2024 NCAA Tournament Standings - Round 2/Day 2

 

The below standings include the final two teams selected by each entrant in Champion/Runner-up format.  If capitalized and bold, the team is still alive in the tournament.

Pool Standings aftner Round 2

1.  Blake Jackson - 80 DUKE/ARIZONA

2.  Allison Parker - 78  NORTH CAROLINA/DUKE

3.  Braedon Helland - 76  Auburn/CREIGHTON

4.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 75 NORTH CAROLINA/HOUSTON

5.  Marcus Jackson - 74  Kansas/Alabama

6.  Brian McMahon - 73  CONNECTICUT/Kentucky

     Jody Cox - 73 MARQUETTE/ARIZONA

8.  George Fox 2 - 71  CONNECTICUT/DUKE

9.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 70  NORTH CAROLINA/TENNESSEE

     Ty Hedgpeth - 70  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON

     Measha Williams 3 - 70  PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

     Josh Zdrowak - 70  ARIZONA/Kentucky

13.  Miles Jackson - 69  Kentucky/CONNECTICUT

       Jeff Plamondon - 69 CONNECTICUT/MARQUETTE

15.  Kevin Dick - 68  Kentucky/NORTH CAROLINA

16.  Max Marion 3 - 67  PURDUE/Baylor

       Rich Samuels 4 - 67  HOUSTON/CONNECTICUT

18.  Daniel Barsky 1 - 66  CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

       Kyle Henderson 1 - 66  CREIGHTON/CONNECTICUT

       Quinn Jackson - 66  IOWA STATE/GONZAGA

       Jacey Reynolds 2 - 66  NORTH CAROLINA/TENNESSEE

       Chris Simmons - 66  TENNESEE/CONNECTICUT

       Justin Yang - 66  NORTH CAROLINA/PURDUE

24.  Paul Cummings 2 - 65  CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

       Amanda Staudt - 65  ARIZONA/PURDUE

       Katie Zdrowak - 65  ARIZONA/PURDUE

27.  Carolyn Fowler - 64  NORTH CAROLINA/TENNESSEE

       Mark Holbert - 64  NORTH CAROLINA/Kentucky

       Shane Jernigan 2 - 64  Auburn/PURDUE

       William Pujals - 64  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON

       Rich Samuels 5 - 64  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON

32.  Bill Ganoe 2 - 63  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON

       Pepe Sosa - 63  ARIZONA/Kentucky

       Cassi Spruill - 63  HOUSTON/ILLINOIS

       George Walks 3 - 63  PURDUE/Baylor

       Bubba Zdrowak - 63  DUKE/ARIZONA

37.  Joel Chernoff - 62  NORTH CAROLINA/HOUSTON

       Paul Cummings 3 - 62  CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

       Javier Rodriguez - 62  PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Rich Samuels 2 - 62  PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Measha Williams 1 - 62  HOUSTON/CONNECTICUT

       Measha Williams 2 - 62  HOUSTON/Auburn

43.  Scott Bieterman 2 - 61  Kentucky/Auburn

       James Coleman - 61  CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

       Paul Cummings 1 - 61  PURDUE/IOWA STATE

       Alvaro Gonzalez - 61  PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Sean McInerney 2 - 61  CONNECTICUT/CREIGHTON

       Kingfish Parham - 61  Auburn/Oregon

       Dave Piasecki - 61  Florida/Auburn

       Marcus Spruill - 61  NORTH CAROLINA/PURDUE

       Cheryl Spuhler - 61  CONNECTICUT/MARQUETTE

       Day Yi - 61  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON

       Keith Zdrowak - 61  PURDUE/Baylor

54.  Matt Hopps - 60  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON

       Skip LaForte - 60 Michigan State/HOUSTON 

       Max Marion 1 - 60  Kentucky/CONNECTICUT

       Si Nichols - 60  CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

       Rich Samuels 3 - 60  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON

59.  Silas Nichols - 59 CONNECTICUT/Kentucky

       Lee Pagan - 59  ARIZONA/PURDUE

       Ashley Poer - 59  IOWA STATE/HOUSTON

       Jeremy Spuhler - 59  CONNECTICUT/TENNESSEE

       Keith Wynne - 59  CONNECTICUT/MARQUETTE

       Amy Zdrowak - 59  PURDUE/Baylor

65.  Justine Frank - 58  CONNECTICUT/MARQUETTE

       Tyler Giamberini - 58  ARIZONA/Kansas

       George Walks 4 - 58  PURDUE/NORTH CAROLINA

68.  John Hedgpeth - 57  DUKE/NORTH CAROLINA

       Brigadier General Kareem Montague - 57  CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

       Matt Okell - 57  NORTH CAROLINA/HOUSTON

       Ryan Rodriguez - 57  DUKE/Auburn

72.  Scott Bieterman 1 - 56  PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Jacey Fowler 1 - 56  NORTH CAROLINA/PURDUE

       Max Macon 2 - 56  PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Sasha Moon - 56  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON

       Rich Samuels 1 - 56  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON  

       Brittany Sosa - 56  PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 56  Kentucky/IOWA STATE

79.  Kyle Henderson 2 - 55  HOUSTON/CONNECTICUT

       Max Marion 2 - 55  NORTH CAROLINA/MARQUETTE

       Jane Reynolds - 55  ALABAMA/TENNESSEE

       George Walks 1 - 55  NORTH CAROLINA/Kentucky

83.  Melissa Gaynor - 54  ILLINOIS/South Carolina

       Dan Laishley - 54  HOUSTON/CONNECTICUT

       Lily Spuhler - 54  Kansas/NORTH CAROLINA

       George Walks 2 - 54  Baylor/GONZAGA

87.  Dawn Lamb - 53  CONNECTICUT/MARQUETTE

       Derrick Lowe - 53  Kentucky/NORTH CAROLINA

       Max Macon 3 - 53  Florida/NORTH CAROLINA

       Chris O'Neil - 53  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON

       Jessica Samuels - 53  Florida Atlantic/HOUSTON

       Jamie Toole - 53  HOUSTON/ARIZONA

93.  James Garvin - 52  PURDUE/IOWA STATE

       Karen Katz - 52  PURDUE/Auburn

       Caroline Spuhler - 52  IOWA STATE/MARQUETTE

       Logan Spuhler - 52  ARIZONA/DUKE

97.  George Fox 1 - 51  PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Adam Jorgensen 1 - 51  CONNECTICUT/CREIGHTON

       Adam Jorgensen 2 - 51  HOUSTON/CONNECTICUT

       Nick Kuehl - 51   Auburn/MARQUETTE

       Max Macon 1 - 51  CONNECTICUT/TENNESSEE

       Max Marion 4 - 51  HOUSTON/IOWA STATE

       Kisha Marzouca 1 - 51  ARIZONA/DUKE

104.  Michael McNally - 50  GONZAGA/Baylor

         Jonathan Wasserman - 50  Kentucky/ILLINOIS

         Mike Wolff 1 - 50  DUKE/NORTH CAROLINA

107.  Jenna Finkelstein - 49  Florida/CONNECTICUT

         Max Macon 4 - 49  HOUSTON/NORTH CAROLINA

         A.J. Ripin - 49  NORTH CAROLINA/HOUSTON

110.  Clair Bullock - 48  NORTH CAROLINA STATE/Auburn

         Barbie Curlett 2 - 48   CONNECTICUT/MARQUETTE

         Natalie Moon - 48  CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

113.  Daniel Barsky 2 - 46  PURDUE/Baylor

         Barbie Curlett 1 - 46  HOUSTON/CONNECTICUT

         Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 46  TENNESSEE/ARIZONA

         Shane Jernigan 1 - 46  CONNECTICUT/MARQUETTE

         Katie Kollmeyer - 46  ARIZONA/HOUSTON

         Chris Pettit - 46  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON

         Coco Wynne - 46  CREIGHTON/ILLINOIS

120.  Arlene Amo Hopps - 44  NORTH CAROLINA/DUKE

         Savannah Grace Presely - 44  Florida Atlantic/MARQUTTE

122.  Brent Bellinger - 43  ILLINOIS/PURDUE

         Guy Hughes - 43  HOUSTON/IOWA STATE

         Noel Martinez 1 - 43  PURDUE/CONNECTICUT  

         Anne-Marie O'Neil - 43  PURDUE/ARIZONA

         Barkley Sosa - 43  CONNECTICUT/GONZAGA

         Mike Wolff 2 - 43  NORTH CAROLINA/Florida

128.  Colleen Giamberini - 42  CONNECTICUT/NORTH CAROLINA STATE

         Dave Marzouca 2 - 42  ARIZONA/DUKE

         Sean McInerney 1 - 42  MARQUETTE/NORTH CAROLINA

131.  Noel Martinez 2 - 41  Auburn/TENNESSEE

         Hannah Sosa - 41  Florida/ARIZONA

133.  Stephanie Henderson - 40  MARQUETTE/CONNECTICUT

         Kisha Marzouca 2 - 40  ARIZONA/HOUSTON

         Jason Spuhler - 40  CONNECTICUT/HOUSTON

136.  Dave Marzouca 1 - 35  Wisconsin/CONNECTICUT

137.  Alyssa Hopps - 31  NORTH CAROLINA/Kentucky

2024 NCAA Tournament Pool Results Round 2/Day 2

 

The first weekend is concluded and we are down to the Sweet Sixteen.  Which means only one thing - those of you that haven't paid yet have until Thursday to do so!  By my calculations I am only missing payment for 14 brackets.  There may be less since with brackets flying at me along with checks, Zelle, Venmo and CashApp, I could have missed your payment.  So, if/when I reach out to you later this week and you have already paid, just let me know by which method and I can look it up.  Thanks.

Why do I start with payment?  Because by and large the games have been boring - and that goes the same for yesterday with only a couple of exceptions.  The day started off promising with a very close and exciting game between 10-seed Colorado and 2-seed Marquette, with both teams playing incredibly good basketball.  In the end KJ Simpson - fresh off the game-winner against Florida - and his 20 points did not get enough help from Eddie "Big Boi" Lampkin and his 13 points.  This was largely due to the fact that Marquette's Tyler Kolek showed that he could at least read a basketball court with a 21 point - 11 assist game.  One key moment in this game occurred when David Joplin, a descendant of Scott Joplin [Ed. Note - NOT a descendant]; Okay, a relative of Janis Joplin [Ed. Note - NOT a relative]; Ok, well he hit two free throws with 7 seconds left to make this a two-possession game.

Then we went into the doldrums a bit, with Purdue shellacking Utah State by 39 - the largest spread in the history of the second round of the NCAA tournament - and then Duke putting a 38-point hurt on James Madison.  Clemson handled Baylor 72-64 in a game that didn't seem that close.  Grand Canyon at least played some exciting ball against Alabama before falling 72-61.  Seriously, if you get a chance to watch that game, both teams played the entire last 8 minutes as if it was a tie game in the last 30 seconds.  Then defending champion Connecticut coasted to victory over Northwestern 75-58.  This was followed up by San Diego State absolutely destroying Yale so bad that New Haven, Connecticut finally felt sorry for the Elis.  Speaking of Elis, just thought I should mention that they have a pep song, "Bingo Eli Yale" written by Cole Porter that is so stupid, the only explanation is that it was a prank played by Porter on the entire university before he left to enroll at Harvard.  Interestingly, Porter's roommate at Harvard was future Secretary of State Dean Acheson, which may only actually be interesting to me, but I digress.  Anyway, if you don't yet know how stupid "Bingo Eli Yale" is, you can judge for yourself HERE.  See, I told you.

A couple of points from these games ... Utah State was led by Mountain West Conference player of the year Great Osobor, who finished with 14 points and 6 rebounds in the blowout at the hands of the Boilermakers.  No word yet if he has petitioned Cache County courts for a name change to Mediocre Osobor yet.

Did I miss anything?  Oh yeah, Houston apparently defeated Texas A&M 100-95 - in what has to be described as the game of the tournament.  As a starting point, Houston - the number 1 seed - held a double-digit lead with just over 90 seconds remaining.  Texas A&M the scored on its last six possessions, including a top-of-the-key three pointer by Andersson Garcia (yes his name is spelled "ss"), who let's just say is not a three-point specialist.  (He's no Steve Sanders.)   Then, in overtime, 4 of Houston's 5 starters had fouled out - including their All-American Leader Jamal Shead.  It got to the point for the Cougars that walk-on Ryan Elvin was brought into the game to make key free throws.  A WALK-ON!!!  IN AN IMPORTANT TIME IN AN NCAA TOURNAMENT GAME!!!  He made them, and Houston survived 100-95.  Seriously, go watch the last two-mintes of regulation and overtime.  Ridiculous.

What all of this means is that even with all the favorites winning for the most part we still lost a potential champion.  Our remaining champions are:  ALABAMA, Auburn, ARIZONA, Baylor, CONNECTICUT, CREIGHTON, DUKE, Florida, Florida Atlantic, GONZAGA, HOUSTON, ILLINOIS, IOWA STATE, Kansas, Kentucky, MARQUETTE, Michigan State, NORTH CAROLINA, NORTH CAROLINA STATE, PURDUE and TENNESSEE.

So, the Houston-Texas A&M game going into overtime reminded me of a very seminal NCAA Tournament game that also went into overtime.  Back in 1961 the tournament still played a third-place game between the Final Four losers.  In this instance it was between St. Joeseph and Utah.  St. Joe's lost to Ohio State 95-69 and Utah lost to Cincinnati 82-67 to set up a highly anticipated final in which Cincinnati defeated Ohio State 70-65.  Jerry Lucas of Ohio State was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four despite coming up short in the final, and some guy named Bobby Knight hit a layup for Ohio State to sent THAT game into overtime, but ultimately the Bearcats were the champions.  But, this history lesson is not about the champions, it is about the third-place game.

St. Joe's was coached by the legendary Jack Ramsay, and hed a heckuva squad led by, among others Jim Lynam, Jack Egan, Frank Majewski, and Vincent Kempton, with another legendary basketball figure - Paul Westhead - coming off the bench.  Utah led the game late in regulation behind 34 points and 14 rebounds from Billy McGill.  But Jack Egan for St. Joe's scored 42 himself, and McGill fouled out in the second overtime.  The game was an absolute classic, with St. Joe's defeating Utah 127-120 - IN QUADRUPLE OVERTIME!!!  McGill was the number 1 overall draft pick in 1962, and is largely remembered for inventing the hook shot.  Some of the St. Joe's players were not as successful.

Two days later, Egan, Majewski and Kempton were implicated in a gambling scandal that rocked the NCAA, having taken money to shave points in three of St. Joe's games that year.  That scandal was orchestrated by a cohort of Vincent "the Chin" Gigante.  The story is that the players, at least Majewski, knew the scandal was going to break even as they played in the third-place game.  Egan, Majewski, and Kempton, never played basketball again.

You can read more about this game/situation in this article from 2016 in VICE.

Back to this weekend's games ... with a relative bore of a second round, there is not too much fun on social media, other than people just complaining about refereeing in their teams' losses.  So I give you a highlight from yesterday which I feel will surely be included in One Shining Moment,  Jamal Shead's Putback Dunk.

Not only did we have some great highlights, some phenomenal stats came out of yesterday's action.

Stats of the Day

9.  Penn State wrestling won its third consecutive NCAA title.

8.  Virginia women's swimming won its fourth consecutive NCAA title.

7.  Alabama and Grand Canyon combined for 17 blocks in their game; Alabama with 9 and Grand Canyon with 8.

6.  Jared McCain of Duke scored 22 in the first half; including 6 three-pointers.

5.  Marquette is now 15-0 when leading by double digits at halftime.

4.  Houston had 5 players with two or more fouls at halftime.

3.  Stanford's Kiki Iriafen scored 41 with 16 rebounds as Stanford's women defeated Iowa State, led by Emily Ryan's 36.  Interestingly, neither of these players are the teams primary stars/scorers.

2.  Marquette's Tyler Kolek had 10 points, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds - the first player to have back-to-back 10-5-10 games in the NCAA tournament since Jason Kidd of California in 1993.

1.  Gonzaga is in its 9th straight Sweet Sixteen.  To put that into perspective, in the past five years, Virginia, Kansas and Baylor have all won 1 title, and failed to make it out of the opening weekend the other 4 times.

Players of the Day

10.  Chase Hunter, Clemson - 20 points, 6 assists

9.  Rayj Dennis, Baylor - 27 points, 6 rebounds

8.  Tyler Kolek, Marquette - 21 points, 5 rebounds, 11 assists

7.  Mark Sears, Alabama - 26 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists

6.  Tyrece Radford, Texas A&M - 27 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists

5.  Jaedon Lee and Jamal Shead, Houston - 26 points, 9 rebounds and 21 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists

4.  Tyon Grant-Foster, Grand Canyon - 29 points, 8 rebounds

3.  Emmanuel Sharp, Houston - 30 points

2.  Jared McCain, Duke - 30 points, 5 rebounds

1.  Zach Edey, Purdue - 33 points, 14 rebounds

So, back to the pool itself.  With a whole lot of chalk yesterday, excepting Clemson's win as a 6-seed over 3-seed Baylor, it was pretty dificult to discern an interesting "Pick of the Day" without giving the award to dozens of entries.  But, a magic combination came through, as a ton of our entries had Auburn in the Sweet Sixteen.  This fact allows me to award the "Pick of the Day" to the 4 people that correctly had both San Diego State AND Clemson in the Sweet 16.  Congratulations to Allison Parker of Washington, DC, Mark Holbert of Jupiter, Florida, Caroline Spuhler of Acworth, Georgia, and Barbie Curlett 1 of Jacksonville, Florida.

As for the Leaderboard, at some point this week before Thursday's games begin, I will update the standings so that you can see who has selected what champion and runner-up, that way you know where you stand vis-a-vis other entries that have your same champion.  As always, remember to double-check your brackets and let me know if you think I made an error.  Otherwise, the standings are below, and we have a new leader ...

Pool Standings after Round 2

1.  Blake Jackson - 80

2.  Allison Parker - 78

3.  Braedon Helland - 76

4.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 75

5.  Marcus Jackson - 74

6.  Brian McMahon - 73

     Jody Cox - 73

8.  George Fox 2 - 71

9.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 70

     Ty Hedgpeth - 70

     Measha Williams 3 - 70

     Josh Zdrowak - 70

13.  Miles Jackson - 69

       Jeff Plamondon - 69

15.  Kevin Dick - 68

16.  Max Marion 3 - 67

       Rich Samuels 4 - 67

18.  Daniel Barsky 1 - 66

       Kyle Henderson 1 - 66

       Quinn Jackson - 66

       Jacey Reynolds 2 - 66

       Chris Simmons - 66

       Justin Yang - 66

24.  Paul Cummings 2 - 65

       Amanda Staudt - 65

       Katie Zdrowak - 65

27.  Carolyn Fowler - 64

       Mark Holbert - 64

       Shane Jernigan 2 - 64

       William Pujals - 64

       Rich Samuels 5 - 64

32.  Bill Ganoe 2 - 63

       Pepe Sosa - 63

       Cassi Spruill - 63

       George Walks 3 - 63

       Bubba Zdrowak - 63

37.  Joel Chernoff - 62

       Paul Cummings 3 - 62

       Javier Rodriguez - 62

       Rich Samuels 2 - 62

       Measha Williams 1 - 62

       Measha Williams 2 - 62

43.  Scott Bieterman 2 - 61

       James Coleman - 61

       Paul Cummings 1 - 61

       Alvaro Gonzalez - 61

       Sean McInerney 2 - 61

       Kingfish Parham - 61

       Dave Piasecki - 61

       Marcus Spruill - 61

       Cheryl Spuhler - 61

       Day Yi - 61

       Keith Zdrowak - 61

54.  Matt Hopps - 60

       Skip LaForte - 60

       Max Marion 1 - 60

       Si Nichols - 60

       Rich Samuels 3 - 60

59.  Silas Nichols - 59

       Lee Pagan - 59

       Ashley Poer - 59

       Jeremy Spuhler - 59

       Keith Wynne - 59

       Amy Zdrowak - 59

65.  Justine Frank - 58

       Tyler Giamberini - 58

       George Walks 4 - 58

68.  John Hedgpeth - 57

       Brigadier General Kareem Montague - 57

       Matt Okell - 57

       Ryan Rodriguez - 57

72.  Scott Bieterman 1 - 56

       Jacey Fowler 1 - 56

       Max Macon 2 - 56

       Sasha Moon - 56

       Rich Samuels 1 - 56

       Brittany Sosa - 56

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 56

79.  Kyle Henderson 2 - 55

       Max Marion 2 - 55

       Jane Reynolds - 55

       George Walks 1 - 55

83.  Melissa Gaynor - 54

       Dan Laishley - 54

       Lily Spuhler - 54

       George Walks 2 - 54

87.  Dawn Lamb - 53

       Derrick Lowe - 53

       Max Macon 3 - 53

       Chris O'Neil - 53

       Jessica Samuels - 53

       Jamie Toole - 53

93.  James Garvin - 52

       Karen Katz - 52

       Caroline Spuhler - 52

       Logan Spuhler - 52

97.  George Fox 1 - 51

       Adam Jorgensen 1 - 51

       Adam Jorgensen 2 - 51

       Nick Kuehl - 51

       Max Macon 1 - 51

       Max Marion 4 - 51

       Kisha Marzouca 1 - 51

104.  Michael McNally - 50

         Jonathan Wasserman - 50

         Mike Wolff 1 - 50

107.  Jenna Finkelstein - 49

         Max Macon 4 - 49

         A.J. Ripin - 49

110.  Clair Bullock - 48

         Barbie Curlett 2 - 48

         Natalie Moon - 48

113.  Daniel Barsky 2 - 46

         Barbie Curlett 1 - 46

         Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 46

         Shane Jernigan 1 - 46

         Katie Kollmeyer - 46

         Chris Pettit - 46

         Coco Wynne - 46

120.  Arlene Amo Hopps - 44

         Savannah Grace Presely - 44

122.  Brent Bellinger - 43

         Guy Hughes - 43

         Noel Martinez 1 - 43

         Anne-Marie O'Neil - 43

         Barkley Sosa - 43

         Mike Wolff 2 - 43

128.  Colleen Giamberini - 42

         Dave Marzouca 2 - 42

         Sean McInerney 1 - 42

131.  Noel Martinez 2 - 41

         Hannah Sosa - 41

133.  Stephanie Henderson - 40

         Kisha Marzouca 2 - 40

         Jason Spuhler - 40

136.  Dave Marzouca 1 - 35

137.  Alyssa Hopps - 31

2022 NCAA Tournament Pool - Final Standings

No prose today, just results.  For information on how the Final Four is going, visit any of the Final Four Chronicles on this site.  For the winners, please give me a couple of days to double check all scoring and then I will contact you regarding how you want payment.

STANDINGS

Remember, please double-check your scores, and let me know if you think I made a mistake.

1.  Dawn Lamb (Keith) - 136 - KANSAS

2.  Jeff Plamondon 1 - 128 - KANSAS

3.  Ron Stewart - 121 - KANSAS

4.  Chris Simmons - 116 - KANSAS

5.  Steven Usma 4 - 115 - KANSAS

6.  Braeden Helland 3 - 114 - KANSAS

7.  Mark Holbert - 113 - KANSAS

     Chris Kroesen - 113 - KANSAS

9.  Bubba Zdrowak - 111 - KANSAS

10.  Dawn Lamb (Colbie) - 109 - KANSAS

       Brandon Satterwhite - 109 - KANSAS

12.  Annette Pritchard - 108 - KANSAS

13.  Gracie Kroesen - 107 - KANSAS

       Dawn Lamb - 107 - KAN1AS

       Sean McInerney 3 - 107 - KANSAS

16.  Day Yi 1 - 105

17.  George Walks 3 - 100 - KANSAS

18.  John Hopps - 96

19.  Allison Parker - 95

20.  Jeremy Spuhler - 93

21.  Javier Rodriguez 2 - 91 - Gonzaga/Arizona

22.  Bill Ganoe 3 - 87 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       Sean McInerney 1 - 87

24.  George Fox 1 - 84 - Gonzaga/Iowa

25.  Annette Pritchard 2 - 80

       George Walks 2 - 80

27.  Sean McInerney 2 - 79

       Katie Zdrowak - 79

29.  Rich Samuels 1 - 78

       Jonathan Wasserman - 78

       Justin Yung - 78

32.  Dan Laishley - 77

       Colonel Kareem Montague - 77

       Josh Zdrowak - 77

35.  Scott Bieterman 1 - 76

       Alvaro Gonzalez - 76

       Alyssa Hopps - 76

       Arlene Amo Hopps - 76

       Scott Kroesen - 76

       Jessica Samuels - 76  

       Mike Wolff - 76

42.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 75

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 75

44.  Justine Frank - 74

       Emily Lawson 1 - 58

       Silas Nichols - 74

       Ryan Rodriguez - 74

       Steven Usma 1 - 74

49.  Brent Bellinger 2 - 73

       Mac Kroesen - 73

       Steven Usma 3 - 73

52.  Guy Hughes - 72

       Blake Jackson - 72

54.  Quinn Jackson - 71

       Brian McMahon - 71

       Dave Piasecki 1 - 71

       William Pujals - 71

       George Walks 1 - 71

59.  Javier Rodriguez 3 - 70

60.  Rachel Bornn - 69

61.  Paul Cummings 1 - 68

       Larry Green - 68

       Kevin Kroesen - 68

       Hannah Sosa - 68

       Steven Usma 2 - 68

       Amy Zdrowak - 68

67.  Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 67

       Jacey Fowler 1 -67

       Kline Kroesen - 67

       Glen Merchant - 67

       Javier Rodriguez 1 - 67

72.  Bill Ganoe 2 - 66

       Steph Stewart - 66

74.  Jen Armstrong - 65

       Rich Samuels 4 - 65

       Jamie Toole - 65

77.  Brian Hinaman - 64

       Philip Kroesen - 64

       Rich Samuels 3 - 64

       Keith Zdrowak - 64

81.  Kisha Marzouca 1 - 63

       Barkley Sosa - 63

       Pepe Sosa 2 - 63

84.  Brent Bellinger 1 - 62

       Matt Hopps - 62

       Edith Pecan - 62

87.  Braeden Helland 1 - 61

       Braeden Helland 2 - 61

       Ty Leatherman - 61

       Sasha Moon - 61

       Pepe Sosa 1 - 61

       George Walks 4 - 61

93.  Scott Bieterman 2 - 60

       George Fox 2 - 60

       Adam Jorgensen - 60

       Jeff Kroesen - 60

       Amanda Staudt - 60

98.  Paul Cummings 2 - 59

       Marcus Jackson - 59

       Emily Lawson 2- 59

101.  Dawn Lamb (Mitch) - 58

         Kisha Marzouca 3 - 58

103.  Daniel Barsky - 57

         George Fox 3 - 57

         Eric Inge - 57

         Dave Marzouca 2 - 57

         Nancy McInerney - 57

108.  Jenna Finkelstein - 56

         Hilary Kroesen - 56

         Martha Kroesen - 56

         Emily Lawson 3 - 56

112.  Jim Coleman - 55

        Carolyn Fowler - 55

        Jane Reynolds - 55

115.  Kisha Marzouca 2 - 54

116.  Jonathan Cox - 53

        James Garvin - 53

        ShaneDog Millionaire Jernigan 1 - 53

        Katie Kollmeyer - 53

        Ashley Poer 2 - 53

121.  Dave Piasecki 2 - 52

         Carl Walker - 52

123.  James Davis - 51

        Miles Jackson - 51

125.  Jacey Fowler - 50

         Chris LaForte 1 - 50

127.  Dave Marzouca 1 - 49

         Matt Nieman - 49

129.  ShaneDog Millionaire Jernigan 2 - 47

         Chris LaForte 2 - 47

         Brittany Sosa - 47

132.  Rich Samuels 2 - 45

         Jason Spuhler - 45

134.  Dave Marzouca 3 - 44

         Jeff Plamondon 2 - 44

136.  Scott Bieterman 3 - 43

         Kingfish Parham - 43

138.  Randy Pacheco - 34

139.  Ashley Poer 1 - 33

140.  Dawn Lamb (Quarter) - 30

141.  Day Yi 2 - 28

2022 NCAA Tournament Pool - Final Four

No prose today, just results.  For information on how the Final Four is going, visit any of the Final Four Chronicles on this site.

STANDINGS

Remember, please double-check your scores, and let me know if you think I made a mistake.

1.  Dawn Lamb (Keith) - 108 - KANSAS

2.  Day Yi 1 - 105

3.  Jeff Plamondon 1 - 100 - KANSAS

4.  John Hopps - 96

5.  Allison Parker - 95

6.  Jeremy Spuhler - 93

     Ron Stewart - 93 - KANSAS

8.  Javier Rodriguez 2 - 91 - Gonzaga/Arizona

9.  Chris Simmons - 88 - KANSAS

10.  Bill Ganoe 3 - 87 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       Sean McInerney 1 - 87

       Steven Usma 4 - 87 - KANSAS

13.  Braeden Helland 3 - 86 - KANSAS

14.  Mark Holbert - 86 - KANSAS

       Chris Kroesen - 85 - KANSAS

16.  George Fox 1 - 84 - Gonzaga/Iowa

17.  Bubba Zdrowak - 83 - KANSAS

18.  Dawn Lamb (Colbie) - 81 - KANSAS

       Brandon Satterwhite - 81 - KANSAS

20.  Annette Pritchard - 80 - KANSAS

       Annette Pritchard 2 - 80

       George Walks 2 - 80

23.  Gracie Kroesen - 79 - KANSAS

       Dawn Lamb - 79 - KANSAS

       Sean McInerney 2 - 79

       Sean McInerney 3 - 79 - KANSAS

       Katie Zdrowak - 79

28.  Rich Samuels 1 - 78

       Jonathan Wasserman - 78

       Justin Yung - 78

31.  Dan Laishley - 77

       Colonel Kareem Montague - 77

       Josh Zdrowak - 77

34.  Scott Bieterman 1 - 76

       Alvaro Gonzalez - 76

       Alyssa Hopps - 76

       Arlene Amo Hopps - 76

       Scott Kroesen - 76

       Jessica Samuels - 76  

       Mike Wolff - 76

41.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 75

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 75

43.  Justine Frank - 74

       Emily Lawson 1 - 58

       Silas Nichols - 74

       Ryan Rodriguez - 74

       Steven Usma 1 - 74

48.  Brent Bellinger 2 - 73

       Mac Kroesen - 73

       Steven Usma 3 - 73

51.  Guy Hughes - 72

       Blake Jackson - 72

       George Walks 3 - 72 - KANSAS

54.  Quinn Jackson - 71

       Brian McMahon - 71

       Dave Piasecki 1 - 71

       William Pujals - 71

       George Walks 1 - 71

59.  Javier Rodriguez 3 - 70

60.  Rachel Bornn - 69

61.  Paul Cummings 1 - 68

       Larry Green - 68

       Kevin Kroesen - 68

       Hannah Sosa - 68

       Steven Usma 2 - 68

       Amy Zdrowak - 68

67.  Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 67

       Jacey Fowler 1 -67

       Kline Kroesen - 67

       Glen Merchant - 67

       Javier Rodriguez 1 - 67

72.  Bill Ganoe 2 - 66

       Steph Stewart - 66

74.  Jen Armstrong - 65

       Rich Samuels 4 - 65

       Jamie Toole - 65

77.  Brian Hinaman - 64

       Philip Kroesen - 64

       Rich Samuels 3 - 64

       Keith Zdrowak - 64

81.  Kisha Marzouca 1 - 63

       Barkley Sosa - 63

       Pepe Sosa 2 - 63

84.  Brent Bellinger 1 - 62

       Matt Hopps - 62

       Edith Pecan - 62

87.  Braeden Helland 1 - 61

       Braeden Helland 2 - 61

       Ty Leatherman - 61

       Sasha Moon - 61

       Pepe Sosa 1 - 61

       George Walks 4 - 61

93.  Scott Bieterman 2 - 60

       George Fox 2 - 60

       Adam Jorgensen - 60

       Jeff Kroesen - 60

       Amanda Staudt - 60

98.  Paul Cummings 2 - 59

       Marcus Jackson - 59

       Emily Lawson 2- 59

101.  Dawn Lamb (Mitch) - 58

         Kisha Marzouca 3 - 58

103.  Daniel Barsky - 57

         George Fox 3 - 57

         Eric Inge - 57

         Dave Marzouca 2 - 57

         Nancy McInerney - 57

108.  Jenna Finkelstein - 56

         Hilary Kroesen - 56

         Martha Kroesen - 56

         Emily Lawson 3 - 56

112.  Jim Coleman - 55

        Carolyn Fowler - 55

        Jane Reynolds - 55

115.  Kisha Marzouca 2 - 54

116.  Jonathan Cox - 53

        James Garvin - 53

        ShaneDog Millionaire Jernigan 1 - 53

        Katie Kollmeyer - 53

        Ashley Poer 2 - 53

121.  Dave Piasecki 2 - 52

         Carl Walker - 52

123.  James Davis - 51

        Miles Jackson - 51

125.  Jacey Fowler - 50

         Chris LaForte 1 - 50

127.  Dave Marzouca 1 - 49

         Matt Nieman - 49

129.  ShaneDog Millionaire Jernigan 2 - 47

         Chris LaForte 2 - 47

         Brittany Sosa - 47

132.  Rich Samuels 2 - 45

         Jason Spuhler - 45

134.  Dave Marzouca 3 - 44

         Jeff Plamondon 2 - 44

136.  Scott Bieterman 3 - 43

         Kingfish Parham - 43

138.  Randy Pacheco - 34

139.  Ashley Poer 1 - 33

140.  Dawn Lamb (Quarter) - 30

141.  Day Yi 2 - 28

2022 NCAA Tournament Pool - Elite 8/Day 2

The Road to New Orleans is set, with Kansas, Duke, Villanova and North Carolina all set to play in the Final Four.  I don't know that I have too much to say today as the games yesterday were just utterly awful.  Horrible.  A travesty, a sham, a mockery of the game.  A traveshamockery. 

I honestly calculated the scores yesterday, but just couldn't figure out what to say about the day.  Not sure that I have figured it out yet today, but you all deserve to at least see the standings, so I will give it the old college try, which is more than I can say about Miami and St. Peter's.

First of all, nobody picked North Carolina in the Final Four (or St. Peter's for that matter), so the only game of consequence was the Kansas-Miami bout.  We actually did have 2 entries with Miami in the Final Four, but that did not come to fruition, and I do not award an "Almost Selection of the Day" award.  Given that Kansas was a 1 seed, it wouldn't have been a stretch for the half or so of us that had them in the Final Four, so I am just going to not give the award.  I will just say that if you had Kansas, you made up some ground, if you did not, you lost some ground, and leave it at that.  The top of the standings stayed mostly the same with Day Yi 2 of Forest Hills, New York, and Jeremy Spuhler of St. Petersburg, Florida, remaining in first and second place respectively, but we have a new entrant in third place, as Dawn Lamb (Keith) of Delray Beach, Florida has risen into the show position.

I point out that since nobody selected North Carolina the North Carolina/St. Peter's game had no consequences in our pool, but it sure did for the bookmakers, especially in New Jersey.  See, a New Jersey law does not allow the Jersey books to accept bets on games involving New Jersey schools, and an additional law requires that all futures bets have a winner.  So, anybody that made a future bet on North Carolina to win the eastern bracket would have paid out EVEN IF ST. PETER'S WON THE GAME.  As it turns out, St. Peter's was not an option, and North Carolina advanced the furthest in the tournament in that quadrant.  I thank my friend Todd Betzag of Tampa, Florida (not in the pool) for circulating the story, which can be found, HERE.  The article also mentions just how much money sports books stood to lose on a St. Peter's victory.

Our champions list remains the same, with only Kansas in play today.  Our champions are: Auburn, Arizona, Baylor, DUKE, Gonzaga, Illinois, KANSAS, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas Tech, VILLANOVA, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin.

Since the games were SOOOOOO bad yesterday, my heart just really isn't in it to add a history section.  I try my best to let the outcome of the games, or a play, or player, or team dictate what story I bring forth in this write-up, and I really hope the connection between on the court and the tournament memories are understandable, or at least you can see them.  Today, I feel like if I wrote anything about North Carolina, Kansas, Miami or St. Peter's, it would just seem forced.

But, you all deserve something for putting up with my updates (hell, for just reading the rules), so in lieu of a story, I am just going to ask a tournament trivia question, which was posited to me by Silas Nichols of Washington, D.C. (answer to come in the next update, or maybe just later this week).  And, if I get enough responses via comments on the blog, I may make this a regular/semi-regular addition to the update.

Three people have won the NCAA basketball championship as both a player and a coach.  Can you name them?

As far as on the Court ...

Players of the Day

Honorable Mention.  Justin Moore, Villanova - He didn't play yesterday, but the official news of his torn Achilles might have more effect on the Final Four than anything that did happen yesterday.  His surgery reportedly went well according to Villanova Coach Jay Wright.

5.  K.C. Ndefo, St. Peter's - Ndefo finished with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 6 blocks.  That is filling up the stat sheet for a team that lost 69-49 (and it wasn't that close).

4.  Brady Manek, North Carolina - Finished with 19 points (on 7-11 shooting, including 4-6 from three-point range) and 8 rebounds, even chipping in 1 assist in North Carolina's victory.

5.  Ochai Agbaji, Kansas - Another stat sheet stuffing performance by the first-team All-American as he scored a game-high 18 points, had 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.

2.  Armando Bacot, North Carolina - Scored 20 points and had 22 rebounds.  22!!!

1.  Christian Pulisic, USMNT - Scored a hat trick as the US Men's National Team annihilated Panama 5-1 and put the national team on the brink of qualifying for the World Cup.  So long as the US loses by 5 goals or better against Costa Rica on Wednesday night (or ties or wins the game), the US will qualify for Qatar.

Stats of the Day

5.  K.C. Ndefo from St. Peter's had 6 blocks, giving him 14 for the tournament.  Ndefo is 6'7", 195.  By contrast, Mark Williams from Duke has 16 blocks in the tournament and he is 7'1", 245.

4.  Kansas outscored Miami 47-15 in the second half!

3.  The four schools in the Final Four have won 9 of the last 20 titles!  (Duke - 3, North Carolina - 3, Villanova - 2, Kansas -1)

2.  Armando Bacot of North Carolina had 22 rebounds!!!

1.  Christian Pulisic had a hat trick against Panama, scoring 3 of the 5 goals for the US.

Best Social Media Posts

2.  Bill Walton on twitter (possibly - or I just made it up) - This game is HORRIBLE!!!

1.  Charles Barkley on twitter (possible - or I just made it up - Just TURRIBLE!

STANDINGS

Remember, please double-check your scores, and let me know if you think I made a mistake.

1.  Day Yi 1 - 105 - DUKE/ VILLANOVA

2.  Jeremy Spuhler - 93 - DUKE/Auburn

3.  Dawn Lamb (Keith) - 92 - KANSAS/DUKE

4.  Javier Rodriguez 2 - 91 - Gonzaga/Arizona

5.  Bill Ganoe 3 - 87 - Arizona/Gonzaga

6.  George Fox 1 - 84 - Gonzaga/Iowa

     Jeff Plamondon 1 - 84 - KANSAS/Kentucky

8.  John Hopps - 80 - Baylor/KANSAS

     George Walks 2 - 80 - Arizona/Gonzaga

10.  Sean McInerney 2 - 79 - Arizona/Kentucky

       Allison Parker - 79 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

       George Walks 1 - 71 - Arizona/Purdue

13.  Rich Samuels 1 - 78 - VILLANOVA/Gonzaga

       Jonathan Wasserman - 78 - Arizona/Kentucky

       Justin Yung - 78 - DUKE/Auburn

16.  Colonel Kareem Montague - 77 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       Ron Stewart - 77 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

       Josh Zdrowak - 77 - Arizona/Baylor

19.  Scott Bieterman 1 - 76 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Alyssa Hopps - 76 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Arlene Amo Hopps - 76- VILLANOVA/Purdue

       Scott Kroesen - 76 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       Jessica Samuels - 76 - DUKE/Auburn  

       Mike Wolff - 76 - Gonzaga/Arizona

25.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 75 - Baylor/Arizona

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 75 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

27.  Justine Frank - 74 - Gonzaga/Wisconsin

       Silas Nichols - 74 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Ryan Rodriguez - 74 - Baylor/Auburn

       Steven Usma 1 - 74 - Arizona/Gonzaga

31.  Brent Bellinger 2 - 73 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

       Mac Kroesen - 73 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       Steven Usma 3 - 73 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA

34.  Guy Hughes - 72 - Arizona/Kentucky

       Blake Jackson - 72 - Kentucky/VILLANOVA

       Chris Simmons - 72 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

37.  Quinn Jackson - 71 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA

       Sean McInerney 1 - 71 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

       Brian McMahon - 71 - Kentucky/Tennessee

       Dave Piasecki 1 - 71 - VILLANOVA/Gonzaga

       Steven Usma 4 - 71 - KANSAS/DUKE

42.  Braeden Helland 3 - 70 - KANSAS/Alabama

       Javier Rodriguez 3 - 70 - Arizona/Gonzaga

44.  Rachel Bornn - 69 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

       Mark Holbert - 69 - KANSAS/Kentucky

       Chris Kroesen - 69 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

47.  Paul Cummings 1 - 68 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       Larry Green - 68 - Arizona/Gonzaga

        Kevin Kroesen - 68 - Gonzaga/Auburn

        Hannah Sosa - 68 - Auburn/Baylor

        Steven Usma 2 - 68 - Gonzaga/Arizona

        Amy Zdrowak - 68 - Auburn/DUKE

53.  Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 67 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Jacey Fowler 1 -67 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

       Kline Kroesen - 67 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

       Glen Merchant - 67 - Arizona/Purdue

       Javier Rodriguez 1 - 67 - Kentucky/Tennessee

       Bubba Zdrowak - 67 - KANSAS/Texas

59.  Bill Ganoe 2 - 66 - Gonzaga/Auburn

       Steph Stewart - 66 - VILLANOVA/Kentucky

61.  Jen Armstrong - 65 - Wisconsin/Kentucky

       Dawn Lamb (Colbie) - 65 - KANSAS/Texas Tech

       Rich Samuels 4 - 65 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA

       Brandon Satterwhite - 65 - KANSAS/Kentucky

       Jamie Toole - 65 - Arizona/Baylor

66.  Brian Hinaman - 64 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       Philip Kroesen - 64 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Annette Pritchard - 64 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

       Annette Pritchard 2 - 64 - Baylor/KANSAS

       Rich Samuels 3 - 64 - Tennessee/Gonzaga

       Keith Zdrowak - 64 - Arizona/Baylor

72.  Gracie Kroesen - 63 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

       Dawn Lamb - 63 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

       Kisha Marzouca 1 - 63 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

       Sean McInerney 3 - 63 - KANSAS/Kentucky

       Barkley Sosa - 63 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

       Pepe Sosa 2 - 63 - Gonzaga/Arizona

      Katie Zdrowak - 63 - DUKE/KANSAS

79.  Brent Bellinger 1 - 62 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Matt Hopps - 62 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Edith Pecan - 62 - Virginia Tech/LSU

82.  Braeden Helland 1 - 61 - Tennessee/Baylor

       Braeden Helland 2 - 61 - Kentucky/Tennessee

       Dan Laishley - 61 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

       Ty Leatherman - 61 - DUKE/Arizona

       Sasha Moon - 61 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Pepe Sosa 1 - 61 - Kentucky/Auburn

       George Walks 4 - 61 - Gonzaga/Arizona

89.  Scott Bieterman 2 - 60 - Arizona/Purdue

       George Fox 2 - 60 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA

       Alvaro Gonzalez - 60 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

       Adam Jorgensen - 60 - Gonzaga/Iowa

       Jeff Kroesen - 60 - Gonzaga/Auburn

       Amanda Staudt - 60 - Arizona/Gonzaga

95.  Paul Cummings 2 - 59 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Marcus Jackson - 59 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA

       Emily Lawson 2- 59 - Gonzaga/Arizona

98.  Dawn Lamb (Mitch) - 58 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Emily Lawson 1 - 58 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

100.  Daniel Barsky - 57 - Arizona/Gonzaga

         George Fox 3 - 57 - Tennessee/Gonzaga

         Eric Inge - 57 - Arizona/Gonzaga

         Dave Marzouca 2 - 57 - Gonzaga/Auburn

         Nancy McInerney - 57 - VILLANOVA/Gonzaga

105.  Jenna Finkelstein - 56 - Auburn/Texas Tech

         Hilary Kroesen - 56 - VILLANOVA/Gonzaga

         Martha Kroesen - 56 - Gonzaga/Wisconsin

         Emily Lawson 3 - 56 - Arizona/Gonzaga

         George Walks 3 - 56 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

110.  Jim Coleman - 55 - Arizona/Kentucky

        Carolyn Fowler - 55 - Arizona/Gonzaga

        Jane Reynolds - 55 - Auburn/Baylor

        William Pujals - 55 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

114.  Kisha Marzouca 2 - 54 - Baylor/Auburn

115.  Jonathan Cox - 53 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

        James Garvin - 53 - DUKE/Arizona

        ShaneDog Millionaire Jernigan 1 - 53 - Arizona/Texas Tech

        Katie Kollmeyer - 53 - Gonzaga/Auburn

        Ashley Poer 2 - 53 - Kentucky/Arizona

120.  Dave Piasecki 2 - 52 - Tennessee/Gonzaga

         Carl Walker - 52 - Gonzaga/Auburn

122.  James Davis - 51 - Gonzaga/Arizona

        Miles Jackson - 51 - Tennessee/Gonzaga

124.  Jacey Fowler - 50 - Gonzaga/Arizona

         Chris LaForte 1 - 50 - Tennessee/Gonzaga

126.  Dave Marzouca 1 - 49 - Texas Tech/Auburn

         Matt Nieman - 49 - Arizona/Gonzaga

128.  ShaneDog Millionaire Jernigan 2 - 47 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

         Chris LaForte 2 - 47 - Michigan State/Tennessee

         Brittany Sosa - 47 - Gonzaga/Iowa

131.  Rich Samuels 2 - 45 - Kentucky/Iowa

         Jason Spuhler - 45 - DUKE/Auburn

133.  Dave Marzouca 3 - 44 - Arizona/Kentucky

         Jeff Plamondon 2 - 44 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

135.  Scott Bieterman 3 - 43 - Gonzaga/Arizona

         Kingfish Parham - 43 - Gonzaga/Arizona

137.  Kisha Marzouca 3 - 42 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

138.  Randy Pacheco - 34 - Gonzaga/Arizona

139.  Ashley Poer 1 - 33 - Gonzaga/Iowa

140.  Dawn Lamb (Quarter) - 30 - Texas Tech/Iowa

141.  Day Yi 2 - 28 - Gonzaga/Auburn

2022 NCAA Tournament Pool - Elite 8/Day 1

 

Even with both favorites winning yesterday, there was not a lot of movement in yesterday's pool, but that doesn't mean there wasn't any changes.  Basically, if you had either Duke or Villanova, you blasted up the standings.  If you scored 0 points yesterday, you dropped.  Pretty simple.  I say either Duke or Villanova, because only Day Yi 2 of Forest Hills, New York, Jeremy Spuhler of St. Petersburg, Florida, Jessica Samuels of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida and Steph Stewart of Miami, Florida had BOTH Duke and Villanova advancing to the Final Four.  Yes, you did just read Day Yi 2, so yes the rich get richer, or, the lead get leadierer (I want credit if this word ever catches on).  So Day Yi not only remains in first place, he increases his lead!  Jeremy Spuhler sits in second place, and cheering for every underdog from here forward is George Fox 1 of West Palm Beach, Florida, who is currently in third place, but can no longer earn any points.  So, for picking both Duke and Villanova when almost everyone else selected Gonzaga and Arizona, Day Yi 2, Jeremy Spuhler, Jessical Samuels and Steph Stewart earn the "Selection of the Day" Awards.  

Our champions list remains the same, with only Kansas in play today.  Our champions are: Auburn, Arizona, Baylor, DUKE, Gonzaga, Illinois, KANSAS, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas Tech, VILLANOVA, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin.

As far as on the Court ...

Players of the Day

5.  Taze Moore, Houston - Led the Cougars with 15 points and 10 rebounds, along with 3 steals.  Fifteen points isn't ordinarily a lot, but when the game ends 50-44, then 15 points is commendable.

4.  A.J. Griffin, Duke - Scored 18 points to lead the Blue Devils, on 7-9 shooting, 2-3 from three point range, and hit a key three as it looked like Arkansas was trying to make a game of it by cutting a double-digit lead to 5 points. 

3.  Jermaine Samuels, Villanova - The wing was the best player on the Court in the Villanova-Houston game, and he scored 16 points to go with 10 rebounds to pace the Wildcats.

2.  Jaylin Williams, Arkansas - Williams received almost no help from anyone on the Razorbacks and finished the game with 19 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.  Numbers might have been higher if he hadn't been forced to the bench with 5 minutes left in the first half because of his second foul.

1.  Mark Williams, Duke - Easily the best player of the day, or more accurately the most dominating.  He controlled the game in the paint, on both ends of the floor.  He finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks, and countless other altered shots.

Stats of the Day

5.  J.D. Notae from Arkansas had 5 fouls.  With the Razorbacks best player on the bench having fouled out, there was no chance Arkansas could even think about a comeback.  Even though Notae still played 35 minutes, they were largely ineffective as he could not be his normal relentless self for most of the game, and it showed.

4.  Mark Williams of Duke won the ACC Defensive Player of the Year Award in this, his sophomore season.  But, his sister Elizabeth Williams also played at Duke and was first team All-ACC 4 times, Conference Defensive Player of the Year twice, and NCAA Defensive Player of the Year once.  She is 9th in NCAA history in total blocks.

3.  Jaylin Williams of Arkansas led the NCAA with 54 charges drawn this year.  This includes two that he drew in the first half last night.

2.  The shooting percentage in the Houston-Villanova game was atrocious:  Houston shot 29.8% from the field (17-57); Villanova shot a worse 28.8% (15-52) for a combined 29.3% (32-109).  This is just horrible, and Villanova won despite shooting so poorly.

I remember a while ago, 1985 to be exact, when Villanova shot much, much better from the field.  (And you thought you were going to get through this without a bit of tournament history.)  Villanova had some talent in starters Ed Pinckney, Harold Pressley, Gary McClain and Dwayne McClain, and with sharpshooter Harold Jensen coming off the bench.  But, this team was way undersized, with Pinckney the center only 6'9", and not very deep, with only Jensen playing meaningful minutes off the bench.  Villanova entered the tournament as an 8 seed - and to this day is the lowest seeded tournament to ever win the tournament.

In the first round, Villanova played 9th seeded Dayton, and won 51-49 behind Pinckney's 20 points.  The fought another close game in the second round, narrowly defeating the number 1 seed Michigan Wolverines with Roy Tarpley, Gary Grant and Richard Rellford, 59-55, this time led by Dwayne McClain's 20 points.  Things stayed tough in the Sweet Sixteen, but Villanova outlasted the Maryland Terrapins 46-43, with Ed Pinckney leading the way with 16 points, but more importantly holding Len Bias to only 8 points.  The Elite 8 was easier as Villanova defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels 56-44 to earn a trip to the Final Four in Lexington, Kentucky, where they joined two other Big East Conference foes, Georgetown and St. John's.  North Carolina received 17 points and 12 rebounds from Brad Daugherty and 5 assists from Kenny Smith, but just couldn't match the four players in double figures for Villanova, led by Harold Pressley's 15.

In the Final Four, Villanova met the Memphis Tigers led by Keith Lee (the same Keith Lee from a previous update in this year's tournament), and won 52-45.  Dwayne McClain's 19 led the Wildcats into the championship game against a powerful Georgetown Hoyas team that not only was the defending champions, but had also defeated Villanova twice already that year.  Georgetown was led by Patrick Ewing, but had plenty of other talent around him in the forms of Reggie Williams, David Wingate, Michael Jackson and Horace Broadnax - one of the best names in college basketball history.  The Hoyas played pretty well in the finals with all 5 starters scoring at least 8 points (and four in double digits), led by David Wingate's 16, but the fell to Villanova 66-64 because VILLANOVA SHOT 78.6% FROM THE FIELD!!!  78.6!!!!  Dwayne McClain scored 16, Ed Pinckney scored 16 and Gary McClain and Harold Jensen didn't miss a shot in scoring 8 and 14 respectively!

Villanova's 1985 shooting percentage in this game is still the highest single-game shooting percentage in the tournament, and it just happened to occur in the championship!

Pinckney was named the Most Outstanding Player and was drafted 10th in the first round of the NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns.  After playing in the NBA for 12 seasons.  Harold Pressley was the 17th overall pick by the Sacramento Kings where he played for 4 seasons, before playing several more overseas.  Dwayne McClain was a second-round pick by the Phoenix Suns, where he played 2 seasons, before playing 10 more overseas in 4 different leagues.  Harold Jensen was drafted in the sixth round by the Cleveland Cavaliers but never played a game in the NBA and only played once season professionally.  Gary McClain was drafted in the 7th round by the New Jersey Nets, but never played a professional game.  McClain was the subject of a famous Sports Illustrated article in 1987 in which he admitted that he had been doing drugs since junior high school and started doing cocaine at Villanova.  He admitted to doing cocaine at the Final Four, but was adamant that he played the championship game clean.

The most famous member of that Villanova Wildcat team was easily its coach, Rollie Massimino.  Massimino continued to coach at Villanova until 1992, was the head coach at UNLV from 1992-1994, at Cleveland State from 1996-2003, and at Northwood University (down the street from me actually), which was sold to and became Keiser University 2006-2017.  Massimino was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.  He died in West Palm Beach, Florida, in August 2017.

1.  Duke went on an 8-0 run in the last 2:00 minutes of the first half to take a 45-33 lead into halftime before winning the game 78-69.  Coincidentally, Jaylin Williams of Arkansas was on the bench with 2 fouls during the entire run.

Best Social Media Posts

2.  Grayson Allen is going to be tripping all over himself to try to get to the Final Four in New Orleans. - Nobody on social media (I just made it up), but I just felt a good Grayson Allen tripping joke was in order.

1.  Sean Farnham of ESPN on Twitter about the Villanova-Arkansas 50-44 game.  "I can't wait to watch the second half of this battle!"

STANDINGS

Onto the standings, and remember, please double-check your scores, and let me know if you think I made a mistake.

1.  Day Yi 1 - 105 - DUKE/ VILLANOVA

2.  Jeremy Spuhler - 93 - DUKE/Auburn

3.  George Fox 1 - 84 - Gonzaga/Iowa

     Dawn Lamb (Keith) - 84 - KANSAS/DUKE

5.  Javier Rodriguez 2 - 83 - Gonzaga/Arizona

6.  Bill Ganoe 3 - 79 - Arizona/Gonzaga

7.  Jonathan Wasserman - 78 - Arizona/Kentucky

     Justin Yung - 78 - DUKE/Auburn

9.  Colonel Kareem Montague - 77 - Arizona/Gonzaga

10.  Scott Bieterman 1 - 76 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Scott Kroesen - 76 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       Jeff Plamondon 1 - 76 - KANSAS/Kentucky

       Jessica Samuels - 76 - DUKE/Auburn  

14.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 75 - Baylor/Arizona

15.  Justine Frank - 74 - Gonzaga/Wisconsin

       Silas Nichols - 74 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Ryan Rodriguez - 74 - Baylor/Auburn

18.  Steven Usma 3 - 73 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA

19.  John Hopps - 72 - Baylor/KANSAS

       Blake Jackson - 72 - Kentucky/VILLANOVA

       George Walks 2 - 72 - Arizona/Gonzaga

22.  Sean McInerney 2 - 71 - Arizona/Kentucky

       Brian McMahon - 71 - Kentucky/Tennessee

       Allison Parker - 71 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

       Dave Piasecki 1 - 71 - VILLANOVA/Gonzaga

       George Walks 1 - 71 - Arizona/Purduen

27.  Rich Samuels 1 - 70 - VILLANOVA/Gonzaga

28.  Ron Stewart - 69 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

       Josh Zdrowak - 69 - Arizona/Baylor

30.  Alyssa Hopps - 68 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Arlene Amo Hopps - 68- VILLANOVA/Purdue

       Kevin Kroesen - 68 - Gonzaga/Auburn

       Hannah Sosa - 68 - Auburn/Baylor

       Mike Wolff - 68 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Amy Zdrowak - 60 - Auburn/DUKE

36.  Kline Kroesen - 67 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

       Javier Rodriguez 1 - 67 - Kentucky/Tennessee

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 67 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

39.  Bill Ganoe 2 - 66 - Gonzaga/Auburn

       Steph Stewart - 66 - VILLANOVA/Kentucky

       Steven Usma 1 - 66 - Arizona/Gonzaga

42.  Jen Armstrong - 65 - Wisconsin/Kentucky

       Brent Bellinger 2 - 65 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

       Mac Kroesen - 65 - Arizona/Gonzaga

45.  Brian Hinaman - 64 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       Guy Hughes - 64 - Arizona/Kentucky

       Chris Simmons - 64 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

       Keith Zdrowak - 64 - Arizona/Baylor

49.  Quinn Jackson - 55 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA

       Sean McInerney 1 - 63 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

       Barkley Sosa - 63 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

       Steven Usma 4 - 63 - KANSAS/DUKE

53.  Brent Bellinger 1 - 62 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Braeden Helland 3 - 62 - KANSAS/Alabama

       Matt Hopps - 62 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Edith Pecan - 62 - Virginia Tech/LSU

       Javier Rodriguez 3 - 62 - Arizona/Gonzaga

58.  Rachel Bornn - 61 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

       Braeden Helland 2 - 61 - Kentucky/Tennessee

       Mark Holbert - 61 - KANSAS/Kentucky

       Chris Kroesen - 61 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

       Ty Leatherman - 61 - DUKE/Arizona

       Pepe Sosa 1 - 61 - Kentucky/Auburn

64.  Scott Bieterman 2 - 60 - Arizona/Purdue

       Paul Cummings 1 - 60 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       George Fox 2 - 60 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA

       Larry Green - 60 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       Adam Jorgensen - 60 - Gonzaga/Iowa

       Jeff Kroesen - 60 - Gonzaga/Auburn

       Amanda Staudt - 60 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       Steven Usma 2 - 60 - Gonzaga/Arizona

72.  Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 59 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Jacey Fowler 1 -59 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

       Marcus Jackson - 59 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA

       Glen Merchant - 59 - Arizona/Purdue

       Bubba Zdrowak - 59 - KANSAS/Texas

77.  Eric Inge - 57 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       Dawn Lamb (Colbie) - 57 - KANSAS/Texas Tech

       Dave Marzouca 2 - 57 - Gonzaga/Auburn

       Rich Samuels 4 - 57 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA

       Brandon Satterwhite - 57 - KANSAS/Kentucky

       Jamie Toole - 57 - Arizona/Baylor

83.  Jenna Finkelstein - 56 - Auburn/Texas Tech

       Hilary Kroesen - 56 - VILLANOVA/Gonzaga

       Martha Kroesen - 56 - Gonzaga/Wisconsin

       Philip Kroesen - 56 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Annette Pritchard - 56 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

       Annette Pritchard 2 - 56 - Baylor/KANSAS

       Rich Samuels 3 - 56 - Tennessee/Gonzaga

90.  Jim Coleman - 55 - Arizona/Kentucky

      Carolyn Fowler - 55 - Arizona/Gonzaga

      Gracie Kroesen - 55 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

      Dawn Lamb - 55 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

      Kisha Marzouca 1 - 55 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

      Sean McInerney 3 - 55 - KANSAS/Kentucky

      Jane Reynolds - 55 - Auburn/Baylor

      Pepe Sosa 2 - 55 - Gonzaga/Arizona

      Katie Zdrowak - 55 - DUKE/KANSAS

99.  Jonathan Cox - 53 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

       James Garvin - 53 - DUKE/Arizona

       Braeden Helland 1 - 53 - Tennessee/Baylor

       Katie Kollmeyer - 53 - Gonzaga/Auburn

       Dan Laishley - 53 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

       Sasha Moon - 53 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Ashley Poer 2 - 53 - Kentucky/Arizona

       George Walks 4 - 53 - Gonzaga/Arizona

107.  Alvaro Gonzalez - 52 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

         Dave Piasecki 2 - 52 - Tennessee/Gonzaga

         Carl Walker - 52 - Gonzaga/Auburn

110.  Paul Cummings 2 - 51 - Gonzaga/Arizona

        James Davis - 51 - Gonzaga/Arizona

        Miles Jackson - 51 - Tennessee/Gonzaga

        Emily Lawson 2- 51 - Gonzaga/Arizona

114.  Chris LaForte 1 - 50 - Tennessee/Gonzaga

         Dawn Lamb (Mitch) - 50 - Gonzaga/Arizona

         Emily Lawson 1 - 50 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

117.  Daniel Barsky - 49 - Arizona/Gonzaga

         George Fox 3 - 49 - Tennessee/Gonzaga

         Dave Marzouca 1 - 49 - Texas Tech/Auburn

         Nancy McInerney - 49 - VILLANOVA/Gonzaga

         Matt Nieman - 49 - Arizona/Gonzaga

         George Walks 3 - 48 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

123.  ShaneDog Millionaire Jernigan 2 - 47 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

         Chris LaForte 2 - 47 - Michigan State/Tennessee

         William Pujals - 47 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

         Brittany Sosa - 47 - Gonzaga/Iowa

127.  Kisha Marzouca 2 - 46 - Baylor/Auburn

         ShaneDog Millionaire Jernigan 1 - 45 - Arizona/Texas Tech

         Rich Samuels 2 - 45 - Kentucky/Iowa

         Jason Spuhler - 45 - DUKE/Auburn

131.  Dave Marzouca 3 - 44 - Arizona/Kentucky

         Jeff Plamondon 2 - 44 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

133.  Scott Bieterman 3 - 43 - Gonzaga/Arizona

         Kingfish Parham - 43 - Gonzaga/Arizona

135.  Jacey Fowler - 42 - Gonzaga/Arizona

         Kisha Marzouca 3 - 42 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

137.  Emily Lawson 3 - 40 - Arizona/Gonzaga

138.  Randy Pacheco - 34 - Gonzaga/Arizona

139.  Ashley Poer 1 - 33 - Gonzaga/Iowa

140.  Dawn Lamb (Quarter) - 30 - Texas Tech/Iowa

141.  Day Yi 2 - 28 - Gonzaga/Auburn

2022 NCAA Tournament Pool - Sweet Sixteen/Day 2

So, yesterday was National Peacock Day.  No, seriously.  So, of course, the St. Peter's Peacocks play Purdue, and beat Purdue, to advance to the Elite 8.  I mean, this team is the Cock of the Walk.  Seriously running around Peacocking all over the NCAA Tournament.  With this many bad puns, it is probably a good thing that they didn't play South Carolina!!!

What is St. Peter's, and how on earth have they - as a 15 seed - advanced to the Sweet 16?  They are the only 15th seed to win a Sweet Sixteen game.  Well, it probably starts with the coach.  Their Coach is Shaheen Holloway ...

Holloway was a high school All-American playing for St. Patrick's in Elizabeth City, New Jersey.  During his senior year, Holloway averaged 22.5 points, 9.1 assists, and an amazing 5.3 steals per game.  He finished his St. Patrick's career with 2,151 points, 727 assists, and 520 steals.  He was named second team Parade All American and selected to play in the McDonald's All-American game in 1996, where he was the starting point guard for the east team.  In the game he scored 7 points, had 8 assists and 6 steals, leading the east team to victory.  He was named the games Most Valuable Player, over other star players such as Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O'Neal, Stephen Jackson, Richard Hamilton, Tim Thomas, and Ed Cota.  AND THAT WAS JUST FROM THE EAST SQUAD!!!  The West team was headlined by Mateen Cleaves, Mike Bibby, Loren Woods, Jason Collier and Lester Earl.  (Seriously, check out just the point guards on those teams - Holloway, Cota, Bibby and Cleaves - ridiculous!)

Holloway attended Seton Hall over offers from California, Duke and Georgia Tech.  After enrolling, he immediately started for the Pirates, and averaged 17.3 points per game (5th in the Big East behind the likes of Victor Page from Georgetown, Pat Garrity of Notre Dame, Austin Croshere and Derrick Brown from Providence), with 6.3 assists per game (3rd in the conference behind Admore White of Notre Dame [6.7] and Providence's God Shammgod, [6.6] who is a whole separate posting in himself) and second in steals per game at 2.8 (tied with Jason Hart of Syracuse just behind Kelli Taylor of Pittsburgh.)  He was named to the conference All-Rookie team and was named Second Team All Conference.  Interestingly, the Conference Rookie of the Year Award went to Tim Thomas of Villanova, despite scoring less, having less assists.

His stats stagnated his sophomore year, but he still led the Big East in assists per game at 6.5, scored 15 points per game and was named Third Team All-Big East.  His statistics did plummet his junior year - leading some to suspect he might have been playing injured - but he still finished second in the conference in assists per game at 5.0, behind Vernon Jennings from Miami.  He rebounded his senior year averaging 13.2 points per game, 5.6 assists per game (fifth in the conference, behind Vernon Jennings, Jason Hart from Syracuse and Jimmy Dillon from Notre Dame), and even chipped in 5.1 rebounds per game and 1.7 steals per game to be named Most Improved Player in the conference and Second Team All-Big East.  He led his team to a 22-9 record and a 10th seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Pirates, then coached by now Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, headed into the East Regional in Buffalo, New York where they played the Oregon Ducks on St. Patrick's Day.  St. Patrick, you might recall, was Shaheen Holloway's alma mater.  Seton Hall upset Oregon 72-71 in overtime, and Holloway PUT IN WORK.  Holloway played 42 of the 45 minutes, scored a game-high 27 points, had 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals.  In scoring his 27 points, Holloway shot 11-17 from the field, including 3-3 from three-point range.  Seton Hall advanced to the second round where they played the second seeded Temple Owls, led by one of my favorite players Pepe Sanchez.  Temple was favored by 11 points, yet the Pirates, behind Ty Shine's 26 points off the bench, defeated the Owls 67-65.  Alas, the tournament run was over for Shaheen Holloway, who 8 minutes into the game sustained an ankle injury on a fast break, was out for the tournament.  Holloway did hit the shot in which he was injured, and finished with 2 rebounds and 2 assists.  Seton Hall hung in the Sweet Sixteen without their leader, but ultimately succumbed to the Oklahoma State Cowboys 68-66.  Holloway likely would have been the difference in that round.

Holloway went undrafted in the 2000 NBA Draft, and played professionally for 7 years on 9 teams in 7 leagues in 7 different countries before entering coaching, ultimately becoming St. Peter's head coach in 2018.  In other words, this is also HIS NCAA Tournament that he never got to finish, and his calm yet tough, experienced and confident demeanor is a large part of St. Peter's story.  They have already advanced further in the tournament than any other 15 seed, so it would be imprudent for North Carolina to overlook them tomorrow.

Now, back to our brackets.

WE HAVE A WINNER, I mean, WE HAVE A LOSER!!!  Day Yi 2 of Forest Hills, New York had two opportunities to gain points yesterday, and lost both games, meaning he is currently in last place and has no opportunities to win more points going forward.  Day thus finishes in last place and will be receiving his money back.  The return of the money is symbolic in that it is the entire pool just saying that bracket was so bad we cannot accept your money.

Conversely, Day Yi 1, crazily enough also from Forest Hills, New York, remains in first place as we had very little movement among the standings.  Why so little movement you ask?  It is because most people selected Kansas (if you did not you likely dropped a few spots), and absolutely nobody selected St. Peter's.  We had 8 people select St. Mary's in that spot, but wrong patron so no points.  I initially thought that I was going to mention those that selected St. Mary's, but then I saw that Steven Usma 3 of Miami, Florida successfully picked Miami to make it to the Elite 8.  But even then that wasn't enough to earn him the coveted "Selection of the Day" Award as Braeden Helland 1 of Jacksonville, Florida picked BOTH Miami and North Carolina into the next round.  Unfortunately for him, he did not have Kansas winning, otherwise he would have moved up more spots on the leaderboard.  Congratulations anyway.

No movement among our champions as the only Champion in play yesterday, Kansas, defeated Providence despite a late run by the Friars.  Our remaining champions stay the same, and they are: Auburn, Arizona, Baylor, DUKE, Gonzaga, Illinois, KANSAS, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas Tech, VILLANOVA, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin.

Players of the Day

Honorable Mention.  Doug Edert's Mustache, St. Peter's - Edert himself didn't have a great game, scoring only 10 points on 1-6 shooting (but 7-8 from the free throw line), but his mustache is one of the all-time worst.  Seriously, shave that thing!  Otherwise he may be forced to register under Megan's Law.

Honorable Mention.  Trevion Williams, Purdue.  He scored 16 points with 10 rebounds in Purdue's loss to St. Peter's.  I am mostly putting him in here because I neglected to mention his 22 points and 7 rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench against Texas last round.

5.  Armando Bacot, North Carolina - Finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds, including the key tip-in of a R.J Davis miss with 15 second left in the game to seal the win for the Tar Heels.  He also had a key save after a Love miss that lead to a Love three with 1:47 left in the game, that might have been the actual turning point of North Carolina's win.

4.  Remy Martin, Kansas - Martin scored a silky, smooth 23 points and finished with a taste of dried figs, raisins, brazil nuts, dark cocoa, licorice and caramel.  Wait, sorry, wrong Remy Martin.  He finished with 7 rebounds and was the best player on the court that featured his own All-American teammate. 

3.  Kameron McGusty, Miami - Scored 27 points, with 6 rebounds and 4 steals as Miami defeated Iowa State 70-56.

2.  Aliyah Boston, South Carolina - Boston scored 28 points with 22 rebounds as the overall number 1 women's seed advanced to the Elite 8.

1.  Caleb Love, North Carolina - Finished with 30 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists and virtually willed North Carolina over UCLA (along with Bacot).

Stats of the Day

5.  Ochai Agbaji of Kansas had 4 blocks as Kansas defeated Providence 66-61.

4.  Zach Edey of Purdue only played 17 minutes in Purdue's loss to St. Peter's despite scoring 11 points during that time.  He was not in foul trouble either, as he committed 0 fouls during those 17 minutes.  Edey, the 7'4" center, was left out of the game as coach Matt Painter tried to counter St. Peter's smaller lineup, however it would appear that forcing the Peacocks to guard Edey may have been a better strategy.  ONLY 17 MINUTES!!!

3.  Iowa State committed 9 turnovers in the first half against Miami (17 total).  Prior to last night's game, Miami had committed 7 turnovers for the first 2 games!

2.  Aliyah Boston of South Carolina scored all 13 of South Carolina's points in the 4th quarter.

1.  Armando Bacot of North Carolina earned his 29th double-double of the year, the most in North Carolina's history.  The Tar Heels have had some really good college big me, too, like - in no particular order - Bob McAdoo, James Worthy, Bobby Jones, Mitch Kupchak, Sam Perkins, J.R. Reid, Vince Carter (not technically a big, but his jumping ability helped him rebound ALOT,) Antawn Jamison, Tyler Hansbrough, Rasheed Wallace and Eric Montross.  Bacot has more double-doubles that ALL of them (at least over the course of a season.)

Best Social Media Posts

To be fair, no social media posts compare to University of Maryland - Baltimore County's live tweets of its 1018 upset over Virginia.

Before you begin watching today/tonight's games, remember that for this round each win is worth 8 points!

Onto the standings, and remember, please double-check your scores, and let me know if you think I made a mistake.

1.  Day Yi 1 - 89 - DUKE/ VILLANOVA

2.  Javier Rodriguez 2 - 83 - Gonzaga/Arizona

3.  Bill Ganoe 3 - 79 - Arizona/Gonzaga

4.  Colonel Kareem Montague - 77 - Arizona/Gonzaga

     Jeremy Spuhler - 77 - DUKE/Auburn

6.  Scott Bieterman 1 - 76 - Gonzaga/Arizona

     George Fox 1 - 76 - Gonzaga/Iowa

     Scott Kroesen - 76 - Arizona/Gonzaga

     Dawn Lamb (Keith) - 76 - KANSAS/DUKE

     Jeff Plamondon 1 - 76 - KANSAS/Kentucky

11.  Silas Nichols - 74 - Gonzaga/Arizona

12.  John Hopps - 72 - Baylor/KANSAS

13.  Sean McInerney 2 - 71 - Arizona/Kentucky

       Brian McMahon - 71 - Kentucky/Tennessee

       Allison Parker - 71 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

       George Walks 1 - 71 - Arizona/Purduen

17.  Jonathan Wasserman - 70 - Arizona/Kentucky

       Justin Yung - 70 - DUKE/Auburn

19.  Josh Zdrowak - 69 - Arizona/Baylor

20.  Alyssa Hopps - 68 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Mike Wolff - 68 - Gonzaga/Arizona

22.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 67 - Baylor/Arizona

       Kline Kroesen - 67 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 67 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

25.  Justine Frank - 66 - Gonzaga/Wisconsin

       Bill Ganoe 2 - 66 - Gonzaga/Auburn

       Ryan Rodriguez - 66 - Baylor/Auburn

       Steven Usma 1 - 66 - Arizona/Gonzaga

29.  Brent Bellinger 2 - 65 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

       Mac Kroesen - 65 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       Steven Usma 3 - 65 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA

32.  Brian Hinaman - 64 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       Guy Hughes - 64 - Arizona/Kentucky

       Blake Jackson - 64 - Kentucky/VILLANOVA

       George Walks 2 - 64 - Arizona/Gonzaga

36.  Sean McInerney 1 - 63 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

     Dave Piasecki 1 - 63 - VILLANOVA/Gonzaga

     Barkley Sosa - 63 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

39.  Brent Bellinger 1 - 62 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Braeden Helland 3 - 62 - KANSAS/Alabama

       Matt Hopps - 62 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Edith Pecan - 62 - Virginia Tech/LSU

       Javier Rodriguez - 62 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       Rich Samuels 1 - 62 - VILLANOVA/Gonzaga

45.  Rachel Bornn - 61 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

       Braeden Helland 2 - 61 - Kentucky/Tennessee

       Chris Kroesen - 61 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

       Pepe Sosa 1 - 61 - Kentucky/Auburn

       Ron Stewart - 61 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

50.  Scott Bieterman 2 - 60 - Arizona/Purdue

       Paul Cummings 1 - 60 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       Larry Green - 60 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       Arlene Amo Hopps - 60- VILLANOVA/Purdue

       Adam Jorgensen - 60 - Gonzaga/Iowa

       Kevin Kroesen - 60 - Gonzaga/Auburn

       Jessica Samuels - 60 - DUKE/Auburn

       Hannah Sosa - 60 - Auburn/Baylor

       Amanda Staudt - 60 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       Steven Usma 2 - 60 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Amy Zdrowak - 60 - Auburn/DUKE

61.  Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 59 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Jacey Fowler 1 -59 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

       Glen Merchant - 59 - Arizona/Purdue

       Javier Rodriguez 1 - 59 - Kentucky/Tennessee

       Bubba Zdrowak - 59 - KANSAS/Texas

66.  Jen Armstrong - 57 - Wisconsin/Kentucky

       Eric Inge - 57 - Arizona/Gonzaga

       Dawn Lamb (Colbie) - 57 - KANSAS/Texas Tech

       Dave Marzouca 2 - 57 - Gonzaga/Auburn

       Brandon Satterwhite - 57 - KANSAS/Kentucky

       Jamie Toole - 57 - Arizona/Baylor

72.  Jenna Finkelstein - 56 - Auburn/Texas Tech

       Martha Kroesen - 56 - Gonzaga/Wisconsin

       Philip Kroesen - 56 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Annette Pritchard - 56 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

       Rich Samuels 3 - 56 - Tennessee/Gonzaga

       Chris Simmons - 56 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

       Keith Zdrowak - 56 - Arizona/Baylor

79.  Jim Coleman - 55 - Arizona/Kentucky

      Carolyn Fowler - 55 - Arizona/Gonzaga

      Quinn Jackson - 55 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA

      Dawn Lamb - 55 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

      Kisha Marzouca 1 - 55 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

      Sean McInerney 3 - 55 - KANSAS/Kentucky

      Jane Reynolds - 55 - Auburn/Baylor

      Pepe Sosa 2 - 55 - Gonzaga/Arizona

      Steven Usma 4 - 55 - KANSAS/DUKE

88.  Jonathan Cox - 53 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

       Mark Holbert - 53 - KANSAS/Kentucky

       Katie Kollmeyer - 53 - Gonzaga/Auburn

       Dan Laishley - 53 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

       Ty Leatherman - 53 - DUKE/Arizona

       Sasha Moon - 53 - Gonzaga/Arizona

       Ashley Poer 2 - 53 - Kentucky/Arizona

       George Walks 4 - 53 - Gonzaga/Arizona

96.  George Fox 2 - 52 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA

       Alvaro Gonzalez - 52 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

       Jeff Kroesen - 52 - Gonzaga/Auburn

       Dave Piasecki 2 - 52 - Tennessee/Gonzaga

100.  Paul Cummings 2 - 51 - Gonzaga/Arizona

        James Davis - 51 - Gonzaga/Arizona

        Marcus Jackson - 51 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA

        Miles Jackson - 51 - Tennessee/Gonzaga

        Emily Lawson 2- 51 - Gonzaga/Arizona

105.  Chris LaForte 1 - 50 - Tennessee/Gonzaga

         Dawn Lamb (Mitch) - 50 - Gonzaga/Arizona

         Steph Stewart - 50 - VILLANOVA/Kentucky

108.  Daniel Barsky - 49 - Arizona/Gonzaga

         George Fox 3 - 49 - Tennessee/Gonzaga

         Dave Marzouca 1 - 49 - Texas Tech/Auburn

         Matt Nieman - 49 - Arizona/Gonzaga

         Rich Samuels 4 - 49 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA

113.  Hilary Kroesen - 48 - VILLANOVA/Gonzaga

         Annette Pritchard 2 - 48 - Baylor/KANSAS

         George Walks 3 - 48 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

116.  ShaneDog Millionaire Jernigan 2 - 47 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

         Gracie Kroesen - 47 - KANSAS/Gonzaga

         Chris LaForte 2 - 47 - Michigan State/Tennessee

         William Pujals - 47 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

         Brittany Sosa - 47 - Gonzaga/Iowa

         Katie Zdrowak - 47 - DUKE/KANSAS

122.  Kisha Marzouca 2 - 46 - Baylor/Auburn

123.  James Garvin - 45 - DUKE/Arizona

         Braeden Helland 1 - 45 - Tennessee/Baylor

         ShaneDog Millionaire Jernigan 1 - 45 - Arizona/Texas Tech

         Rich Samuels 2 - 45 - Kentucky/Iowa

127.  Dave Marzouca 3 - 44 - Arizona/Kentucky

         Jeff Plamondon 2 - 44 - Gonzaga/Tennessee

         Carl Walker - 44 - Gonzaga/Auburn

130.  Scott Bieterman 3 - 43 - Gonzaga/Arizona

         Kingfish Parham - 43 - Gonzaga/Arizona

132.  Jacey Fowler - 42 - Gonzaga/Arizona

         Emily Lawson 1 - 42 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

         Kisha Marzouca 3 - 42 - Gonzaga/KANSAS

135.  Nancy McInerney - 41 - VILLANOVA/Gonzaga

136.  Emily Lawson 3 - 40 - Arizona/Gonzaga

137.  Jason Spuhler - 37 - DUKE/Auburn

138.  Randy Pacheco - 34 - Gonzaga/Arizona

139.  Ashley Poer 1 - 33 - Gonzaga/Iowa

140.  Dawn Lamb (Quarter) - 30 - Texas Tech/Iowa

141.  Day Yi 2 - 28 - Gonzaga/Auburn