NCAA Pool Standings - Final Four

NCAA TOURNAMENT POOL STANDINGS

Elite 8 Day 2

The Elite 8 is complete, and Syracuse is the surprise of the ball.  Most people did not think that Syracuse should have even been in the tournament, and now they are one of four teams left, which includes the top seeded North Carolina Tar Heels.  See you in Houston Tar Heel and Orange fans (excepting Donald Trump).

North Carolina was an overwhelming selection to make it to the Final Four, so if you did not pick the Tar Heels, you lost ground in the pool.  Nobody had Syracuse in the Final Four, so everybody that selected North Carolina wins the “Pick of the Day” award.

The “Worst Pick of the Day” goes to Keith Bornhorst, who had North Carolina into the Elite 8, and then did not select a Final Four winner from that quadrant.

Greg Kummerlen and Glen Merchant remain in the lead, but Greg has maxxed out his points, as he has no remaining points to earn.  In fact, a large number of entrants have reached the highest amount of points that they can.  In the standings below, I have noted who has winners/runners-up remaining.  For possible winners of the pool, you will receive 10 points for a correct semi-final selection, and 12 points for having the Finals correctly.

Our pool has 3 remaining champions, as all but Syracuse have been selected by various entrants.  For the many of you that had Virginia, you join the rest of us. The remaining champions in the pool are:  Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan State, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Villanova and Virginia. 

Since I will be at the Final Four, I will not be updating the pool after Saturday’s games, or immediately after Monday’s final.  Instead, I will be live blogging with my cohorts from Houston, so look for those entries.

It appears to me that the winners will be (I did not calculate the tiebreakers yet):

If Villanova beats North Carolina – Glen Merchant; Greg Kummerlen; Jonathan Wasserman 2

If Villanova beats Syracuse – Glen Merchant; Greg Kummerlen; Kevin McAlister

If Oklahoma beats North Carolina – Karen Katz; Greg Kummerlen/Glen Merchant (Tie)

If Oklahoma beats Syracuse – Karen Katz; Greg Kummerlen/Glen Merchant (Tie)

If North Carolina beats Villanova – Glen Merchant, Measha Williams 2; Colleen Hamilton 1

If North Carolina beats Oklahoma – Joshua and Katie Zdrowak; Measha Williams 2; Collen Hamilton 1

If Syracuse beats Villanova – Glen Merchant; Greg Kummerlen; Kevin McAlister

If Syracuse beats Oklahoma – Greg Kummerlen/Glen Merchant (Tie); Anthony LaPira

I will do the final standings of the entire pool sometime next week.

Please remember to pay, if you have not.  Payment instructions are on the rule sheet, or you can make other arrangements with me as necessary.

Good luck to everyone, and happy game watching.  Now, on to the standings.  (All caps is champion, only capitalized is runner-up).

1.         Greg Kummerlen – 116

            Glen Merchant – 116 - VILLANOVA

3.         Kevin McAlister – 108

4.         Jonathan Wasserman 2 – 102 – North Carolina

5.         Duncan Merchant – 101

            Kareem Montague – 101 – North Carolina

7.         Anthony LaPira – 100 - Oklahoma

            Measha Williams 2 – 100 – NORTH CAROLINA

9.         Steven Usma 3 – 99

            Justin Yung – 99 - Oklahoma

11.       Kent Armstrong – 98

            Kim Bancsi – 98

            Colleen Hamilton 1 – 98 – NORTH CAROLINA

            Eric Inge – 98

            Allison Parker – 98 – North Carolina

            Rich Samuel 2 – 98

17.       Rebecca Seelig – 97

18.       Alex King – 96

            Jane Reynolds – 96

20.       Keith Bornhorst – 95

            Karen Katz – 95 - OKLAHOMA

            Joshua Zdrowak – 95

23.       Carolyn Fowler – 94

            Mango Merchant – 94

            Joshua and Katie Zdrowak – 94 – NORTH CAROLINA/Oklahoma

26.       Debbie Niemann – 93

27.       Measha Williams 4 – 92 – NORTH CAROLINA

            Martha Kroesen – 91 – North Carolina

            Measha Williams 3 – 91

30.       Bryan Apolinar – 90

            Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds – 90 – NORTH CAROLINA

            Lee Seelig – 90

            Roxy Sheehan – 90 – NORTH CAROLINA

            Amy Zdrowak – 90 – NORTH CAROLINA

35.       Cory Mauro – 89 – NORTH CAROLINA

36.       Kline Kroesen – 88 - Oklahoma

37.       Jacey Fowler II – 87

38.       Brent Bellinger – 86

            Pepe Sosa – 86 - Oklahoma

            Steven Usma 1 – 86 – North Carolina

41.       Jacey Fowler I – 85

            George Walks 2 – 85

            Hershey Zdrowak – 85

44.       Andrew Giannone – 84

            Matt Hopps – 84

            Hilary Kroesen – 84 – VILLANOVA

47.       Jen Armstrong – 83

            Jonathan Wasserman 1 – 83 – NORTH CAROLINA

            Measha Williams 1 – 83 – NORTH CAROLINA

50.       Ty Leatherman – 82

            George Walks 3 – 82 – OKLAHOMA/North Carolina

52.       Vic LaPira – 81

            Rich Samuel 1 – 81 – NORTH CAROLINA

            Abigail Sosa – 81

            Jason Spuhler – 81

            Kulwadee Yung – 81 – NORTH CAROLINA/Oklahoma

57.       Kyle Sheehan – 80

            Day Yi 1 – 80 - OKLAHOMA

59.       Phil Doherty 1 – 79 – NORTH CAROLINA

            Matt Nieman – 79

61.       Katie Kollmeyer – 78

            Steven Usma 2 – 78

63.       Stephanie Aichele – 77 – North Carolina

            Chris Kroesen – 77

            Mac Kroesen – 77

66.       Emily Lawson – 75

            Barkley Sosa – 75 - OKLAHOMA

            Cheryl Spuhler – 75

69.       Colleen Hamilton 2 – 74 – North Carolina

            Jason Murray – 74

71.       Day Yi 2 – 72 - VILLANOVA

72.       Kingfish Parham – 71

73.       Charli Aichele – 70

            Steffan Alexander – 70 – Oklahoma

75.       Michael Litsey – 69

            Hannah Sosa – 69

            Katie Zdrowak – 69

78.       Kyle Henderson – 68

            Jeff Plamondon – 68

            Ashley Poer 1 – 68

81.       Jessica Koch – 65 – North Carolina

82.       Jack Henderson – 64

            Traci Sheehan – 64

84.       Samantha Sheehan – 63

85.       Serena Davila – 61

86.       Phil Doherty 3 – 61 – North Carolina

            Ashley Poer 2 – 61

88.       Alvaro Gonzalez – 60

            Silas Nichols 1 – 60

90.       Silas Nichols 2 – 58

            George Walks 4 – 57

            Keith Zdrowak – 57

93.       Phil Doherty 2 – 56

            Phil Doherty 4 – 56

            George Walks 1 – 56 – North Carolina

NCAA Pool Standings - Elite 8 Day 1

NCAA TOURNAMENT POOL STANDINGS

Elite 8 Day 1

The Elite 8 has begun, and both number 1 seeds fell.  Kansas – the overall number 1 seed, the betting favorite, and the most selected champion in our pool, lost to Villanova, and Oregon, the most suspect number 1 seed, lost to Buddy Hield and the Oklahoma Sooners.  See you in Houston Wildcat and Sooner fans.

Kansas and Oklahoma were by far the most popular selections in our group for yesterday’s games, so if you did not at least select 1 game correctly, then you lost ground.  Congratulations to Steve Usma 3, Hilary Kroesen, Katie Kollmeyer, Mac Kroesen and Day Yi 2, for offsetting their choices of teams other than Oklahoma by winning their one game by correctly choosing Villanova for the Final Four.  This is not enough for the “Pick of the Day” award.

That award is shared jointly by Glen Merchant, Justin Yung, Josh and Katie Zdrowak (combined entry), and Amy Zdrowak who correctly selected both Villanova and Oklahoma as advancing to the Final Four.  Those picks, and the 16 points that go along with it, move you up in the standings considerably.

Some movement around the top, but no change to the leader as Greg Kummerlen remains in first.  This is not likely to last, however, as Greg has lost both of his finalists, and his only remaining points possible is by getting North Carolina into the Final Four.  So, if you are behind Greg and still have your winner and/or runner-up, you are still alive!  This is especially true for Glen Merchant, who has risen into a tie for first place.  He still has his entire final four alive!

It is now official that we will have a new champion.  Kingfish Parham, our defending champion, hovered near the top for a while this year, but has slipped in the standings recently, making it incredibly difficult to repeat.  However, as of yesterday, Kingfish can officially no longer earn any more points.  He has been dethroned, but let’s give Kingfish a big round of applause.

 

Two more potential champions, including the favorite, have been defeated, leaving our pool with 4 remaining champions.  For those of you that selected the favorite, Kansas, or took a flyer on Oregon, your chances took a tremendous hit. The remaining champions in the pool are:  Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan State, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Villanova and Virginia. 

We have an All-ACC day today, as North Carolina plays Notre Dame and Virginia takes on Syracuse.  Crazy, but yes Notre Dame and Syracuse are in the ACC.  Who knew?

For those of you that have North Carolina and Virginia as your champions/runners-up, the games today are of tremendous importance.  Nobody has Syracuse advancing into the Final Four, but we do have someone with Notre Dame.  Could that person know more than the rest of us?  We shall see.

Please remember to pay, if you have not.  Payment instructions are on the rule sheet, or you can make other arrangements with me as necessary.

Good luck to everyone, and happy game watching.  Now, on to the standings.

1.         Greg Kummerlen – 108

            Glen Merchant – 108

3.         Kevin McAlister – 100

4.         Jane Reynolds – 96

5.         Keith Bornhorst – 95

6.         Mango Merchant – 94

            Jonathan Wasserman 2 – 94

8.         Duncan Merchant – 93

            Kareem Montague – 93

            Debbie Niemann – 93

11.       Anthony LaPira – 92

            Measha Williams 2 – 92

13.       Steven Usma 3 – 91

            Justin Yung – 91

15.       Kent Armstrong – 90

            Kim Bancsi – 90

            Colleen Hamilton 1 – 90

            Eric Inge – 90

            Allison Parker – 90

            Rich Samuel 2 – 90

21.       Rebecca Seelig – 89

22.       Alex King – 88

23.       Jacey Fowler II – 87

            Karen Katz – 87

            Joshua Zdrowak – 87

26.       Carolyn Fowler – 86

            Pepe Sosa – 86

            Joshua and Katie Zdrowak – 86

29.       Matt Hopps – 84

            Hilary Kroesen – 84

            Measha Williams 4 – 84

32.       Jen Armstrong – 83

            Martha Kroesen – 83

            Measha Williams 3 – 83

35.       Bryan Apolinar – 82

            Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds – 82

            Ty Leatherman – 82

            Lee Seelig – 82

            Roxy Sheehan – 82

            Amy Zdrowak – 82

41.       Cory Mauro – 81

            Abigail Sosa – 81

            Jason Spuhler – 81

44.       Kline Kroesen – 80

            Kyle Sheehan – 80

46.       Matt Nieman – 79

47.       Brent Bellinger – 78

            Katie Kollmeyer – 78

            Steven Usma 1 – 78

50.       Jacey Fowler I – 77

            Chris Kroesen – 77

            Mac Kroesen – 77

            George Walks 2 – 77

            Hershey Zdrowak – 77

55.       Andrew Giannone – 76

56.       Barkley Sosa – 75

            Jonathan Wasserman 1 – 75

            Measha Williams 1 – 75

59.       George Walks 3 – 74

60.       Vic LaPira – 73

            Rich Samuel 1 – 73

            Kulwadee Yung – 73

63.       Day Yi 1 – 72

64.       Phil Doherty 1 – 71

            Kingfish Parham – 71

66.       Charli Aichele – 70

67.       Steffan Alexander – 70

            Steven Usma 2 – 70

69.       Stephanie Aichele – 69

            Michael Litsey – 69

            Hannah Sosa – 69

            Katie Zdrowak – 69

73..      Kyle Henderson – 68

            Ashley Poer 1 – 68

75.       Emily Lawson – 67

            Cheryl Spuhler – 67

77.       Colleen Hamilton 2 - 66

            Jason Murray – 66

79.       Jack Henderson – 64

            Traci Sheehan – 64

            Day Yi 2 – 64

82.       Samantha Sheehan – 63

83.       Serena Davila – 61

            Ashley Poer 2 – 61

85.       Alvaro Gonzalez – 60

            Silas Nichols 1 – 60

            Jeff Plamondon – 60

88.       Silas Nichols 2 – 58

89.       Jessica Koch – 57

            George Walks 4 – 57

            Keith Zdrowak – 57

92.       Phil Doherty 4 – 56

93.       Phil Doherty 3 - 53

94.       Phil Doherty 2 – 48

            George Walks 1 – 48

NCAA Pool Standings - Sweet 16 Day 2

NCAA TOURNAMENT POOL STANDINGS

Sweet 16 Day 2

We are now into the Elite 8.  And although each of the teams wearing white (designating the better seed) won last night, at least the games were somewhat more competitive that Thursday’s games.  Most people had North Carolina and Virginia in the Elite 8, so if you did not pick 2 games correctly last night, then you lost ground.  If, by chance, you picked three of the games correctly, you gained significantly.

“Three games, you say?”  Why yes, I did.  As a number – 8 actually – selected Notre Dame into the Elite 8.  Good job by Measha Williams 2, Bryan Apolinar, Cory Mauro, Justin Yung, Stephanie Aichele, Jack Henderson, Traci Sheehan and Samantha Sheehan.  Yes, that means Jack Henderson has made an appearance in the pool standings.  Those of you may have noticed his arrival yesterday.  His letter was post-marked pre-tournament, so his entry is official.

Now 8 people selecting Notre Dame is pretty impressive, although not enough to gain the coveted “Pick of the Day” Award, which goes to the lone entrant to pick Syracuse into the Elite 8.  Congratulations Rebecca Seelig for that prescient selection.

Some movement around the top, but no change to the leader as Greg Kummerlen remains in first and Phil Doherty 2 and George Walks 1 remain tied at the bottom.

We are down to 6 remaining champions, as North Carolina defeated Indiana in a battle of basketball blue bloods.  The remaining champions in the pool are:  Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan State, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Villanova and Virginia.  Two more champions will go home for the season as Oklahoma plays Oregon and Kansas goes against Villanova.

Kansas versus Villanova is a big matchup on paper, but not a big separation game in our pool as very few selected Villanova.  Those that have Kansas moving on to the finals and even as champions, this game is big.

Oregon versus Oklahoma, however, is a (pretend Donald Trump voice) “Huuuuuuuge”, as a large number have selected both schools to advance to the final four and beyond.  Big points jump today as each game is worth 8 points each.

As always, please review the standings and double check my math, as I may have missed something, missed an upset, or just simply miscalculated.  I try to be accurate, but sometimes I do mess up.  I will listen and change things as necessary.

            Please remember to pay, if you have not.  Payment instructions are on the rule sheet, or you can make other arrangements with me as necessary.

            Good luck to everyone, and happy game watching.  Now, on to the standings.

1.         Greg Kummerlen – 100

2.         Mango Merchant – 94

3.         Debbie Niemann – 93

4.         Kevin McAlister – 92

            Glen Merchant – 92

            Measha Williams 2 – 92

7.         Colleen Hamilton 1 – 90

8.         Rebecca Seelig – 89

9.         Jane Reynolds – 88

10.       Keith Bornhorst – 87

            Jacey Fowler II – 87

12.       Jonathan Wasserman 2 – 86

13.       Duncan Merchant – 85

            Kareem Montague – 85

15.       Matt Hopps – 84

            Anthony LaPira – 84

            Measha Williams 4 – 84

18.       Steven Usma 3 – 83

19.       Bryan Apolinar – 82

            Kent Armstrong – 82

            Kim Bancsi – 82

            Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds – 82

            Eric Inge – 82

            Ty Leatherman – 82

            Allison Parker – 82

            Rich Samuel 2 – 82

27.       Cory Mauro – 81

            Jason Spuhler – 81

29.       Alex King – 80

30.       Karen Katz – 79

            Joshua Zdrowak – 79

32.       Carolyn Fowler – 78

            Pepe Sosa – 78

34.       Jacey Fowler I – 77

            George Walks 2 – 77

            Hershey Zdrowak – 77

37.       Andrew Giannone – 76

            Hilary Kroesen – 76

39.       Jen Armstrong – 75

            Martha Kroesen – 75

            Measha Williams 1 – 75

            Measha Williams 3 – 75

            Justin Yung – 75

44.       Lee Seelig – 74

            Roxy Sheehan – 74

46.       Vic LaPira – 73

            Rich Samuel 1 – 73

            Abigail Sosa – 73

49.       Kline Kroesen – 72

            Kyle Sheehan – 72

51.       Phil Doherty 1 – 71

            Matt Nieman – 71

            Kingfish Parham – 71

54.       Charli Aichele – 70

            Brent Bellinger – 70

            Katie Kollmeyer – 70

            Steven Usma 1 – 70

            Joshua and Katie Zdrowak – 70

59.       Stephanie Aichele – 69

            Chris Kroesen – 69

            Mac Kroesen – 69

            Michael Litsey – 69

            Hannah Sosa – 69

            Katie Zdrowak – 69

65.       Kyle Henderson – 68

            Ashley Poer 1 – 68

67.       Emily Lawson – 67

            Barkley Sosa – 67

            Cheryl Spuhler – 67

            Jonathan Wasserman 1 – 67

71.       Colleen Hamilton 2 - 66

            Jason Murray – 66

            George Walks 3 – 66

            Amy Zdrowak – 66

75.       Kulwadee Yung – 65

            Jack Henderson – 65

77.       Traci Sheehan – 64

            Day Yi 1 – 64

79.       Samantha Sheehan – 63

80.       Steffan Alexander – 62

            Steven Usma 2 – 62

82.       Silas Nichols 1 – 60

            Jeff Plamondon – 60

84.       Silas Nichols 2 – 58

85.       Jessica Koch – 57

            George Walks 4 – 57

            Keith Zdrowak – 57

88.       Phil Doherty 4 – 56

            Day Yi 2 – 56

90.       Serena Davila – 53

            Phil Doherty 3 - 53

            Ashley Poer 2 – 53

93.       Alvaro Gonzalez – 52

94.       Phil Doherty 2 – 48

            George Walks 1 – 48

NCAA Pool Standings - Sweet Sixteen Day 1

NCAA TOURNAMENT POOL STANDINGS

Sweet 16 Day 1

The Sweet 16 has started – with a whimper.  Four games, four blowouts.  And, we have ended up exactly where we should be on the left side of the bracket, with Elite 8 matchups of one seeds versus two seeds.  BORING.

For our pool, this means that there was significant movement up and down, as a number of entrants correctly picked all 4 winners last night, and at 4 points per game, lots of people made significant jumps.  If you didn’t have 3 games right, you probably dropped some places. 

Since all favorites won last night, there was not a lot of differentiation among picks, and there were no bonus points awarded.  So, the “Picks of the Day” Award goes to everyone that correctly picked all 4 games.  There were too many to list, just know, you won if it was you.  I also want to award a “Belated Pick of the Day” award to Justin Yung, who correctly selected Wisconsin over Xavier in the last round, and I forgot to recognize him.  Consider this mention – and his scores – the correction.

We have a new leader, who is actually an old leader.  Greg Kummerlen has retaken the lead, with a couple of Merchants, Duncan and Glen, charging up the field.  Greg, if you read this, I might be sending a small group – including several people in this pool, to your new place on Singer Island tomorrow evening to watch the games.  The race for last place (and money back) remains between Phil Doherty 2 and George Walks 1.

We are down to 7 remaining champions, as Duke and Miami both joined the ranks of the defeated.  The remaining champions in the pool are:  Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan State, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Villanova and Virginia.  One more champion is guaranteed to lose tonight as North Carolina plays Indiana, meaning no more than 6 champions will remain after tonight.

For the pool, we had 0 unanimous selections, as Maryland, Duke and Texas A & M and Miami were all chosen by our participants.  Tonight will have some separation as Indiana has some fans, as done Iowa State (Of course a lot of entries selected the favorites North Carolina and Virginia).  Notre Dame and Wisconsin even have a couple of people excited about there chances to gain points tonight.  Hopefully we will see some close, exciting games tonight.

I apologize for not sending any mid-week updates; I was busy.  I will continue with the regular updates through Monday, and then some additional information next week.

As always, please review the standings and double check my math, as I may have missed something, missed an upset, or just simply miscalculated.  I try to be accurate, but sometimes I do mess up.  I will listen and change things as necessary.

            Please remember to pay, if you have not.  Payment instructions are on the rule sheet, or you can make other arrangements with me as necessary.

            Good luck to everyone, and happy game watching.  Now, on to the standings.

1.         Greg Kummerlen – 92

2.         Debbie Niemann – 89

3.         Mango Merchant – 86

4.         Kevin McAlister – 84

            Glen Merchant – 84

            Jane Reynolds – 84

7.         Jacey Fowler II – 83

8.         Colleen Hamilton 1 – 82

9.         Matt Hopps – 80

            Measha Williams 2 – 80

11.       Keith Bornhorst – 79

12.       Jonathan Wasserman 2 – 78

13.       Duncan Merchant – 77

            Kareem Montague – 77

            Rebecca Seelig – 77

            Jason Spuhler – 77

17.       Anthony LaPira – 76

18.       Measha Williams 4 – 76

19.       Steven Usma 3 – 75

20.       Kent Armstrong – 74

            Kim Bancsi – 74

            Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds – 74

            Eric Inge – 74

            Ty Leatherman – 74

            Allison Parker – 74

            Rich Samuel 2 – 74

            Pepe Sosa – 74

28.       Hershey Zdrowak – 73

29.       Alex King – 72

            Hilary Kroesen – 72

31.       Jen Armstrong – 71

            Karen Katz – 71

            Martha Kroesen – 71

            Kingfish Parham – 71

            Joshua Zdrowak – 71

36.       Charli Aichele – 70

            Bryan Apolinar – 70

            Carolyn Fowler – 70

39.       Jacey Fowler I – 69

            Vic LaPira – 69

            Cory Mauro – 69

            Rich Samuel 1 – 69

            George Walks 2 – 69

44.       Andrew Giannone – 68

            Kline Kroesen – 68

            Kyle Henderson – 68

47.       Phil Doherty 1 – 67

            Matt Nieman – 67

            Measha Williams 1 – 67

            Measha Williams 3 – 67

51.       Katie Kollmeyer – 66

            Lee Seelig – 66

            Roxy Sheehan – 66

54.       Chris Kroesen – 65

            Michael Litsey – 65

            Abigail Sosa – 65

            Katie Zdrowak – 65

58.       Kyle Henderson – 64

            Ashley Poer 1 – 64

60.       Barkley Sosa - 63

            Cheryl Spuhler – 63

            Justin Yung – 63

63.       Brent Bellinger – 62

            Steven Usma 1 – 62

            Amy Zdrowak - 62

            Joshua and Katie Zdrowak – 62

67.       Mac Kroesen – 61

            Hannah Sosa – 61

            Kulwadee Yung – 61

70.       Day Yi 1 – 60

71.       Emily Lawson – 59

            Jonathan Wasserman 1 – 59

73.       Steffan Alexander – 58

            Colleen Hamilton 2 - 58

            Jason Murray – 58

            George Walks 3 – 58

77.       Stephanie Aichele – 57

78.       Jack Henderson – 56

            Silas Nichols 1 – 56

            Jeff Plamondon – 56

81.       Silas Nichols 2 – 54

            Steven Usma 2 – 54

83.       George Walks 4 – 53

            Keith Zdrowak – 53

85.       Traci Sheehan – 52

86.       Samantha Sheehan – 51

87.       Day Yi 2 – 50

88.       Serena Davila – 49

            Phil Doherty 3 – 49

            Jessica Koch – 49

            Ashley Poer 2 – 49

92.       Phil Doherty 4 – 48

            Alvaro Gonzalez – 48

94.       Phil Doherty 2 – 44

            George Walks 1 – 44