Tuesday, March 26, 2024

2024 NCAA Tournament Standings - Round 2/Day 2

 


The below standings include the final two teams selected by each entrant in Champion/Runner-up format.  If capitalized and bold, the team is still alive in the tournament.

Pool Standings aftner Round 2

1.  Blake Jackson - 80 DUKE/ARIZONA

2.  Allison Parker - 78  NORTH CAROLINA/DUKE

3.  Braedon Helland - 76  Auburn/CREIGHTON

4.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 75 NORTH CAROLINA/HOUSTON

5.  Marcus Jackson - 74  Kansas/Alabama

6.  Brian McMahon - 73  CONNECTICUT/Kentucky
     Jody Cox - 73 MARQUETTE/ARIZONA

8.  George Fox 2 - 71  CONNECTICUT/DUKE

9.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 70  NORTH CAROLINA/TENNESSEE
     Ty Hedgpeth - 70  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON
     Measha Williams 3 - 70  PURDUE/CONNECTICUT
     Josh Zdrowak - 70  ARIZONA/Kentucky

13.  Miles Jackson - 69  Kentucky/CONNECTICUT
       Jeff Plamondon - 69 CONNECTICUT/MARQUETTE

15.  Kevin Dick - 68  Kentucky/NORTH CAROLINA

16.  Max Marion 3 - 67  PURDUE/Baylor
       Rich Samuels 4 - 67  HOUSTON/CONNECTICUT

18.  Daniel Barsky 1 - 66  CONNECTICUT/PURDUE
       Kyle Henderson 1 - 66  CREIGHTON/CONNECTICUT
       Quinn Jackson - 66  IOWA STATE/GONZAGA
       Jacey Reynolds 2 - 66  NORTH CAROLINA/TENNESSEE
       Chris Simmons - 66  TENNESEE/CONNECTICUT
       Justin Yang - 66  NORTH CAROLINA/PURDUE

24.  Paul Cummings 2 - 65  CONNECTICUT/PURDUE
       Amanda Staudt - 65  ARIZONA/PURDUE
       Katie Zdrowak - 65  ARIZONA/PURDUE

27.  Carolyn Fowler - 64  NORTH CAROLINA/TENNESSEE
       Mark Holbert - 64  NORTH CAROLINA/Kentucky
       Shane Jernigan 2 - 64  Auburn/PURDUE
       William Pujals - 64  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON
       Rich Samuels 5 - 64  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON

32.  Bill Ganoe 2 - 63  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON
       Pepe Sosa - 63  ARIZONA/Kentucky
       Cassi Spruill - 63  HOUSTON/ILLINOIS
       George Walks 3 - 63  PURDUE/Baylor
       Bubba Zdrowak - 63  DUKE/ARIZONA

37.  Joel Chernoff - 62  NORTH CAROLINA/HOUSTON
       Paul Cummings 3 - 62  CONNECTICUT/PURDUE
       Javier Rodriguez - 62  PURDUE/CONNECTICUT
       Rich Samuels 2 - 62  PURDUE/CONNECTICUT
       Measha Williams 1 - 62  HOUSTON/CONNECTICUT
       Measha Williams 2 - 62  HOUSTON/Auburn

43.  Scott Bieterman 2 - 61  Kentucky/Auburn
       James Coleman - 61  CONNECTICUT/PURDUE
       Paul Cummings 1 - 61  PURDUE/IOWA STATE
       Alvaro Gonzalez - 61  PURDUE/CONNECTICUT
       Sean McInerney 2 - 61  CONNECTICUT/CREIGHTON
       Kingfish Parham - 61  Auburn/Oregon
       Dave Piasecki - 61  Florida/Auburn
       Marcus Spruill - 61  NORTH CAROLINA/PURDUE
       Cheryl Spuhler - 61  CONNECTICUT/MARQUETTE
       Day Yi - 61  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON
       Keith Zdrowak - 61  PURDUE/Baylor

54.  Matt Hopps - 60  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON
       Skip LaForte - 60 Michigan State/HOUSTON 
       Max Marion 1 - 60  Kentucky/CONNECTICUT
       Si Nichols - 60  CONNECTICUT/PURDUE
       Rich Samuels 3 - 60  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON

59.  Silas Nichols - 59 CONNECTICUT/Kentucky
       Lee Pagan - 59  ARIZONA/PURDUE
       Ashley Poer - 59  IOWA STATE/HOUSTON
       Jeremy Spuhler - 59  CONNECTICUT/TENNESSEE
       Keith Wynne - 59  CONNECTICUT/MARQUETTE
       Amy Zdrowak - 59  PURDUE/Baylor

65.  Justine Frank - 58  CONNECTICUT/MARQUETTE
       Tyler Giamberini - 58  ARIZONA/Kansas
       George Walks 4 - 58  PURDUE/NORTH CAROLINA

68.  John Hedgpeth - 57  DUKE/NORTH CAROLINA
       Brigadier General Kareem Montague - 57  CONNECTICUT/PURDUE
       Matt Okell - 57  NORTH CAROLINA/HOUSTON
       Ryan Rodriguez - 57  DUKE/Auburn

72.  Scott Bieterman 1 - 56  PURDUE/CONNECTICUT
       Jacey Fowler 1 - 56  NORTH CAROLINA/PURDUE
       Max Macon 2 - 56  PURDUE/CONNECTICUT
       Sasha Moon - 56  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON
       Rich Samuels 1 - 56  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON  
       Brittany Sosa - 56  PURDUE/CONNECTICUT
       Biscuit Zdrowak - 56  Kentucky/IOWA STATE

79.  Kyle Henderson 2 - 55  HOUSTON/CONNECTICUT
       Max Marion 2 - 55  NORTH CAROLINA/MARQUETTE
       Jane Reynolds - 55  ALABAMA/TENNESSEE
       George Walks 1 - 55  NORTH CAROLINA/Kentucky

83.  Melissa Gaynor - 54  ILLINOIS/South Carolina
       Dan Laishley - 54  HOUSTON/CONNECTICUT
       Lily Spuhler - 54  Kansas/NORTH CAROLINA
       George Walks 2 - 54  Baylor/GONZAGA

87.  Dawn Lamb - 53  CONNECTICUT/MARQUETTE
       Derrick Lowe - 53  Kentucky/NORTH CAROLINA
       Max Macon 3 - 53  Florida/NORTH CAROLINA
       Chris O'Neil - 53  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON
       Jessica Samuels - 53  Florida Atlantic/HOUSTON
       Jamie Toole - 53  HOUSTON/ARIZONA

93.  James Garvin - 52  PURDUE/IOWA STATE
       Karen Katz - 52  PURDUE/Auburn
       Caroline Spuhler - 52  IOWA STATE/MARQUETTE
       Logan Spuhler - 52  ARIZONA/DUKE

97.  George Fox 1 - 51  PURDUE/CONNECTICUT
       Adam Jorgensen 1 - 51  CONNECTICUT/CREIGHTON
       Adam Jorgensen 2 - 51  HOUSTON/CONNECTICUT
       Nick Kuehl - 51   Auburn/MARQUETTE
       Max Macon 1 - 51  CONNECTICUT/TENNESSEE
       Max Marion 4 - 51  HOUSTON/IOWA STATE
       Kisha Marzouca 1 - 51  ARIZONA/DUKE

104.  Michael McNally - 50  GONZAGA/Baylor
         Jonathan Wasserman - 50  Kentucky/ILLINOIS
         Mike Wolff 1 - 50  DUKE/NORTH CAROLINA

107.  Jenna Finkelstein - 49  Florida/CONNECTICUT
         Max Macon 4 - 49  HOUSTON/NORTH CAROLINA
         A.J. Ripin - 49  NORTH CAROLINA/HOUSTON

110.  Clair Bullock - 48  NORTH CAROLINA STATE/Auburn
         Barbie Curlett 2 - 48   CONNECTICUT/MARQUETTE
         Natalie Moon - 48  CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

113.  Daniel Barsky 2 - 46  PURDUE/Baylor
         Barbie Curlett 1 - 46  HOUSTON/CONNECTICUT
         Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 46  TENNESSEE/ARIZONA
         Shane Jernigan 1 - 46  CONNECTICUT/MARQUETTE
         Katie Kollmeyer - 46  ARIZONA/HOUSTON
         Chris Pettit - 46  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON
         Coco Wynne - 46  CREIGHTON/ILLINOIS

120.  Arlene Amo Hopps - 44  NORTH CAROLINA/DUKE
         Savannah Grace Presely - 44  Florida Atlantic/MARQUTTE

122.  Brent Bellinger - 43  ILLINOIS/PURDUE
         Guy Hughes - 43  HOUSTON/IOWA STATE
         Noel Martinez 1 - 43  PURDUE/CONNECTICUT  
         Anne-Marie O'Neil - 43  PURDUE/ARIZONA
         Barkley Sosa - 43  CONNECTICUT/GONZAGA
         Mike Wolff 2 - 43  NORTH CAROLINA/Florida

128.  Colleen Giamberini - 42  CONNECTICUT/NORTH CAROLINA STATE
         Dave Marzouca 2 - 42  ARIZONA/DUKE
         Sean McInerney 1 - 42  MARQUETTE/NORTH CAROLINA

131.  Noel Martinez 2 - 41  Auburn/TENNESSEE
         Hannah Sosa - 41  Florida/ARIZONA

133.  Stephanie Henderson - 40  MARQUETTE/CONNECTICUT
         Kisha Marzouca 2 - 40  ARIZONA/HOUSTON
         Jason Spuhler - 40  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON

136.  Dave Marzouca 1 - 35  Wisconsin/CONNECTICUT

137.  Alyssa Hopps - 31  NORTH CAROLINA/Kentucky

Monday, March 25, 2024

2024 NCAA Tournament Pool Results Round 2/Day 2

 

The first weekend is concluded and we are down to the Sweet Sixteen.  Which means only one thing - those of you that haven't paid yet have until Thursday to do so!  By my calculations I am only missing payment for 14 brackets.  There may be less since with brackets flying at me along with checks, Zelle, Venmo and CashApp, I could have missed your payment.  So, if/when I reach out to you later this week and you have already paid, just let me know by which method and I can look it up.  Thanks.

Why do I start with payment?  Because by and large the games have been boring - and that goes the same for yesterday with only a couple of exceptions.  The day started off promising with a very close and exciting game between 10-seed Colorado and 2-seed Marquette, with both teams playing incredibly good basketball.  In the end KJ Simpson - fresh off the game-winner against Florida - and his 20 points did not get enough help from Eddie "Big Boi" Lampkin and his 13 points.  This was largely due to the fact that Marquette's Tyler Kolek showed that he could at least read a basketball court with a 21 point - 11 assist game.  One key moment in this game occurred when David Joplin, a descendant of Scott Joplin [Ed. Note - NOT a descendant]; Okay, a relative of Janis Joplin [Ed. Note - NOT a relative]; Ok, well he hit two free throws with 7 seconds left to make this a two-possession game.

Then we went into the doldrums a bit, with Purdue shellacking Utah State by 39 - the largest spread in the history of the second round of the NCAA tournament - and then Duke putting a 38-point hurt on James Madison.  Clemson handled Baylor 72-64 in a game that didn't seem that close.  Grand Canyon at least played some exciting ball against Alabama before falling 72-61.  Seriously, if you get a chance to watch that game, both teams played the entire last 8 minutes as if it was a tie game in the last 30 seconds.  Then defending champion Connecticut coasted to victory over Northwestern 75-58.  This was followed up by San Diego State absolutely destroying Yale so bad that New Haven, Connecticut finally felt sorry for the Elis.  Speaking of Elis, just thought I should mention that they have a pep song, "Bingo Eli Yale" written by Cole Porter that is so stupid, the only explanation is that it was a prank played by Porter on the entire university before he left to enroll at Harvard.  Interestingly, Porter's roommate at Harvard was future Secretary of State Dean Acheson, which may only actually be interesting to me, but I digress.  Anyway, if you don't yet know how stupid "Bingo Eli Yale" is, you can judge for yourself HERE.  See, I told you.

A couple of points from these games ... Utah State was led by Mountain West Conference player of the year Great Osobor, who finished with 14 points and 6 rebounds in the blowout at the hands of the Boilermakers.  No word yet if he has petitioned Cache County courts for a name change to Mediocre Osobor yet.

Did I miss anything?  Oh yeah, Houston apparently defeated Texas A&M 100-95 - in what has to be described as the game of the tournament.  As a starting point, Houston - the number 1 seed - held a double-digit lead with just over 90 seconds remaining.  Texas A&M the scored on its last six possessions, including a top-of-the-key three pointer by Andersson Garcia (yes his name is spelled "ss"), who let's just say is not a three-point specialist.  (He's no Steve Sanders.)   Then, in overtime, 4 of Houston's 5 starters had fouled out - including their All-American Leader Jamal Shead.  It got to the point for the Cougars that walk-on Ryan Elvin was brought into the game to make key free throws.  A WALK-ON!!!  IN AN IMPORTANT TIME IN AN NCAA TOURNAMENT GAME!!!  He made them, and Houston survived 100-95.  Seriously, go watch the last two-mintes of regulation and overtime.  Ridiculous.

What all of this means is that even with all the favorites winning for the most part we still lost a potential champion.  Our remaining champions are:  ALABAMA, Auburn, ARIZONA, Baylor, CONNECTICUT, CREIGHTON, DUKE, Florida, Florida Atlantic, GONZAGA, HOUSTON, ILLINOIS, IOWA STATE, Kansas, Kentucky, MARQUETTE, Michigan State, NORTH CAROLINA, NORTH CAROLINA STATE, PURDUE and TENNESSEE.

So, the Houston-Texas A&M game going into overtime reminded me of a very seminal NCAA Tournament game that also went into overtime.  Back in 1961 the tournament still played a third-place game between the Final Four losers.  In this instance it was between St. Joeseph and Utah.  St. Joe's lost to Ohio State 95-69 and Utah lost to Cincinnati 82-67 to set up a highly anticipated final in which Cincinnati defeated Ohio State 70-65.  Jerry Lucas of Ohio State was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four despite coming up short in the final, and some guy named Bobby Knight hit a layup for Ohio State to sent THAT game into overtime, but ultimately the Bearcats were the champions.  But, this history lesson is not about the champions, it is about the third-place game.

St. Joe's was coached by the legendary Jack Ramsay, and hed a heckuva squad led by, among others Jim Lynam, Jack Egan, Frank Majewski, and Vincent Kempton, with another legendary basketball figure - Paul Westhead - coming off the bench.  Utah led the game late in regulation behind 34 points and 14 rebounds from Billy McGill.  But Jack Egan for St. Joe's scored 42 himself, and McGill fouled out in the second overtime.  The game was an absolute classic, with St. Joe's defeating Utah 127-120 - IN QUADRUPLE OVERTIME!!!  McGill was the number 1 overall draft pick in 1962, and is largely remembered for inventing the hook shot.  Some of the St. Joe's players were not as successful.

Two days later, Egan, Majewski and Kempton were implicated in a gambling scandal that rocked the NCAA, having taken money to shave points in three of St. Joe's games that year.  That scandal was orchestrated by a cohort of Vincent "the Chin" Gigante.  The story is that the players, at least Majewski, knew the scandal was going to break even as they played in the third-place game.  Egan, Majewski, and Kempton, never played basketball again.

You can read more about this game/situation in this article from 2016 in VICE.

Back to this weekend's games ... with a relative bore of a second round, there is not too much fun on social media, other than people just complaining about refereeing in their teams' losses.  So I give you a highlight from yesterday which I feel will surely be included in One Shining Moment,  Jamal Shead's Putback Dunk.

Not only did we have some great highlights, some phenomenal stats came out of yesterday's action.

Stats of the Day

9.  Penn State wrestling won its third consecutive NCAA title.

8.  Virginia women's swimming won its fourth consecutive NCAA title.

7.  Alabama and Grand Canyon combined for 17 blocks in their game; Alabama with 9 and Grand Canyon with 8.

6.  Jared McCain of Duke scored 22 in the first half; including 6 three-pointers.

5.  Marquette is now 15-0 when leading by double digits at halftime.

4.  Houston had 5 players with two or more fouls at halftime.

3.  Stanford's Kiki Iriafen scored 41 with 16 rebounds as Stanford's women defeated Iowa State, led by Emily Ryan's 36.  Interestingly, neither of these players are the teams primary stars/scorers.

2.  Marquette's Tyler Kolek had 10 points, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds - the first player to have back-to-back 10-5-10 games in the NCAA tournament since Jason Kidd of California in 1993.

1.  Gonzaga is in its 9th straight Sweet Sixteen.  To put that into perspective, in the past five years, Virginia, Kansas and Baylor have all won 1 title, and failed to make it out of the opening weekend the other 4 times.

Players of the Day

10.  Chase Hunter, Clemson - 20 points, 6 assists
9.  Rayj Dennis, Baylor - 27 points, 6 rebounds
8.  Tyler Kolek, Marquette - 21 points, 5 rebounds, 11 assists
7.  Mark Sears, Alabama - 26 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists
6.  Tyrece Radford, Texas A&M - 27 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists
5.  Jaedon Lee and Jamal Shead, Houston - 26 points, 9 rebounds and 21 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists
4.  Tyon Grant-Foster, Grand Canyon - 29 points, 8 rebounds
3.  Emmanuel Sharp, Houston - 30 points
2.  Jared McCain, Duke - 30 points, 5 rebounds

1.  Zach Edey, Purdue - 33 points, 14 rebounds

So, back to the pool itself.  With a whole lot of chalk yesterday, excepting Clemson's win as a 6-seed over 3-seed Baylor, it was pretty dificult to discern an interesting "Pick of the Day" without giving the award to dozens of entries.  But, a magic combination came through, as a ton of our entries had Auburn in the Sweet Sixteen.  This fact allows me to award the "Pick of the Day" to the 4 people that correctly had both San Diego State AND Clemson in the Sweet 16.  Congratulations to Allison Parker of Washington, DC, Mark Holbert of Jupiter, Florida, Caroline Spuhler of Acworth, Georgia, and Barbie Curlett 1 of Jacksonville, Florida.

As for the Leaderboard, at some point this week before Thursday's games begin, I will update the standings so that you can see who has selected what champion and runner-up, that way you know where you stand vis-a-vis other entries that have your same champion.  As always, remember to double-check your brackets and let me know if you think I made an error.  Otherwise, the standings are below, and we have a new leader ...

Pool Standings after Round 2

1.  Blake Jackson - 80

2.  Allison Parker - 78

3.  Braedon Helland - 76

4.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 75

5.  Marcus Jackson - 74

6.  Brian McMahon - 73
     Jody Cox - 73

8.  George Fox 2 - 71

9.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 70
     Ty Hedgpeth - 70
     Measha Williams 3 - 70
     Josh Zdrowak - 70

13.  Miles Jackson - 69
       Jeff Plamondon - 69

15.  Kevin Dick - 68

16.  Max Marion 3 - 67
       Rich Samuels 4 - 67

18.  Daniel Barsky 1 - 66
       Kyle Henderson 1 - 66
       Quinn Jackson - 66
       Jacey Reynolds 2 - 66
       Chris Simmons - 66
       Justin Yang - 66

24.  Paul Cummings 2 - 65
       Amanda Staudt - 65
       Katie Zdrowak - 65

27.  Carolyn Fowler - 64
       Mark Holbert - 64
       Shane Jernigan 2 - 64
       William Pujals - 64
       Rich Samuels 5 - 64

32.  Bill Ganoe 2 - 63
       Pepe Sosa - 63
       Cassi Spruill - 63
       George Walks 3 - 63
       Bubba Zdrowak - 63

37.  Joel Chernoff - 62
       Paul Cummings 3 - 62
       Javier Rodriguez - 62
       Rich Samuels 2 - 62
       Measha Williams 1 - 62
       Measha Williams 2 - 62

43.  Scott Bieterman 2 - 61
       James Coleman - 61
       Paul Cummings 1 - 61
       Alvaro Gonzalez - 61
       Sean McInerney 2 - 61
       Kingfish Parham - 61
       Dave Piasecki - 61
       Marcus Spruill - 61
       Cheryl Spuhler - 61
       Day Yi - 61
       Keith Zdrowak - 61

54.  Matt Hopps - 60
       Skip LaForte - 60
       Max Marion 1 - 60
       Si Nichols - 60
       Rich Samuels 3 - 60

59.  Silas Nichols - 59
       Lee Pagan - 59
       Ashley Poer - 59
       Jeremy Spuhler - 59
       Keith Wynne - 59
       Amy Zdrowak - 59

65.  Justine Frank - 58
       Tyler Giamberini - 58
       George Walks 4 - 58

68.  John Hedgpeth - 57
       Brigadier General Kareem Montague - 57
       Matt Okell - 57
       Ryan Rodriguez - 57

72.  Scott Bieterman 1 - 56
       Jacey Fowler 1 - 56
       Max Macon 2 - 56
       Sasha Moon - 56
       Rich Samuels 1 - 56
       Brittany Sosa - 56
       Biscuit Zdrowak - 56

79.  Kyle Henderson 2 - 55
       Max Marion 2 - 55
       Jane Reynolds - 55
       George Walks 1 - 55

83.  Melissa Gaynor - 54
       Dan Laishley - 54
       Lily Spuhler - 54
       George Walks 2 - 54

87.  Dawn Lamb - 53
       Derrick Lowe - 53
       Max Macon 3 - 53
       Chris O'Neil - 53
       Jessica Samuels - 53
       Jamie Toole - 53

93.  James Garvin - 52
       Karen Katz - 52
       Caroline Spuhler - 52
       Logan Spuhler - 52

97.  George Fox 1 - 51
       Adam Jorgensen 1 - 51
       Adam Jorgensen 2 - 51
       Nick Kuehl - 51
       Max Macon 1 - 51
       Max Marion 4 - 51
       Kisha Marzouca 1 - 51

104.  Michael McNally - 50
         Jonathan Wasserman - 50
         Mike Wolff 1 - 50

107.  Jenna Finkelstein - 49
         Max Macon 4 - 49
         A.J. Ripin - 49

110.  Clair Bullock - 48
         Barbie Curlett 2 - 48
         Natalie Moon - 48

113.  Daniel Barsky 2 - 46
         Barbie Curlett 1 - 46
         Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 46
         Shane Jernigan 1 - 46
         Katie Kollmeyer - 46
         Chris Pettit - 46
         Coco Wynne - 46

120.  Arlene Amo Hopps - 44
         Savannah Grace Presely - 44

122.  Brent Bellinger - 43
         Guy Hughes - 43
         Noel Martinez 1 - 43
         Anne-Marie O'Neil - 43
         Barkley Sosa - 43
         Mike Wolff 2 - 43

128.  Colleen Giamberini - 42
         Dave Marzouca 2 - 42
         Sean McInerney 1 - 42

131.  Noel Martinez 2 - 41
         Hannah Sosa - 41

133.  Stephanie Henderson - 40
         Kisha Marzouca 2 - 40
         Jason Spuhler - 40

136.  Dave Marzouca 1 - 35

137.  Alyssa Hopps - 31

It Tastes Like Chalk: The NCAA Block Squares Pool

Two 5’s, one 6, and one 11. That is what prevents the Sweet 16 from being all chalk. This committee appears to have gotten this tournament seeding correct and I am quite pleased that the best teams in this tournament are being represented. I am also pleased that the non-chalk representatives are teams that we are long familiar with:

  • 5-seed San Diego St was in the final game last year and is clearly showing itself to potentially be a power
  • 5-seed Gonzaga has been a recent mainstay in the tournament out of the West Coast Conference
  • 6-seed Clemson and 11-seed NC State are power conference teams making a strong run from the clearly underrated ACC

So, what do we think now? Well, the 1-seeds are mauling people. This is what we expect from them.  And, with the exception of Kentucky and Auburn (the SEC has been BAD this year), all of the top seeds have played very well. Have there been some close games? Some overtime games? Sure, but that is to be expected in an NCAA tournament. Hell, the Houston-Texas A&M game was only close because four Houston starters fouled out and the other one finished the game with four fouls! So that we are clear, that just doesn’t happen.

Anyway, here is a tweet from The Bear at Fox Sports regarding how vanilla this tournament has been up to now.

The point is that teams that are supposed to be winning are. And if you gamble, you probably did pretty well this weekend. Overall, this will make for a really good and competitive Final Four that I am looking forward to attending this year.

One more thing. The ACC and Big East continue to demonstrate that they are elite in this tournament. The ACC is 8-0 in the Round of 64 and 32 which is tied for the best record in those two rounds with the 2003 Big East (that trash heap we call Virginia lost in the play-in round). As a reminder, that 2003 tournament finished with America’s University as the National Champion! Also, the Big East is 6-0 in this tournament and the West Coast Conference is 4-0. Those three conferences have 9 of the remaining 16 teams!

So, the Block Squares Pool saw Erik Rosales pick up a couple of wins as we close out the 2nd Round. The winners are shown below.

Starting on Thursday, the dollar values will increase to $100 per game. Good luck everyone.

--Your Commissioner 



Sunday, March 24, 2024

Women's Hoops Enters the Big Time? The NCAA Block Squares Pool

Let me quickly get a couple of things off my chest. 

As you have noticed, there is a second NCAA tournament pool blogging in this space. Yes, your tournament host shares this blog with another person who calls himself a tournament host also. He is much wordier than me and he likes to take my content and throw it into his blog posts without credit. Hey Pepster, I see you. You had better start acknowledging me by name. 

More importantly, your tournament host is in the win column! That is correct, in the 100th game played since I started running this pool, I am in the winners bracket. Adding to this celebration, I also won game number 102. Suck it people! I am getting ready to go on a run so hide your money and your feelings.

Regarding the NCAA tournament games, nothing really earth shattering happened yesterday. The Big East and ACC continue to churn out wins, and NC State as the only double digit seed to advance is recalling memories of 1983. None of that really held my attention yesterday, but this person did.


Kim Mulkey's tirade yesterday over an unpublished Washington Post article was the best thing I saw in a long time. The only thing that could have made that spectacle better was if she were wearing this outfit while reading that statement. I am intrigued by this whole situation. It is not a secret that Mulkey was not liked by a fair number of her players, and the rumors of her treatment of some of her players have been out there for a while. 

With that, I really hope she does try to sue the Washington Post. I need this ridiculous fight in my life right now and I am really interested to see if we have entered the space where scandal is not only routine in the women's game, but will start to upend its celebrities. It's kind of how you know your sport has arrived.

Regarding the pool, the results from yesterday are below. 

Good luck today.

--Your Commissioner

2024 NCAA Tournament Pool Results Round 2/Day 1

 

If you are looking for upsets, yesterday was not your day to watch basketball, as seven of the games resulted in the better seed winning.  The only exception to that 5-seed Gonzage defeating 4-seed Kansas, and even then Gonzaga was a betting 4 1/2 point favorite - if anybody is into that sort of thing.  What that game did do is elimate one of our potential champions for the third day in a row, as did North Carolina's methodical dismantling of Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans.

Our remaining champions are:  ALABAMA, Auburn, ARIZONA, BAYLOR, CONNECTICUT, CREIGHTON, DUKE, Florida, Florida Atlantic, GONZAGA, HOUSTON, ILLINOIS, IOWA STATE, Kansas, Kentucky, MARQUETTE, Michigan State, NORTH CAROLINA, NORTH CAROLINA STATE, PURDUE and TENNESSEE.

In the first game of the day, the Dayton Flyers put up a bit of a fight against the Arizona Wildcats, but in then end Arizona's depth was too much and they won 78-68.  In the next game Gonzaga's offense was surgical in its precision 89-68 defeat of the Kansas Jayhawks which, admittedly, was missing its leading scorer Kevin McCullar, Jr.  After this, North Carolina crushed Michigan State 85-69 and Iowa State outlasted Washington State 67-56.

Then, the fun began!  11-seed North Carolina State beat Cinderella-darlings Oakland 79-73, a game in which Oakland's Trey Townsend was easily the best player on the Court playing all 45 minutes.    Close game, overtime, threes falling all over the place ... if you thought this was going to be the best game of the day, you might have been right as this game was followed by an ugly Tennessee 62-58 victory over Texas and Illinois absolutely shellacking Duquesne 89-63, which wasn't even that close.

And then, the magic happened.  Creighton, coming off a season in which they missed the Final Four by one shot, played host to 11 seed Oregon, who had to rip through a run in the Pac-12 tournament to even qualify for this tournament,in PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.  This game had runs, masterful - even dominating - individual performances, great unselfish team play, and it was close.  So, overtime wasn't enough.  How about DOUBLE OVERTIME!!!  And, since the North Carolina State - Oakland game was in the same arena, lots of free basketball for the fans.  This was the first time the same arena hosted multiple overtime games during the tournament on a single day since 1997!  Oregon's stars N'Faly Dante (28 points/20 rebounds) Jermaine Cousinard (32 points/8 rebounds) carried the Ducks all game - scoring every single point for the team in the second half, and all but 2 in the overtime periods.  But it was too much as Cousinard was visibly spent in the second overtime.  I would have felt sorry for him if it wasn't for the fact the Creighton's Ryan Kalkenbrenner, Baylor Sheierman, and Trey Alexander all played all 50 minutes themselves!!!  In the end, Creighton prevailed - and Your Tournament Host was extremely tired!

This means no bonus points for our pool.  It also makes for a very boring "Pick of the Day" award.  Gonzaga wasn't really an underdog despite being the lower seed - besides most of the pool had them.  That would leave NC State as an 11-seed making the Sweet Sixteen as a potential pick of the day, except that was chosen by 13 people, most of which are not even alumni (looking at you Cassi Spruill of Fairfax, Virginia, who apparently took along herr friend Clair Bullock from Columbus, Ohio into Wolfpackdom).

So, where does that leave us?  Well, Quinn Jackson of Reston, Virginia was the sole entry to select Oakland into the Sweet Sixteen.  That was a bold pick that was only eliminated due to an overtime loss.  But, it was still a loss.  Since no single pick stands out, our award for "Pick(s) of the Day" is going to go to .... George Fox 2 of West Palm Beach, Florida, who went an amazing 8-0 yesterday.  That's right, a perfect day by The Fantastic Mr. Fox helps him move up the leaderboard.

Given the lack of upsets and the fact only a couple of games were close, the round was pretty ho-hum.  But some of the stats coming out of the games were absolutely amazing.

Stats of the Day

11.  Washington State was 20-2 in games in which they held teams under 70 points.  Except, they held Iowa State to 67 and lost.  Make that 20-3.

10.  With NC State's victory over Oakland, the 11 seed is now 7-0 All-time over the 14th seed in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

9.  N'Faly Dante and Jermaine Cousinard of Oregon scored every single point for the team in the second half, and all but 2 in the overtime periods.

8.  Gonzaga scored an amazingly efficient 1.39 points per possession in defeating Kansas.

7. Dyaisha Fair of Syracuse scored 32 points in her first round tournament win in the women's tournament, the high scorer in a day in which a record 13 players scored over 25 points.

6.  Ryan Kalkenbrenner, Baylor Scheierman, Tre Alexander of Creighton played 50 minutes, N'Faly Dante of Oregon played 48, Jadrian Tracey or Oregon played 46, and Trey Townsend of Oakland played 45.  All putting in WORK!

5.  Tennessee forced Texas into 17 turnovers!

4.  On the other end of the spectrum, Iowa State committed only 1 turnover between the 4:30 left mark in the first half and 5:45 left in the game.

3.  With his 12 assists, Ryan Nembhard sets the single-season assist record for Gonzaga, surpassing Josh Perkins.  If you set a season record, you will probably be mentioned here.

2.  Same with career record.  Ryan Kalkenbrenner set the Creighton career block shots record previously held by Benoit Benjamin.

1a.  Oregon did not shoot its first free throw until there was 26.4 seconds left in regulation.  And only then because Creighton was intentionally fouling.

1.  Creighton has not had a player foul out in 53 straight games!!!

Hmmmmm, Benoit Benjamin ... Creighton.  Let's flash back to him.  Benoit Benjamin played at Creighton from 1982-1985, and, despite never making an All-American team while in college ended up being selected 3rd overall in the 1985 draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, ahead of people like Chris Mullin, Charles Oakley, Karl Malone, Joe Dumars, A.C. Green, Terry Porter, Arvydis Sabonis, Uwe Blab and Manute Bol.  (Just had to add Blab because it is fun to say).  He managed to play 15 seasons in the NBA for 9 different teams, never making much impact except being 7-feet tall.  Well, that's not a good history lesson.

So, hmmm, where to go next.  Well, the record Kalkenbrenner broke was for blocks.  The blocks leader for a single NCAA Tournament history is ... Jeff Withey from Kansas in 2012 with 31?  Yeah, that's not interesting either.  Especially since Anthony Davis is tied for second with 29, also from 2012, and Kentucky beat Kansas in the finals.  What could be interesting is that Joakim Noah is also tied for second with 29 in 2006, the year that the UCLA Bruins cheerleaders were mocking him for being ugly - something they took from me - but I have already told that story in previous blogs.  (Ask me if you don't know or don't remember).

Wait, here is something.  In 1992, a behemoth of a man-child set the single-game blocked shot record for the NCAA Tournament by swatting 11 shots against BYU.  That man, Shaquille O'Neal.

In the first round in Boise, Idaho, LSU, the seven seed, played BYU in the first round, with the Tigers beating the Cougars 94-83, behind soon-to-be number 1 draft pick Shaquille O'Neal's triple-double of 26 points, 13 rebounds and the aforementioned 11 blocks.  Maurice Williamson, the only other Tiger in double figures scoring, paced the team with 30.  This set up a second round matchup against number 2 Indiana.  The Hoosiers defeated LSU despite Shaq's 36 point, 12 rebound, 5 blocks performance.  Indiana was able to win behind its own 30-point effort from Calbert Cheaney - holder of one of the best baseline jumpers I ever saw - supplemented by Alan Henderson's 19.

Indiana would go on to defeat the 3rd seeded FSU Seminoles in the Sweet Sixteen 85-74, with Calbert Cheaney scoring 17, and unheralded Eric Anderson leading the way with 24 off-the-bench.  This might have been FSU's best ever non-Covid year basketball team, with Sam Cassell, Bob Sura, Douglas Edwards, and Rodney Dobard four of the starters and Heisman-trophy winning quarterback Charlie Ward playing significant minutes off-the-bench.  Coach Pat Kennedy always said that if Sura could see the rim from the parking lot he would put it up.  Indiana then advanced to the Elite Eight, where they boat-raced the 1-seed, Pac-10 champion UCLA 106-79, behind Cheaney's 23 and 22 from wunderkind Damon Bailey.  That UCLA featured Tyus Edney, Tracy Murray, American Pie singer Don McLean [Ed. note - not the American Pie singer], and a young Ed O'Bannon, who the tournament - and later the NCAA - would hear a lot from in later years.

In the Final Four in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Indiana would give a huge fight to Duke, losing 81-78.  Indiana succombed to Duke and Bobby Hurley's 26 points and only 8 from Christian Laettner - first game post-Kentucky shot [Ed. Note - I STILL HATE CHRISTIAN LAETTNER].  Speaking of 30s for 30, Duke went on to defeat Michigan 71-51, but nobody cares about those winners.  The staring lineup of the runners-up - Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, Ray Jackson, Chris Webber, and Juwan Howard - might go on to become famous for something or other.  Hint:  It's The Fab Five.

Those guys were some players ... and speaking of players ...

Players of the Day

10.  Caleb Love, Arizona - 19 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
9.  Jaylen Wells, Washington Stae - 20 points
8.  Jack Gohlke, Oakland - 22 points, 8 rebounds (6 three-pointers)
7.  Steven Ashworth, Creighton - 21 points (10 in overtime!!!)
6.  RJ Davis, North Carolina - 20 points
5.  DJ Burns, North Carolina State - 24 points, 11 rebounds at 6'9", 275 pounds
4.  Terrence Shannon, Illinois - 30 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
3.  Jermaine Cousinard, Oregon - 32 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists
2.  Trey Townsend, Oakland - 30 points, 13 rebounds

1.  N'Faly Dante, Oregon - 28 points, 20 rebounds

Note, the top 3 players all played on losing teams!!!

Because the games were primarily uneventful, interesting social media was quiet except for all of the Fire Calipari stuff.  So ... let's say goodbye to Jack Gohlke.

Social Media/Quotes of the Day

1.  Goodbye Jack Gohlke - may you forever be remembered in hell for beating Kentucky, and by everyone else for a heckuva a tournament run.



Ok, so let's get to the standings.  Double-check your scores and contact me if you have any questions or if you think I missed something.  I will be happy to double check.

Standings after Round 2/Day 1

1.  Braeden Helland - 66
     Blake Jackson - 66

3.  Brian McMahon - 65

4.  Marcus Jackson - 64
     Allison Parker - 64

6.  Jody Cox - 63
     Bill Ganoe - 63

8.  Josh Zdrowak - 62

9.  Measha Williams 3 - 58

10.  Jeff Plamondon - 57
       Rich Samuels 4 - 57
       Amanda Staudt - 57

13.  Daniel Barsky 1 - 56
       Kevin Dick - 56
       Bill Ganoe 1 - 56
       Ty Hedgpeth - 56
       Chris Simmons - 56

18.  Scott Bieterman 2 - 55
       Paul Cummings 2 - 55
       George Fox 2 - 55
       Miles Jackson - 55
       Max Macon 3 - 55
       Day Yi - 55
       Bubba Zdrowak - 55

25.  Mark Holbert - 54
       Quinn Jackson - 54
       Shane Jernigan 2 - 54
       William Pujals - 54
       Justin Yung - 54

30.  James Coleman - 53
       Bill Ganoe 2 - 53
       Kingfish Parham - 53
       Pepe Sosa - 53
       Cassi Spruill - 53
       Keith Zdrowak - 53

36.  Joel Chernoff - 52
       Carolyn Fowler - 52
       Jacey Reynolds 2 - 52
       Kyle Henderson 1 - 52
       Skip LaForte - 52
       Rich Samuels 5 - 52

42.  Alvaro Gonzalez - 51
       Dave Piasecki - 51
       Ashley Poer - 51
       Cheryl Spuhler - 51
       Jeremy Spuhler - 51

47.  Paul Cummings 3 - 50
       Matt Hopps - 50
       Javier Rodriguez - 50
       Rich Samuels 2 - 50 
       George Walks 4 - 50
       Measha Williams 1 - 50
       Measha Williams 2 - 50

54.  Paul Cummings 1 - 49
       Silas Nichols - 49
       Marcus Spruill - 49
       George Walks 3 - 49
       Keith Wynne - 49
       Amy Zdrowak - 49
       Keith Zdrowak - 49

61.  Justine Frank - 48
       Max Marion 1 - 48
       Si Nichols - 48
       Rich Samuels 3 - 48

65.  John Hedgpeth - 47
       Max Macon 3 - 47
       Sean McInerney 2 - 47
       Matt Okell - 47
       Lee Pagan - 47
       Ryan Rodriguez - 47

71.  Scott Bieterman 1 - 46
       Jacey Fowler (1) - 46
       Dan Laishley - 46
       Max Macon 2 - 46
       Sasha Moon - 46
       Brittany Sosa - 46
       Lily Spuhler - 46
       Biscuit Zdrowak - 46

79.  Brigadier General Kareem Montague - 45

80.  Melissa Gaynor - 44
       Tyler Giamberini - 44
       Rich Samuels 1 - 44
       Logan Spuhler - 44
       George Walks 2 - 44

85.  Kyle Henderson 2 - 43
       Nick Kuehl - 43
       Max Marion 2 - 43
       Max Marion 4 - 43
       Chris O'Neil - 43
       Jessica Samuels - 43
       George Walks 1 - 43

92.  Clair Bullock - 42
       James Garvin - 42
       Shane Jernigan 1 - 42
       Karen Katz - 42
       Michael McNally - 42

97.  Jenna Finkelstein - 41
       Adam Jorgensen 1 - 41
       Adam Jorgensen 2 - 41
       Dawn Lamb - 41
       Derrick Lowe - 41
       Max Macon 1 - 41
       Kisha Marzouca 1 - 41
       Jane Reynolds - 41
       A.J. Ripin - 41
       Jamie Toole - 41

107.  Katie Kollmeyer - 40
         Cheryl Spuhler - 40
         Jonathan Wasserman - 40
         Mike Wolff 1 - 40

111.  George Fox 1 - 39
         Max Macon 4 - 39

113.  Barbie Curlett 2 - 38
         Chris Pettit - 38
         Savannah Grace Pressly - 38

116.  Guy Hughes - 37
         Mike Wolff 2 - 37

118.  Daniel Barsky 2 - 36
         Colleen Giamberini - 36
         Coco Wynne - 36

121.  Anne-Marie O'Neil - 35
         Barkley Sosa - 35

123.  Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 34
         Dave Marzouca 2 - 34
         Natalie Moon - 34

126.  Brent Bellinger - 33
         Noel Martinez 1 - 33
         Hannah Sosa - 33

129.  Barbie Curlett 1 - 32
         Arlene Amo Hopps - 32
         Kisha Marzouca 2 - 32
         Sean McInerney 1 - 32

133.  Noel Martinez 2 - 31
         Dave Marzouca 1 - 31

135.  Stephanie Henderson - 30
         Jason Spuhler - 30

137.  Alyssa Hopps - 25

Saturday, March 23, 2024

2024 NCAA Tournament Pool Results Round 1/Day 2

 

Welcome back all.  We have concluded the first round with some more surprises, but before we get to the tournament update, I have an update to the pool  We now have 137 entries.  "So Pepster, how did we increase in entries after the tournament has started" some you might ask.  Well, it is because I received the bracket from Karen Katz of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the mail, postmarked March 19.  She is now included in the standings.

Day 2 gave us some incredibly exciting games, the kind we missed on Thursday.  It all started in the 8/9 game pitting last year's darling Florida Atlantic against Northwestern and we got some free basketball.  Although Northwestern curb-stomped FAU in overtime, the game was back-and-forth most of the day.

Northwestern was not the only smart boys advancing to the second round as Yale outlasted SEC champion Aurburn 78-76, as Auburn Tre Donaldson missed 2 free throws with six seconds remaining that would have tied the game despite John Poulakidas of Yale pulling his best Jack Grohlke.

Another incredibly close - and exciting - game was Colorado over Florida 102-100 with Florida's Walker Clayton, Jr. making a three-pointing to tie the game at 100 with 9 seconds left followed by KJ Simpson rushing dow to hit the eventual game-winner with 3 seconds remaining.  A last-ditch heave by Clayton, who had 33 points in this game - came dangerously close as it hit the backboard.

All three of these games have one thing in common, they knocked out a champion in our pool.  Multiple people selected Florida Atlantic, Auburn and Florida.  Our remaining champions are:  ALABAMA, Auburn, ARIZONA, BAYLOR, CONNECTICUT, CREIGHTON, DUKE, Florida, Florida Atlantic, GONZAGA, HOUSTON, ILLINOIS, IOWA STATE, KANSAS, Kentucky, MARQUETTE, MICHIGAN STATE, NORTH CAROLINA, NORTH CAROLINA STATE, PURDUE and TENNESSEE.

Other close games include last year's finalist San Diego State defeating UAB 68-65, and Grand Canyon defeating Saint Mary's 75-66.  Grand Canyon joins Yale as being upsets worth bonus points in our pool, as was James Madison with its 11-point victory over 5 seed Wisconsin.  People in our pool had everyone of the upsets, and each of these upsets was guaranteed by multiple people, meaning lots of movement in the standings.  Another game of note is that 6th-seeded Clemson handily beat New Mexico 77-56 to be the only 6 seed to advance to the second round, as the 3 other 11 seeds all won on Thursday.

As I mentioned, multiple people selected each of yesterday's three bonuses, and several even selected each as a guarantee.  But, since way more people selected James Madison and Grand Canyon that Yale, those that selected Yale get special mention.  Those include George Walks 1 of West Palm Beach, Florida, Jeff Plamondon if Lincoln, Rhode Island, Barkley Sosa of Riviera Beach, Florida Coco Wynne of Delray Beach, Florida and Rich Samuels 1 of Palm Beach Gardens, FL.  They receive special mention, but the "Picks of the Day" Award goes to Cassi Spruill of Fairfax, Virginia, Day Yi of Forest Hills, New York, and Max Marion 4 of West Palm Beach, Florida.  Congratulations and now - You are all dead to me.  On a side note, I asked Barkley Sosa how on earth she can live under my roof and select Yale - FOR ANYTHING - and she responded, "I pick all the dog and wolf mascots that I can."  I went back and reviewed her bracket, and although accurate - still not an excuse.

In fact, entrant Kisha Marzouca of Boynton Beach, Florida, a college classmate of mine, texted me to say "WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IVY LEAGUE BASKETBALL?!?! yasssss this is the only time a Harvard person will be happy for Yale"  She is a much better person than I.

Day 1 Kentucky loses; Day 2 Yale wins.  This tournament got me feeling like a Mint Condition song, which coincidentally was on the radio when I did a breakfast run this morning.

And yes, I was at a red light when I took that picture.

And, since I am obviously in a cheerful mood, I will give an "Anti-Pick of the Day" award.  In the running was Colleen Giamberini of Boynton Beach, Florida and Alyssa Hopps of Quincy, Massachusetts who both slected Grambling over Purdue, but, that pick took guts.  Going out on a limb should be rewarded, not ridiculed, especially since we all know Purdue can lose a first round game as a 1-seed; they did it last year.  So, instead, the "Anti-Pick of the Day" award goes to Joshua Zdrowak of Tallahassee, Florida by way of Orlando, Florida who picked Auburn.  Why was this such a bad pick?  It is because he picked Auburn to win the Florida Atlantic-Northwestern game!  Congratulations Joshua!

Social Media Posts/Random Quotes of the Day

5.  Facebook post from a college classmate ... "It's weird to root for Yale for any reason.  I have a reflexive distaste for Yale -- until March Madness starts up.  And then Ivy League prode takes over.  It feels very unnatural but, to paraphrase Whitman, 'Do I contradict myself?  Very well then I contrdaict myself (I am large.  I contain multitudes...)"  - Much bigger person than me.

4.  Auburn basketball alumnus Charles Barkley, "We're not gonna lose to the smart kids, I'll tell you that!"

3.  When a play from Auburn-Yale game comes on the television and a zoom-in on a Yale player, Hannah Sosa of Riviera Beach, Florida commented, "He looks like he goes to Yale."  That's my girl.

And, since I am still not over the Kentucky loss

2.  From Twitter sent to me by Kevin Dick of Alexandria, Virginia, calling John Calipari the "Italian Doc Rivers."

1.  This was posted in the other pool run by this blog, but it needs mentioning here ...


Yeah, this tournament is killing me.

Stats of the Day

6.  Tre Donaldson from Auburn was shooting 82.9% from the free throw line when he stepped up and missed two free throws with 6 seconds left in game and Auburn down 2 to Yale.

5.  Zach Edey of Purdue pulled down 21 rebounds.

4.  Ryan Langborg from Northwestern scored 12 points - IN OVERTIME - as Northwestern downed Florida Atlantic.

3.  Iowa State Freshman Audi Cooks scored 40 points as Iowa State came back from a 20-point deficit to defeat Maryland in the women's tournament.

2.  Colorado had 14 assists in its first 14 made field goals in the first half against Florida.  (Finsihed the half 14 assists/17 made field goals).

1.  Northwestern scored 19 total points in overtime over Florida Atlantic.  That is the same exact number of points as they scored the ENTIRE FIRST HALF!

 Players of the Day

Honorable Mention - Chad Baker-Mazara, Auburn -Ejecting for hitting a Yale player.

10.  Eddie Lampkin, Colorado - 23 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists
9.  Tyrece Radford, Texas A&M - 20 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists
8.  Jaedon LeDee, San Diego State - 32 points, 8 rebounds
7.  Johni Broome, Auburn - 24 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
6.  Will Clayton, Jr., Florida - 33 points on 10/17 shooting and 7/7 free throw line
5.  Kam Jones, Marquette - 28 points
4.  Ryan Langborg, Northwestern - 27 points - 12 in overtime
3.  John Poulakides, Yale - 28 points on 10/15 shooting; 6/9 from three point range
2.  Mark Sears, Alabama - 30 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists

1.  Zach Edey, Purdue - 30 points, 21 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks

So, looking at this list gives me the thought for the NCAA Tournament history lesson.  I watched a lot of the Florida-Colorado game, and Colorado's Eddie Lampkin is a force.  He is listed at 6'11 and 265 pounds, but I would bet his a good 25 pounds heavier than that, but not really fat.  He is super-light on his feet, and possesses a devasting bump-and-spin move which is virtually unguardable.  He reminds me a bit of former Boston College standout Danya Abrams, who albeit a bit shorter than Lampkin, was every bit as stocky and light on his feet.  He played at Boston College from 1993 - 1997, and during the 1993-1994 year Boston College had some very unique and interesting sports successes.

It all started on November 20, 1993, when the number 1 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team traveled to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts to play the 17th-ranked BC Eagles.  Boston College built a 38-17 lead into the fourth quarter with only 11 minutes left in the game.  Notre Dame came roaring back to take the lead 39-38.  Eagles quarterback Glenn Foley led the team on a last-minute drive that almost never happened as one of his passes bounced right off the hands of Notre Dame linebacker Pete Bercich.  Two completions to tight end Pete Mitchell and one to Ivan Boyd set up a 41-yard field goal which David Gordon converted as time expired to knock off the top ranked Irish.

Later that winter, the Boston College Eagles defeated the then number 1 ranked Boston University Terriers in hockey, setting up this story ...

Boston College entered the tournament as the 9-seed, and opened in the first round against 8th-seeded Washington State in Landover, Maryland.  Washington State was paced by Isaac Fontaine's 17 points as the Cougars narrowly lost to the Eagles 67.  Boston College had a monster game from Bill Curley with 25 points and 10 rebounds, while getting 17 points and 7 assists from point guard Howard Eisley.  Freshman Danya Abrams contributed 7 points and 9 rebounds in 37 minutes played for a team that was not very deep.  This victory advanced Boston College into the second round - where number 1 seed North Carolina awaited.

This Tar Heel team was loaded, and after playing a 71-51 warm-up game against Liberty in the first round, North Carolina's stars looked like they were just going to waltz into the Final Four.  Future NBAers all over the roster, UNC started Derrick Phelps at the point, Donald Williams and Brian Reese on the wings, Rasheed Wallace at the four and Eric Montross in the middle.  Jerry Stackhouse and Jeff McInnis came off the bench, as did sharpshooter Dante Calabria - who I have played against in league ball - to make the Heels way more talented and deeper than the Eagles.

But, I probably wouldn't be including this game in this post if the normal happened, and the Eagles shocked the basketball-watching world, winning 75-72.  North Carolina was paced by Eric Montross scoring 16 points, and Jerry Stackhouse contributing 15 off the bench.  Rasheed Wallace and Jeff McInnis also finished with double digit points.  Boston College, however, rode its starters as they scored all 75 of the teams points - led by Gerrod Abram's 21.  Bill Curley had 18 with Howard Eisley and Malcolm Huckaby adding 11 each.  The reason for the post - Danya Abrams scored 14 and had a team-high 10 rebounds - all while guarding Rasheed Wallace.

From there Boston College advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in Miami, Florida, where they defeated the 5th-seeded Indiana Hoosiers 77-68.  Abrams only scored 6 points in this game, but Eisley scored 18, Huckaby and Abram 15, and Curley 11 to defeat the Alan Henderson led Hoosiers.

Advancing to the Elite 8, the Eagles lack of depth and the SEC Champion Florida Gators ended BC's hope of a Final Four 74-66.  Abrams contributed 14 points and a team-high 9 rebounds to go along with Bill Curley's 20 and Howard Eisley's 19, but it wasn't enough.  For Florida, Craig Brown had 21 and Andrew DeClerq had 16 to pace the Gators.  For basketball fans, though, the highlight was watching Danya Abrams go head-to-head with Gator behemoth Dametri Hill, both of similar size and stature.  More wrestling than basketball, these two giants definitely pushed each other throughout the entire game.

Florida went on to lose to Duke in the Final Four, which in turn lost to Arkansas in the championship game 76-72.  That Arkansas team was one of the most exciting teams I have watched, Scotty Thurman, Corliss Williamson, Corey Beck and Dwight Stewart, but that is a story for another day.

Abrams was named first team All-Big East his next three seasons, and went on to play professionally for 11 years in various leagues around the world, and is currently in Massachussetts coaching.

So, back to the interesting year for Boston College, they defeated teh number 1 team in football, hockey, and basketball in the same season.

So, enough history...  on to the Standings... Please double-check your results as I do make mistakes.  I am happy to go back and review if you think I missed something.

Standings After Round 1/Day 2

1.  Braeden Helland - 56

2.  Blake Jackson - 54
     Marcus Jackson - 54

4.  Brian McMahon - 53

5.  Allison Parker - 50

6.  Jody Cox - 49
     Bill Ganoe 3 - 49

8.  Measha Williams 3 - 48
     Joshua Zdrowak - 48

10.  Miles Jackson - 47
       Rich Samuels 4 - 47

12.  Daniel Barsky 1 - 46
       Quinn Jackson - 46

14.  Jeff Plamondon - 45

15.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 44
       Ty Hedgpeth - 44
       Shane Jernigan 2 - 44
       Chris Simmons - 44

19.  Scott Bieterman 2 - 43
       Amanda Staudt - 43
       Max Marion 3 - 43
       Bubba Zdrowak - 43
       Katie Zdrowak - 43

24.  Joel Chernoff - 42
       Kevin Dick - 42
       Skip LaForte - 42
       William Pujals - 42
       Justin Yung - 42

29.  James Coleman - 41
       Paul Cummings 2 - 41
       Bill Ganoe - 41
       Kingfish Parham - 41
       Dave Piasecki - 41
       Ashley Poer - 41
       Pepe Sosa - 41
       Cassi Spruill - 41
       Jeremy Spuhler - 41
       Day Yi - 41

39.  Paul Cummings 3 - 40
       Kyle Henderson 1 - 40
       Mark Holbert - 40
       Rich Samuels 5 - 40

43.  George Fox 2 - 39
       Silas Nichols - 39
       Cheryl Spuhler - 39
       Keith Wynne - 39

47.  Carolyn Fowler - 38
       Justine Frank - 38
       Matt Hopps - 38
       Michael McNally - 38
       Si Nichols - 38
       Jacey Reynolds (2) - 38
       Javier Rodriguez - 38
       Rich Samuels 2 - 38
       Lily Spuhler - 38
       George Walks 4 - 38
       Measha Williams 1 - 38

58.  Paul Cummings 1 - 37
       Alvaro Gonzalez - 37
       Max Macon 3 - 37
       Marcus Spruill - 37
       George Walks 3 - 37
       Amy Zdrowak - 37
       Keith Zdrowak - 37

65.  Melissa Gaynor - 36
       Shane Jernigan - 36
       Dan Laishley - 36
       Max Marion 1 - 36
       Sasha Moon - 36
       Rich Samuels 3 - 36
       Brittany Sosa - 36
       Logan Spuhler - 36
       Measha Williams 2 - 36

74.  Matt Okell - 35
       Lee Pagan - 35
       George Walks 1 - 35

77.  Karen Katz - 34
       Max Macon 2 - 34

79.  John Hedgpeth - 33
       Max Marion 4 - 33
       Sean McInerney 2 - 33
       Ryan Rodriguez - 33
       Jessica Samuels - 33

84.  Scott Bieterman 1 - 32
       Clair Bullock - 32
       Jacey Fowler 1 - 32
       James Garvin - 32
       Tyler Giamberini - 32
       Rich Samuels 1 - 32
       Cheryl Spuhler - 32
       George Walks 2 - 32
       Jonathan Wasserman - 32
       Biscuit Zdrowak - 32

94.  Jenna Finkelstein - 31
       Kyle Henderson 2 - 31
       Nick Kuehl - 31
       Dawn Lamb - 31
       Derrick Lowe - 31
       Brigadier General Kareem Montague - 31
       Chris O'Neil - 31
       Jane Reynolds - 31
       A.J. Ripin - 31
       Jamie Toole - 31

104.  Colleen Giamberini - 30

105.  Adam Jorgensen 1 - 29
         Adam Jorgensen 2 - 29
         Max Macon 1 - 29
         Max Macon 4 - 29
         Max Marion 2 - 29
         Kisha Marzouca 1 - 29
         Barkley Sosa - 29
         Mike Wolff 2 - 29

113.  Katie Kollmeyer - 28
         Chris Pettit - 28
         Savannah Grace Pressly - 28
         Mike Wolff 1 - 28

117.  George Fox 1 - 27
         Coco Wynne - 27

119.  Guy Hughes - 25
         Hannah Sosa - 25

121.  Daniel Barsky - 24
         Barbie Curlett 2 - 24
         Kisha Marzouca 2 - 24

124.  Anne-Marie O'Neil - 23

125.  Barbie Curlett 1 - 22
         Arlene Amo Hopps - 22
         Dave Marzouca 2 - 22
         Natalie Moon - 22
         Jason Spuhler - 22

130.  Brent Bellinger - 21
         Noel Martinez 1 - 21
         Dave Marzouca 1 - 21

133.  Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 20
         Sean McInerney 1 - 20

135.  Alyssa Hopps - 19
         Noel Martinez 2 - 19

137.  Stephanie Henderson - 18