Leach Gang has won a Tag Team competition for what we believe is the first time ever. Yes, the Leaches sit atop the contestant heap, with an average score of 194.6, easily outdistancing Whiteside and his Detractors (188.2), the Boom Crew (182.0), the Ripley-Believe-it-or-Nots (174), and the Present-and-former-employees-of-Urban-Engineering (168.4).
While no upset can be bigger than that, it's certainly noteworthy that males (187.83) came out on top of females (180.3). Children (177.5) probably shouldn't even be seen.
In the Battle of the Species, the so-called "dumb animals," felines (201.5), spiny anteaters (199.0), and lawyers (196.25) all bested humans (185.93). Spirits from the afterworld (174.0) apparently don't get any better information than the rest of us.
If you're in radio, tv, or motion pictures (204.5), well, you must know something. Practicing attorneys (200.33) and computer specialists (194.0) know more than retired people (192.5), something that accountants (187.4), stock traders (183.5), executives (173.67), and engineers (173.25) can't say. At least in our contest, students (191.17) have found little reason to listen to teachers (185.0).
Interestingly enough, the only contestant who identified himself with UConn (Huffnagle) used his inside info to win the contest. Of those schools with more than one vote, Syracuse (200.0) did best this year, followed by Penn State (190.30), and Duke (187.20). In the Big Five, Temple (185.75), beat out Villanova (180.60) and Penn (164.67), while Big Five wannabe Drexel (198.0) trounced them all. In a battle between schools who didn't make the tournament, Indiana (183.0) slapped around Bucknell (162.5), and this despite Bucky Bison (Bucknell's mascot) sending a birthday card to two-year-old A Ripley. Among Division III schools, Widener (193.0) clobbered Johns Hopkins (184.5).
If you're thinking of changing your name, try Matt (210.5) or Ed (205.0). You could do worse than Kevin (191.0) or David (190.4), as well. And by worse, we mean your name could be Rick (186.5), George (184.67), Mike (183.25), Brett (182.33), or Andrew (182.33). As a public service announcement to all you John (180.75) Doe's out there, we do not recommend Bob(180.2)bing for apples or doing anything in the Nick (178.50) of time.
The best region to pick pools from in 2011 turned out to be Western Pennsylvania (200.5), and this despite their proximity to Butler-victim Pittsburgh. Other prime possibilities for prognostication include the Beltway area (193.60) and the Deep South (188.33). If you live in the Far West (185.0), the Midwest (179.67), or New England (179.0), we recommend you find some other leisure activity. Philadelphia Suburbs (185.89) crushed the Philadelphia Urbs (174.5), but they still couldn't find decent, cheap parking.
Our average contestant (186.83) wasn't nearly as successful as our average commissioner (196.50). So we're taking applications if anybody wants the job.
While no upset can be bigger than that, it's certainly noteworthy that males (187.83) came out on top of females (180.3). Children (177.5) probably shouldn't even be seen.
In the Battle of the Species, the so-called "dumb animals," felines (201.5), spiny anteaters (199.0), and lawyers (196.25) all bested humans (185.93). Spirits from the afterworld (174.0) apparently don't get any better information than the rest of us.
If you're in radio, tv, or motion pictures (204.5), well, you must know something. Practicing attorneys (200.33) and computer specialists (194.0) know more than retired people (192.5), something that accountants (187.4), stock traders (183.5), executives (173.67), and engineers (173.25) can't say. At least in our contest, students (191.17) have found little reason to listen to teachers (185.0).
Interestingly enough, the only contestant who identified himself with UConn (Huffnagle) used his inside info to win the contest. Of those schools with more than one vote, Syracuse (200.0) did best this year, followed by Penn State (190.30), and Duke (187.20). In the Big Five, Temple (185.75), beat out Villanova (180.60) and Penn (164.67), while Big Five wannabe Drexel (198.0) trounced them all. In a battle between schools who didn't make the tournament, Indiana (183.0) slapped around Bucknell (162.5), and this despite Bucky Bison (Bucknell's mascot) sending a birthday card to two-year-old A Ripley. Among Division III schools, Widener (193.0) clobbered Johns Hopkins (184.5).
If you're thinking of changing your name, try Matt (210.5) or Ed (205.0). You could do worse than Kevin (191.0) or David (190.4), as well. And by worse, we mean your name could be Rick (186.5), George (184.67), Mike (183.25), Brett (182.33), or Andrew (182.33). As a public service announcement to all you John (180.75) Doe's out there, we do not recommend Bob(180.2)bing for apples or doing anything in the Nick (178.50) of time.
The best region to pick pools from in 2011 turned out to be Western Pennsylvania (200.5), and this despite their proximity to Butler-victim Pittsburgh. Other prime possibilities for prognostication include the Beltway area (193.60) and the Deep South (188.33). If you live in the Far West (185.0), the Midwest (179.67), or New England (179.0), we recommend you find some other leisure activity. Philadelphia Suburbs (185.89) crushed the Philadelphia Urbs (174.5), but they still couldn't find decent, cheap parking.
Our average contestant (186.83) wasn't nearly as successful as our average commissioner (196.50). So we're taking applications if anybody wants the job.
It's Ovah
As we said last week, when the contest started we figured this year might be a record breaking year. And as it turned out, we were right. This year's winning score (223) is the worst, the smallest, the most mind-bogglingest lowest total ever. How much mind-bogglingest, you may ask? Well, the 2nd lowest winning total we're aware of was 45 points better.
Winners are winners, however, and it wouldn't be right to penalize first place winner Huffnagle (223), second place winner E Leach (217) or third place winner Fitch (216), just because their scores are pathetic, now would it?
We would like to congratulate B Wright, however, whose last place total (115) was only the second worst in contest history. The record for ineptitude is still held by Carson, who scored 102 in 1998.
As one might guess, nobody got even half of the Elite Eight. Twelve contestants got three of Eight, 20 contestants managed two of Eight, a whopping 48 of us got one whole Elite Eight team correct, and G Warner and Haklar couldn't even guess any (i.e., they got zero (0) right). G Warner, by the way, claimed on his form that he "spent way too much time on the Southland and MEAC." And frankly, we believe him. Special mention goes to Burke who was one of the lucky dozen who was right on three Final Eight teams, but still managed to finish 77th (aka 6th-to-last) in the standings.
We had 82 entrants in this year's contest, meaning there were 328 Final Four selections made. And four of those selections ended up being accurate. That's right, four (4) people chose one (1) Final Four team correctly. Huffnagle and Templeton went with Connecticut, and Leach and Rybaltowski favored Kentucky.
It probably goes without saying that nobody picked any of the Final Four as their champion, but we'll say it anyway. It's a lot more fun that way.
For anyone who is too lazy to click the standings link on the right hand side of the page, full standings may be found here.
So the contest is over. Congratulations to Huffnagle, E Leach, and Fitch. Your checks will be in the mail.
Tag Team and Rivals totals will be posted sometime this evening. All-Name teams should be up before Saturday, if anybody's interested.
Winners are winners, however, and it wouldn't be right to penalize first place winner Huffnagle (223), second place winner E Leach (217) or third place winner Fitch (216), just because their scores are pathetic, now would it?
We would like to congratulate B Wright, however, whose last place total (115) was only the second worst in contest history. The record for ineptitude is still held by Carson, who scored 102 in 1998.
As one might guess, nobody got even half of the Elite Eight. Twelve contestants got three of Eight, 20 contestants managed two of Eight, a whopping 48 of us got one whole Elite Eight team correct, and G Warner and Haklar couldn't even guess any (i.e., they got zero (0) right). G Warner, by the way, claimed on his form that he "spent way too much time on the Southland and MEAC." And frankly, we believe him. Special mention goes to Burke who was one of the lucky dozen who was right on three Final Eight teams, but still managed to finish 77th (aka 6th-to-last) in the standings.
We had 82 entrants in this year's contest, meaning there were 328 Final Four selections made. And four of those selections ended up being accurate. That's right, four (4) people chose one (1) Final Four team correctly. Huffnagle and Templeton went with Connecticut, and Leach and Rybaltowski favored Kentucky.
It probably goes without saying that nobody picked any of the Final Four as their champion, but we'll say it anyway. It's a lot more fun that way.
For anyone who is too lazy to click the standings link on the right hand side of the page, full standings may be found here.
So the contest is over. Congratulations to Huffnagle, E Leach, and Fitch. Your checks will be in the mail.
Tag Team and Rivals totals will be posted sometime this evening. All-Name teams should be up before Saturday, if anybody's interested.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Four
Only E Leach and Rybaltowski picked Kentucky into the Final Four and nobody picked VCU. Updated standings are up (right hand side of the page), and I'll post a recap, etc., on Monday.
Halfway there
Only Huffnagle and Templeton had Connecticut in the Final Four. Nobody selected Butler. I haven't put up the interim standings since the first half of the Final Four was chosen, but it looks suspiciously like the standings from Friday night, except for one thing: Huffnagle is now in the lead, with 223 points. Fitch is now 2nd, with the same 216 points he had before, with everyone else except Templeton exactly the same, too (he now has 197 points and is tied for 17th). I'll post standings after the Final Four is all decided, either late tonight or tomorrow morning.
Also tomorrow, check back here for an Elite Eight/Final Four recap, Tag Team tallies, and Rivals head-to-head.
See ya.
Also tomorrow, check back here for an Elite Eight/Final Four recap, Tag Team tallies, and Rivals head-to-head.
See ya.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Eight
Two blowouts and two last second victories, and the Elite Eight is now known. And six of the Eight were chosen by less than 10 entrants, including Kentucky (9) and VCU (0). Only Kansas (77) was chosen by as many as 20 entrants (UNC got 19 votes).
Fitch has forged into the lead with 216 points, followed by M Josephs and Quint, with 209 each. Crosby (208) and Adams (207) are a whisker behind.
Fitch has forged into the lead with 216 points, followed by M Josephs and Quint, with 209 each. Crosby (208) and Adams (207) are a whisker behind.
Shows what we know
The four winners last night were chosen by 19 entrants, combined. Only nine of us chose Florida, just six liked Arizona, only four intrepid souls picked UConn, and nobody guessed Butler.
Still, it was enough to give us a new leader, Quint, with 199 points. P Leach (192) sits in second, and Baum (189) and M Josephs (189) are currently tied for third. Seven playahs are within three points of third place.
More games tonight.
Still, it was enough to give us a new leader, Quint, with 199 points. P Leach (192) sits in second, and Baum (189) and M Josephs (189) are currently tied for third. Seven playahs are within three points of third place.
More games tonight.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Four Square
In another wonderful example of symmetry, six of our top eleven Final Four choices are no longer playing (Pitt, Texas, Notre Dame, Purdue, Syracuse, & Louisville) while six teams who are still alive were selected by nobody to make it to Houston (Arizona, Marquette, Richmond, VCU, Florida State, Butler).
In a surprising display of competence, six contestants have all four of their Final Four remaining (Templeton, Harlan, Alberts, K Sullivan, D Kedson, Brenner). There are 45 entrants who still have three of their Four left and 27 who have two. Four prognosticators have just one (1) of their Final Four left (Baum, Jr. Donadio, G Rogers, and of course Mad Leach).
All Choices:
Kansas (63)
Ohio State (58)
Duke (54)
Pittsburgh (44)
BYU (21)
Texas (19)
Notre Dame (16)
Purdue (16)
Wisconsin (10)
Syracuse (6)
Louisville (4)
San Diego State (4: N Donadio, M Josephs, B Peloso, K Sullivan)
Kentucky (2: E Leach, Rybaltowski)
St. John's (2)
Connecticut (2: Huffnagle, Templeton)
North Carolina (2: Alberts, M Josephs)
Florida (1: E Pogach)
Texas A&M (1)
Xavier (1)
Villanova (1)
Georgetown (1)
The full Final Four breakdown, showing every contestants' choices, may be found here.
In a surprising display of competence, six contestants have all four of their Final Four remaining (Templeton, Harlan, Alberts, K Sullivan, D Kedson, Brenner). There are 45 entrants who still have three of their Four left and 27 who have two. Four prognosticators have just one (1) of their Final Four left (Baum, Jr. Donadio, G Rogers, and of course Mad Leach).
All Choices:
Kansas (63)
Ohio State (58)
Duke (54)
Pittsburgh (44)
BYU (21)
Texas (19)
Notre Dame (16)
Purdue (16)
Wisconsin (10)
Syracuse (6)
Louisville (4)
San Diego State (4: N Donadio, M Josephs, B Peloso, K Sullivan)
Kentucky (2: E Leach, Rybaltowski)
St. John's (2)
Connecticut (2: Huffnagle, Templeton)
North Carolina (2: Alberts, M Josephs)
Florida (1: E Pogach)
Texas A&M (1)
Xavier (1)
Villanova (1)
Georgetown (1)
The full Final Four breakdown, showing every contestants' choices, may be found here.
Standing Eight count
In keeping with our annual incompetency theme, five of our top ten favorite choices to make the Final Eight did not get out of the second round (Pitt, Purdue, Texas, Notre Dame, Syracuse), while five teams who are still playing got zero (0) Elite Eight votes from our contestants (Marquette, Richmond, VCU, Florida State, Butler).
Looking good, Final Eight-wise, is Fitch, who has six of his Final Eight remaining and also has Marquette as a wild card, although that's not as impressive as it sounds because he also has Marquette's opponent (UNC), as well as both Ohio State and Kentucky. Others who have six of their Final Eight are M KLine 2, Quint, Whiteside, M Josephs, E Pogach, and Crotts.
We have 33 entrants with five Elite Eight teams remaining and 33 more who have four. Seven unfortunates are left with only three of their Final Eight (Steitz, White, Jr. Donadio, A Ripley, George B, M Kline 3, and leader M Peloso). Sitting around with an astonishing two (2) Final Eight teams remaining are Haklar and perennial cellar dweller Mad Leach.
All Selected Teams:
Kansas (77)
Pittsburgh (74)
Duke (73)
Ohio State (73)
Purdue (54)
BYU (51)
Texas (50)
Notre Dame (41)
Wisconsin (23)
Syracuse (21)
San Diego State (20)
North Carolina (19)
Florida (9)
Kentucky (9)
Georgetown (8)
Louisville (8)
Arizona (6: Burke, Crosby, P Leach, Mahalko, Quint, Yolles)
St. John's (6)
Vanderbilt (6)
Xavier (5)
Connecticut (4: George B, Huffnagle, Mad Leach, Templeton)
George Mason (3)
Kansas State (3)
Villanova (3)
Texas A&M (2)
Washington (2)
Belmont (1)
Utah State (1)
Alabama (1)
UCLA (1)
Vermont (1)
UNLV (1)
The full Final Eight breakdown, showing every contestants' choices, may be found here.
Looking good, Final Eight-wise, is Fitch, who has six of his Final Eight remaining and also has Marquette as a wild card, although that's not as impressive as it sounds because he also has Marquette's opponent (UNC), as well as both Ohio State and Kentucky. Others who have six of their Final Eight are M KLine 2, Quint, Whiteside, M Josephs, E Pogach, and Crotts.
We have 33 entrants with five Elite Eight teams remaining and 33 more who have four. Seven unfortunates are left with only three of their Final Eight (Steitz, White, Jr. Donadio, A Ripley, George B, M Kline 3, and leader M Peloso). Sitting around with an astonishing two (2) Final Eight teams remaining are Haklar and perennial cellar dweller Mad Leach.
All Selected Teams:
Kansas (77)
Pittsburgh (74)
Duke (73)
Ohio State (73)
Purdue (54)
BYU (51)
Texas (50)
Notre Dame (41)
Wisconsin (23)
Syracuse (21)
San Diego State (20)
North Carolina (19)
Florida (9)
Kentucky (9)
Georgetown (8)
Louisville (8)
Arizona (6: Burke, Crosby, P Leach, Mahalko, Quint, Yolles)
St. John's (6)
Vanderbilt (6)
Xavier (5)
Connecticut (4: George B, Huffnagle, Mad Leach, Templeton)
George Mason (3)
Kansas State (3)
Villanova (3)
Texas A&M (2)
Washington (2)
Belmont (1)
Utah State (1)
Alabama (1)
UCLA (1)
Vermont (1)
UNLV (1)
The full Final Eight breakdown, showing every contestants' choices, may be found here.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Pathetique
Before this year's contest started, we were worried the old records would be obsolete, seeing as this year we had three more at-large teams out there, giving everyone the opportunity for 9 additional points. It seemed an unfair advantage for our contestants.
As you've probably already guessed, we needn't have worried. This year's top score after selection of the field (187 points, by M Peloso) was the WORST such score since 1994. In fact, in the past 17 years, there's only been one leading score after selection of the field that was within 5 points of this year's lowly leading tally (189, by Reider, in 2000), and that was probably negatively influenced by the Y2K phenomenon.
Of course what else should we expect when there were more conference winners chosen by 8 or fewer entrants (11: Wofford, Akron, Richmond, UConn, UNC-Ashville, UC-Santa Barbara, St. Peter's, Indiana State, UT-San Antonio, Arkansas-Little Rock, & Alabama State) than conference winners chosen by a majority of our contestants (10: Duke, Belmont, Ohio State, Kansas, Butler, Princeton, Long Island U, Bucknell, Oakland, & Utah State). A whopping eight (8) conference winners were chosen by nobody at all.
So it should come as no surprise that only one of us picked a wild card that managed more than 1 point, and that would be Fitch, who chose Marquette. There were 32 contestants who managed 1 wild card point, but for one lousy point we're not going to bother listing them.
Oh, and can we talk about basketball for a minute? Nobody seemed to flinch when the Big East got 11 bids to the tournament this year, but how Big can the conference really be after its performance in the first two rounds of the tournament? Just two of those 11 teams remain (Marquette and UConn), and of all conferences who got more than two bids, the Big East is tied for last in winning percentage (with the Big 12). Here's each conference's record so far:
ACC: 7-1 (.857)
Mountain West: 4-1 (.800)
Colonial: 4-2 (.667)
Atlantic 10: 3-2 (.600)
Big 10: 7-5 (.583)
Pac 10: 4-3 (.571)
SEC: 4-3 (.571)
Big 12: 4-4 (.500)
Big East: 9-9 (.500)
With that sort of record, seems like the Big East should enter our contest, doesn't it?
Coming up in the next day or so will be Final Four and Elite Eight breakdowns, as well as the ever-popular Tag Team Tallies.
See you soon.
As you've probably already guessed, we needn't have worried. This year's top score after selection of the field (187 points, by M Peloso) was the WORST such score since 1994. In fact, in the past 17 years, there's only been one leading score after selection of the field that was within 5 points of this year's lowly leading tally (189, by Reider, in 2000), and that was probably negatively influenced by the Y2K phenomenon.
Of course what else should we expect when there were more conference winners chosen by 8 or fewer entrants (11: Wofford, Akron, Richmond, UConn, UNC-Ashville, UC-Santa Barbara, St. Peter's, Indiana State, UT-San Antonio, Arkansas-Little Rock, & Alabama State) than conference winners chosen by a majority of our contestants (10: Duke, Belmont, Ohio State, Kansas, Butler, Princeton, Long Island U, Bucknell, Oakland, & Utah State). A whopping eight (8) conference winners were chosen by nobody at all.
So it should come as no surprise that only one of us picked a wild card that managed more than 1 point, and that would be Fitch, who chose Marquette. There were 32 contestants who managed 1 wild card point, but for one lousy point we're not going to bother listing them.
Oh, and can we talk about basketball for a minute? Nobody seemed to flinch when the Big East got 11 bids to the tournament this year, but how Big can the conference really be after its performance in the first two rounds of the tournament? Just two of those 11 teams remain (Marquette and UConn), and of all conferences who got more than two bids, the Big East is tied for last in winning percentage (with the Big 12). Here's each conference's record so far:
ACC: 7-1 (.857)
Mountain West: 4-1 (.800)
Colonial: 4-2 (.667)
Atlantic 10: 3-2 (.600)
Big 10: 7-5 (.583)
Pac 10: 4-3 (.571)
SEC: 4-3 (.571)
Big 12: 4-4 (.500)
Big East: 9-9 (.500)
With that sort of record, seems like the Big East should enter our contest, doesn't it?
Coming up in the next day or so will be Final Four and Elite Eight breakdowns, as well as the ever-popular Tag Team Tallies.
See you soon.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Day Two
From our contest's perspective, not a lot to report about Day Two of the tournament. Although we can say that it wasn't a great day for George B or Broder -- both of whom lost two Elite Eight teams (Georgetown & Villanova for George B; Georgetown and Xavier for Broder), and a Final Four team (Villanova for George B; Xavier for Broder). Mad Leach also lost two Final Eight teams (Georgetown & Xavier), and D Kornfeld picked Georgetown into both his Final Eight and Final Four.
Joining the above in taking Georgetown into the Elite Eight were N Donadio, M Kline 1, Templeton, and early leader M Peloso. Additional Xavierophiles (Elite Eight division) were Steitz, G Warner, and White. The rest of the Villanova backers (at least to the Elite Eight) consisted of only R Simon and M Wanger. Yolles (Eight and Four) and Fitch (Eight) put misplaced faith into Texas A&M, while M Kline 3 went out on a limb for UNLV into the Elite Eight.
Eight more games today. Enjoy.
Joining the above in taking Georgetown into the Elite Eight were N Donadio, M Kline 1, Templeton, and early leader M Peloso. Additional Xavierophiles (Elite Eight division) were Steitz, G Warner, and White. The rest of the Villanova backers (at least to the Elite Eight) consisted of only R Simon and M Wanger. Yolles (Eight and Four) and Fitch (Eight) put misplaced faith into Texas A&M, while M Kline 3 went out on a limb for UNLV into the Elite Eight.
Eight more games today. Enjoy.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Day One
It goes without saying that everybody likes Morehead. I suppose it should also go without saying that if something goes without saying then you don't have to say it. Not to mention (and putting aside that if something's "not to mention" then we probably shouldn't mention it), in this case we doubt it's even true. The eight entrants who chose Louisville (the team blown away by Morehead's last second game winning shot) into their Elite Eight (Baum, Jr. Donadio, Huffnagle, E Leach, S Leach, M Paston 1, M Paston 2, Yolles), and the four entrants who took Louisville into their Final Four (Baum, Jr. Donadio, S Leach, M Paston 2), are probably thrilled at neither the upset nor the puerile wordplay.
Other first round losers on whom contestants languished their precious Elite Eight and Final Four choices include St. John's (picked by Booth, Crosby, Haklar, Nelson, M Paston 2, and G Rogers into the Elite Eight; by Haklar and G Rogers into the Final Four) and Vanderbilt (selected by Alberts, Booth, Karlsruher, S Leach, M Paston 1, and G Warner into the Elite Eight). Haklar and G Rogers also liked St. John's as national champions, and they have our condolences for losing their champion on the very first day of the tourney. That has to sting a little.
D Kornfeld selected Alabama into his Final Eight, and Alabama wasn't even invited to play in the tournament. B Wright deserves his own sentence for choosing Vermont, Utah State, and Belmont among his Final Eight teams, and we're so flabbergasted we don't even know what else to say about that.
True to form in our contest, the team who was our overwhelming favorite as wild card (St. John's, with 44 votes) lost in the first round. Others who have already lost wild cards include B Wright (UAB), M Wanger (Old Dominion), Templeton (Missouri State), and White (Michigan State).
More hopes to be dashed, starting in half an hour. Can't wait.
Other first round losers on whom contestants languished their precious Elite Eight and Final Four choices include St. John's (picked by Booth, Crosby, Haklar, Nelson, M Paston 2, and G Rogers into the Elite Eight; by Haklar and G Rogers into the Final Four) and Vanderbilt (selected by Alberts, Booth, Karlsruher, S Leach, M Paston 1, and G Warner into the Elite Eight). Haklar and G Rogers also liked St. John's as national champions, and they have our condolences for losing their champion on the very first day of the tourney. That has to sting a little.
D Kornfeld selected Alabama into his Final Eight, and Alabama wasn't even invited to play in the tournament. B Wright deserves his own sentence for choosing Vermont, Utah State, and Belmont among his Final Eight teams, and we're so flabbergasted we don't even know what else to say about that.
True to form in our contest, the team who was our overwhelming favorite as wild card (St. John's, with 44 votes) lost in the first round. Others who have already lost wild cards include B Wright (UAB), M Wanger (Old Dominion), Templeton (Missouri State), and White (Michigan State).
More hopes to be dashed, starting in half an hour. Can't wait.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Multiple Personalities
Most years our contestants have a favorite for champion, which is convenient because it gives us an opportunity to bet on everybody else. Alas, this year we don't have that advantage, because our entrants have split almost exactly evenly among Kansas (20), Duke (20), and Ohio State (19). Pitt is our fourth most popular champion, meaning we went with all four number one seeds, although frankly we're not sure whether being in mind-meld with the Selection Committee is a good or bad thing.
Full breakdown of champion choices:
Kansas: 20
Duke: 20
Ohio State: 19
Pittsburgh: 9
Texas: 3 (Baum, M Kline 3, Mad Leach)
BYU: 3 (K Ripley, L Schlegel, K Sullivan)
St. Johns: 2 (Haklar, G Rogers)
Purdue: 2 (M Paston 2, Rybaltowski)
Wisconsin: 1 (Brenner tha Don)
Villanova: 1 (George B)
Syracuse: 1 (A Ripley)
Notre Dame: 1 (Bland)
Full breakdown of champion choices:
Kansas: 20
Duke: 20
Ohio State: 19
Pittsburgh: 9
Texas: 3 (Baum, M Kline 3, Mad Leach)
BYU: 3 (K Ripley, L Schlegel, K Sullivan)
St. Johns: 2 (Haklar, G Rogers)
Purdue: 2 (M Paston 2, Rybaltowski)
Wisconsin: 1 (Brenner tha Don)
Villanova: 1 (George B)
Syracuse: 1 (A Ripley)
Notre Dame: 1 (Bland)
Less Wild than usual
Things appear to be looking up for the economy. Last year, we performed an in-depth economic analysis of the worldwide economy and its effect on wild card behavior, and concluded that in poor economic times our contestants were even more clueless than usual when it comes to selecting wild cards. Case in point was last year's pathetic performance in which members of our group chose seven (7) illegal wild cards and 13 wild cards who didn't make the tournament.
This year, however, while we are pleased that the world finally seems to be shaking off the effects of the long recession, we are disappointed to announce we can only make fun of two (2) entrants for picking ineligible wild cards: Burke and D Kornfeld, both of whom chose #8 Notre Dame. A special award for reading comprehension goes to D Kornfeld, who chose an illegal wild card for the second consecutive year.
Our only entrant who went with a wild card who's off playing in the NIT was Templeton, who selected Missouri State. B Wright chose UAB, who made the field but was eliminated in a play-in game, meaning they didn't actually make the bracket, so maybe we can snicker just a little about that.
St. Johns, with 44 votes, was by a factor of four our most popular wild card. The complete breakdown of wild card selections:
St. Johns: 44
Kansas State: 10
UCLA: 8
West Virginia: 6
George Mason: 4
xxxNotre Dame: 2 (Burke, D Kornfeld)
Washington: 2 (Crotts, ACCBBallFan)
UAB: 1 (B Wright)
Old Dominion: 1 (M Wanger)
Missouri State: 1 (Templeton)
Michigan State: 1 (White)
Marquette: 1 (Fitch)
Gonzaga: 1 (M Josephs)
This year, however, while we are pleased that the world finally seems to be shaking off the effects of the long recession, we are disappointed to announce we can only make fun of two (2) entrants for picking ineligible wild cards: Burke and D Kornfeld, both of whom chose #8 Notre Dame. A special award for reading comprehension goes to D Kornfeld, who chose an illegal wild card for the second consecutive year.
Our only entrant who went with a wild card who's off playing in the NIT was Templeton, who selected Missouri State. B Wright chose UAB, who made the field but was eliminated in a play-in game, meaning they didn't actually make the bracket, so maybe we can snicker just a little about that.
St. Johns, with 44 votes, was by a factor of four our most popular wild card. The complete breakdown of wild card selections:
St. Johns: 44
Kansas State: 10
UCLA: 8
West Virginia: 6
George Mason: 4
xxxNotre Dame: 2 (Burke, D Kornfeld)
Washington: 2 (Crotts, ACCBBallFan)
UAB: 1 (B Wright)
Old Dominion: 1 (M Wanger)
Missouri State: 1 (Templeton)
Michigan State: 1 (White)
Marquette: 1 (Fitch)
Gonzaga: 1 (M Josephs)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
And we're off...
The NCAA tournament field is set and the games start the day after tomorrow. As most of you know we give out a little incentive to the entrant in first place right after the field has been selected, and if the race for that $100 prize is any indication, we're in for a doozy of a tournament.
Coming out of nowhere, the mid-term winner is M Peloso, with 187 points, edging L Schlegel (186) by a measly point, and Harlan (185) by two. Full standings may be found on the right hand side of the page, or here.
At first blush, a couple of the committee's decisions seem odd, like picking VCU and UAB instead of Colorado and Virginia Tech, or giving SEC runner up Florida a 2 seed while snubbing Big 12 runner up Texas with a 4. But we're not ready to give our complete analysis yet. If anybody else wishes to do so, just click on the "comments" link and sound off.
Coming out of nowhere, the mid-term winner is M Peloso, with 187 points, edging L Schlegel (186) by a measly point, and Harlan (185) by two. Full standings may be found on the right hand side of the page, or here.
At first blush, a couple of the committee's decisions seem odd, like picking VCU and UAB instead of Colorado and Virginia Tech, or giving SEC runner up Florida a 2 seed while snubbing Big 12 runner up Texas with a 4. But we're not ready to give our complete analysis yet. If anybody else wishes to do so, just click on the "comments" link and sound off.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Wow, the sequel
Well, the Saturday night games weren't quite as enthralling as the Saturday afternoon games, but they were close. UConn over Louisville by 3, Washington over Arizona by 2 in overtime, Akron over Kent by 1 in overtime. And the best game of the night had no pool or NCAA tournament implications whatsoever, as North Dakota beat South Dakota 77 to 76 in double overtime to win the Great West conference title.
We were unanimously correct in predicting Utah State would win the WAC, but don't get cocky. We also had four more conference champions where absolutely none of us believed in the winner (Texas-San Antonio, Connecticut, UC-Santa Barbara, and Alabama State), while including Utah State only 3 of today's 13 winners were chosen by a majority of our contestants (also Princeton and Kansas). Overall, a majority of us has been right in 8 conferences out of 27, and zero of us has been right in 8 others. Symmetry at its finest.
Tonight's conference breakdown: Kansas (picked by 62) beat Texas (13); San Diego State (19) hammered the celibate Cougars of BYU (56); Washington (16) edged Arizona (37) in OT, UConn (0) snuck past Louisville (5); Akron (6: M Kline 1, M Kline 3, M Peloso, M Paston 1, M Leach, and A Alberts -- although we're not sure how Alberts managed it without having a first initial of "M") survived Kent State (57) in overtime; UC-Santa Barbara (0) rolled in the tide on Long Beach State (74); Alabama State (0) topped Grambling (0) in a battle of zero heroes; and Utah State (82) pulled away from Boise State (0) in the last few minutes.
The last four conferences finish tomorrow. Dayton (chosen by, surprise -- 0) comes up against Richmond (4); Duke (67) takes on arch-rival UNC (12); Ohio State (50) is waiting at the state line for Penn State (0); and Kentucky (28) faces Florida (35).
L Schlegel is still holding on to the contest lead, with 13 correct conference champs and 77 points. Nipping at his heels are Coach Doc (73), M Paston 1 (73), and Quint (72).
About 16 hours until the field is set...
We were unanimously correct in predicting Utah State would win the WAC, but don't get cocky. We also had four more conference champions where absolutely none of us believed in the winner (Texas-San Antonio, Connecticut, UC-Santa Barbara, and Alabama State), while including Utah State only 3 of today's 13 winners were chosen by a majority of our contestants (also Princeton and Kansas). Overall, a majority of us has been right in 8 conferences out of 27, and zero of us has been right in 8 others. Symmetry at its finest.
Tonight's conference breakdown: Kansas (picked by 62) beat Texas (13); San Diego State (19) hammered the celibate Cougars of BYU (56); Washington (16) edged Arizona (37) in OT, UConn (0) snuck past Louisville (5); Akron (6: M Kline 1, M Kline 3, M Peloso, M Paston 1, M Leach, and A Alberts -- although we're not sure how Alberts managed it without having a first initial of "M") survived Kent State (57) in overtime; UC-Santa Barbara (0) rolled in the tide on Long Beach State (74); Alabama State (0) topped Grambling (0) in a battle of zero heroes; and Utah State (82) pulled away from Boise State (0) in the last few minutes.
The last four conferences finish tomorrow. Dayton (chosen by, surprise -- 0) comes up against Richmond (4); Duke (67) takes on arch-rival UNC (12); Ohio State (50) is waiting at the state line for Penn State (0); and Kentucky (28) faces Florida (35).
L Schlegel is still holding on to the contest lead, with 13 correct conference champs and 77 points. Nipping at his heels are Coach Doc (73), M Paston 1 (73), and Quint (72).
About 16 hours until the field is set...
Wow
Wow, what a championship week this year. Plenty more on tap tonight, but so far we've had five conference champions decided today, and the largest margin was 5 points.
BU (picked by 16 of us) came back from a 15 point deficit and needed free throws with 2 seconds left to beat Stony Brook (picked by no one) by 2 in the America East conference. Princeton (51) beat Harvard (31) by 1 point on a buzzer beater to win the Ivy League. Memphis (25) hit two free throws with 7 seconds left to beat UTEP (17) by 1 point in Conference USA. Texas San Antonio (another winner picked by none of us) edged McNeese State by 3 in the Southland. And Hampton (39) "crushed" Morgan State (10) by 5 in the MEAC.
This is without even mentioning UNC coming back from a double-digit deficit for the second straight day, this time roaring back from 14 down against Clemson to win their ACC semifinal match in overtime. The Tar Heels (12) face Duke (67) tomorrow for the ACC championship. And at least one commissioner is holding his breath.
In tomorrow's Atlantic 10 final, it will be Richmond (chosen by 4: M Josephs, Mahalko, Booth, and Kovolski) against Dayton (yet another possible winner picked by absolutely nobody).
L Schlegel leads us all with 11 successful conference champion guesses and 58 points, followed by Coach Doc (54), Quint (53), Canning (50), and M Paston 1 (49). And eight more players right behind with 48.
And still we have eight more championship games tonight, and then a handful more tomorrow to wrap it all up.
See ya. Gotta get back to the TV.
BU (picked by 16 of us) came back from a 15 point deficit and needed free throws with 2 seconds left to beat Stony Brook (picked by no one) by 2 in the America East conference. Princeton (51) beat Harvard (31) by 1 point on a buzzer beater to win the Ivy League. Memphis (25) hit two free throws with 7 seconds left to beat UTEP (17) by 1 point in Conference USA. Texas San Antonio (another winner picked by none of us) edged McNeese State by 3 in the Southland. And Hampton (39) "crushed" Morgan State (10) by 5 in the MEAC.
This is without even mentioning UNC coming back from a double-digit deficit for the second straight day, this time roaring back from 14 down against Clemson to win their ACC semifinal match in overtime. The Tar Heels (12) face Duke (67) tomorrow for the ACC championship. And at least one commissioner is holding his breath.
In tomorrow's Atlantic 10 final, it will be Richmond (chosen by 4: M Josephs, Mahalko, Booth, and Kovolski) against Dayton (yet another possible winner picked by absolutely nobody).
L Schlegel leads us all with 11 successful conference champion guesses and 58 points, followed by Coach Doc (54), Quint (53), Canning (50), and M Paston 1 (49). And eight more players right behind with 48.
And still we have eight more championship games tonight, and then a handful more tomorrow to wrap it all up.
See ya. Gotta get back to the TV.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Oh boy
Quite a day in NCAA land. ACC top seed North Carolina took it's only lead of the game at the final buzzer to beat Miami, while tops-in-the-nation Ohio State needed overtime to dispatch Northwestern. And those were the games that came out the way we expected.
Late last night UCLA (vainly chosen by 28 of us in the PAC 10) fared poorly while in Conference USA, the team with the most votes (UAB with 32) went down in the quarterfinals, leaving UTEP (17) to square off with Memphis (25) for that conference's automatic bid.
Two more favorites stumbled today, as Texas Southern (selected by 71 entrants) lost in the SWAC, and Xavier (picked by 41) got slapped around in the Atlantic 10.
The SWAC finals are tomorrow, with Alabama State (selected by nobody) facing off against Grambling (chosen by no one), which guarantees yet another winner that completely stumped our contestants. In the Big East, we're looking at Louisville (favored by five: P Leach, Karlsruher, Booth, Crotts, and Jr Donadio) against Connecticut (taken by none of us).
The only champion crowned today was Bucknell (picked by 74) in the Patriot. So I suppose we can feel good about that.
Late last night UCLA (vainly chosen by 28 of us in the PAC 10) fared poorly while in Conference USA, the team with the most votes (UAB with 32) went down in the quarterfinals, leaving UTEP (17) to square off with Memphis (25) for that conference's automatic bid.
Two more favorites stumbled today, as Texas Southern (selected by 71 entrants) lost in the SWAC, and Xavier (picked by 41) got slapped around in the Atlantic 10.
The SWAC finals are tomorrow, with Alabama State (selected by nobody) facing off against Grambling (chosen by no one), which guarantees yet another winner that completely stumped our contestants. In the Big East, we're looking at Louisville (favored by five: P Leach, Karlsruher, Booth, Crotts, and Jr Donadio) against Connecticut (taken by none of us).
The only champion crowned today was Bucknell (picked by 74) in the Patriot. So I suppose we can feel good about that.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Predictable
Yeah, we've been making fun of our contestants ability to predict the small conference champions, but it will all even out when the big conferences go down, right?
Think again.
Pitt, the Big East favorite according to our contestants (chosen by 41) failed to win even a single Big East tournament game, falling to Connecticut earlier today. Kansas (picked by 62) lucked out and won their first Big 12 tourney game by 1 lousy point over Oklahoma State, who missed a free throw in the last minute and then had the last shot but somehow managed to waste 20 seconds before putting up a desperation airball at the buzzer.
And things are just getting started.
Think again.
Pitt, the Big East favorite according to our contestants (chosen by 41) failed to win even a single Big East tournament game, falling to Connecticut earlier today. Kansas (picked by 62) lucked out and won their first Big 12 tourney game by 1 lousy point over Oklahoma State, who missed a free throw in the last minute and then had the last shot but somehow managed to waste 20 seconds before putting up a desperation airball at the buzzer.
And things are just getting started.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Two more in the truck
The University of Northern Colorado (chosen by 35 of us) won its first ever NCAA tournament bid, beating Big Sky stalwart Montana (liked by 40). And overwhelming favorite Long Island University (selected by 70) took the Northeast conference championship over underwhelming underdog Robert Morris (chosen only by E Pogach, ACCBBallFan, and N Donadio), although LIU needed overtime to do it.
That's 13 conference championships down and a majority of us have correctly predicted the winner in four (4) of them, for a rousing 30.8% success rate, and the same number of conferences in which zero of us predicted the winner. Not surprisingly, only four entrants have gotten more than half of the conferences right: Canning and L Schlegel each have eight right; M Josephs and G Wright each have seven.
Not counting the four conferences where nobody picked the winner, L Schlegel finally missed one, and is now tied for first with Canning, with both having 40 points. Right behind the co-leaders are M Josephs (38 points), Coach Doc (36), Harlan (36), and G Wright (35). Full standings may once again be found through the link on the right side of the page.
That's 13 conference championships down and a majority of us have correctly predicted the winner in four (4) of them, for a rousing 30.8% success rate, and the same number of conferences in which zero of us predicted the winner. Not surprisingly, only four entrants have gotten more than half of the conferences right: Canning and L Schlegel each have eight right; M Josephs and G Wright each have seven.
Not counting the four conferences where nobody picked the winner, L Schlegel finally missed one, and is now tied for first with Canning, with both having 40 points. Right behind the co-leaders are M Josephs (38 points), Coach Doc (36), Harlan (36), and G Wright (35). Full standings may once again be found through the link on the right side of the page.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Butler did it
Butler made it back to the NCAA tournament, winning the Horizon League and bringing much joy to 42 contestants, while fellow favorite Oakland (74) took the Summit. We considered requiring our entrants to correctly identify which state Oakland comes from before awarding credit, but decided it would just be too depressing to ask (the correct answer is Michigan, not California, if you're scoring at home; or even if you're alone).
Still, it wouldn't be a pool update unless some small conference nobody who went unselected in our contest earned a bid, and tonight it was Arkansas-Little Rock (0) filling the bill. (We considered requiring our entrants to correctly identify which state Arkansas-Little Rock comes from, as well, but based on our entrants' success in the contest so far we decided even that was too much to hope for.) This brings us up to 4 out of 11 conference champions that were picked by absolutely none of our entrants.
Amazingly, L Schlegel has accurately guessed all 7 of the conference champs who were picked by at least one person, and thus he still leads the pool with 35 points. Canning has six right and sits in 2nd place with 30 points. Full standings may be found through the link on the right hand side of the page.
Princeton beat Penn in its regular season finale, meaning the Tigers (selected by 51) will take on the Crimson of Harvard (chosen by 31) for the Ivy League crown.
Come on back tomorrow for yet another riveting update.
Still, it wouldn't be a pool update unless some small conference nobody who went unselected in our contest earned a bid, and tonight it was Arkansas-Little Rock (0) filling the bill. (We considered requiring our entrants to correctly identify which state Arkansas-Little Rock comes from, as well, but based on our entrants' success in the contest so far we decided even that was too much to hope for.) This brings us up to 4 out of 11 conference champions that were picked by absolutely none of our entrants.
Amazingly, L Schlegel has accurately guessed all 7 of the conference champs who were picked by at least one person, and thus he still leads the pool with 35 points. Canning has six right and sits in 2nd place with 30 points. Full standings may be found through the link on the right hand side of the page.
Princeton beat Penn in its regular season finale, meaning the Tigers (selected by 51) will take on the Crimson of Harvard (chosen by 31) for the Ivy League crown.
Come on back tomorrow for yet another riveting update.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Four more champions...
...and some of our entrants even picked three of them!
St. Peters won the MAAC, bringing up to three the number of conference champions who none of us picked (out of eight winners so far). But we prefer to dwell upon the positive. Eight of us guessed right about Wofford (L Schlegel, Steitz, M Paston 1, M Paston 2, Packman, Kline 3, N Donadio, and S Leach) in the Southern Conference, 20 of us correctly chose Old Dominion to win the Colonial, and almost half of us (39, to be precise) accurately predicted Gonzaga to win the WCC. Meaning out of eight conference champions so far, a majority of us were right about one of them (Belmont, picked by 79). Hey, and one out of eight is better than none out of eight, right? That's positive, isn't it?
Interestingly enough, with only five conference champs who had more than zero votes, we have a contestant (L Schlegel) who hit the jackpot on all five (Belmont, Old Dominion, Gonzaga, Wofford, and Morehead State), and three others (Canning, M Josephs, and Quint) who scored on four out of five. And of course these four individuals lead the pack (with L Schlegel five points ahead of the others). Full standings may be found here.
Two more league finals are set, the Sun Belt, featuring North Texas (selected by just three entrants - ACCBBallFan, Crotts, and the ubiquitous M Josephs) against Arkansas-Little Rock (selected by three fewer, aka zero entrants); and the Summit, where Oakland (chosen by 74 of us) lines up against Oral Roberts (chosen by four - Steitz, E Pogach, Kline 2, and Kline 3). And of course the commissioners are very much looking forward to a play-in game between Oral Roberts and Morehead State.
Ba-dum-bum.
St. Peters won the MAAC, bringing up to three the number of conference champions who none of us picked (out of eight winners so far). But we prefer to dwell upon the positive. Eight of us guessed right about Wofford (L Schlegel, Steitz, M Paston 1, M Paston 2, Packman, Kline 3, N Donadio, and S Leach) in the Southern Conference, 20 of us correctly chose Old Dominion to win the Colonial, and almost half of us (39, to be precise) accurately predicted Gonzaga to win the WCC. Meaning out of eight conference champions so far, a majority of us were right about one of them (Belmont, picked by 79). Hey, and one out of eight is better than none out of eight, right? That's positive, isn't it?
Interestingly enough, with only five conference champs who had more than zero votes, we have a contestant (L Schlegel) who hit the jackpot on all five (Belmont, Old Dominion, Gonzaga, Wofford, and Morehead State), and three others (Canning, M Josephs, and Quint) who scored on four out of five. And of course these four individuals lead the pack (with L Schlegel five points ahead of the others). Full standings may be found here.
Two more league finals are set, the Sun Belt, featuring North Texas (selected by just three entrants - ACCBBallFan, Crotts, and the ubiquitous M Josephs) against Arkansas-Little Rock (selected by three fewer, aka zero entrants); and the Summit, where Oakland (chosen by 74 of us) lines up against Oral Roberts (chosen by four - Steitz, E Pogach, Kline 2, and Kline 3). And of course the commissioners are very much looking forward to a play-in game between Oral Roberts and Morehead State.
Ba-dum-bum.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
More Zero Heroes
Mighty Vermont (selected by 65 of us) has fallen to puny Stonybrook (selected by nobody even associated with one of our entrants). The Stonybrooksterians will play BU (16) for the America East championship.
Also reaching their league final after being completely ignored by our contestants are Lafayette (0) in the Patriot League, who will play Bucknell (74) (who beat Lehigh (0) by 2 points tonight), and St. Peters (0) who smacked Fairfield (63) around and will face off against Iona (13) in the MAAC.
In the Southern Conference, favorite Charleston (66) must play Wofford (18) for the automatic bid. Gonzaga (39) is still playing, but if the Zags hold on to their lead they'll be playing St. Mary's (43) for the WCC crown.
Also reaching their league final after being completely ignored by our contestants are Lafayette (0) in the Patriot League, who will play Bucknell (74) (who beat Lehigh (0) by 2 points tonight), and St. Peters (0) who smacked Fairfield (63) around and will face off against Iona (13) in the MAAC.
In the Southern Conference, favorite Charleston (66) must play Wofford (18) for the automatic bid. Gonzaga (39) is still playing, but if the Zags hold on to their lead they'll be playing St. Mary's (43) for the WCC crown.
You'd have been better off picking Murray as your accountant...
We should have known it would be that kind of year when Murray State (chosen by 57 of us) went down to Tennessee Tech (chosen by none of us) on Friday. But if we didn't know then, we sure know now.
So far, four conference champions have punched their tickets for the big dance, and two of them (UNC-Ashville & Indiana State) were picked by nobody in our contest. Out of 82 contestants, only 18 of us have as many as two right out of four.
The other day we mentioned the chagrin of the five people who chose Liberty (who lost before the pool was due). But now we figure the 77 others who picked Coastal Carolina in the Big South feel pretty much the same way. On the other hand, 79 people accurately selected Belmont as Atlantic Sun champ, but that probably doesn't help Steitz, Mad Leach, or Jr Donadio -- all of whom took ETSU -- feel any better about themselves.
The other winner so far who got any votes in our contest is Morehead State (chosen by 20), who beat Murray-vanquisher Tennessee Tech in the OVC final. In the Colonial, the championship game is set between Old Dominion (taken by 20) and Virginia Commonwealth (picked by three -- Wright, Selig, and D Kornfeld. In the Horizon it's Butler (42) against Milwaukee (16).
Indiana State won the MVC over Missouri State (45) and Wichita State (36), but at least the latter two have a theoretical shot of getting picked at large. As does George Mason (57), who went down to VCU.
In the Northeast, it's LIU (70) against Robert Morris (3 -- E Pogach, ACCBBallFan, & N Donadio), each of which won their semifinal games by 2 measly points over Central Connecticut State (Templeton, M Wanger, & Kline 2) and Quinnipiac (A Ripley, Quint, K Ripley, Wright, Mad Leach, & Steitz), respectively. And, as always, we love saying "Quinnipiac."
In what's probably the second Ivy League race that wasn't decided before the pool was due, if Princeton (chosen by 51) can get by Penn this week they'll play Harvard (taken by 31) in a playoff.
More games tonight. Enjoy.
So far, four conference champions have punched their tickets for the big dance, and two of them (UNC-Ashville & Indiana State) were picked by nobody in our contest. Out of 82 contestants, only 18 of us have as many as two right out of four.
The other day we mentioned the chagrin of the five people who chose Liberty (who lost before the pool was due). But now we figure the 77 others who picked Coastal Carolina in the Big South feel pretty much the same way. On the other hand, 79 people accurately selected Belmont as Atlantic Sun champ, but that probably doesn't help Steitz, Mad Leach, or Jr Donadio -- all of whom took ETSU -- feel any better about themselves.
The other winner so far who got any votes in our contest is Morehead State (chosen by 20), who beat Murray-vanquisher Tennessee Tech in the OVC final. In the Colonial, the championship game is set between Old Dominion (taken by 20) and Virginia Commonwealth (picked by three -- Wright, Selig, and D Kornfeld. In the Horizon it's Butler (42) against Milwaukee (16).
Indiana State won the MVC over Missouri State (45) and Wichita State (36), but at least the latter two have a theoretical shot of getting picked at large. As does George Mason (57), who went down to VCU.
In the Northeast, it's LIU (70) against Robert Morris (3 -- E Pogach, ACCBBallFan, & N Donadio), each of which won their semifinal games by 2 measly points over Central Connecticut State (Templeton, M Wanger, & Kline 2) and Quinnipiac (A Ripley, Quint, K Ripley, Wright, Mad Leach, & Steitz), respectively. And, as always, we love saying "Quinnipiac."
In what's probably the second Ivy League race that wasn't decided before the pool was due, if Princeton (chosen by 51) can get by Penn this week they'll play Harvard (taken by 31) in a playoff.
More games tonight. Enjoy.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Breaking News -- BYU's Davies case not about beer
No, apparently Brandon Davies was dismissed from BYU's basketball team after he admitted to having sex with his girlfriend, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
Here's a link to ESPN if you want to read more.
We're sure everyone who picked BYU to go far and just watched or heard about the Mormons getting hammered in BYU-ville by unranked New Mexico (by 18) feels really good about that so-called Code of Honor. Or at least you probably feel good that you didn't personally sign the BYU honor pledge, so at least you can go out somewhere and drown your sorrows.
Here's a link to ESPN if you want to read more.
We're sure everyone who picked BYU to go far and just watched or heard about the Mormons getting hammered in BYU-ville by unranked New Mexico (by 18) feels really good about that so-called Code of Honor. Or at least you probably feel good that you didn't personally sign the BYU honor pledge, so at least you can go out somewhere and drown your sorrows.
Now comes the fun
Well, the entry deadline has passed and now we know what we have. And what we have is 82 contestants this year.
And already so many things to talk about. For starters, how about BYU starting center Brandon Davies being kicked off the team for violating the BYU honor code (the rumor being he committed the heinous crime of drinking a beer). Not the best news for K Ripley, L Schlegel, or K Sullivan, all of whom went out on a limb for BYU as their national champion, and probably not putting smiles on the faces of the 22 entrants who picked BYU into their Final Four and the 51 contestants who selected the Mormons into their Elite Eight.
In other news, Liberty went down in their conference tournament to High Point last night, a few hours before our contest deadline, much to the presumed chagrin of M Josephs, M Kline, G Rogers, Steitz, and Templeton, who all said, "Give me Liberty" for Big South champion.
Fasten your seat belts. The fun is just beginning.
And already so many things to talk about. For starters, how about BYU starting center Brandon Davies being kicked off the team for violating the BYU honor code (the rumor being he committed the heinous crime of drinking a beer). Not the best news for K Ripley, L Schlegel, or K Sullivan, all of whom went out on a limb for BYU as their national champion, and probably not putting smiles on the faces of the 22 entrants who picked BYU into their Final Four and the 51 contestants who selected the Mormons into their Elite Eight.
In other news, Liberty went down in their conference tournament to High Point last night, a few hours before our contest deadline, much to the presumed chagrin of M Josephs, M Kline, G Rogers, Steitz, and Templeton, who all said, "Give me Liberty" for Big South champion.
Fasten your seat belts. The fun is just beginning.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Here we go!
Hard to believe, but the Pool is back for its 22nd year. Entries are due Tuesday, March 1, 2011.
The link to the entry form is: http://www.davidkedson.com/NCAA.asp
The link to the rules is: http://www.davidkedson.com/Rules.htm
Everybody's welcome. So tell your friends, tell your enemies, tell your pets.
It's Pool time.
The link to the entry form is: http://www.davidkedson.com/NCAA.asp
The link to the rules is: http://www.davidkedson.com/Rules.htm
Everybody's welcome. So tell your friends, tell your enemies, tell your pets.
It's Pool time.
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