Gonzaga and UCLA join Baylor and Houston so that we now have a complete Final Four. Gonzaga absolutely annihilated USC, and UCLA defeated Michigan in a competitive, if sloppy struggle of a game. Most people in our pool selected Gonzaga, so if you didn't, you dropped in the standings. Although nobody selected UCLA, a large number of entries had Michigan in the Final Four, and a good amount had them in the finals and even winning. So the UCLA victory did affect our pool greatly in terms of who has a chance to win going forward.
William Pujals of Charlotte, North Carolina, remains at the top of our pool, as not much changed in terms of the standings. Again, nobody earned points in the UCLA-Michigan game, but that game's effects will be felt in the Final Four.
Losing Michigan, we now only have 3 remaining champions, Baylor, Gonzaga, and Houston. Those champions that have been eliminated are: Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan STate, Ohio State, and Virginia.
The opposite of champion is last place, and the race to last place is O-V-E-R. Sean McInerney of Atlantic Beach, Florida earns that dubious distinction, as he is in last place and has no possibility of earning points this weekend. He receives his money back, because, well, we shouldn't take money from people that do that bad. Your payment is forthcoming.
And, this reminds me, there are about 12 brackets that have yet to pay. If I don't receive payment by the next update, YOU WILL BE CALLED OUT PUBLICLY BY NAME. It's only $5, and you can mail me a check, Venmo me, PayPal me, Zelle me. Even Cash App. The information is on the instructions/rules, but contact me if you need the information again.
Stats of the Day
3. I was thinking I could use this one once Michigan qualified for the Final Four, but alas, I am using it anyway. Michigan's coach Juwan Howard is the only person to have been a player on a number 1 seed, as well as the coach of a number 1 seed.
2. UCLA missed 15 shots in a row in the first half, and still went on the defeat Michigan. In fact, the Bruins led at the half 27-23, despite that atrocious offense.
1. Gonzaga has won 26 games in a row BY DOUBLE DIGITS!!!
Players of the Day
4. Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga. Suggs had 18 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists and Gonzaga coasted past USC.
3. Drew Timme, Gonzaga. Timme finished as the leading scorer in the Gonzaga-USC game scoring 23 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, dished out 4 assists, and had 3 steals.
2. Unknow Witch Doctor, UCLA. Somebody put a voodoo hex on Michigan's Franz Wagner, who finished the game with 4 points on 1-10 shooting from the field, and 0-4 from three-point range, including a horrible airball three down the stretch.
1. Johnny Juzang, UCLA. The Kentucky transfer (stop me if you have heard that before), literally carried the entire offense of the game, scoring 28 points in 38 minutes, on 11-19 shooting, including 2-5 from three. Juzang has easily been the best player in the tournament so far, with Drew Timme not far behind.
Social Media Posts of the Day
Nothing truly interesting, as both games were relatively boring. Yes, the late game was close, but it was still somewhat boring.
What was not boring was the 2006 Final Four, also in Indianapolis. UCLA also made that Final Four. Although the Bruins also made the Final Four in 2008 - the last time they made it that far - 2008 was not memorable for UCLA. 2006 was. UCLA, the two seed in the west, advanced to the Final Four where they defeated LSU on the Semi-Final Saturday. This pit them in the championship against the 3 seed Florida Gators. Your Tournament Host was present at that Final Four along with Silas Nichols of Washington, D.C. As no games are played on the Sunday of the Final Four, we decided to explore the NCAA Hall of Fame, which is astounding. They have a basketball court inside where you can put up shots. The floor has labels on it in the location from where famous Final Four shots were made. Knowing Silas is from Syracuse, I proceeded to hit a shot from the Keith Smart location. Knowing I am a Kentucky fan, Silas reciprocated from hitting a shot from the Christian Laettner spot. God do we hate each other sometimes.
The Hall of Fame also had a computer and screen where you can play every single One Shining Moment from the Tournament, arranged by year. I say "had", because apparently a fire in the building destroyed it, and they have no recreated it yet. We were supposed to be there this year to check on whether or not that was rebuilt, but alas, Covid-19.
The lobby also has the flag of every current NCAA champion, from every division, from every sport, overhead. Pretty awesome.
So, after our tour of the Hall of Fame and museum, we sauntered over to TGI Friday's. Why on earth would you go to TGI Friday's would you ask? Well, the Hall of Fame is a bit of a walk from downtown, and TGI Friday's is the closest place to get a drink on the way back into downtown. And, it was the UCLA host bar. So we saunter in, and this place is empty. Of course, it is like 11:00. We sit at the bar and proceed to order when the UCLA cheerleaders arrive. So, it is us, the UCLA cheerleaders, the employees, and nobody else. The cheerleaders come up to the bar, start chatting with us about basketball, Silas undercuts me by telling them I am from Florida, but I tell them that I cannot root for the Gators because Joakin Noah is too ugly. This conversation lasts for the next couple of hours.
Fast forward to the championship game on Monday, and the University of Florida Gators just annihilate UCLA 73-57. Jordan Farmar had 18 points for UCLA, Aaron Afflalo had 10, Ryan Hollins had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Luc Richard M'bah a Moute also grabbed 10 rebounds. And yes, I just wanted to type "Luc Richard M'bah a Moute". Florida had very balanced scoring with Corey Brewer scoring 11, Al Horford 14, Lee Humphrey 15, and the Final Four Most Outstanding Player - the aforementioned Joakim Noah - scored 16 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.
But, Noah is remembered more for his winking and blowing kisses and the UCLA cheerleaders at the end of the game. When asked why he did that in a post-game interview, Noah stated that it was because the cheerleaders were calling him ugly the entire game. I wonder where they got that idea?
Now, onto the standings. Please double check my work, and contact me if you have any questions. Once again I will list the final two picks for each entrant, so you can see what possible combinations of points are available for everyone, if at all.
1. William Pujals 103 - Gonzaga/Houston
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