NCAA Tournament Pool - Sweet Sixteen/Day 1

 

So the Sweet Sixteen began in earnest, and it began with a whimper as Oregon State outlasted Loyola (IL) after a blazing first half that had the Beavers leading 24-16.  That is right, ladies and gentlemen, this snorefest had Loyola scoring only 16 points in the first half.  Heck, Oregon State only had 24.  Ouch.  We had less scoring in the second game, as the one seed Baylor picked off Villanova by 11, after holding the Wildcats to only 21 points in the second half.  Oral Roberts and Arkansas provided us with a lot of drama, and astronomically more scoring by comparison, as the Razorbacks held off the Golden Eagles 72-70 when Davonte Davis hit a short jumper with 2.9 seconds left and Max Abmas - the leading scorer in the NCAA this year - had a good look for 3 from the right wing bounce off the rim to end their Cinderella season.  The nightcap appropriately left us ready to sleep as the Syracuse Orange, who scored a whopping total of 46 points, fell to the 2 seed Houston Cougars.

The games were crucial as WE HAVE A RETURNING LEADER.  Silas Nichols 2 of Washington, D.C., returns to the lead as Nancy McInerney of Atlantic Beach, Florida had a heartbreaking day.  She actually selected a Loyola/Syracuse Elite 8 matchup that would have vaulted her way ahead of everybody.  Alas, Silas jumps back into first.  But, he has Illinois winning.

We lost no champions yesterday as the only favorite to lose was Loyola.  So, our champions remain (in bold):  Alabama, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Gonzaga, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Virginia.  We are guaranteed to lose at least today as Florida State and Michigan play each other.  

As far as our pool, nobody had Oregon State over Loyola, and that was a 12 versus 8 so not eligible for bonus points anyway.  But, couldn't somebody have selected Oregon State just so I wouldn't have to type out the brackets that co-win the "Pick of the Day", which are everyone that selected 3 winning teams from yesterday.  Given that a 1, a 2, and a 3 won, there really wasn't that many brackets.  So, congratulations to:  George Walks 2 of West Palm Beach, Florida, Edy Pecan of Somewhere Near West Palm Beach, Florida (I think), Rich Samuels 1 of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Katie Zdrowak of Orlando, Florida, Jeremy Spuhler of St. Petersburg, Florida, Martha Kroesen of West Palm Beach, Florida, Rachel Bornn of Averill Park, New York, Emily Lawson, of New York City, New York, Brian Hinaman of Parrish, Florida, Biscuit Zdrowak of Orlando, Florida, and James Garvin of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.  All 11 of you win the "Pick of the Day".  

For standings purposes. most people received 8 points for 2 correct selections.  Obviously it was some combination of Baylor, Arkansas and Houston.  If you received 8 you likely moved up a bit, 12 you moved up a lot, 4 you moved down some, and yes we had a number of entries that failed to score any points yesterday, kind of like Syracuse.  

Players of the Day

5.  Adam Flagler, Baylor. He only scored 16 points, but also only played 24 minutes.

4.  Justin Smith, Arkansas.  Scored a tournament low 12 points, but added 14 rebounds in a game in which Arkansas needed all of them.

3.  Max Abmas, Oral Roberts.  The nation's leading scorer had 25 points, but really needed 28.

2.  Ethan Thompson, Oregon State.  Scored 22 points, had 4 rebounds and 4 assists as Oregon State held off Loyola.

1.  Jalen Tate, Arkansas.  Stepped up his scoring with 22 points, to go with 4 rebounds and 6 assists.

Social Media Posts of the Day

3.  From John Anderson on Facebook:  "Sister Jean, get them rosary beads out before I fall asleep ZZZ"

2.  From Brendan Heslin on Facebook:  "Oral Roberts is a legit basketball team" - Verbal Roberts

1.  Creator unknown - Sister Jean getting the Crying Jordan treatment.

 

Stats of the Day

3.  Syracuse only scored 46 points.  Did you see that Silas Nichols of Washington, D.C.?  Only 46.

2.  Houston, with its victory over 11 seed Syracuse, faces off against the 12 seed Oregon State in the Elite 8.  That game will make Houston the first team ever to play 4 double digits seeds in the same tournament, having already beaten 15 seed Cleveland State and 10 seed Rutgers.

1.  Justin Smith of Arkansas had 11 offensive rebounds.  11!  He had more offensive rebounds than anyone else in the game had rebounds, except Kevin Obanor who had 11 total.

And, the stats of the day bring me to today's history of the NCAA Tournament.  So Houston has/will play 4 double digit seeds, making them playing lower ranked (and presumably lesser) teams.  But, what about teams that have played tougher tournament schedules.  Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce you to the 1997 Arizona Wildcats.

Arizona, under Hall of Fame Head Coach Lute Olson, was seeded a respectable 4 after finishing the season 19-9, earning at At-Large bid after UCLA won the Pac-10 automatic berth.  They were sent to the Southeast Regional where they defeated a surprisingly tough South Alabama team (13 seed) 65-57 in the first round.  Interestingly, South Alabama was coached by Bill Musselman, who is the father of current Arkansas coach Eric Musselman.  Arizona advanced to the second round where they defeated the College of Charleston (12 seed) 73-69, after the College of Charleston upset Maryland.

Arizona moved into the Sweet Sixteen in Birmingham, Alabama, where they encountered the 1 seeded Kansas Jayhawks, and fought off the top team and won 85-82.  That Kansas team, by the way, had Jacque Vaughn running the point, Scot Pollard patrolling the middle, and were led by the two-person punch of Raef LaFrentz, who would be the 3rd overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft by the Denver Nuggets, and Paul Pierce, who is a finalist this year for the Basketball Hall of Fame.  Arizona then took overtime to beat the 10 seed Providence 96-92 to advance to the Final Four.

The 1997 Final Four was in Indianapolis, also the location of this year's entire tourney, where they clashed with the champions of the East bracket, number 1 seeded North Carolina, a game they won 66-58.  That North Carolina team was loaded with Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Ed Cota, Scott Williams, Shammond Williams (no relation), and Makhtar N'Diaye.  And if you don't think I listed that many players just so I could type "Makhtar N'Diaye", you don't know me very well.

Arizona then clashed in the finals with the powerhouse Kentucky Wildcats, fresh off the 1996 championship, in the final game.  Kentucky had 6 players on that roster that would go onto the NBA, Wayner Turner, who at the time had played more college basketball games than anyone else, 151, Scott Padget, Nazr Mohammad, Jamaal Magliore, Derek Anderson and Ron Mercer.  Nevertheless, Arizona outlasted the defending champions in overitme 84-79, to win the national championship.

Ultimately, 5 guys from that Arizona team would later play in the NBA.  Included in that list are Michael Dickerson, A.J. Bramlett, and the man who would have the longest impact in the NBA Jason Terry.  But, this Arizona team was led this year by Mike Bibb, who would be the second overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft, just one spot ahead of the aforementioned Raef LaFrentz, and Miles Simon, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 1997 Final Four, as he was the tournament leading scorer with 132 total points, including 30 in the championship game.  Something Syracuse barely managed to do yesterday.

Kentucky, fresh off its 1996 championship over Syracuse and this 1997 overtime championship loss, went on to win the 1998 championship defeating Utah in the Finals led by Most Outstanding Player Jeff Sheppard.  And yes, I found a way to make this tournament about Kentucky.

On to the standings.  Remember, feel free to double check my scoring and let me know if you feel there is an error.  Final two teams listed with remaining possibile teams in bold.

1.  Silas Nichols 2 - 73 - Illinois/Gonzaga

2.  Colleen Hamilton 4 - 71 - Ohio State/Texas

3.  Matt Hopps - 70 - Michigan/Baylor

     George Walks 2 - 70 - Illinois/Kansas

5.  Jeff Plamondon - 69 - Gonzaga/Houston

     William Pujals - 69 - Gonaga/Houston

7.  Kingfish Parham - 68 - Gonzaga/Arkansas

8.  Nancy McInerney - 67 - Alabama/Syracuse

9.  Edy Pecan - 66 - Baylor/Alabama

     Steven Usma 4 - 66 - Baylor/LSU

     Day Yi 1 - 66 - Gonzaga/Houston

12.  Brent Bellinger 2 - 65 - Illinois/Iowa

       Silas Nichols 1 - 65- Gonzaga/Illinois

14.  Chris Igtiben 1 - 63 - Illinois/Gonzaga

15.  Brent Bellinger 1 - 62 - Gonzaga/Baylor

       Measha Williams 4 - 62 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Justin Yung - 62 - Alabama/Houston

18.  Dave Marzouca 1 - 61 - Baylor/Kansas

       Ashley Poer 3 - Baylor/FSU

       Rich Samuels 1 - Houston/Gonzaga

       Measha Williams 2 - Gonzaga/Houston

22.  Javier Rodriguez - 60 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Pepe Sosa - 60 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Steven Usma 1 - 60 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Amy Zdrowak - 60 - Gonzaga/Illinois

26.  Jacey Fowler-Reynolds 2 - 59 - Alabama/Baylor

       Brittany Sosa - 59 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Katie Zdrowak - 59 - Iowa/Houston

29.  Braeden Helland - 58 - Gonzaga/Houston

       Ty Leatherman - 58 - Baylor/Gonzaga

31.  Jacey Fowler-Reynolds 1 - 57 - Gonzaga/Illinois

32.  Jenna Finkelstein - 56 - Kansas/Baylor

33.  Chris Igtiben 2 - 55 - Michigan/Ohio State

       Max Macon 4 - 55 - Baylor/Michigan

       Steven Usma 2 - 55 - Illinois/Michigan

       George Walks 3 - 55 - Michigan/Illinois

37.  Ashley Poer 2 - 54 - Houston/Gonzaga

       Brandon Satterwhite - 54 - Alabama/Ohio State

       Jeremy Spuhler - 54 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Steven Usma 3 - Baylor/Gonzaga

41.  Liz Carew - 53 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Skip LaForte - 53 - Michigan State/Baylor

       Ashley Poer 1 - 53 - Gonzaga/Villanova

       Carey Taylor - 53 - Gonzaga/Illinois

45.  Colleen Hamilton 2 - 52 - Gonzaga/Baylor

       Max Macon 3 - 52 - FSU/Arkansas

       Kisha Marzouca 2 - 52 - Baylor/Michigan

       Colonel Kareem Montague - 52 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Measha Williams - 52 - Gonzaga/Baylor

50.  Guy Hughes - 51 - Gonzaga/Baylor

       Karen Katz - 51 - Illinois/Iowa

       Katie Kollmeyer - 51 - Michigan/Illinois

       Martha Kroesen - 51 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Keith Zdrowak - 51 - Ohio State/Gonzaga

55.  Scott Bieterman - 50 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Rachel Bornn - 50 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Emily Lawson 2 - 50 - Baylor/Gonzaga

58.  Larry Green - 49 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Stephanie Henderson - 49 - Baylor/Iowa

       Brian Hinaman - 49 - Baylor/Gonzaga

       Max Macon 2 - 49 - Michigan/West Virginia

       Measha Willimas - 49 - Gonzaga/Baylor

63.  Colleen Hamilton 3 - 48 - Ohio State/Gonzaga

       Arlene Amo Hopps - 48 -Villanova/Kansas

       Eric Inge - 48 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Adam Jorgensen 1 - 48 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Sasha Moon - 48 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Dan Laishley - 48 - Baylor/FSU

       Jason Spuhler - 48 - Gonzaga/Illinois

70.  Braeden Helland 1 - 47 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Adam Jorgensen 2 - 47 - Iowa/Illinois

       Adam Jorgensen 3 - 47 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Joshua Ward - 47 - Baylor/Michigan

       Ken Ward - 47 - Virginia/Baylor

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 47 - Baylor/Iowa

76.  Paul Cummings - 46 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Braeden Helland 4 - 46 - Gonzaga/Baylor

       Jonathan Wasserman - 46 - Michigan/West Virginia

79.  Dan Barsky 1 - 45 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Mac Kroesen - 45 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Michael McNally - 45 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Cheryl Spuhler - 45 - Baylor/Alabama

       George Walks 4 - 45 - Houston/Alabama

84.  James Garvin - 44 - Gonzaga/Baylor

       Colleen Hamilton 1 - 44 - FSU/Arkansas

       Miles Jackson - 44 - Illinois/Alabama

       Emily Lawson 1 - 44 - Gonzaga/Baylor

       Greg Lieberman - 44 - Michigan/Ohio State

       Kisha Marzouca 1 - 44 - Illinois/Michigan

       Jane Reynolds - 44 - Alabama/Illinois

       Hannah Sosa - 44 - Florida/Michigan

92.  Quinn Jackson - 43 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Chris LaForte - 43 - Michigan/Houston

       Max Macon 1 - 43 - Gonzaga/Baylor

95.  Luis Briones - 42 - Ohio State/Gonzaga

       Carolyn Fowler - 42 - Illinois/Alabama

       Amanda Staudt - 42 - Illinois/Michigan

98.  Braden Helland 2 - 41 - Iowa/Ohio State

       Kyle Henderson 1 - 41 - Gonzaga/Oklahoma State

       Marcus Jackson - 41 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Barkley Sosa - 41 - Florida/Virginia

       George Walks 1 - 41 - Gonzaga/Illinois

103.  Kyle Henderson 2 - 40 - Baylor/Gonzaga

         Shane Dogmillionaire Jernigan 2 - 40 - Gonzaga/Illinois

         Rich Samuels 2 - 40 - Baylor/Iowa

106.  Wes Wiggins - 39 - Gonzaga/Oklahoma State

          Day Yi 2 - 39 - Michigan/Illinois

108.  Justin Hallack - 38 - Baylor/Gonzaga

         Rich Samuels 3 - 38 - Gonzaga/Illinois

110.  Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 37 - Illinois/Baylor

         Dave Marzouca 2 - 37 - Ohio State/Kansas

         Joshua Zdrowak - 37 - Baylor/Michigan

113.  Blake Jackson - 36 - Alabama/Ohio State

114.  Dan Barsky 2 - 35 - Illinois/Gonzaga

         Sean McInerney - 35 Ohio State/Iowa

         Jessica Samuels - 35 - Gonzaga/West Virginia

117.  Alvaro Gonzalez - 34 - Gonzaga/Baylor

118.  Shane Dogmillionaire Jernigan 1- 33 - Illinois/Gonzaga

119.  Brian McMahon - 31 - Gonzaga/Ohio State

         Bubba Zdrowak - 31 - Alabama/Oklahoma State

Enhanced Standings

No new banter today, just posting the standings with each entrant's Champion/Runner-Up (Bold if still alive in the tournament), and number of Final Four teams remaining.

Standings

1.  Nancy McInerney - 67 - Alabama/Syracuse - 4

2.  Silas Nichols 2 - 65 - Illinois/Gonzaga - 3

     Jeff Plamondon - 65 - Gonzaga/Houston - 3

4.  Colleen Hamilton 4 - 63 - Ohio State/Texas - 1

5.  Matt Hopps - 62 - Michigan/Baylor - 4

     Steven Usma 4 - 62 - Baylor/LSU - 2

7.  William Pujals - 61 - Gonzaga/Houston - 4

8.  Kingfish Parham - 60 - Gonzaga/Arkansas  - 3

9.  George Walks 2 - 58 - Illinois/Kansas - 2

     Day Yi 1 - 58 - Gonzaga/Houston - 3

     Justin Yung - 58 - Alabama/Houston - 3

12.  Brent Bellinger 2 - 57 - Illinois/Iowa - 0

       Dave Marzouca 1 - 57 - Baylor/Kansas - 2

       Silas Nichols 1 - 57 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 3

15.  Javier Rodriguez - 56 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 3

       Steven Usma 1 - 56 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 3

17.  Chris Igtiben 1 - 55 - Illinois/Gonzaga - 3

18.  Brent Bellinger 1 - 54 - Gonzaga/Baylor - 3

       Braeden Helland 3 - 54 - Gonzaga/Houston - 3

       Edy Pecan - 54 - Baylor/Alabama - 4

       Measha Williams 4 - 54 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 1

22.  Ashley Poer 1 - 53 - Gonzaga/Villanova - 2

       Ashley Poer 3 - 53 - Baylor/FSU - 2

       Measha Williams 2 - 53 - Gonzaga/Houston - 4

25.  Pepe Sosa - 52 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 3

       Amy Zdrowak - 52 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 3

27.  Jacey Fowler-Reynolds 2 - 51 - Alabama/Baylor - 3

       Chris Igtiben 2 - 51 - Michigan/Ohio State - 2

       Karen Katz - 51 - Illinois/Iowa - 0

       Katie Kollmeyer - 51 - Michigan/Illinois - 1

       Brittany Sosa - 51 - Illinois/Gonzaga - 2

       George Walks 3 - 51 - Michigan/Illinois - 2

33.  Ty Leatherman - 50 - Baylor/Gonzaga - 3

       Brandon Satterwhite - 50 - Alabama/Ohio State - 1

35.  Liz Carew - 49 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 1

       Jacey Fowler-Reynolds 1 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 2

       Rich Samuels 1 - 49 - Houston/Gonzaga - 3

       Carey Taylor - 49 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 3

39.  Jenna Finkelstein - 48 - Kansas/Baylor - 2

       Arlene Hopps - 48 - Villanova/Kansas - 2

       Colonel Kareem Montague - 48 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 2

42.  Max Macon 4 - 47 - Baylor/Michigan 2

       Steve Usma 2 - 47 - Illinois/Michigan 2

       Katie Zdrowak - 47 - Iowa/Houston 3

       Keith Zdrowak - 47 - Ohio State/Gonzaga 1

46.  Scott Bieterman - 46 - Illinois/Gonzaga 1

       Steve Usma 3 - 46 - Baylor/Gonzaga 3

48.  Larry Green - 45 - Gonzaga/Ilinois 3

       Stephanie Henderson - 45 - Baylor/Iowa - 1

       Skip LaForte - 45 - Michigan State/Baylor - 3

       Max Macon 2 - 45 - Michigan/West Virginia 2

52.  Colleen Hamilton 2 - 44 - Gonzaga/Baylor - 3

       Eric Inge - 44 - Illinois/Gonzaga - 2

       Dan Laishley - 44 - Baylor/FSU - 2

       Max Macon 3 - 44 - FSU/Arkansas - 3

       Kisha Marzouca 2 - 44 - Baylor/Michigan - 2

       Measha Williams 3 - 44 - Gonzaga/Baylor - 4

58.  Braeden Helland 1 - 43 - Illinois/Gonzaga 1

       Guy Hughes - 43 - Gonzaga/Baylor - 3

       Joshua Ward - 43 - Baylor/Michigan - 3

       Ken Ward - 43 - Virginia/Baylor - 2

62.  Paul Cummings - 42 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 3

       Ashley Poer 2 - 42 - Houston/Gonzaga - 3

       Jeremy Spuhler - 42 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 3

       Amanda Staudt - 42 - Illinois/Michigan - 2

       Jonathan Wasserman - 42 - Michigan/West Virginia - 3

67.  Braeden Helland 2 - 41 - Iowa/Ohio State - 0

       Cheryl Spuhler - 41 - Baylor/Alabama - 3

       Measha Williams 1 - 41 - Gonzaga/Baylor - 3

70.  Colleen Hamilton 1 - 40 - FSU/Arkansas - 3

       Colleen Hamilton 3 - 40 - Ohio State/Gonzaga - 3

       Adam Jorgensen 1 - 40 - Illinois/Gonzaga - 3

       Greg Lieberman - 40 - Michigan/Ohio State - 2

       Kisha Marzouca 1 - 40 - Illinois/Michigan  - 2

       Sasha Moon - 40 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 3

       Jason Spuhler- 40 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 2

77.  Adam Jorgensen 3 - 39 - Iowa/Illinois - 2

       Adam Jorgensen 3 - 39 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 3

       Martha Kroesen - 39 - Illinois/Gonzaga - 3

       Max Macon 1 - 39 - Gonzaga/Baylor - 3

81.  Rachel Bornn - 38 - Illinois/Gonzaga - 3

       Carolyn Fowler - 38 - Illinois/Alabama - 3

       Braeden Helland 4 - 38 - Gonzaga/Baylor - 2

       Emily Lawson 2 - 38 - Baylor/Gonzaga - 3

85.  Daniel Barsky 1 - 37 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 3

       Kyle Henderson 1 - 37 - Gonzaga/Oklahoma State - 2

       Brian Hinaman - 37 - Gonzaga/Baylor - 3

       Marcus Jackson - 37 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 1

       Mac Kroesen - 37 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 2

       Michael McNally - 37 - Illinois/Gonzaga - 3

       Barkley Sosa - 37 - Florida/Virginia - 1

       George Walks 1 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 2

       George Walks 4 - Houston/Alabama - 4

94.  Kyle Henderson 2 - 36 - Baylor/Gonzaga  - 3

       Miles Jackson - 36 - Illinois/Alabama - 2

       Shane Dogmillionaire Jernigan - 3 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 2

       Emily Lawson 1 - 36 - Gonzaga/Baylor - 3

       Jane Reynolds - 36 - Alabama/Illinois - 3

       Rich Samuels 1 - 36 - Baylor/Iowa - 1

       Hannah Sosa - 36 - Florida/Michigan - 2

101.  Quinn Jackson - 35 - Illinois/Gonzaga - 2

         Chris LaForte - 35 - Michigan/Houston - 3

         Wes Wiggins - 35 - Gonzaga/Oklahoma State - 2

         Day Yi 2 - 35 - Michigan/Illinois - 1

         Biscuit Zdrowak - 35 - Baylor/Iowa - 3

106.  Luis Briones - 34 - Ohio State/Gonzaga - 2

         Rich Samuels 3 - 34 - Gonzaga/Illinois - 3

108.  Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 33 - Illinois/Gonzaga - 3

         Dave Marzouca 2 - 33 - Ohio State/Kansas - 0

         Joshua Zdrowak - 33 - Baylor/Michigan - 2

111.  James Garvin - 32 - Gonzaga/Baylor - 4

         Blake Jackson - 32 - Alabama/Ohio State - 2

113.  Dan Barsky 2 - 31 - Illinois/Gonzaga - 3

         Sean McInerney - 31 - Ohio State/Iowa - 0

         Brian McMahon - 31 - Gonzaga/Ohio State - 2

         Jessica Samuels - 31 - Gonzaga/West Virginia - 2

117.  Alvaro Gonzalez - 30 - Gonzaga/Baylor - 2

         Justin Hallack - 30 - Baylor/Gonzaga - 4

119.  Shane Dogmillionaire Jernigan - 29 - Illinois/Gonzaga - 29

120.  Bubba Zdrowak - 27 - Alabama/Ohio State - 2

NCAA Tournament Pool - Round 2/Day 2

 

Guess who's back?  Back again!  Well, not Shady, but Your Tournament Host fresh from posting Sunday's analysis.  Now, we are back to being on time, as this post covers yesterday's on-court and in-pool action.

So, based upon yesterday's action here is what we know: (1) Gonzaga is going to be hard to beat; (2) Florida State can DUNK; and (3) the Pac-12 must be really underrated, as they have 4 teams remaining.

That includes Oregon, that ran roughshod over 2nd seeded Iowa.  And, they will face-off with fellow conference member USC, who started strong against Kansas and then coasted to victory, guaranteeing at least one Pac-12 member in the Elite Eight.  UCLA ended Abilene Christian's run, and they will face-off against Alabama who defeated Maryland.  Creighton rounds out the Elite Eight in the left half of the bracket.

Several entries had UCLA making the Sweet Sixteen, but unfortuantely for the pool, Abilene Christian did not qualify as an upset.  The only game that qualified as an upset was Oregon over Iowa, and 16 entries picked the Ducks to win.  Only one of those entrants, Max Macon 3 of Jupiter, Florida, chose the second round matchup as his guarantee.  Congratulations to Max on his 10 bonus points, and on your "Pick of the Day" award.

After Sunday's action, 8 of our 13 champions remained in the NCAA Tournament, but after Monday's games, only 6 made it to the Sweet 16.  Our champions (with remaining teams in bold) are:  Alabama, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Gonzaga, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Virginia.

Today's tournament history springs from yesterday's (well, actually earlier today's) mention of the 1968 Game of the Century between Houston and UCLA, with the Cougars upsetting the top-ranked and undefeated Bruins.  UCLA's progression into the Sweet Sixteen makes it easy to re-visit that 1968 Championship team.

UCLA, the top-seed in the West region, defeated New Mexico State 58-49, after the Aggies beat Weber State.  UCLA clinched their spot in the Final Four by beating Santa Clara 87-68.  The West All-Region Team included three Bruins, Lew Alcindor, Lucius Allen and Mike Warren (more on him later). 

In the Final Four, UCLA was able to extract some revenge over Houston by annihilating the Cougars 101-69.  All five starters scored in double digits, led by Lew Alcindor, Lucius Allen and Mike Lynn's 19, with Alcindor grabbing 18 rebounds as well and Lucius Allen handing out 12 assists.  Lynn Shackelford added 17 points, and Mike Warren scored 14 with 9 assists.  UCLA won the championship by beating North Carolina 78-55, with Lew Alcindor absolutely dominating the game scoring 34 points and grabbing 16 rebounds.  The Most Outstanding Player was Lew Alcindor, who was joined on the All-Tournament Team by teammates Lucius Allen, Lynn Shackelford and Mike Warren, as well as Larry Miller from North Carolina.

Lew Alcindor, of course, would go on to become Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of the all-time greatest NBA players and its all-time leading scorer, as well as someone who busts his buns every night dragging Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes.

Mike Warren would go on to become an actor as well, including his starring role as Officer Bobby Hill on Hill Street Blues.

Stats of the Day

3.  The Oregon-Iowa game was the first game with 100 combined points in a half since 2008 in a first round matchup between North Carolina and Mount St. Mary's.

2.  Speaking of North Carolina, this is the first year North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky and Kansas are all absent from the Sweet Sixteen since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985.

1.  The combined number of seeds remaining in the Sweet Sixteen is 94, the highest number ever topping the 89 from 1986.

Players of the Day (Losing Team Edition)

4.  Austin Reaves, Oklahoma.  Reaves scored 27 points, and was the only Oklahoma player that truly looked comfortable against Gonzaga.

3.  Aaron Wiggins, Maryland.  Wiggins also scored 27 points, but also aded 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

2.  Javonte Smart, LSU.  Smart scored 27 points, had 9 rebounds and 6 assists.

1.  Luka Garza, Iowa.  The first team All-American ended his collegiate career with a 36 point, 9 rebound effort.

Players of the Day (Winning Team Edition)

5.  Johnny Juzang, UCLA.  Juzang, the Kentucky transfer, scored a game-high 17 points.

4.  Eli Brooks, Michigan.  Brooks scored 21, grabbed 4 rebounds and dished 7 assists.

3.  Anthony Polite, FSU.  Polite scored 22 points.  His previous career high was only 15.

2.  Chris Duarte, Oregon.  Duarte scored 23 points and had 7 rebounds in Oregon's win over Iowa.

1.  Drew Timme, Gonzaga.  Timme scored 30 points on 9-12 shooting from the field, and 12-14 shooting from the free throw line.  He also had 13 rebounds.

Now, on to the scoring.  Please double check and let me know if you think there is a problem.  I will be glad to double-check your bracket.  Later this week I will update the standings to add winners/finalists for the entrants and maybe some other information.

1.  Nancy McInerney - 67

2.  Silas Nichols 2 - 65

     Jeff Plamondon - 65

4.  Colleen Hamilton 4 - 63

5.  Matt Hopps - 62

     Steven Usma 4 - 62

7.  William Pujals - 61

8.   Kingfish Parham - 60

9.  George Walks 2 - 58

     Day Yi 1 - 58

     Justin Yung - 58

12. Brent Bellinger 2 - 57

      Dave Marzouca 1 - 57

      Silas Nichols 1 - 57

15.  Javier Rodriguez - 56

       Steven Usma 1 - 56

17.  Chris Igtiben 1 -  55

18.  Brent Bellinger 1 - 54

       Braeden Helland 3 - 54

       Edy Pecan - 54

       Measha WIlliams - 54

22.  Ashley Poer 1 - 53

       Ashley Poer 3 - 53

       Measha Williams 3 - 53

25.  Pepe Sosa - 52

       Amy Zdrowak - 52

27. Jacey Fowler-Reynolds 2 - 51

      Chris Igtiben 2 - 51

      Karen Katz - 51

      Katie Kollmeyer - 51

      Brittany Sosa - 51

      George Walks 3 - 51

33.  Ty Leatherman - 50

       Brandon Satterwhite - 50

35.  Liz Carew - 49

       Jacey Fowler-Reynolds 1 - 49

       Carey Taylor - 49

38.  Jenna Finkelstein - 48

       Arlene Amo Hopps - 48

       Colonel Kareem Montague - 48

       Rich Samuels 1 - 48

42.  Max Macon 4 - 47

       Steven Usma 2 - 47

       Katie Zdrowak - 47

       Keith Zdrowak - 47

46.  Scott Bieterman - 46

       Steven Usma 3 - 46

48.  Larry Green - 45

       Stephanie Henderson - 45

       Skip Laforte - 45

       Max Macon 2 - 45

52.  Colleen Hamilton 2 - 44

       Eric Inge - 44

       Dan Laishley - 44

       Max Macon 3 - 44

       Kisha Marzouca 2 - 44

       Measha Williams 3 - 44

58.  Braeden Helland - 43

       Guy Hughes - 43

       Joshua Ward - 43

       Ken Ward - 43

62.  Paul Cummings - 42

       Ashley Poer 2 - 42

       Jeremy Spuhler - 42

       Amanda Staudt - 42

       Jonathan Wasaserman - 42

67.  Braeden Helland 2 - 41

       Cheryl Spuhler - 41

       Measha Williams 1 - 41

70.  Colleen Hamilton 1 - 40

       Colleen Hamilton 3 - 40

       Adam Jorgensen 1 - 40

       Greg Lieberman - 40

       Kisha Marzouca 1 - 40

       Sasha Moon - 40

       Jason Spuhler - 40

77.  Adam Jorgensen 2 - 39

       Adam Jorgensen 3 - 39

       Martha Kroesen - 39

       Max Macon 1 - 39

81.  Rachel Bornn - 38

       Carolyn Fowler - 38

       Braeden Helland 4 - 38

       Emily Lawson 2 - 38

85.  Dan Barsky 1 - 37

       Kyle Henderson 1 - 37

       Brian Hinaman - 37

       Marcus Jackson - 37

       Mac Kroesen - 37

       Michael McNally - 37

       Barkley Sosa - 37

       George Walks 1 - 37

       George Walks 4 - 37

94.  Kyle Henderson 2 - 36

       Miles Jackson - 36

       Shane Dogmillionaire Jernigan - 36

       Emily Lawson 1 - 36

       Jane Reynolds - 36

       Rich Samuels 2 - 36

       Hannah Sosa - 36

101.  Quinn Jackson - 35

         Chris Laforte - 35

         Wes Wiggins - 35

         Day Yi - 35

         Biscuit Zdrowak - 35

106.  Luis Briones - 34

         Rich Samuels 3 - 34

108.  Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 33

         Dave Marzouca 2 - 33

         Joshua Zdrowak - 33

111.  James Garvin - 32

         Blake Jackson - 32

113.  Dan Barsky 2 - 31

         Sean McInerney - 31

         Brian McMahon - 31

         Jessica Samuels - 31

117.  Alvaro Gonzalez - 30

         Justin Hallack - 30

119.  Shane Dogmillionaire Jernigan - 29

120.  Bubba Zdrowak - 27

NCAA Tournament Pool - Round 2/Day 1

So for everyone to keep up, this post is just an analysis of Round 2/Day 1, which was Sunday's games.  No standings will be included at the bottom, as I have tabulated all of the games through yesterday, and as such, the standings will be current through the following post, which I will also be making today.  So, as far as Sunday goes ....

"Down goes Frazier!  Down goes Frazier!  Down goes Frazier!"  Both figuratively and literally.  In game 1 of the day we lose our first number 1 seed, Illinois, including its starting guard -  who is a local kid (well, local to me) - Trent Frazier.  Loyola jumped out to an early lead, and Illinois never challenged after that.  Loyola has done this recently, as they made the Final Four in 2018, and did have the number 1 ranked defense in the NCAA.  So, some people saw this coming, particularly Brian Hinaman of Parrish, Florida, Ashley Poer 2, of Lake Worth Beach, Florida, and Steven Usma 4 of Miami, Florida.  If you don't see your name listed here and you selected Loyola, don't worry, you will get your mention.

Illinois was not our only champion to have been defeated on Sunday, as the late preacher Oral Roberts gave an important enough a homily that his eponymous university defeated the University of Florida Gators late Sunday.  Seriously, Oral Roberts and Loyola of Chicago both get Sunday games?  How is that fair.  At least Oklahoma State spared us from having to see Liberty play on Sunday also.

As a reminder, we had 13 separate champions selected, and now five have been defeated in the opening weekend.  The champions in our pool (remaining teams in bold) are:  Alabama, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Gonzaga, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Virginia.

In addition to the 2 aforementioned upsets, we had 2 additional upsets on Sunday, with Oregon State defeating Oklahoma State and Syracuse beating West Virginia.  Syracuse had its share of fans in our pool, including Silas Nichols 2 of Washington, D.C., Kingfish Parham of Atlanta, Georgia, William Pujals of Charlotte, North Carolina, George Walks 2 of West Palm Beach, Florida, and Day Yi 1 of Forest Hills, New York.  Oregon State's support was even sparser, having been picked by Dave Marzouca 1 of Boynton Beach, Florida.

We did have a few other entrants receive bonus points for picking upsets, and they deserve special mention here as Javier Rodriguez of Coral Gables, Florida guaranteed his selection of Syracuse.  Justin Yung of Chapel Hill, North Carolina earned multiple bonuses by selecting Loyola and Syracuse and Colleen Hamilton of the Greater West Palm Beach, Florida area likewise garnered multiple bonuses by picking Syracuse and Oregon State.

However, none of those entries could keep up with the juggernaut that is first-time entrant Nancy McInerney of Atlantic Beach, Florida.  Nancy selected Loyola, Oregon State AND Syracuse.  For that, Nancy receives the "Pick of the Day" Award.  What was wrong Nancy, you didn't have Oral Roberts?  (Hint:  She didn't.  Nobody had Oral Roberts.)

It would be too easy for me to want to give a historical perspective about Loyola of Chicago in the NCAA Tournament, but I already did that back after day 1 round 1 in 2018, spotlighting Loyola great Alfredrick Hughes.  You can read about that here.

So, for today's history lesson, we will take a look back to legendary Houston Cougar coach Guy Lewis, to honor Houston's run to the Sweet Sixteen. Guy Lewis played collegiately at Houston from 1945-1947, after serving in the army in World War II.  He came back to Houston as an assistant coach in 1953, becoming head coach in 1956.  At Houston, he was one of the first white, Southern coaches to actively recruit African-American players, convincing Elvin Hayes and Don Chaney to attend Houston as its first African-American players in 1964.  Hayes and Chaney led Houston to 2 Final Fours in 1967 and 1968.  In 1968 Houston, behind Hayes and Chaney defeated undefeated and top-ranked UCLA Bruins at the Houston Astrodome in the first nationally televised regular season game and one of the best games in NCAA History.

Under Lewis, Houston had 27 consecutive winning seasons, and 14 trips to the NCAA Tournament, including 3 straight trips to the Final Four from 1982 - 1984, with teams led by Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.  Houston finished second in 1983, losing to North Carolina State on a last-second rebound/lay-up by Lorenzo Charles on a missed shot by Derek Whittenburg.  In 1984 Houston lost 84-75 to a Georgetown Hoyas team led by Patrick Ewing and coached by legendary John Thompson.

Lewis, who coached through 1986, was a two-time coach of the year (1968, 1983) and entered the College Basketbal Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.  He died in 2015 at the age of 93.

Stat of the Day

1.  The Illinois-Loyola game is only the third time two teams from the State of Illinois have played each other in the NCAA Tournament.  The1 first was Loyola-Chicago defeating Illinois in 1963, and the second was DePaul beating Illinois State in 1984.

Players of the Day

6.  Buddy Boeheim, Syracuse.  For the second consecutive round the coach's son makes an appearance, scoring 25 points on 6-13 shooting from three point range.

5.  Justin Smith, Arkansas.  Smith scored 20, with 6 rebounds in the Razorbacks victory over Texas Tech.

4.  Quinten Groves, Houston.  Houston coasted past Rutgers in large part thanks to Groves scoring 22 points and grabbing 9 rebounds.

3.  Ethan Thompson, Oregon State.  Oregon State needed to win their conference tournament just to make the NCAA's, and Thompson is taking advantage of that opportunity scoring 26 points with 7 rebounds.

2.  Cameron Krutwig, Loyola.  Krutwig scored 19 points, grabbed 12 rebounds had 5 assists and 4 steals, including 6 points and 1 assist as Loyola went up 9-2 at the start of the game.

1.  Kevin Obanor, Oral Roberts.  Roberts had a monster game, scoring 28 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and 4 steals, while playing all 40 minutes in Oral Roberts' victory over Florida.  

Best Social Media Post

From both RedditCFB and Rapid Replays:

"Oral Roberts has officially ended Ohio State and Florida's runs, a feat last accomplished by Urban Meyer's health problems"

Standings coming in the next post.

APOLOGIES

Today just got away from me.  I have tabulated the scores after yesterday's games, but I did not get the chance to do a write-up.  So, that being said, I will do a scoring update tomorrow with a report from yesterday's and today's games.

Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Your Tournament Host. 

NCAA Tournament Pool - Round 1/Day 2

 

And we are back.  Day 2 of round 1 appears and who rears its ugly head?  That's right, Covid-19.  Apparently I was prescient yesterday when I wrote, "And yes, I hope this is the last Covid reference of the tournament.  Unless, of course, a team has to withdraw."  And guess what, a team had to withdraw.  And, although it was not Virginia of the ACC tournament withdrawal due to Covid, it was its in-commonwealth neighbor, Virginia Commonwealth University, giving Oregon an official 1-0 win in a walkover.  That will look great for the defensive stats.

What does that mean for the bracket?  Nothing.  Oregon wins, VCU loses, and that is how it will be scored.  Interestingly, the NCAA had a Covid-19 plan to replace teams.  If a team from a conference with multiple NCAA bids had to withdraw from the tournament, an ordered list of replacements was made to replace the team, if the withdrawal happened before midnight last Tuesday night (12:00 E.D.T. Wednesday morning).  The first team on the list was Louisville.  If a team from a single-bid conference had to withdraw before the same time deadline, the conference could replace it.  Once that deadline passes, we see what happened yesterday - a walkover.

As for the pool, we have a new leader.  Congratulations to Jeff Plamondon of Lincoln, Rhode Island.  Jeff vaulted into the lead by selecting Ohio as his guaranteed upset, but also had a strong day 1 by selecting North Texas, Oregon State and Syracuse as upsets.  You can see how close you are in relation to Jeff in the standings below.

And, speaking of Ohio, the Bobcats upset the aforementioned Virginia Cavaliers, meaning we will not have a defending NCAA tournament champion.  Marcus Jackson of Reston, Virginia is back in the pool this year, so we still have our defending champion in our pool.  And, Ashley Poer of Lake Worth, Florida and Steven Usma of Miami, Florida return as well, so let's see if somebody can repeat "in the money".

With the Cavaliers losing, we lost another championship pick, leaving us with 10 remaining.  As a reminder, the championship picks in our pool are (remaining teams in bold):  Alabama, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Gonzaga, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Virginia.

Ohio wasn't the only upset yesterday, although for most of the day it looked like the day was going to end in straight chalk.  No upsets whatsoever through the first 8 games.  This did not bode well for the many entrants that not only selected Georgetown, but also as their guaranteed upset.  Georgetown repaid your faith in them by being down 24 at halftime, as Colorado led the Hoyas 47-23.  An entertaining 50-49 second hald did nothing to cut Georgetown's lead as the Buffaloes move forward.  

In the late games, 2 of the 3 finished in upsets.  UCLA, who defeated Michigan State in a "play-in" game on Thursday night, continued their hot run defeating BYU, and Abilene Christian defeated Texas 53-52.  So, what looked like was going to be a slow day regarding upsets, gave our pool 3 upsets, and lots of bonus points.

A good amount of entrants selected UCLA, and Ohio had its proponents as well, with both earning some guarantees.  But it was the Abilene Christian choice that was the sparsest, and thus, kudos to Justin Yung of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Colonel Kareem Montague of the DC Metropolitan Area, Braeden Helland of Jacksonville, Florida and Max Macon 2 of Jupiter, Florida for selecting Abilene Christian over Texas.  But, you did not have the prescience to gurantee that pick, like Ty Leatherman of Wilmington, North Carolina and Ken Ward of West Palm Beach, Florida.  Ty and Ken, you have earned the "Pick of the Day."

But, the "Bracket of the Day" has to go to long-time player Karen Katz of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, as she selected Ohio, UCLA, AND Abilene Christian.  Great work Karen.

And since Karen Katz has participated numerous years in this tournament pool, that reminds me that despite the no-contest defeat yesterday, Virginia Commonwealth has participated many years in the NCAA Tournament.  So, today's history lesson is just that, Virginia Commonwealth.

VCU first played in the NCAA Tournament in 1980, losing as a 12 seed to Iowa.  However, returning most of its players the next year, VCU earned a 5 seed, and defeated 12 seed Long Island, before falling to Tennessee 58-56 in overitme.  After missing the tournament in 1982, the Rams continued their run by winning 1 game in 1983, 1984, and 1985 as a 5, 6, and 2 seed respectively.  VCU had a long hiatus until 1996, when it returned as a 12 seed only to lose to Mississippi State 58-51.   Another hiatus followed before VCU returned in 2004, losing by 1 to Wake Forest as a 13th seed.

But, it was the 2005 Rams team that put VCU on the map.  VCU, the 11 seed, played 6 seeded Duke, who should have been known they were in trouble from the day the matchup was announced.  The CBS cameras were at VCU, and when the game was announced, point guard Eric Maynor jumped out of his chair and started clapping, ecstatic with the matchup.  And boy, did Maynor deliver.  Maynor and his teammates overwhelmed Duke with their athleticism, and Maynor scored 22 points, including a jumper with 1.8 seconds left to secure the win 79-77,  Maynor scored 6 of his points in the last 1:24.  VCU then fell in overtime 84-79 to Pittsburgh.  Eric Gaynor went on to be a first round draft pick of the Utah Jazz and spent 7 years in the NBA, before playing 5 professional seasons overseas.  He still possesses the VCU scoring and assist records.

Given Virginia's loss, I initially thought that my tournament history segment was going to be based upon defending champions losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but that has happened more times than I thought, and more recently than I thought.  And besides, how can I pass up a chance to take a shot at Duke.

Stats of the Day

1.  Ohio's defeat of Virginia was Ohio's fourth NCAA Tournament win as 13 seed or higher.  That is tied for the most ever with Richmond.

2.  I know, this isn't really a stat, but it is fascinating.  UCLA defeated BYU in Hinkle Fieldhouse, which is a court on which former UCLA great - and basketball Hall of Famer - John Wooden played some of his high school games.

Players of the Day

5.  Tanner Groves - Eastern Washington.  Although Eastern Washington lost to Kansas, Tanner Groves scored 35 points, the most in a game so far in this tournament.

4.  Joe Pleasant - Abilene Christian.  Pleasant scored 11 points and 8 rebounds.  A very nice game, but Pleasant is here because he hit 2 free throws with 1.2 seconds remaining to secure Abilene Christian's 53-52 win over Texas.  Pleasant is a 58% free throw shooter for the season.

3.  Ben Vander Plas - Ohio.  Vander Plas scored 17 points, had 5 rebounds and 4 assist as Ohio defeated Virginia.  Although not a lot of points, Vander Plas did score 10 points in a 4 minute span that saw Ohio go from 1 down to 7 up late in the second half.  The fact that his father was teammates at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay with Virginia coach Tony Bennett, and in fact that he is named after Bennett (Bennet Vander Plas) is his full name, just adds to the story.

2.  Covid-19 - Independent.  Defeated Virginia Commonwealth in a walkover.

1.  Johnny Juzang - UCLA.  Juzang, a Kentucky transfer and brother of Harvard player Christian Juzang, scored 27 points on 10-16 shooting, including 3-7 from three-point range, as UCLA defeated higher ranked Brigham Young University, coached by Kentucky legend and 1996 National Champion Mark Pope.  And, if you didn't think I could somehow make this tournament about Kentucky despite its absence, you don't know me well enough.

Best Social Media Posts

1.  Truthfully, I didn't pay much attention to social media while watching yesterday's game.  The golf torunament can be a little tiring.  But, Virginia's loss made me re-visit UMBC's twitter feed from during that 1-16 matchup in 2018.  One of the best twitter runs in history, right up there with the Wendy's twitter roast from earlier this year.  It all started with Seth Davis, the basketball analyst from CBS, tweeted out "Virginia.  Sharpie."  at the start of the game.  Go check it out @UMBCAthletics.

Now, on to the standings.  As always, let me know if you think I made an error in calculations on your bracket.  I will be happy to go back and revisit.  Remember, points double for today's games.  First up is Illinois versus Loyola-Chicago.  Here we go ...

1.  Jeff Plamondon - 49

2.  Silas Nichols 2 - 48

3.  Silas Nichols 1 - 45

4.  Steven Usma 4 - 43

     Ashley Poer 1 - 43

6.  Brent Bellinger II - 41

     Kingfish Parham - 41

8.  William Pujals - 40

     Steven Usma 1 - 40

10.  Chris Igtiben 1 - 39

       Justin Yung - 39

12.  Brent Bellinger 1 - 38

       Dave Marzouca 1 - 38

14.  Liz Carew - 37

       Karen Katz - 37

       Katie Kollmeyer - 37

       Max Macon 4 - 37

       George Walks 2 - 37

19.  Ty Leatherman - 36

       Colonel Kareem Montague - 36

       Amanda Staudt - 36

22.  Larry Green - 35

       Nancy McInerney - 35

       Carey Taylor - 35

       Day Yi 1 - 35

26.  Brandon Satterwhite - 34

       Pepe Sosa - 34

28.  Jacey Fowler-Reynolds I - 33

       Colleen Hamilton 4 - 33

       Stephanie Henderson - 33

       Edy Pecan - 33

       Steven Usma 2 - 33

       Ken Ward - 33

       Measha Williams 4 - 33

35.  Scott Bieterman - 32

       Braeden Helland - 32

       Arlene Amo Hopps - 32

       Matt Hopps - 32

       Chris Igtiben 2 - 32

       Eric Inge - 32

       Dan Laishley - 32

       Steven Usma 3 - 32

       George Walks 3 - 32

       Measha Williams 2 - 32

       Measha Williams 3 - 32

46.  Skip Laforte - 31

       Max Macon 2 - 31

       Rich Samuels 1 - 31

       Amy Zdrowak - 31

       Katie Zdrowak - 31

51.  Jacey Fowler-Reynolds 2 - 30

       Sasha Moon - 30

       Brittany Sosa - 30

       Jonathan Wasserman - 30

       Keith Zdrowak - 30

56.  Braeden Helland 1 - 29

       Braeden Helland 2 - 29

       Guy Hughes - 29

       Max Macon 1 - 29

       Cheryl Spuhler - 29

61.  Kyle Henderson 2 - 28

       Adam Jorgensen 1 - 28

       Ashley Poer 3 - 28

       Rich Samuels 2 - 28

65.  Jenna Finkelstein - 27

       Kyle Hnderson 1 - 27

       Adam Jorgensen 2 - 27

       Adam Jorgensen 3 - 27

       Kisha Marzouca 2 - 27

       Joshua Ward - 27

71.  Paul Cummings - 26

       Carolyn Fowler - 26

       Colleen Hamilton 2 - 26

       Braden Helland 4 - 26

       Kisha Marzouca 1 - 26

       Javier Rodriguez - 26

       Jason Spuhler - 26

78.  Martha Kroesen - 25

       George Walks 1 - 25

       Day Yi - 2 - 25

81.  Rachel Bornn - 24

       Colleen Hamilton 1 - 24

       Colleen Hamilton 3 - 24

       Emily Lawson 2 - 24

       Jane Reynolds - 24

       Hannah Sosa - 24

       Jeremy Spuhler - 24

88.  Marcus Jackson - 23

       Mac Kroesen - 23

       Dave Marzouca - 23

       Michael McNally - 23

       George Walks 4 - 23

93.  Alvaro Gonzalez - 22

       Rich Samuels 3 - 22

95.  Dan Barsky 1 - 21

       Quinn Jackson - 21

       Shane Dogmillionaire Jernigan - 21

       Chris Laforte - 21

       Ashley Poer 2 - 21

       Wes Wiggins - 21

       Joshua Zdrowak - 21

102.  Luis Briones - 20

         James Garvin - 20

         Miles Jackson - 20

         Shane Dogmillionaire Jernigan - 20

         Max Macon 3 - 20

         Barkley Sosa - 20

         Measha Williams - 20

109.  Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds - 19

         Greg Lieberman - 19

         Sean McInerney - 19

         Brian McMahon - 19

         Jessica Samuels - 19

114.  Brian Hinaman - 18

         Blake Jackson - 18

         Emily Lawson 1 - 18

117.  Dan Barsky 2 - 17

         Bubba Zdrowak - 17

         Biscuit Zdrowak - 17

120.  Justin Hallack - 16

NCAA Tournament Pool - Round 1/Day 1

 Welcome Tournament Players to the Road to Indianapolis 2021.  It feels weird saying "road" to Indianapolis, since all of the players are already in Indianapolis and some of the coaches and CBS staff are probably already at St. Elmo Steakhouse, the bastards.  (Yes, I am jealous).  I know for a fact that Jim Nantz has his own whiskey shelf behind the host stand.

Some of the referees apparently went out to eat and it cost 6 of them their tournament officiating jobs as they were sent home.  When they arrived at their hotel on Monday to check-in (with a mandatory 48 hour quarantine period like everyone else associated with the tournament), there room was not ready and not food was available to eat. So, like any hungry person would do, the ventured out for some dinner.  Turns out, the next day one of the officials tested positive for Covid-19, meaning all 6 of them were sent home.  Weird times.

But also good times.  And by good, I mean GOD DO I MISS THIS TOURNAMENT.  They canceled one year and it feels like an enternity since I was in Minneapolis in 2019.  Can you believe that technically Virginia is still the defending tournament champions.  Unless you cound the fact that UCF claims last year's title because, well, that is what UCF does.  Virginia is also seriosly affected by Covid, having had to withdraw from the ACC Tournament last week due to positive tests within the program.  They self-quarantined in Charlottesville becasuse they are some very fine people, arriving in Indianapolis just yesterday.  Everyone has to pass 2 pcr tests to play, 1 yesterday and 1 today  And yes, I hope this is the last Covid reference of the tournament.  Unless, of course, a team has to withdraw.  Fingers crossed THAT doesn't happen.

We have 120 entries in the pool, from near and far.  And, a large number of you failed to follow directions.  Most notably Wes Wiggins of Tucson, Arizona and Colleen Hamilton I, II, III, and IV, of West Palm Beach, Florida (or at least nearby), all forgot to put their names on their entries.  Thankfully it only took a minute or two for me to figure out the culprits.

I do want to give credit to Arlene Amo Hopps of Quincy, Massachusetts for having the best penmanship.  I note this because some of you should seiously work on your writing.  On one entry I could just barely determine that the person picked Winthrop over Villanova.  

Although mostly 2-legged entrants, we do have a handful of 4-legged entrants, including our first ever gator, Bubba Zdrowak from Orlando, Florida.  Interestingly, he did not pick the actual Florida Gators.

But 2 entrants did (both in my household - good grief!)  Florida is one of 13 championship picks in our bracket.  The overwhelming favorites are Gonzaga and Illinois, which makes since as the 1 and 3 overall seeds.  The list of the champions selected are (teams remaining in bold):  Alabama, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Gonzaga, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Virginia.

Yes, that means a number of participants have already lost their champion.  On DAY 1!  Particularly hurt by Ohio State are Luis Briones of Foxborough, Massachusetts, Collen Hamilton 3, and 4 of West Palm Beach-ish, Florida, and Dave Marzouca 2 of Boynton Beach, Florida.  But that all pales in comparison to Skip Laforte of Greenacres, Florida (it's the place to be), who selected Michigan State as his champion, and thus was out of the tournament before it officially started yesterday.

And speaking of Ohio State, that game knocked out a number 2 seed, as the Buckeyes just couldn't put away Oral Roberts.  And yes, we had one person select Oral Roberts, and that was Steven Usma 4 of Miami, Florida.  For being the only person to select Oral Roberts, Steven wins the "Pick of the Day" award, with all due apologies to Stephanie Henderson of (if I had to guess north/northeast Texas), and Kingfish Parham of Atlanta Georgia, who both not only selected North Texas, but also guaranteed North Texas!  Great work.

Oral Roberts and North Texas were not the only two upsets of the day as 5 double digit seeds advanced.  Rutgers, a 10-seed, doesn't count as bonus points under our definition, so that means that 4 upsets worth bonus points were available.  And nobody took advantage of the bonus points more than William Pujals of Charlotte, North Carolina, who not only selected 3 of the 4 upsets correctly (North Texas, Oregon State, and Syracus), but he also guaranteed Syracuse.  He received more in bonus points (20) than most people received points.  Lots of entries selected Syracuse, and even guaranteed Syracuse (one of the 2 most popular upset selections, along with Georgetown), so no special mention to those players, but congrats and take your bonus points.

Which brings us to today's history lesson.  I try to come up with my history lesson based upon a memory that is triggered by the day's play, and two things came to mind that led to one tournament memory specifically:  (1) Oral Roberts winning as a 15-seed over a 2-seed; and (2) Syracuse upsetting San Diego State.  What single memory could these two results bring together?

We have to go way back, well before any of us had even heard of University of Maryland-Baltimore City, back to mid-March 1991, when even a 15 seed had never defeated a 2 seed.  Interestingly, that 1991 Final Four was also held in Indianapolis.  But before the Final Four, an important first round game was held in Cole Field House in College Park, Maryland, between the number 2 seed Syracuse Orangemen (now Orange) and the 15 seed Richmond Spiders.  The game featured legendary coaches Jim Boeheim of Syracuse and Dick Tarrant of Richmond, and Richmond won 73-69 to become the first 15 seed to ever win a tournament game.  Richmond jumped out early scoring 44 points in the first half, and held on for their four point margin.  Richmond was led in scoring by Curtis Blair's 18 points, while Kenny Wood also had 12, with Terry Connolly adding 14 off the bench.  They defeated a loaded Syracuse team that included Billy Owens - who would become the 3rd overall pick in the NBA draft by the Sacremento Kings - LeRon Ellis, and Adrian Autry.  Richmond's advantage was its bench, paced by Connolly's 14 points and 30 minutes, and had 3 players play 13 minutes or more, 13 being the minutes played by Syracuse's sixth man Conrad McCrae.

Since then, 8 other 15-seeds have been victorious, including Santa Clara (1993), Coppin State (1997), Hampton (2001), Lehigh (2002), Norfolk State (2012), Florida Gulf Coast (2013), Middle Tennessee (2016) and Oral Roberts (yesterday).  Oral Roberts has a big hurdle this next round, as only Florida Gulf Coast in 2013 won their second round game.

And, there is nothing like a historical upset over the Orange to keep Syracuse alumni Silas Nichols of Washington, D.C., and Javier Rodriguez of Coral Gables, Florida from celebrating last night's Syracuse win too much.

Back to yesterday's action, we had some great performances from players yesterday, including Justin Smith from Arkansas who scored 29 points, had 13 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 blocks in 20 minutes, Brad Davison from Wisconsin who scored 29 on 5-7 shooting from 3-point range, Javion Hamley who had 24/11 for North Texas, and Max Abumas who had 29 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals for Oral Roberts.  But, the leading performances yesterday were Kevin Obanor from Oral Roberts who scored 30 points and had 11 rebounds, Miles McBride of West Virginia who scored 30 points (with 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals) on 11-17 shoorting, and Buddy (maybe I am not JUST) the coache's son Boeheim who scored 30 points while going 7-10 from 3-point range.

Stats of the Day:

4.  Houston had 6 players score in double figures.  Now that is some balanced scoring.

3.  Oregon State secured their first NCAA Tournament win since 1982.  That was so long ago the Beavers in 1982 were led by Sophomore Charlie Sitton and Freshman A.C. Green.  Yes, THAT A.C. Green.

2.  Oral Roberts had only 6 turnovers against Ohio State.  That is the way to upset a higher seed.  Take care of the ball.

1.  The average age of the starting lineup of the Wisconsin Badgers is older than the starting lineup of the Chicago Bulls.  You read that correctly.

Best Social Media Posts

3.  From PFTCommenter on Twitter:  Oral ironically just absolutely refuses to go down

2.  From RossTuckerNFL on Twitter:  Oral Roberts has more wins over Ohio State than Jim Harbaugh.

1.  From Tim Reynolds on Twitter:  Breaking:  Terry Porter just called a foul on Oral Roberts and awarded Ohio State six free throws.  (For those that don't know, Terry Porter is the official that threw the [extremely] late pass interference flag against Miami and in favor of Ohio State in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl.)

The only two unanimous selections from yesterday were both number 1 seeds:  Baylor and Illinois.

So, enough chit-chat.  Here are the standings.  If you think there is a discrepancy between your listed score and the score you believe you earned, just send me an e-mail and I will be more than happy to re-visit and re-score your sheet. I do make mistakes and I will be happy to correct them.  Just know that if in re-scoring your sheet I find an error, no matter which direction, I will use the appropriate score - so there is the possibility of moving backward.  On to the standings (ties listed alphabetically):

1.  William Pujals - 32

2.  Katie Kollmeyer - 27

     Silas Nichols 1 - 27

     Jeff Plamondon - 27

5.  Silas Nichols 2 - 26

     Ashley Poer 1 - 26

     George Walks 2 - 26

8.  Kingfish Parham - 25

9.  Justin Yung - 24

10.  Eric Inge - 23

       George Walks 3 - 23

12.  Matt Hopps - 22

       Chris Igtiben - 22

       Sasha Moon - 22

       Amanda Staudt - 22

       Steven Usma 2 - 22 

       Keith Zdrowak - 22

18.  Jacey Fowler Reynolds 1 - 21

       Colleen Hamilton - 21

       Braeden Helland 1 - 21

       Stephanie Henderson - 21

       Colonel Kareem Montague - 21

       Edy Pecan - 21

       Steven Usma 4 - 21

       Amy Zdrowak - 21

26.  Arlene Amo Hopps - 20

       Rich Samuels 1 - 20

       Cheryl Spuhler - 20

       Measha Williams 2 - 20

       Measha WIlliams 4 - 20

31.  Nancy McInerney - 19

32.  Brent Bellinger 2 - 18

33.  Jenna Finkelstein - 17

       Braeden Helland 2 - 17

       Martha Kroesen - 17

       Rich Samuels 2 - 17

       Brandon Satterwhite - 17

       Joshua Ward - 17

       Day Yi 2 - 17

40.  Liz Carew - 16

       Carolyn Fowler - 16

       Colleen Hamilton 2 - 16

       Braeden Helland 3 - 16

       Adam Jorgensen 1 - 16

       Adam Jorgensen 2 - 16

       Adam Jorgensen 3 - 16

       Dan Laishley - 16

       Ty Leatherman - 16

       Max Macon 4 - 16

       Steven Usma 1 - 16

51.  Brent Bellinger 1 - 15

       Rachel Bornn - 15

       Paul Cummings - 15

       Dave Marzouca 1 - 15

       Dave Marzouca 2 - 15

       Kisha Marzouca 1 - 15

       Javier Rodriguez - 15

       Brittany Sosa - 15

       Hannah Sosa - 15

       Jason Spuhler - 15

       George Walks 1 - 15

       Measha WIlliams 3 - 15

63.  Guy Hughes - 14

       Michael McNally - 14

       Jane Reynolds - 14

       Rich Samuels - 14

       Jeremy Spuhler - 14

       Jonathan Wasserman - 14

       Katie Zdrowak - 14

70.  Colleen Hamilton 3 - 13

       Emily Lawson 2 - 13

       Ashley Poer 3 - 13

       George Walks 4 - 13

       Day Yi - 13

75.  Scott Bieterman - 12

       Larry Green - 12

       Ken Ward - 12

78.  Shane Dogmillionaire Jernigan 2 - 11

       Karen Katz - 11

       Mac Kroesen - 11

       Skip Laforte - 11

       Ashley Poer 2 - 11

       Pepe Sosa - 11

       Joshua Zdrowak - 11

85.  Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds - 10

       James Garvin - 10

       Alvaro Gonzalez - 10

       Braeden Helland 4 - 10

       Kyle Henderson 2 - 10

       Chris Igtiben 2 - 10

       Quinn Jackson - 10

       Shane Dogmillionaire Jernigan 1 - 10

       Max Macon 3 - 10

       Kisha Marzouca 2 - 10

       Sean McInerney - 10

       Carey Taylor - 10

       Steven Usma 3 - 10

       Wes Wiggins - 10

99.  Dan Barsky 1 - 9

       Luis Briones - 9

       Colleen Hamilton - 9

       Kyle Henderson 1 - 9

       Brian Hinaman - 9

       Blake Jackson - 9

       Miles Jackson - 9

       Greg Lieberman - 9

       Max Macon 2 - 9

       Brian McMahon - 9

       Barkley Sosa - 9

       Measha Williams - 9

       Bubba Zdrowak - 9

112.  Jessica Samuels - 8

         Dan Barsky 2 - 8

         Jacey Fowler-Reynolds 2 - 8

         Marcus Jackson - 8

         Emily Lawson 1 - 8

         Max Macon 1 - 8

118.  Justin Hallack - 7

         Chris Laforte - 7

         Biscuit Zdrowak - 7