We have a good pool this year, with a good amount of newcomers and returnees - with two of our newcomers being incredibly precocious, as they were not yet born this time last year. A number of our entries have four legs (Biscuit, Jacey, Cubbie. Mac, Duncan, Mango, Abigail, Barkley - and maybe some others). We have expanded into a new state and a new commonwealth this year (New York, Massachusetts) and vastly expanded our representation from North Carolina.
Speaking of North Carolina - I want to give a shout out to Glen Merchant, Duncan Merchant, and Mango Merchant, who managed to turn int their respective brackets yesterday morning, despite preparing for the GRAND OPENING of their ax-throwing/craft-beer establishment in Asheville, NC called Axeville Throwing Club. Here's hoping they had a great opening and continued success, all while watching their respective favorite teams in the tournament!
Unfortunately, we have also expanded our inability to follow all of the directions and the rules. So many people violated one rule or the other, that you can just go ahead and assume that you did. In fact, Jenna Finkelstein of St. Petersburg, FL wrote to me about her and Jeremy Spuhler , also of St. Pete, "We aren't very good at following directions!. You aren't the only ones Jenna. No worries though, as I think everything is sorted out and we are ready to go with our final count of 121 entries. The standings below only indicate 120, but Karen Katz - as per her usual - she mailed me her bracket. It was postmarked Monday and arrived yesterday, but after I started scoring. She will be included in the next update.
All of that is still better than Bradley Deutchman of Washington, D.C., who e-mailed me the following:
I have a few questions to make sure I understand how this works:
1) Play-In Games
How many points do I get for correctly picking the winners of the Play-In games? I didn’t see it in there.
Also, as for the first round Play-In picks, I’d prefer to specify “generally” and I hope you can respect my choice to do so as all our choices must be respected.
2) Scoring
Is this the same scoring system as last year?
3) I would like to get 4 points for second round picks and 20 points for 3rd round picks. Please effectuate these changes for me.
4) Guaranteed Upset
Two questions. First is more philosophical.
How can you really quantify “upset”? I can tell you from, at least, my personal dating experience, when I accuse someone of being upset, I’m usually told I’m wrong.
Also, I would prefer to designate my “Guaranteed Upset” in a triangle instead of a circle in respect to the “Triangle Offense.” I do not know what the “Triangle Offense” is but I recall hearing it has something to do with Michael Jackson and winning.
Thank you for your attention to these items. I expect there will be no problem fulfilling my requests.
For our champions, we have 16 different teams selected, with most of the love going to the State of North Carolina. More people selected Duke than any other score, with North Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia and Gonzaga getting significant love. Surprisingly we have multiple selections of Florida and Florida State, with single entries selecting Houston, Purdue and Syracuse. Yes your heard that correctly, we had someone select Syracuse. That means for the second consecutive year someone lost a champion on opening day! Sorry Edy Pecan of West Palm Beach, FL, you have the worst selection of the day. We can't blame you entirely, as there was a significant issue with the Orange that occurred last minute (see below). Our champions (with remaining teams in bold) are: Duke, Florida, Florida State, Gonzaga, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina, Purdue, Syracuse, Tennessee, Villanova, Virginia.
In addition to Edy Pecan, I want to make a special note of Colonel Kareem Montague, of Hickham Air Force Base, Hawaii and Justin Yung of Raleigh, North Carolina, for their traitorous selections of Yale to beat LSU. Alumni of Harvard should never pick Yale for anything - and I mean anything. Serves you right that Yale shot 8-37 from three point range (including 1-10 for Miye Oni, a junior who was considering entering the NBA draft). After that performance, I want to stress the word WAS.
We like to have a lot of fun here at our tournament pool, and it is fun to look at basketball as a game. But, sometimes real life intervenes. That happened twice yesterday, and I mention it because it greatly affected the games (at least one), and perhaps more going forward. First, Syracuse senior point guard Frank Howard was suspended indefinitely for failing a drug test. This came out yesterday. We know how long indefinitely is, though, since Syracuse is out! The second dose of real life occurred in the Florida State locker room after their first round victory over Vermont, when star Phil Cofer learned of the death of his father after a long illness. We wish the Cofer family well during this ordeal, and hope that it does not affect the team to negatively going forward.
From real life heartbreak to basketball heartbreak - WHAT ON EARTH WAS UP WITH A.J. HARRIS? Harris, a guard for New Mexico State, drove the length of the floor with six seconds to go down 2 to Auburn, and got to the basket uncontested where a layup would have tied the game. Instead, Harris passed it back out to a guarded Terrell Brown who proceeded to miss the potential game-winning three. Brown, however, was fouled by the Auburn defender and would receive 3 free throws to potentially win the game. After missing the first and hitting the second, Brown missed the third to keep New Mexico State down 1, but Auburn knocked the ball out-of-bounds with 1.3 seconds left giving the Aggies one last shot, which ended in a wide-open corner three, which was airballed. If Harris hits the layup, they are tied with 3 seconds or so left, and likely go to overtime.
In the karma department, the Louisville Cardinals, which school is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with former coach Rick Pitino, lost to the the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who are currently coached by Richard Pitino, Rick Pitino's son. Somewhere the vampire that is Rick Pitino is smiling.
Minnesota was a lower seed, and 9th seeded Baylor defeated the aforementioned Syracuse, but the real upset of the day was number 12 Murray State defeated 5th seeded Marquette. Now, apparently this was not too unforeseen, as this game was by far the most picked guaranteed upset in our pool (followed closely by Oregon). As you will see in the standings, a lot of people received 5 or 10 bonus points for this win. Murray State, led by a triple double from guard Ja Morant - who will easily be a top 5 draft pick this year - won 84-63, and frankly it wasn't even that close. Morant finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 16 assists to record only the 9th triple double in NCAA Tournament history and the first since Michigan State's Draymond Green did it in 2012. Green, now an NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors, was the first triple double since 2011, when Draymond Green did it. I do believe that Ja Morant is the best religious leader-named hoopster since God Shammgod played at Providence College.
Today's history lesson brings us to another NCAA tournament triple double involving a soon-to-be top 5 NBA draft pick in a game involving the Marquette Warriors. Marquette, the three seed in the midwest, played the number 1 seeded Kentucky Wildcats in the regional final in Minneapolis, home of this year's Final Four. Winner moved on to the Final Four. As an aside, this was a particularly important game as I was already headed to the Final Four in New Orleans that year, with a chance to cheer for Kentucky (my favorite team for those that don't know). I was travelling with Silas Nichols of Washington, D.C., who is an alumnus of Syracuse University, which would qualify for the Final Four that year behind freshman sensation Carmelo Anthony. (Syracuse would ultimately win). Being on opposite sides of the brackets meant a Kentucky - Syracuse final was possible until, the Flash appeared. Dwyane Wade led all scorers with 29, with 11 rebounds and 11 assists as Marquette defeated Kentucky 83-69 to earn their trip to the Final Four. Wade left Marquette after that Final Four appearance and was drafted 5th in the NBA draft by the Miami Heat, behind such other legendary players as the aforementioned Carmelo Anthony (3rd to Denver), Chris Bosh (4th to Toronto), LeBron James (1st to Cleveland) and the immortal Darko Milicic (2nd to Detroit). There is no way the Pistons don't regret this draft.
As stated earlier, a bunch of people selected Murray State to advance, so that is the best overall single pick, and too many people to name guaranteed that pick as their upset, earning 10 bonus points. In light of this fact, I will give the coveted "Pick of the Day" Award to Debbie Igdaloff Nieman of Boca Raton, Florida and Kingfish Rod Parham of Snellville, Georgia, both of whom correctly picked 15 of the 16 games from yesterday. Interestingly, they both had the Murray State upset, but not as their guarantee, and they both missed the Villanova game, as they both selected St. Mary's for the upset. Villanova won 61-57, to keep alive their hopes for a repeat championship.
Even though they did not win the "Pick of the Day" Award, we do have a six-way tie for first. Congratulations to Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds of Greenacres, FL, Marcus Jackson of Reston, VA, Duncan Merchant, of Asheville, NC, Steven Usma #1 of Miami, FL, Harrington Wax III, of Asheville, NC, and Mike Zachary of Jacksonville, FL.
As far as the brackets as a whole, only one team was selected by all of the entrants yesterday, and that was Michigan State. This means that some people picked Abilene Christian to defeat Kentucky, and Farleigh Dickinson to defeat Gonzaga. Those didn't happen, but I like the gumption.
I hand score the brackets, so it is possible that I may have made a mistake. I know, I know, you are surprised that I am fallible. Feel free to bring any questions you have to my attention at sosalaw@yahoo.com. I will re-visit your sheet and re-score. Keep in mind, though, that while if I find a mistake in your favor I will give you your proper points, but if I find a mistake in the opposite direction, I will make the appropriate downward correction. Also, let me know if I mis-spelled your name. I would like to correct it if I did so.
1 - Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds - 24
Marcus Jackson - 24
Duncan Merchant - 24
Steven Usma #1 - 24
Harrington Wax III - 24
Mike Zachary 24
7 - Jacey Fowler #2 - 23
Philip Kroesen - 23
Col. Kareem Montague - 23
Matt Nieman - 23
Allison Parker - 23
Ashley Poer #2 - 23
Steven Usma #3
Measha Williams #2 - 23
15 - Coby Kroesen - 22
Skip LaForte - 22
Brittany Sosa - 22
George Walks #3 - 22
19 - Kline Kroesen - 21
Silas Nichols - 21
21 - Debbie Igdaloff Nieman - 20
Kingfish Rod Parham - 20
Kyle Sheehan - 20
Measha Williams #3 - 20
25 - Scott Bieterman - 19
Scott Hansel - 19
Dave Piasecki #2 - 19
28 - Carolyn Fowler - 18
Brian Hinaman - 18
Matt Hopps - 18
Robert Hosmer - 18
Katie Kollmeyer - 18
Max Macon 1 - 18
William Pujals - 18
Jeremy Spuhler - 18
Robert Tanen 1 - 18
Robert Tanen 2 - 18
Steven Usma #4 - 18
George Walks #5 - 18
Jonathan Wasserman - 18
41 - Eric Inge - 17
Ty Leatherman - 17
Max Macon #2 - 17
Max Marion #1 - 17
Jane Reynolds - 17
Brittany Sosa - 17
Michael Spicer - 17
Steven Usma #5 - 17
49 - Bill Ganoe - 16
Hilary Kroesen - 16
Max Macon #4 - 16
Max Marion #2 - 16
Mango Merchant - 16
Chris Petit - 16
Steven Usma #2 - 16
56 - Pepe Sosa - 15
57 - Anthony LaPira - 14
Dana Mandelbaum - 14
Meredith Tanen - 14
Krystal Travers - 14
Measha Williams #1 - 14
Justin Yung - 14
63 - Jennifer Armstrong - 13
Rachel Bornn - 13
Jenna Finkelstein - 13
James Garvin - 13
Alvaro Gonzalez - 13
Martha Kroesen - 13
Glen Merchant - 13
Dave Piasecki #1 - 13
John Santucci - 13
Barkley Sosa - 13
Cheryl Spuhler - 13
George Walks #2 - 13
George Walks #4 - 13
Josh and Katie Zdrowak - 13
77 - Alyssa Ave - 12
Dan Barsky #1 - 12
Dan Barsky #2 - 12
Luis Briones - 12
Paul Cummings - 12
Adam Jorgensen - 12
Chris Kroesen - 12
Michael Litsey - 12
Max Macon #3 - 12
Sasha Moon - 12
David Olson - 12
Griffey Parker - 12
Ashley Poer #1 - 12
Rich Samuels #1 - 12
Rich Samuels #2 - 12
Ira Schulteis - 12
Jordyn Sheehan - 12
Samantha Sheehan - 12
Traci Sheehan - 12
Hannah Sosa - 12
Tara Telliott - 12
Biscuit Zdrowak - 12
Joshua Zdrowak - 12
100 - Jean Calixte - 11
Liz Carew - 11
Jacey Fowler #1 - 11
Bill Ganoe #2 - 11
Arlene Amo Hopps - 11
Cubbie Kroesen - 11
Hilary Kroesen #2 - 11
Mac Kroesen - 11
Sean McInerney - 11
Edy Pecan - 11
Jeff Plamondon - 11
Jessica Samuels - 11
Melanie Scherr - 11
George Walks #1 - 11
Wes Wiggins - 11
Katie Zdrowak - 11
Keith Zdrowak - 11
117 - Chad Phillips - 10
Abigail Sosa - 10
Jason Spuhler - 10
120 - Amy Zdrowak - 9
Pepe, great first post. I will have you know that I begrudgingly selected the Yale upset, but for good reason. The Ivy League got zero love in any of the conversations about at large bubble teams this year, despite the fact that it was the most competitive I've seen in 25 years. Not even a mention of a possible at large despite the fact that 12 scouts were at the championships because of Oni and Bryce Aiken. I figured that by picking them, despite every fiber in my being wanting me to go the other way, this would increase their likelihood of victory and also put a thumb on the eye of all those experts who thought they knew better. Oh well it didn't work. Now Harvard just needs to to beat NC State on Sunday to continue to prove my point. Did you see how great they looked against Georgetown.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, I have begrudgingly touted for Yale one other time, when they played Army a couple of years ago. I was sick of West Pointers trying to justify their continued play in the FBS, despite the fact that they would be better served in the Patriot League.
Obviously, I kid (somewhat) with regard to the Yale bid. I do think the Ivy was overall more competitive than it has been in a long time, but I do think the teams at the top were not as good as the previous Harvard teams, or the Cornell team that went to the Sweet Sixteen, or some of the other Penn and Princeton teams. Very happy with the NIT win over Georgetown, and will be keeping an eye on the N.C. State game, as I felt N.C. State were deserving of being in the NCAA tournament.
DeletePlus, look out for Harvard's team next year. First, the Ivy tournament is at Harvard next yet. Second, 2018 Ivy League Player of the Year Seth Towns returns after missing the entire 2018-2019 season, and will join classmates Bryce Aiken, Chris Lewis and sharpshooter Rob Baker to go with current Ivy Rookie of the Year Noah Kirkwood to make a formidable lineup. I could see a Sweet Sixteen run easily with this group.
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