NCAA Tourney Pool - Round 2/Day 2

"Down goes Xavier!  Down goes Xavier!  Down goes Xavier!," said in your best Howard Cosell imitation voice.  Not only did we lose another number 1 seed, we also lost North Carolina - who was obliterated by Texas A&M, Michigan State - who was outplayed and outsmarted by Syracuse, and Cincinnati - who held on to lose after building up a 22 point lead with only 12 minutes left to play snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

This is horrific for the city of Cincinnati, who lost its two major colleges (Cincinnati and Xavier) in the same round, to major upsets at that hands of Nevada and Florida State respectively.

Also horrific is the Nike "Let's Go" commercial, in which the earth stops rotating on its axis - yet everything is still ok.  (I won't get into that as that will take an entire post just on its own, right scientists?)  A female decides that life is now literally a hamster race so she starts to get everyone running to re-start the rotation of the earth, only she is going in the wrong direction.  As one of you pointed out (Brent Bellinger of Austin Texas), is Nike trying to say that women are bad with directions?  I hope not, but it certainly seems one of the themes as Kevin Hart is trying to point out that he was originally running in the correct direction.  Perhaps they are just saying our daily lives are nothing but running around in circles.

Someone who certainly isn't - or at least wasn't - running around in circles was Michael Litsey of Redondo Beach, California, who likely didn't watch much basketball this weekend as he ran 26.2 miles in a (somewhat) straight line from Dodger Stadium to Santa Monica Beach.  He ran the Los Angeles Marathon, meaning he ran more yesterday that I have in my life.

The biggest loser of yesterday was our brackets.  If you scored 2 points (meaning you selected 1 game correctly) you generally held your own.  Anyone that had 2 games correctly generally gained ground and if you had 3 games correct, you flew up the standings.  Because of this, I am giving the "Worst Pick of the Day" to everyone, as we all were obliterated in some way shape or form.

Not only did those four favored teams lost, each of them was selected as a champion by at least one entry in our pool.  Tough luck for Bryan van Gorder of Canajoharie, New York and Hollywood, California, who still leads in the pool, but gives himself the dubious distinction of being the highest rated bracket to lose North Carolina as his champion.  Jane Reynolds of Wellington, Florida is the highest rated bracket (2nd Place) to lose Michigan State, Chris Kroesen of West Palm Beach, Florida is the highest rated bracket (33rd Place) to lose Xavier, and Jacey Folwer II of Wellington, Florida is the highest rated bracket (60th Place) to lose Cincinnati.

Things were not awful for everybody, as we had 10 total entries that selected one of the four main upsets from yesterday.  Nobody selected Syracuse, but we had four entrants select Nevada; George Walks 3 of West Palm Beach, Florida, Barkley Sosa of Riviera Beach, Florida, Dan Laishley of Jupiter, Florida and Day Yi 1, of New York, New York.  We also had four entrants select Florida State; Steven Usma 3 of Miami, Florida, George Walks 2 of West Palm Beach, Florida, Carter Alexander of Portland, Oregon, and Colleen Hamilton 3 of Vero Beach, Florida.

Since Nevada and Florida State each had 4 correct selectors, the "Pick of the Day" award goes to Biscuit Zdrowak of Orlando, Florida and Edy Pecan of the Greater West Palm Beach, Florida area for correctly selecting Texas A&M over North Carolina.  Congratulations.

Today's tournament history brings us to the Nevada Wolfpack, who are making their second trip to the Sweet Sixteen, and first since 2004.  In 2004, the 10th seeded Wolfpack defeated the 7th seeded Michigan State Spartans in the first round, and 2nd seeded Gonzaga in the second round, only to fall to Georgia Tech 72-67 in the Sweet Sixteen.   Nevada was led that year by junior guard and Conference Player of the Year Kirk Snyder, who led the team in scoring with 18.8 points a game, and freshman forward Nick Fazekas, who added 12.6 points and led the team in rebounding at just under 8 per game.  Snyder left Nevada after the tournament and was drafted 16th overall in the first round of the NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz.  He played a total of 5 years in the NBA and four additional professional years in various leagues around the world.  Fazekas was the fourth pick in the second round of the 2007 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks and stayed in the NBA for 2 years before moving overseas.  He currently plays for the Toshiba Kawasaki Brave Thunders, where he has toiled since 2012.  The Wolfpack roster in 2004 also included seldom used reserve guard Sean Paul, who went on to fame in music, being nominated for 8 Grammy Awards, winning one for Best Reggae Album for Dutty Rock in .... 2004.  Oh wait, not the same Sean Paul; sorry.

We now have only six of the original thirteen different champions remaining.  Those teams will continue to be listed in every update in bold so long as they remain in the pool.  Arizona, Cincinnati, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina, Villanova, Virginia and Xavier.

Each of the top 7 places in our pool have lost their champion, with 4 people in a T-8 that have their champions still alive.  The Thursday and Friday games are each worth 4 points apiece, and next weekend's games are worth 8 points apiece, so expect lots of movement up and down the standings.

For those interested in numerology, 44th Place has exactly 44 points.  Not that that means anything, but it is interesting.

As always, please check and double check your brackets with the standings and let me know if you think something is incorrect.  If necessary, I will go back and re-score your sheet.  I did find an error in the listing of a couple of people in yesterday's standings.  While their sheet was tabulated correctly, three entrants were listed with the incorrect score (all of the errors involved me typing the score incorrectly into the standings and all of the mistakes involved showing the entrants as having one more point than the actually earned - for example they were listed as 19, when they had 18.). The listings below are Place/Entry/Points/Champion.  Ties - for now - are listed alphabetically.

Good luck to everyone, and rest up before we get back after it on Thursday with the Sweet Sixteen!

AN IMPORTANT NOTE - SOME PEOPLE HAVE REPORTED THAT IT IS HARD TO VIEW SOME OF THE STANDINGS VIA A DESKTOP.  I AM NOT SURE WHY THAT IS, BUT OTHERS REPORT THAT ALL IS FINE, AND VIA MOBILE DEVICE EVERYTHING LOOKS NORMAL AS WELL.

On to the standings ...

1.  Bryan van Gorder - 63 - North Carolina

2.  Jane Reynolds - 58 - Michigan State

3.  Max Macon 2 - 57 - Michigan State
     George Walks 3 - 57 - Virginia

5.  Max Macon 4 - 56 - Virginia
     Biscuit Zdrowak - 56 - Michigan State

7.  Greg Kummerlen - 54 - North Carolina

8.  Jen Armstrong - 53 - Michigan State

     Thomas Bean 2 - 53 - Michigan State

     Jim Coleman - 53 - Gonzaga

     Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds - 53 - Villanova

     Sasha Moon - 53 - Villanova
     Jessica Samuels - 53 - Villanova

     Justin Yung - 53 - North Carolina

15.  Anthony LaPira - 52 - Michigan State

16.  Thomas Bean 1 - 51 - Villanova

       Jacey Fowler 1 - 51 - North Carolina

       Rich Samuels 1 - 51 - Kansas
       Traci Sheehan - 51 - Duke

20.  Albert Harper III - 50 - Michigan State

       Rich Samuels 2 - 50 - Villanova

       Kyle Sheehan - 50 - Duke

       Barkley Sosa - 50 - Kentucky

       Joshua Zdrowak - 50 - Kansas

25.  Steven Usma 2 - 49 - Villanova
       Day Yi 2 - 49 - Villanova

27.  Ty Leatherman - 48 - Virginia
       Noel Martinez 2 - 48 - Villanova

       Cheryl Spuhler - 48 - Duke

       George Walks 2 - 48 - Kansas

       George Walks 6 - 48 - Michigan State

       Josh and Katie Zdrowak - 48 - Villanova

33.  Steffan Alexander - 47 - Florida
       Dan Barsky - 47 - Virginia

       Carolyn Fowler 47 - Kansas

       Chris Kroesen - 47 - Xavier

       Steven Usma 3 - 47 - Michigan

       Measha Williams 3 "Spread" - 47 - Virginia

39.  Jenna Finkelstein - 46 - North Carolina

       Mango Merchant - 46 - Michigan State

       Steven Usma 5 - 46 - Villanova

42.  Brittany Sosa - 45 - Duke
       Wes Wiggins 2 - 45 - Michigan State

44.  Adam Jorgensen 2 - 44 - Michigan State
       Dan Laishley - 44 - Virginia

       Kingfish Rod Parham - 44 - Kentucky

       Allison Parker - 44 - Virginia

       Abigail Sosa - 44 - Michigan State

49.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 43 - North Carolina

       Bill Ganoe 2 - 43 - Virginia

       Adam Jorgensen 1 - 43 - Duke

       Katie Kollmeyer - 43 - Villanova

       Debbie Igdaloff Nieman - 43 - Virginia
       Edy Pecan - 43 - Michigan

55.  James Garvin - 42 - Villanova

       Jonathan Wasserman - 42 - Duke

57.  Steve Jorgensen - 41 - Arizona

       Karen Katz - 41 - Virginia
       Pepe Sosa - 41 - Villanova

60.  Jacey Fowler 2 - 40 - Cincinnati

       Max Macon 3 - 40 - Villanova

       Samantha Sheehan - 40 - Duke

63.  Brent Bellinger - 39 - Virginia

       Paul Cummings - 39 - Villanova

       Colleen Hamilton 1 - 39 - Virginia

       George Walks 4 - 39 - North Carolina

       Wes Wiggins 1 - 39 - Arizona

       Measha Williams 2 "Upset City"- 39 - Duke

69.  Carter Alexander - 38 - Florida

       Kent Armstrong - 38 - Villanova

       Joe Carter - 38 - Virginia

       Matt Hopps - 38 - Virginia

       Martha Kroesen - 38 - Villanova

       George Walks 1 - 38 - Kansas

       Day Yi 1 - 38 - Virginia

       Keith Zdrowak - 38 - Duke

77.  Cathy Donahue - 37 - Duke
       Duncan Merchant - 37 - Virginia

       Silas Nichols - 37 - Arizona

80.  Bill Foman - 36 - North Carolina

       Alvaro Gonzalez - 36 - Michigan State

       Hannah Sosa - 36 - Florida

       George Walks 5 - 36 - Arizona

84.  Bill Danner - 35 - Virginia

       Arlene Amo Hopps - 35 - Villanova

       Mac Kroesen - 35 - Gonzaga

       Max Macon 1 - 35 - Kansas

       Noel Martinez 1 - 35 - Duke

       David Peterson - 35 - Virginia

       Jeff Plamodon - 35 - Virginia

       Measha Williams 1 - "Gut" - 35 - Virginia

92.  Eric Inge - 34 - Virginia

       Col. Kareem Montague - 34 - Villanova

       Steven Usma 1 - 34 - Kansas

95.  Colleen Hamilton 3 - 33 - North Carolina

       Michael Litsey - 33 - Villanova

       Katie Zdrowak - 33 Villanova

98.  Colleen Hamilton 2 - 32 - Villanova

       Glen Merchant - 32 - Villanova

       Jeremy Spuhler - 32 - Duke

       Doug Tuttle - 32 - Florida

       Steven Usma 4 - 32 - Duke

103.  Ashley Poer - 30 - Virginia

        Amy Zdrowak - 30 - Michigan State

105.  Griffey Parker - 27 - Xavier

Unknown - Matt Nieman - I still need to talk to you about my bracket question!

NCAA Tourney Pool - Round 2/Day 1

What a great start to the second round.  A buzzer beating three by Michigan freshman Jordan Poole turns a 1 point deficit into a two point victory over the Houston Cougar and a running two-point jumper by Loyola's Clayton Custer with 3.6 seconds remaining to secure Loyola's spot in the Sweet Sixteen over Tennessee.   As you learned in the recap after Friday's post, Loyola also made the Sweet Sixteen in its last appearance in the tournament in 1985.

Speaking of Loyola, The Ramblers not only upset Tennessee, they were the only lower seed to win yesterday.  They also qualified for bonus points in our pool with their victory.  Those bonus points went to Max Macon 2 of Jupiter, Florida, Justin Yung of Raleigh, North Carolina, Jim Coleman of Boynton Beach, Florida and Sasha Moon of Plantation, Florida.  Max, Justin, Jim and Sasha, you win the "Pick of the Day".

On the opposite end of the spectrum, it was tough to determine who was the "Worst Pick of the Day".  I first considered George Walks 3 with his combination picks of Seton Hall and Buffalo to both advance to the Sweet Sixteen, but Seton Hall played Kansas very close, even scoring 53 points in the second half before falling to the Jayhawks 83-79.  The closeness of that game more than makes up for the fact that Buffalo was drubbed 95-75 by Kentucky, behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 27 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

So, the award for "Worst Pick of the Day" goes to Doug Tuttle of Vero Beach, Florida, for his selection of Alabama over Villanova.  The award isn't because his thinking a big program falling into a 9 seed couldn't beat Villanova, but rather because Alabama gave up an 18-1 run to start the second half, allowing Villanova to cruise to a 81-58 victory.  Congratulations, Doug.

Since Michigan won yesterday, and Seton Hall lost, today's basketball tournament history lesson goes back to 1989, when the Michigan Wolverines defeated the Seton Hall Pirates 80-79 in the Kingdome in Seattle.  The Pirates were led by John Morton, who led all scorers in the championship game with 35, and the Wolverines were led by the deadly combination of Glen Rice (34 points, 11 rebounds) and Rumeal Robinson (21 points, 11 assists).  To get to the championship game, Seton Hall defeated Duke and Michigan beat Illinois.  Both teams were three seeds in the tournament.  The game entered overtime tied 71-71.  Seton Hall built a 79-76 lead with under a minute to go.  Michigan's Terry Mills hit a short jumper to cut the deficit to 79-78.  Michigan then stopped Seton Hall on the next possession, with Rumeal Robinson being fouled by Seton Hall's Gerald Green with three seconds left.  Robinson calmly hit his free throws to win the game and the championship.Glen Rice was the leading scorer averaging over 30 points per game, and was named the Most Outstanding Player.  Later, when in a tryout for the Miami Heat before the NBA Draft, one executive was asked about Glen Rice's shooting range.  That executive's response was "out of bounds".

Those that selected Florida in our pool will not be so lucky as to win a championship like the 1989 Michigan Wolverines, as Florida lost 69-66 to the Texas Tech Red Raiders.  Their chances to win the championship have dulled, much like Florida in the champions list.  Steffan Alexander of Portland, Oregon is the highest ranking breaking that had Florida as the champion.

We now have ten of the original thirteen different champions remaining.  Those teams will continue to be listed in every update in bold so long as they remain in the pool.  Arizona, Cincinnati, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina, Villanova, Virginia and Xavier.

Most people had 5 of the 8 games yesterday, and a good number had 6.  So, if you picked 5 games, you most likely did not move much in the standings.  If you picked 6 correctly, then you moved up in the standings.  If you had 4 or less, then you dropped.  Eleven entrants - including Your Tournament Host, correctly selected 7 of the 8 games yesterday, and those entries moved up dramatically.  Conversely, seven entrants correctly picked only 3 of yesterday's games to plummet.

The games which made the biggest difference was Texas Tech over Florida, with Michigan and Houston also being a big difference-maker.  We had no unanimous choices yesterday, meaning each game yesterday was incredibly important.



As always, please check and double check your brackets with the standings and let me know if you think something is incorrect.  If necessary, I will go back and re-score your sheet.  I did find an error in the listing of a couple of people in yesterday's standings.  While their sheet was tabulated correctly, three entrants were listed with the incorrect score (all of the errors involved me typing the score incorrectly into the standings and all of the mistakes involved showing the entrants as having one more point than the actually earned - for example they were listed as 19, when they had 18.). The listings below are Place/Entry/Points/Champion.  Ties - for now - are listed alphabetically.

Good luck to everyone, and let's enjoy Round 2 of the tournament with a St. Patrick's Day 12:10 tip-off between Villanova and Alabama!!!

On to the standings ...

1.  Bryan van Gorder - 57 - North Carolina

2.  Jane Reynolds - 54 - Michigan State

3.  Max Macon 2 - 53 - Michigan State

4.  Max Macon 4 - 54 - Virginia

5.  Jim Coleman - 51 - Gonzaga

6.  Greg Kummerlen - 50 - North Carolina

7.  Jen Armstrong - 49 - Michigan State

     Thomas Bean 2 - 49 - Michigan State

      Jacey Fowler 1 - 49 - North Carolina

      Sasha Moon - 49 - Villanova

      Justin Yung - 49 - North Carolina

12.  Anthony LaPira - 48 - Michigan State
       Rich Samuels 2 - 48 - Villanova

14.  Thomas Bean 1 - 47 - Villanova

       Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds - 47 - Villanova

       Jessica Samuels - 47 - Villanova

        Rich Samuels 1 - 47 - Kansas

        Traci Sheehan - 47 - Duke

        Steven Usma 2 - 47 - Villanova

20.  Albert Harper III - 46 - Michigan State

       Ty Leatherman - 46 - Virginia

       Cheryl Spuhler - 46 - Duke

       George Walks 3 - 46 - Virginia

       Joshua Zdrowak - 46 - Kansas

       Josh and Katie Zdrowak - 46 - Villanova

26.  Steffan Alexander - 45 - Florida

       Carolyn Fowler 45 - Kansas

       Day Yi 2 - 45 - Villanova

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 45 - Michigan State

30.  Mango Merchant - 44 - Michigan State
       Kyle Sheehan - 44 - Duke

32.  Dan Barsky - 43 - Virginia

       Brittany Sosa - 43 - Duke

       Wes Wiggins 2 - 43 - Michigan State

       Measha Williams 3 "Spread" - 43 - Virginia

36.  Jenna Finkelstein - 42 - North Carolina

       Adam Jorgensen 2 - 42 - Michigan State

       Noel Martinez 2 - 42 - Villanova

       Allison Parker - 42 - Virginia

       Abigail Sosa - 42 - Michigan State

        Steven Usma 5 - 42 - Villanova

       George Walks 6 - 42 - Michigan State

43.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 41 - North Carolina

       Bill Ganoe 2 - 41 - Virginia

       Adam Jorgensen 1 - 41 - Duke

       Katie Kollmeyer - 41 - Villanova

       Chris Kroesen - 41 - Xavier

       Debbie Igdaloff Nieman - 41 - Virginia

49.  Kingfish Rod Parham - 40 - Kentucky

50.  Steve Jorgensen - 39 - Arizona

       Steven Usma 3 - 39 - Michigan

52.  James Garvin - 38 - Villanova

       Jonathan Wasserman - 38 - Duke

54.  Karen Katz - 37 - Virginia

       Barkley Sosa - 37 - Kentucky

       Pepe Sosa - 37 - Villanova

57.  Martha Kroesen - 36 - Villanova

       Max Macon 3 - 36 - Villanova

       Samantha Sheehan - 36 - Duke

60.  Brett Bellinger - 35 - Virginia

       Paul Cummings - 35 - Villanova

       Cathy Donahue - 35 - Duke

       Colleen Hamilton 1 - 35 - Virginia

       Duncan Merchant - 35 - Virginia

       Silas Nichols - 35 - Arizona

       Edy Pecan - 35 - Michigan

       George Walks 4 - 35 - North Carolina

       Measha Williams 2 "Upset City"- 35 - Duke

69.  Kent Armstrong - 34 - Villanova

       Joe Carter - 34 - Virginia

       Jacey Fowler 2 - 34 - Cincinnati

       Alvaro Gonzalez - 34 - Michigan State

       Matt Hopps - 34 - Virginia

       Hannah Sosa - 34 - Florida

       George Walks 1 - 34 - Kansas

76.  Dan Laishley - 33 - Virginia

       Noel Martinez 1 - 33 - Duke

       Jeff Plamodon - 33 - Virginia

       Wes Wiggins 1 - 33 - Arizona

80.  Bill Foman - 32 - North Carolina

       Eric Inge - 32 - Virginia

       George Walks 2 - 32 - Kansas

       George Walks 5 - 32 - Arizona

       Keith Zdrowak - 32 - Duke

85.  Mac Kroesen - 31 - Gonzaga

       Michael Litsey - 31 - Villanova

       Max Macon 1 - 31 - Kansas

       David Peterson - 31 - Virginia

       Measha Williams 1 - "Gut" - 31 - Virginia

90.  Glen Merchant - 30 - Villanova

       Col. Kareem Montague - 30 - Villanova

       Jeremy Spuhler - 30 - Duke

93.  Carter Alexander - 29 - Florida
       Bill Danner - 29 - Virginia

       Arlene Amo Hopps - 29 - Villanova

       Day Yi 1 - 29 - Virginia

       Katie Zdrowak - 29 Villanova

98.  Colleen Hamilton 2 - 28 - Villanova

       Doug Tuttle - 28 - Florida

       Steven Usma 1 - 28 - Kansas
       Steven Usma 4 - 28 - Duke

       Amy Zdrowak - 28 - Michigan State

103.  Colleen Hamilton 3 - 26 - North Carolina

104.  Griffey Parker - 25 - Xavier

105.  Ashley Poer - 24 - Virginia

Unknown - Matt Nieman - I still need to talk to you about my bracket question!

NCAA Tourney Pool - Round 1/Day 2

UMBC - OMG (in the common parlance of today's youth).  The University of Maryland-Baltimore County, a commuter school that is a subset of the University of Maryland collegiate system, shocked the world and beat, nay destroyed, the 1 seeded University of Virginia 74-54.  This is the second time in the NCAA tournament that a 16 seed has defeated a 1 seed.  And not only is Virginia a 1 seed, THEY ARE THE NUMBER 1 RATED TEAM IN THE ENTIRE TOURNAMENT.  Wait, they WERE the number 1 rated team in the entire tournament *fixed.

Some notes on UMBC-Virginia:

1.  Jarius Lyles went off for 28 points against Virginia, a team that is renowned for its defense.  This is the same Lyles that sent the Retrievers into the NCAA tournament with a three-pointer with .5 seconds left against Vermont for the American East championship.

2.  Speaking of vaunted defenses, this is the first time this entire season that Virginia has allowed 70 points or more.

3.  UMBC lost to the University of Maryland - a Maryland team that didn't even qualify for this tournament - by 21 earlier this year, 66-45.

4.  This is the first time UMBC has ever beaten a ranked opponent, previously going 0-25.

5.  Virginia's most athletic big and, ACC sixth-man of the year, De'Andre Hunter was out of the game with a broken wrist, and although he only averaged 9 points a game, that is a significant amount for a team that has problems scoring even when at full strength.

6.  No truth to the rumor that Air Bud was on the Court for the Retrievers, but he might have been on the sideline.

This upset was huge!!!  It is in the same conversation as Buster Douglas over Mike Tyson 1990; Rulon Gardner besting Alexander Karelin in 2000 (Karelin had been undefeated in Greco-Roman wrestling for 13 years!); U.S. over U.S.S.R. in hockey in 1980; Chaminade outlasting Virginia in basketball in December 1982 (Yes, Virginia now has the 2 biggest upset defeats in men's college basketball history); and Elin Nordegren's 9-iron over Tiger Woods in November 2009!

So wait, Mr. Tournament Host, are you saying that a 16 seed has beaten a 1 seed before?  Yes, it has happened.  Remember, women play basketball too.

For today's tournament history lesson, let's wander back to Saturday, March 14, 1998.  Your Tournament Host was behind the bar demanding that the television sets be turned to ESPN2 to watch some tournament basketball.  The Harvard Crimson, behind head coach Kathy Delaney-Smith had traveled to Palo Alto, California to take on the number 1 seeded Stanford Cardinal coached by the legendary Tara Vanderveer.  Everyone - employees and customers alike - chastised Your Tournament Host for wanting to watch women's basketball.  But, as the clock turned to midnight on the east coast and as the 16th seeded Crimson, behind the spectacular play of Allison Feaster - the nation's leading scorer and future WNBAer - kept the top-seeded Cardinal on edge, the spectators in my bar became more and more interested in the game (and less and less interested in chastising me).  The tension mounted in the arena as Stanford playing on its home court (In the women's tournament the top 4 seeds host the first and second round games), could not contain Feaster, who finished with 35 points and 13 rebounds.   As the game approached the last under four minute television timeout, my bar was officially closed, but most customers stayed to watch the end.  They were not disappointed as Suzie Miller's basket with just under two minutes remaining put the Crimson up for good, as they closed out the Cardinal on a 9-2 run to win the game 71-67.

Now that Virginia is out, our pool has eleven of the original thirteen different champions remaining.  Those teams will continue to be listed in every update in bold so long as they remain in the pool.  Arizona, Cincinnati, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina, Villanova, Virginia and Xavier.

Two other performances stood out from yesterday's games. Michigan State's Miles Bridges - a future lottery pick in the NBA - did not show any rust from the extra week off due to the Big 10 moving up its conference tournament by 1 week.  He scored 29 points to go with 9 rebounds as the Spartans defeated a pesky Bucknell squad.  West Virginia's Jevon Carter scored 21 points, and completely controlled the game against Murray State with his pace of play on offense and defense, and he will make it tough for any opposing point guard going forward.

Conversely, Purdue's fortune suffered a big break (wait for it ...) - along with the potential fortune of those that selected Purdue to go a long way, when star center Isaac Haas broke his elbow during the game against Cal State Fullerton.  Haas still tried to play, finishing with 9 points and 10 rebounds in Purdue's 74-48 victory over the Titans, but will be unavailable for the remainder of the tournament.

Our version of Lyles is Bryan van Gorder of Canajoharie, New York and Hollywood, California, as he correctly picked 14 of the 16 games.  Our version of Bridges and Carter is Jennifer Armstrong, of Monmouth, Illinois as she correctly picked 13 of the 16 games from yesterday.  Her only downfall points-wise is that she did not select any of the three upsets:  the aforementioned UMBC, Marshall over Wichita State and Syracuse over Texas Christian.  (Butler was a lower seeded team when it beat Arkansas, but was only a 10 over a 7 so it doesn't count as an upset for our purposes.)

Our version of Haas is Brittany Sosa of Orlando, Florida, who correctly selected only 6 of the 16 games yesterday, the only bracket to have that few correct.  For Brittany:

Not only did Jennifer Armstrong not pick the UMBC upset, in fact, nobody selected UMBC over Virginia. Virginia, along with Xavier, were the only 2 unanimous picks in our pool yesterday.

Since nobody selected UMBC, we have to look at Syracuse and Marshall to try to find our "Pick of the Day".  But, 16 entries selected Syracuse and of those 16, 7 of the entries guaranteed that upset.  Although less, 9 people selected Marshall to defeat Wichita State (including Your Tournament Host).  That doesn't help narrow things down too much.   Four entrants selected both Marshall and Syracuse, and of those 4, 3 guaranteed one of those victories.  So Bryan van Gorder of Canajoharie, New York and Hollywood, California, Anthony LaPira, of Demarest, New Jersey and Dan Barsky, of Miami Beach, Florida all receive the award for the "Pick of the Day".  Congratulations!

I was going to give the "Worst Pick of the Day" to Carter Alexander of Portland, Oregon, who was the only person to select Cal State Fullerton over Purdue, given that Fullerton lost by 26.  But really, that award has to go to everyone that has Virginia as their champion.  I will be un-highlighting a log of entries in the standings, including Max Macon 4 of Jupiter, Florida, who is the highest ranked entry that has Virginia winning the tournament.  That is too many people to share the award, so I will give the actual "Worst Pick of the Day" award to Ty Leatherman of (or near) Wilmington, North Carolina, who chose nobody to win the Texas A&M versus Providence game.

The first round is complete, and we have a new leader, Bryan van Gorder of Canajoharie, New York and Hollywood, California.  Bryan vaulted into first place from a tie for 27th after the first day's action.  Not only is Bryan in first place, but he was also the first person to submit his bracket way back on Tuesday.  This sports prognosticating stuff must come easily to Bryan!  Ha!

As always, please check and double check your brackets with the standings and let me know if you think something is askey.  If necessary, I will go back and re-score your sheet.  I did find an error in Kyle Sheehan's bracket in his favor, and that has been corrected as reflected below.  The listings below are Place/Entry/Points/Champion.  Ties - for now - are listed alphabetically.  Welcome to the standings Jim Coleman!

Good luck to everyone, and let's enjoy Round 2 of the tournament with a St. Patrick's Day 12:10 tip-off between Villanova and Alabama!!!

On to the standings ...

1.  Bryan van Gorder - 47 - North Carolina

2.  Thomas Bean 2 - 41 - Michigan State

3.  Anthony LaPira - 40 - Michigan State
     Max Macon 4 - 40 - Virginia
     Jane Reynolds - 40 - Michigan State

6.  Greg Kummerlen - 38 - North Carolina

7.  Thomas Bean 1 - 37 - Villanova
      Jacey Fowler 1 - 37 - North Carolina

9.  George Walks 3 - 36 - Virginia

10.  Jen Armstrong - 35 - Michigan State

      Traci Sheehan - 35 - Duke

      Steven Usma 2 - 35 - Villanova

13.  Albert Harper III - 34 - Michigan State
       Ty Leatherman - 34 - Virginia

       Max Macon 2 - 34 - Michigan State

       Rich Samuels 2 - 34 - Villanova

       Kyle Sheehan - 34 - Duke

       Cheryl Spuhler - 34 - Duke

       Steven Usma 5 - 34 - Villanova

       Justin Yung - 34 - North Carolina

       Joshua Zdrowak - 34 - Kansas
       Josh and Katie Zdrowak - 34 - Villanova

23.  Steffan Alexander - 33 - Florida
       Dan Barsky - 33 - Virginia

       Carolyn Fowler 33 - Kansas
       Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds - 33 - Villanova

       Adam Jorgensen 1 - 33 - Duke

       Jessica Samuels - 33 - Villanova

       Rich Samuels 1 - 33 - Kansas

       Wes Wiggins 2 - 33 - Michigan State

       Measha Williams 3 "Spread" - 33 - Virginia

       Day Yi 2 - 33 - Villanova
       Biscuit Zdrowak - 33 - Michigan State

34.  Jim Coleman - 32 - Gonzaga
       Jenna Finkelstein - 32 - North Carolina

       Adam Jorgensen 2 - 32 - Michigan State

       Noel Martinez 2 - 32 - Villanova

       Mango Merchant - 32 - Michigan State

       Abigail Sosa - 32 - Michigan State

40.  Debbie Igdaloff Nieman - 31 - Virginia

41.  Sasha Moon - 30 - Villanova

       George Walks 6 - 30 - Michigan State

43.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 29 - North Carolina

       Bill Ganoe 2 - 29 - Virginia

       Katie Kollmeyer - 20 - Villanova

       Silas Nichols - 29 - Arizona

        Edy Pecan - 29 - Michigan

        Brittany Sosa - 29 - Duke

       Allison Parker - 29 - Virginia

50.  Steve Jorgensen - 27 - Arizona
       Chris Kroesen - 27 - Xavier
       Duncan Merchant - 27 - Virginia

       Barkley Sosa - 27 - Kentucky

54.  Kent Armstrong - 26 - Villanova

       Martha Kroesen - 26 - Villanova

       Kingfish Rod Parham - 26 - Kentucky

       Samantha Sheehan - 26 - Duke

       Jonathan Wasserman - 26 - Duke

59.  Karen Katz - 25 - Virginia
       Jeff Plamodon - 25 - Virginia

       Steven Usma 3 - 25 - Michigan

62.  Joe Carter - 24 - Virginia

       James Garvin - 24 - Villanova

       Matt Hopps - 24 - Virginia

       Max Macon 3 - 24 - Villanova

       Hannah Sosa - 24 - Florida

       George Walks 2 - 24 - Kansas

68.  Brett Bellinger - 23 - Virginia

       Paul Cummings - 23 - Villanova

       Bill Danner - 23 - Virginia

       Cathy Donahue - 23 - Duke

       Colleen Hamilton 1 - 23 - Virginia

       Arlene Amo Hopps - 23 - Villanova

       Dan Laishley - 23 - Virginia

       Michael Litsey - 23 - Villanova

       Noel Martinez 1 - 23 - Duke

       Pepe Sosa - 23 - Villanova

       George Walks 4 - 23 - North Carolina

        Measha Williams 2 "Upset City"- 23 - Duke

80.  Bill Foman - 22 - North Carolina

       Jacey Fowler 2 - 22 - Cincinnati

       Alvaro Gonzalez - 22 - Michigan State

        Eric Inge - 2 - Virginia

       Doug Tuttle - 22 - Florida

       George Walks 1 - 22 - Kansas

       Keith Zdrowak - 22 - Duke

87.  Mac Kroesen - 21 - Gonzaga

       David Peterson - 21 - Virginia

       Wes Wiggins 1 - 21 - Arizona

       Measha Williams 1 - "Gut" - 21 - Virginia

       Day Yi 1 - 21 - Virginia

       Katie Zdrowak - 21 Villanova

93.  Glen Merchant - 20 - Villanova

       Col. Kareem Montague - 20 - Villanova

       Steven Usma 4 - 20 - Duke

       George Walks 5 - 20 - Arizona

97.  Carter Alexander - 19 - Florida

       Max Macon 1 - 19 - Kansas

       Griffey Parker - 19 - Xavier

       Colleen Hamilton 2 - 19 - Villanova

       Colleen Hamilton 3 - 19 - North Carolina

102.  Ashley Poer - 9 - Virginia

103.  Jeremy Spuhler - 18 - Duke
         Steven Usma 1 - 18 - Kansas
         Amy Zdrowak - 18 - Michigan State

Unknown - Matt Nieman - I still need to talk to you about my bracket question!

NCAA Tourney Pool - Round 1/Day 1

Welcome to the first installment of this year's NCAA Tournament Pool Recap/Results.  Not a lot of upsets occurred, but nevertheless, a great day of basketball as many of the games were incredibly competitive.  Only 3 lower seeded teams won in the sixteen games played yesterday, and one of those teams was 9th seeded Alabama that defeated 8th seeded North Carolina State   But, the Miami Hurricanes exit the tournament exclaiming, "What in the Holy Name of Alfrederick Hughes happened?"  (This is funny because Loyola is a Jesuit institution - for those that don't know the school's history and for those that don't know humor.)

Alfrederick "The Great" Hughes was a third team All-American in 1985 - and first round NBA draft pick - for the Loyola (Chicago) Ramblers, and he led Loyola into the Sweet Sixteen in the 1985 tournament where they lost to eventual runner-up Georgetown.  This was also the last time Loyola appeared in the NCAA Tournament.  In 1985, Loyola was a 4 seed, and favored to make the Sweet Sixteen.  This year, they held the 11 seed in the south, and defeated the favored Miami Hurricanes on Donte' Ingram's three pointer with 1 second left.  Interestingly, Coach Porter Moses did not call his last timeout after Loyola secured a defensive rebound with only nine seconds left preferring to let his team win or lose the game on their own talent/mettle.  As noted by a great college basketball writer here back in 2008, it is often better to not call timeout and let the other team set up defensively in this situation.  Good work Coach Moses.  And yes, this story "Rambled On" - much like Loyola (see what I did there) - just so Your Tournament Host could give himself some kudos.  And also yes, you need to click on the link and read it.

The tournament pool featured a good number of entries that selected Loyola, particularly since arguably Miami's best player, Bruce Brown, did not play due to injury.  The same cannot be said of Buffalo, as only 4 entrants selected the Bulls to defeat Arizona.  Congratulations to Thomas Bean 2 of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Duncan Merchant of Asheville, North Carolina, Edy Pecan Somewhere near West Palm Beach, Florida, perhaps? and George Walks 3 of West Palm Beach, Florida, who all selected Buffalo over Arizona.  Perhaps these four knew something the rest of us didn't about the mindset of Arizona, as the Wildcats two best players - Deandre Ayton and Allonzo Trier both declared for the NBA Draft immediately after the defeat.  I guess they were not too upset about this upset.

These two upsets were very important to our pool, as two entries selected both Loyola (Chicago) and Buffalo, and for that, the vaunted "Pick of the Day" goes to Thomas Bean 2 of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida and George Walks 3 of West Palm Beach, Florida.  Congratulations.

Also congratulations to Joshua Zdrowak of Orlando, Florida, who correctly selected 15 of the 16 games yesterday, the only person to win that many games.

Before I get into more breakdown of the pool and the games, here is a little information about the pool itself.  We have 106 entries and they literally run the gamut from A (Alexander, Carter) to Z (Zdrowak, Keith).  They come from virtually the 4 corners of the US: Florida (obviously and too many to name); Quincy, Massachusetts (Arlene Amo Hopps and Matt Hopps); Portland, Oregon (Carter Alexander and Steffan Alexander); and Hickham Air Force Base, Hawaii (Colonel Kareem Montague).  We are happy to have Colonel Montague and that he found time to return to our pool in the midst of saving the world, protecting us, raising a family, and taking orders from his wife who both literally and figuratively outranks him.  (Kareem's wife, incidentally, had one of the best trash talk lines in this pool history.  When Kareem showed her the rules the first year he joined, she read them, turned to Kareem and said, "Well, that's two minutes I will never get back").

Although most of the entries are bi-pedal, we do have a number of four-legged entrants as well.  If one or more of them win, I hope their parents buy them lots of good treats.

We also have a number of people that do not know how to follow directions.  Lots (and I mean lots) of entries did not have their name or contact e-mail address listed on their sheet.  Also a few, too many really, did not identify their guaranteed selection.  Most - I believe all, honestly - of those problems were rectified.

Another problem that was rectified was that of Allison Parker and Griffey Parker, both of Washington, D.C., who declared their champions as "136" and "143" respectively.  I was going to call them out in this recap, except for the fact that after them Jessica Samuels of Palm Beach Gardens, FL then entered "87" as her champion.  Jessica Samuels gets a bit of a pass - meaning I won't mention her gaffe - as this is her first year in the pool as "Jessica Samuels", having entered previously as "Jessica Koch".  Congratulations on your status change!

Our pool has thirteen different champions named, and those teams will continue to be listed in every update in bold so long as they remain in the pool.  Arizona, Cincinnati, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina, Villanova, Virginia and Xavier.  Wait, not so fast Arizona.  That should read:   Arizona.

And as quickly as I un-bolded Arizona, the tournament hopes of Steve Jorgensen imputed to be from near West Palm Beach, Florida - although I don't really know, Silas Nichols of Washington, D.C., Wes Wiggins, of Tucson, Arizona, and George Walks 5 of West Palm Beach, FL are out the window, as they lost their champion on the first day.  In fact, Silas Nichols had an Elite Eight matchup of Arizona versus Miami.  He is done.  As much as that loss hurt, many people selected Arizona to go a long way in the tournament, so the pick of the Pac-12 champions wasn't such a bad pick - despite the fact that they cannot defend the perimeter in any manner.  So these four do not receive the "Worst Pick of the Day".

In the running for that award was Bill Foman of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; the aforementioned Silas Nichols of Washington, D.C., and Samantha Sheehan of Jupiter, Florida, each of whom selected University of North Carolina at Greensboro to defeat Gonzaga.  This one was a nail-biter until Gonzaga's Zach Norvell, Jr. hit a big three point shot to give the Bulldogs a 67-64 lead with 21 seconds remaining.  That and the ensuing offensive foul on UNC-Greensboro's James Dickey ended the Spartans' chance at an upset.  But, it takes guts to pick an upset, and is heart-wrenching to have it come so close to fruition, so I won't call you out on this pick.

The same cannot be said for Ashley Poer of Lake Worth, Florida.  Now Ashley, I know beer-pong is thicker than blood (inside joke), but you guaranteed Wright State over Tennessee.  That might have taken guts, but the fact that Tennessee absolutely annihilated Wright State 73-47, coupled with the fact that only one other person selected Wright State (coincidentally it was Katie Kollmeyer of Lantana, Florida) makes this pick the "Worst Pick of the Day".

The only unanimous picks from yesterday were Villanova and Kansas, as at least one person selected each of the other teams that played.  This means that even Iona (1 selection) and Montana (1 selection) had their fans.

Our leader after day one is George Walks 3 of West Palm Beach.  This makes him the Rob Gray of the tournament so far.  Rob Gray, the senior guard from Houston, scored 39 points including the game-winning layup, in the Cougars win against San Diego State.  (See, tournament AND pool analysis).  As an aside, many entries selected the SDSU Squared combinations, of San Diego State and South Dakota State Universities.  Both of them lost.  So sorry.

You may notice that several entrants entered multiple times, and thus the numerical denomination after their name.  This happens every year, and even last year Measha Williams of Houston, Texas finished first AND third.  I don't know if he will defend his title this year or not, but he explained his three different brackets as being (1) Gut; (2) Upset City; and (3) Spread.  At least he will know which of those theories was best and which was worst.  Right now Measha Williams 2 - Upset City is worst as it is tied for last place with Colleen Hamilton 3, of Vero Beach, Florida and Jeff Plamadon, of ... honestly I don't know where.

A few notes about the standings - No matter what I say or think, I am not perfect and I do make some mistakes, so please check the standings and your bracket.  Let me know, via e-mail and/or text (from the rule sheet) if you have any questions.  If necessary, I will go back and re-score your sheet.  But, this also means that if I find a mistake that I made in your favor, I will also correct that error.  The listings below are Place/Entry/Points/Champion.  Ties - for now - are listed alphabetically.

Good luck to everyone, and I hope you enjoy the tournament!!!

On to the standings ...

1.  George Walks 3 - 28 - Virginia

2.  Thomas Bean 2 - 26 - Michigan State

3.  Joshua Zdrowak - 25 - Kansas

4.  Adam Jorgensen 1 - 24 - Duke
     Ty Leatherman - 24 - Virginia
     Steven Usma 2 - 24 - Villanova
     Biscuit Zdrowak - 24 - Michigan State

8.  Adam Jorgensen 2 - 23 - Michigan State
     Max Macon 2 - 23 - Michigan State
     Noel Martinez 2 - 23 - Villanova
     Jane Reynolds - 23 - Michigan State
     Traci Sheehan - 23 - Duke
     Abigail Sosa - 23 - Michigan State
     Brittany Sosa - 23 - Duke
     Justin Yung - 23 - North Carolina

16.  Jen Armstrong - 22 - Michigan State
       Mango Merchant - 22 - Michigan State
       Sasha Moon - 22 - Villanova
       Cheryl Spuhler - 22 - Duke
       Measha Williams 3 "Spread" - Virginia

21.  Thomas Bean 1 - 21 - Villanova
       Carolyn Fowler 21 - Kansas
       Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds - 21 - Villanova

24.  Katie Kollmeyer - 20 - Villanova
       George Walks 6 - 20 - Michigan State

26.  Max Macon 4 - 19 - Virginia

27.  Steve Jorgensen - 18 - Arizona
       Chris Kroesen - 18 - Xavier
       Bryan van Gorder - 18 - North Carolina
       Wes Wiggins 2 - 18 - Michigan State

31.  Jenna Finkelstein - 17 - North Carolina
       Albert Harper III - 17 - Michigan State
       Karen Katz - 17 - Virginia
       Martha Kroesen - 17 - Villanova
       Duncan Merchant - 17 - Virginia
      Allison Parker - 17 - Virginia
       Rich Samuels 1 - Kansas

38.  Kent Armstrong - 16 - Villanova
       Jacey Fowler 1 - 16 - North Carolina
       Greg Kummerlen - 16 - North Carolina
        Edy Pecan - 16 - Michigan

42.  Bill Ganoe 2 - 15 - Virginia
       Michael Litsey - 15 - Villanova

44.  Matt Hopps - 14 - Virginia
       Dan Laishley - 14 - Virginia
       Josh and Katie Zdrowak - 14 - Villanova

47.  Joe Carter - 13 - Virginia
       Bill Danner - 13 - Virginia
       James Garvin - 13 - Villanova
       Colleen Hamilton 1 - 13 - Virginia
       Arlene Amo Hopps - 13 - Villanova
      Anthony LaPira - 13 - Michigan State
      Noel Martinez 1 - 13 - Duke
      Keith Zdrowak - 13 - Duke

55.  Steffan Alexander - 12 - Florida
       Dan Barsky - 12 - Virginia
       Brett Bellinger - 12 - Virginia
       Cathy Donahue - 12 - Duke
       Jacey Fowler 2 - 12 - Cincinnati
       Alvaro Gonzalez - 12 - Michigan State
       Griffey Parker - 12 - Xavier
       Doug Tuttle - 12 - Florida
       Steven Usma 5 - 12 - Villanova
       George Walks 1 - 12 - Kansas
       George Walks 4 - 12 - North Carolina
       Day Yi 2 - 12 - Villanova
       KatieZdrowak - 12 Villanova

68.  Carter Alexander - 11 - Florida
        Paul Cummings - 11 - Villanova
        Bill Foman - 11 - North Carolina
        Eric Inge - 11 - Virginia
       Mac Kroesen - 11 - Gonzaga
       Max Macon 1 - 11 - Kansas
       Kingfish Rod Parham - 11 - Kentucky
       Jessica Samuels - 11 - Villanova
       Rich Samuels 2 - 11 - Villanova
       Barkley Sosa - 11 - Kentucky
       Jeremy Spuhler - 11 - Duke
       George Walks 2 - 11 - Kansas
       Wes Wiggins 1 - 11 - Arizona

81.  Glen Merchant - 10 - Villanova
       Col. Kareem Montague - 10 - Villanova
       Silas Nichols - 10 - Arizona
       Debbie Igdaloff Nieman - 10 - Virginia
       David Peterson - 10 - Virginia
       Kyle Sheehan - 10 - Duke
       Samantha Sheehan - 10 - Duke
       Hannah Sosa - 10 - Florida
       Pepe Sosa - 10 - Villanova
       Steven Usma 1 - 10 - Kansas
       Steven Usma 3 - 10 - Michigan
       Steven Usma 4 - 10 - Duke
       George Walks 5 - 10 - Arizona
       Jonathan Wasserman - 10 - Duke
       Measha Williams 1 - "Gut" - 10 - Virginia
       Day Yi 1 - 10 - Virginia
      Amy Zdrowak - 10 - Michigan State

98.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 9 - North Carolina
       Colleen Hamilton 2 - 9 - Villanova
       Max Macon 3 - 9 - Villanova
       Ashley Poer - 9 - Virginia

102.  Colleen Hamilton 3 - 8 - North Carolina
         Jeff Plamodon - 8 - Virginia
         Measha Williams 2 "Upset CIty"- 8 - Duke

Unknown - Matt Nieman - There is a question about bracket that I have to resolve with him; will be scored soon.

Unknown - Jim Coleman - Mailed his bracket.  Should have postmark of Wednesday, and if so, will score once received.