NCAA Tournament Pool - Final Standings - OFFICIAL!!!

 

Here are the standings after the championship game.  Although I do not expect anything to change, I do want to take the weekend to double-check to finalize everything, especially since we have a tie for third, so I have to go calculate the tiebreaker.  But, I didn't want everyone to think I forgot about the pool while in Arizona.  Congratulations - at least for now - to Dan Barsky of Miami, Florida, Paul Cummings of Palm City, Florida, Jim Coleman of Boynton Beach, Florida and Brigadier General Kareem "Monty" Montague, of Hickham Air Force Base, Hawaii.  3 of those 4 will win a portion of the proceeds, and have been notified separately of the situation and of the timing.

Final Pool Results/Standings

1.  Daniel Barsky 1 - 154

2.  Paul Cummings 2 - 153

3.  James Coleman - 149  - WINNER BY TIEBREAKER!!!

ALL EARNINGS HAVE BEEN DISTRIBUTED IN THE METHOD YOU SUBMITTED TO ME.

4.  Brigadier General Kareem Montague - 149

5.  Paul Cummings 3 - 146

     Ty Hedgpeth - 146

     Si Nichols - 146

8.  George Fox 2 - 143

9.  Brian McMahon - 137

     Jeff Plamondon - 137

     Cheryl Spuhler - 137

12.  Natalie Moon - 136

13.  Bill Ganoe 2 - 131

       Jeremy Spuhler - 131

15.  Justine Frank - 130

       Javier Rodriguez - 130

       Measha Williams 3 - 130 

18.  Matt Hopps - 128

       William Pujals - 128

       Rich Samuels 1 - 128

21.  Rich Samuels 5 - 126

22.  Alvaro Gonzalez - 125

       Dawn Lamb - 125

       Sean McInerney 2 - 125

25.  Silas Nichols - 123

26.  Scott Bieterman 1 - 120

       Brittany Sosa - 120

       Sasha Moon - 120

29.  Max Macon 2 - 118

       Rich Samuels 2 - 118

       Rich Samuels 3 - 118

32.  Miles Jackson - 117

       Chris O'Neil - 117

       Day Yi - 117

35.  George Fox 1 - 115

       Max Marion 3 - 115

       Keith Wynne - 115

38.     Justin Yung - 114

39.  Rich Samuels 4 - 112

       Jason Spuhler - 112

41.  Adam Jorgensen 1 - 111

       Lee Pagan - 111

       Barkley Sosa - 111

44.  Colleen Giamberini - 110

       Measha Williams 1 - 110

46.  Marcus Spruill - 109

       Amanda Staudt - 109

48.  Barbie Curlett 2 - 108

49.  Noel Martinez 1 - 107

       Shane Jernigan 1 - 107

51.  Chris Simmons - 106

52.  Keith Zdrowak - 105

53.  Bill Ganoe 3 - 99

       Kyle Henderson 2 - 99

       George Walks 3 - 99

       Amy Zdrowak - 99

57.  Barbie Curlett 1 - 98

       Kyle Henderson 1 - 98

       Allison Parker - 98

60.  Jenna Finkelstein - 97

61.  Jacey Fowler 1 - 96

       Blake Jackson - 96

       Shane Jernigan 2 - 96

64.  Marcus Jackson - 94 

       George Walks 4 - 94

66.  Paul Cummings 1 - 93

       John Hedgpeth - 93

       Katie Zdrowak -93

69.  Braeden Helland - 92

       Max Marion 1 - 92

71.  Adam Jorgensen 2 - 91

72.  Daniel Barsky 2 - 90

       Joel Chernoff - 90

       Bill Ganoe 1 - 90

       Dan Laishley - 90

76.  Matt O'Kell - 89

 

77.  Logan Spuhler - 88

78.  Jane Reynolds - 87

       Cassi Spruill - 87

80.  Josh Zdrowak - 86

81.  Kevin Dick - 85

       Carolyn Fowler - 85

83.  James Garvin - 84

       Mark Holbert - 84

85.  Brent Bellinger - 83

       Anne-Marie O'Neil - 83

87.  Measha Williams 2 - 82

       Mike Wolff 1 - 82

89.  Jody Cox - 81

       Dave Piasecki - 81

91.  Karen Katz - 80

92.  Ashley Poer - 79

       Pepe Sosa - 79

       Bubba Zdrowak - 79

95.  Skip LaForte - 76

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 76

97.  Tyler Giamberini - 74

       Katie Kollmeyer - 74

       Sean McInerney 1 - 74

       Jacey Reynolds 2 - 74

       Lily Spuhler - 74

       Jonathan Wasserman - 74

104.  Jessica Samuels - 73

105.  Stephanie Henderson - 72

         Arlene Amo Hopps - 72

107.  Dave Marzouca 1 - 71

         Kisha Marzouca 1 - 71

109.  Michael McNally - 70

         Coco Wynne - 70

111.  Derrick Lowe - 69

         Ryan Rodriguez - 69

         Jamie Toole - 69

114.  Clair Bullock - 68

115.  Nick Kuehl - 67

116.  Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 66

         Melissa Gaynor - 66

         Quinn Jackson - 66

         Chris Pettit - 66

120.  Scott Bieterman 2 - 65

         Kingfish Parham - 65

122.  Savannah Grace Pressly - 64

         Cheryl Spuhler - 64

124.  Max Marions 2 - 63

         George Walks 1 - 63

126.  George Walks 2 - 62

127.  Max Macon 3 - 61

         Max Macon 4 - 61

129.  Kisha Marzouca 2 - 60

 

130.  Max Marion 4 - 59

131.  Guy Hughes - 55

132.  Mike Wolff 2 - 51

133.  Dave Marzouca 2 - 50

134.  Noel Martinez 2 - 49

         A.J. Ripin - 49

136.  Hannah Sosa - 45

137.  ALYSSA HOPPS - QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS - 35 POINTS - CLINCHED LAST PLACE AND RETURN OF ENTRY FEE

NCAA Tournament Pool - Final Four

 

Pool Standings after Final Four

1.  Javier Rodriguez - 130 - PURDUE

     Measha Williams 3 - 130 - PURDUE

3.  Daniel Barsky 1 - 126 - UCONN

4.  Paul Cummings 2 - 125 - UCONN

     Alvaro Gonzalez - 125 - PURDUE

6.  James Coleman - 121 - UCONN

     Brigadier General Kareem Montague - 121 - UCONN

8.  Scott Bieterman 1 - 120 - PURDUE

     Brittany Sosa - 120 - PURDUE

10.  Paul Cummings 3 - 118 - UCONN

       Ty Hedgpeth - 118 - UCONN

       Max Macon 2 - 118 - PURDUE

       Si Nichols - 118 - UCONN

       Rich Samuels 2 - 118 - PURDUE

15.  Miles Jackson - 117

16.  George Fox 1 - 115 - PURDUE

       George Fox 2 - 115 - UCONN

       Max Marion 3 - 115 -PURDUE

19.     Justin Yung - 114

20.  Rich Samuels 4 - 112

21.  Lee Pagan - 111

22.  Measha Williams 1 - 110

23.  Brian McMahon - 109 - UCONN

       Jeff Plamondon - 109 - UCONN

       Marcus Spruill - 109

       Cheryl Spuhler - 109 - UCONN

       Amanda Staudt - 109

28.  Natalie Moon - 108 - UCONN

29.  Noel Martinez 1 - 107 - PURDUE

30.  Chris Simmons - 106

31.  Keith Zdrowak - 105 - PURDUE

32.  Bill Ganoe 2 - 103 - UCONN

       Jeremy Spuhler - 103 - UCONN

34.  Justine Frank - 102 - UCONN

35.  Matt Hopps - 100 - UCONN

       William Pujals - 100 - UCONN

       Rich Samuels 1 - 100 - UCONN

38.  Bill Ganoe 3 - 99

       Kyle Henderson 2 - 99

       George Walks 3 - 99 - PURDUE

       Amy Zdrowak - 99 - PURDUE

42.  Barbie Curlett 1 - 98

       Kyle Henderson 1 - 98

       Allison Parker - 98

       Rich Samuels 5 - 98 - UCONN

46.  Jenna Finkelstein - 97

       Dawn Lamb - 97 - UCONN

       Sean McInerney 2 - 97 - UCONN

49.  Jacey Fowler 1 - 96

       Blake Jackson - 96

       Shane Jernigan 2 - 96

52.  Silas Nichols - 95 - UCONN

53.  Marcus Jackson - 94 

       George Walks 4 - 94 - PURDUE

55.  Paul Cummings 1 - 93 - PURDUE

       John Hedgpeth - 93

       Katie Zdrowak -93

58.  Braeden Helland - 92

       Max Marion 1 - 92

       Sasha Moon - 92 - UCONN

       Rich Samuels 3 - 92 - UCONN

62.  Adam Jorgensen 2 - 91

63.  Daniel Barsky 2 - 90 - PURDUE

       Joel Chernoff - 90

       Bill Ganoe 1 - 90

       Dan Laishley - 90

67.  Matt O'Kell - 89

       Chris O'Neil - 89 - UCONN

       Day Yi - 89 - UCONN

 

70.  Logan Spuhler - 88

71.  Max Macon 1 - 87 - UCONN

       Jane Reynolds - 87

       Cassi Spruill - 87

       Keith Wynne - 87 - UCONN

75.  Josh Zdrowak - 86

76.  Kevin Dick - 85

       Carolyn Fowler - 85

78.  James Garvin - 84 - PURDUE

       Mark Holbert - 84

       Jason Spuhler - 84 - UCONN

81.  Brent Bellinger - 83

       Adam Jorgensen 1 - 83 - UCONN

       Anne-Marie O'Neil - 83 - PERDUE [sic]

       Barkley Sosa - 83 - UCONN

85.  Colleen Giamberini - 82 - UCONN

       Measha Williams 2 - 82

       Mike Wolff 1 - 82

88.  Jody Cox - 81

       Dave Piasecki - 81

90.  Barbie Curlett 2 - 80 - UCONN

        Karen Katz - 80 - PURDUE

92.  Shane Jernigan 1 - 79 - UCONN

       Ashley Poer - 79

       Pepe Sosa - 79

       Bubba Zdrowak - 79

96.  Skip LaForte - 76

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 76

98.  Tyler Giamberini - 74

       Katie Kollmeyer - 74

       Sean McInerney 1 - 74

       Jacey Reynolds 2 - 74

       Lily Spuhler - 74

       Jonathan Wasserman - 74

104.  Jessica Samuels - 73

105.  Stephanie Henderson - 72

         Arlene Amo Hopps - 72

107.  Dave Marzouca 1 - 71

         Kisha Marzouca 1 - 71

109.  Michael McNally - 70

         Coco Wynne - 70

111.  Derrick Lowe - 69

         Ryan Rodriguez - 69

         Jamie Toole - 69

114.  Clair Bullock - 68

115.  Nick Kuehl - 67

116.  Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 66

         Melissa Gaynor - 66

         Quinn Jackson - 66

         Chris Pettit - 66

120.  Scott Bieterman 2 - 65

         Kingfish Parham - 65

122.  Savannah Grace Pressly - 64

         Cheryl Spuhler - 64

124.  Max Marions 2 - 63

         George Walks 1 - 63

126.  George Walks 2 - 62

127.  Max Macon 3 - 61

         Max Macon 4 - 61

129.  Kisha Marzouca 2 - 60

 

130.  Max Marion 4 - 59

131.  Guy Hughes - 55

132.  Mike Wolff 2 - 51

133.  Dave Marzouca 2 - 50

134.  Noel Martinez 2 - 49

         A.J. Ripin - 49

136.  Hannah Sosa - 45

137.  ALYSSA HOPPS - QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS - 35 POINTS - CLINCHED LAST PLACE AND RETURN OF ENTRY FEE

NCAA Tournament Pool Elite 8/Day 2

Well, we made it to the Final Four, and you have made it to my last full-blown update of the tournament.  Now, I will post the updated standings after the Semi-Finals on Saturday, but no analysis, report, history, etc., etc., etc.  Why not?  Because your Tournament Host is travelling to the Final Four on Friday, and we will recap all of the excitement right here on this page as we will pseudo-live blog our adventures.  So, you can still keep up with the Final Four without an actual "report". 

As far as this report goes, it is all Zach Edey all the time.  Apparenlty he is a darn good college player.  He had 19 points and 10 rebounds in Purdue's victory over Tennessee - AT HALFTIME!  He finished with 40 and 16.  Just a dominating performance.  Apparently, he was not worried about the jinx I put on Terrence Shannon the day before.  He showed up, showed out, and then talked-smack about Coach Rick Barnes from Tennessee not recruiting him.  He was a three-star recruit out of high school, but right now is the defending NCAA Player of the Year, a finalist, and virtual shoo-in, for the award this year, and right now THE BEST PLAYER in the Final Four.  Tennessee's Dalton Knecht showed why he was the SEC Player of the Year with his gallant effort of 37 points, but there was just too much of the 7'4" Edey.

In the second game, 11-seed North Carolina State defeated the 4-seed Duke Blue Devils by methodically pulling away in the second half using the size of DJ Burns, the 6'9" 275 pound big man with footwork so smooth NFL offensive line coaches must be salivating!  Duke's more lithesome front court - especially star Kyle Filipowski - could not hang as he only scored 11 points, but also fouled out!  It should be noted that Burns received his third foul early in the second half, but was able to avoid his fourth until long-after it mattered.  NC State has won its 9th consecutive tournament game as it was forced to win the ACC Tournament just to qualify for NCAA Tournament, and a missed free throw in the semi-finals of the ACC Tourney by Virginia's Issac McNeely with 5.3 seconds remaining and Virginia up three allowed a game-tying buzzer-beater three by Michael O'Connell to keep NC State's season alive.  And boy have they taken advantage of it!!!

This game was a travesty at half-time, with Duke leading NC State 27-21.  The erudite Charles Barkley remarked that both teams looked like they were thinking about the Final Four instead of playing basketball.  Well, NC State played basketball putting up 55 in the second half.

So, we have NC State versus Purdue in the Final Four - with Alabama versus Connecticut on the other side.  Purdue and NC State have not been to the Final Four since 1980 and 1983 respectively, and Alabama never has played in the Final Four.  Let's hope their fans come correct and show out, because we Connecticut's fans will be in attendance - and boring.

With Tennessee and Duke exiting the tournament, we lost two champions.  Out of the Final Four, we have 4 champions remaining.  Great work collectively, everybody.  That means somebody(ies) is/are going to earn at least 44 points this weekend (16 for a semi-finals win; 28 for the championship), to cement a pool championship.  Our remaining champions are:  Since Illinois lost, another champion is down!  The remaining six-teams all have champions in our pool, so lots of competing interests remain!  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.  Cheer to your heart's content for your champion.

Yes, I did say that somebody has North Carolina State as their champion.  You heard me correctly.  Who is that?  Well, check the standings below to see.  I can tell you that a ton of entrants had Purdue, so the Pick of the Day Award goes to those that had the Wolfpack in the Final Four:  Clair Bullock of Columbus, Ohio, Barkley Sosa of Riviera Beach, Florida, and Colleen Giamberini of Boynton Beach, Florida.  Clair had the opportunity of earning five bonus points for the upset by 11-seed North Carolina State over 4-seed Duke, except she forgot to pick a winner in the Elite 8 between Houston and Duke.  I think that if NC State goes as far as she wants them to go, those 5-points may not make a difference.  But, we won't  know unless it happens.

Today's Tournament flashback brings us to the 1980 Final Four, which was the last time Purdue made it to the Holy Grail of college basketball.  NC State last made it in 1983, but that tournament is so iconic - Derek Whittenberg's airball alley-oop to Lorenzo Charles for the win over Phi Slamma Jamma ending with Jim Valvano running around the court like a lunatic lookning for someone to hook - that is shouldn't need mentioning.  So, Purdue it is.

The 1980 NCAA Tournament is widely considered as the first modern tournament.  Although the second year using seedings, it was the first in which the teams were seeded by the committee rather than just using conference champions, it was the first that did not limit the number of teams from any given conference so as to have the "best" teams and not just a cross-section, and the first in which top seeds were chosen to travel to different regions so that all the best teams did not end up in one or two geographic regions.

The Final Four was held in Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, and featured Louisville versus Iowa and UCLA versus the aforementioned Purdue.

Lousiville, the second seed in the Midwest Region, feature Derek Smith, Rodney McCray, Jerry Eaves and the man with one of the best nicknames in basketball history, Dr. Dunkenstein Darrell Giffith.  Iowa was the 5-seed in the East, and advanced to the Final Four with a well-rounded team, including Ronnie Lester, Kenny Arnold, Vince Brookins, and Steve Krafcisin.  The game also featured legendary coaches Denny Crum (Louisville) and Lute Olson (Iowa).  Louisville won the game 80-72, behind Darrell Griffith's 34 points, with 14 and 13 from McCray and Smith respectively.  Iowa's Arnold had 20, as he led 4 players in double-figures but it wasn't enough.

In the next matchup, UCLA coached by the just-as-legendary Larry Brown, came into the Final Four as the 8th seed in the west, yes, 8th, and was paced by future NBA star Kiki Vandeweghe - who I had forgotten played for UCLA.  Purdue, with second-year coach Lee Rose earned the 6th seed in the Mid-East regional, and was led by future NBA overall number 1 pick Joe Barry Carroll, about which I could write an entire post, and assited by Keith Edmonson, Brian Walker, and Drake Morris.  Vandeweghe - showing the NBA his future scoring prowess, scored 24 to lead UCLA and to defeat Purdue had 23 from Edmonson, and 17 points a game high 8 rebounds from Carroll.

Purdue defeated Iowa in the third-place game, which they played back then, 75-58, with Carroll going for 35 and 12 and Edmonson scoring 17.  Iowa was paced by Kenny Arnold's 19.  But htis was just the appetizer.

In the main event, a defensive struggle, Louisville defeated UCLA 59-54 behind Darrell Griffith's 23 points and Rodney McCray's 11 rebounds.  Vendeweghe scored 14 with 7 rebounds for UCLA.  UCLA's appearance was ultimately forfeited after several players were declared ineligible.

Joe Barry Carroll went on the be the first overall pick in the 1980 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors and played 11 nondescript seasons in the league, and was widely considered the worst number 1 pick in NBA History until Anthony Bennett in 2013.  Kiki Vandeweghe was drafted with the 11th overall pick in the NBA draft by the Dallas Mavericks and became a two-time All-Star and scored over 15,000 points.

 And Darrell Griffith, was named the greatest college dunker of all time; a true, Dr. Dunkenstein.  The first video contains the St. John's dunk.  This one against LSU contains his Around the World.

Griffith was the second overall pick in the 1980 draft by the Utah Jazz, behind Joe Barry Carroll and just ahead of Kevin McHale.  He was named Rookie of the Year in 1981, and scored over 12,300 points in his 11 years with the Jazz, where his number 35 is retired.

Griffith was a helluva player, but we also had some great players yesterday.

Players of the Day

9.  Raegen Beers, Oregon State - 16 points, 8 rebounds

8.  Tess Johnson, South Carolina, 15 points in 20 minutes

7.  Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina - 12 points/9 rebounds

6.  Jared McCain, Duke - 32 points/6 rebounds

5.  DJ Horne, North Carolina State - 20 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists

4.  Aziaha James, North Carolina State - 27 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists

3.  Dalton Knecth, Tennessee - 37 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist

2.  DJ Burns, North Carolina State - 29 points, 4 rebounds

1.  Zach Edey, Purdue - 40 points, 16 rebounds

Best Players in Each Region

East - Donovan Clingan, Connecticut - AND IT WASN'T EVEN CLOSE

West - Mark Sears, Alabama

Midwest - Zach Edey, Purdue - AND THIS WASN'T EVEN CLOSE, EITHER

South - DJ Burns, North Carolina State

Stats of the Day

2.  Zach Edey has taken over 400 free throw attempts this year, the first college player since Pete Maravich in 1970!

1.  Zach Edey had 19 points/10 rebounds at halftime.  Three times in this tournament has a player had a double/double at halftime.  Those three - Zach Edey, Zach Edey, and Zach Edey.

Social Media Post of the Day

This picture sums up this kid's feelings about Duke.

As for the standings, if you had 1 team correct, you moved up.  If you had none you moved down.  Nobody had 2.  And, WE HAVE A NEW LEADER!  As always, feel free to double check my scoring.  As for the teams after the names, if it is before the "/" that is the champion that remains; if it is after the "/" it is the runner-up that remains.  If no school listed either before or after the "/", that entrant's pick no longer remains.

Pool Standings after Elite 8/Day 2

1.  Ty Hedgpeth - 102 - UCONN/

2.  Miles Jackson - 101 - /UCONN

3.  George Fox 2 - 99 - UCONN/

     Bill Ganoe 3 - 99

     Max Marion 3 - 99 -PURDUE/

6.  Allison Parker - 98

     Javier Rodriguez - 98 - PURDUE/UCONN

     Measha Williams 3 - 98 - PURDUE/UCONN

     Justin Yung - 98 - /PURDUE

10.  Blake Jackson - 96

       Rich Samuels 4 - 96 /UCONN

12.  Lee Pagan - 95 - /PURDUE

13.  Daniel Barsky 1 - 94 - UCONN/PURDUE

       Marcus Jackson - 94 - /ALABAMA

       Measha Williams 1 - 94 - /UCONN

16.  Paul Cummings 2 - 93 - UCONN/PURDUE

       Alvaro Gonzalez - 93 - PURDUE/UCONN

       John Hedgpeth - 3

       Brian McMahon - 3 - UCONN/

       Jeff Plamondon - 93 - UCONN/

       Marcus Spruill - 93 - /PURDUE

       Cheryl Spuhler - 93 - UCONN/

       Amanda Staudt - 93 - /PURDUE

24.  Braeden Helland - 92

       Max Macon 2 - 92 - PURDUE/UCONN

       Si Nichols - 92 - UCONN/PURDUE

27.  Joel Chernoff - 90

       Bill Ganoe 1 - 90

       Chris Simmons - 90 - /UCONN

30.  James Coleman - 89 - UCONN/PURDUE

       Brigadier General Kareem Montague - 89 - UCONN/PURDUE

       Matt O'Kell - 89

       Keith Zdrowak - 89 - PURDUE

34.  Scott Bieterman 1 - 88 - PURDUE/UCONN

       Brittany Sosa - 88 - PURDUE/UCONN

       Logan Spuhler - 88

37.  Bill Ganoe 2 - 87 - UCONN/

       Jane Reynolds - 87 - ALABAMA/

       Cassi Spruill - 87

       Jeremy Spuhler - 87 - UCONN/

41.  Paul Cummings 3 - 86 - UCONN/PURDUE

       Justine Frank - 86 - UCONN/

       Rich Samuels 2 - 86 - PURDUE/UCONN

       Josh Zdrowak - 86

45.  Kevin Dick - 85

       Carolyn Fowler - 85

47.  Mark Holbert - 84

       Matt Hopps - 84 - UCONN/

       William Pujals - 84 - UCONN/

       Rich Samuels 1 - 84 - UCONN/

51.  George Fox 1 - 83 - PURDUE/UCONN

       Kyle Henderson 2 - 83 - /UCONN

       George Walks 3 - 83 - PURDUE/

       Amy Zdrowak - 83 - PURDUE

55.  Barbie Curlett 1 - 82 - /UCONN

       Kyle Henderson 1 - 82 - /UCONN

       Rich Samuels 5 - 82 - UCONN/

       Measha Williams 2 - 82

       Mike Wolff 1 - 82

60.  Jody Cox - 81

       Jenna Finkelstein - 81 - /UCONN

       Dawn Lamb - 81 - UCONN/

       Sean McInerney 2 - 81 - UCONN/

       Dave Piasecki - 81

65.  Jacey Fowler 1 - 80 - /PURDUE

       Shane Jernigan 2 - 80 - /PURDUE

67.  Silas Nichols - 79 - UCONN/

       Ashley Poer - 79

       Pepe Sosa - 79

       Bubba Zdrowak - 79

71.  George Walks 4 - 78 - PURDUE/

72.  Paul Cummings 1 - 77 - PURDUE/

       Katie Zdrowak - 77 - /PURDUE

74.  Skip LaForte - 76

       Max Marion 1 - 76 - /UCONN

       Natalie Moon - 76 - UCONN/PURDUE

       Sasha Moon - 76 - UCONN/

       Rich Samuels 3 - 76 - UCONN/

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 76

80.  Adam Jorgensen 2 - 75 - /UCONN

       Noel Martinez 1 - 75 - PURDUE/UCONN

82.  Daniel Barsky 2 - 74 - PURDUE/

       Tyler Giamberini - 74

       Katie Kollmeyer - 74

       Dan Laishley - 74 - /UCONN

       Sean McInerney 1 - 74

       Jacey Reynolds 2 - 74

       Lily Spuhler - 74

       Jonathan Wasserman - 74

90.  Chris O'Neil - 73 - UCONN/

       Jessica Samuels - 73

       Day Yi - 73 - UCONN/

93.  Arlene Amo Hopps - 72

94  Max Macon 1 - 71 - UCONN/

      Kisha Marzouca 1 - 71

      Keith Wynne - 71 - UCONN/

97.  Michael McNally - 70

       Coco Wynne - 70

99.  Derrick Lowe - 69

       Ryan Rodriguez - 69

       Jamie Toole - 69

102.  Clair Bullock - 68 - NORTH CAROLINA STATE/

         James Garvin - 68 - PURDUE/

         Jason Spuhler - 68 - UCONN/

105.  Brent Bellinger - 67 - /PURDUE

         Adam Jorgensen 1 - 67 - UCONN/

         Nick Kuehl - 67

         Anne-Marie O'Neil - 67 - PERDUE [sic]/

         Barkley Sosa - 67 - UCONN/

110.  Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 66

         Melissa Gaynor - 66

         Colleen Giamberini - 66 - CONNECTICUT/NORTH CAROLINA STATE

         Quinn Jackson - 66

         Chris Pettit - 66

115.  Scott Bieterman 2 - 65

         Kingfish Parham - 65

117.  Barbie Curlett 2 - 64 - UCONN/

        Karen Katz - 64 - PURDUE/

        Savannah Grace Pressly - 64

        Cheryl Spuhler - 64

121.  Max Marions 2 - 63

         George Walks 1 - 63

         Shane Jernigan 1 - 63 - UCONN/

124.  George Walks 2 - 62

125.  Max Macon 3 - 61

         Max Macon 4 - 61

127.  Kisha Marzouca 2 - 60

 

128.  Max Marion 4 - 59

129.  Stephanie Henderson - 56 - /UCONN

130.  Dave Marzouca 1 - 55 - /UCONN

         Guy Hughes - 55

132.  Mike Wolff 2 - 51

133.  Dave Marzouca 2 - 50

134.  Noel Martinez 2 - 49

         A.J. Ripin - 49

136.  Hannah Sosa - 45

137.  ALYSSA HOPPS - QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS - 35 POINTS - CLINCHED LAST PLACE AND RETURN OF ENTRY FEE

2024 NCAA Tournament Pool Sweet 16/Day 2

 

The Sweet 16 is over, and we already have a mathematical winner.  That's it - Pool is over.  Wait, it is a winner for last place.  Congratulations to Alyssa Hopps of Quincy, Massachussetts, who is currently in 137th place, with no possibility of earning any additional points.  You will be receiving your entry fee back (or at the least person that paid your fee will).  Before making fun of Alyssa's performance just note that she is likely the best current basketball player in this pool.  And that includes the few of you that hooped in college.  With regard to the other end of the pool, we have a lot of movement at the top.  But I will get to that later.

Social Media Post of the Day

1.  Michigan State Representative Matt Maddock, the self-proclaimed "Trump Endorsed, Ranked Most Conservative State Representative, Freedom Caucus, Anti-communist, Husband of Michigan's Most Wanted Republican" posted this on Thursday ...

For those that can't, don't know how, or won't enlarge that, it is a picture of three buses at Detroit Metro airport with a police escort.  The post reads, "Happening right now.  Three busses just loaded up with illegal invaders at Detroit Metro.  Anyone have any idea where they're headed with their police escort?"

Well, I actually do, because it was the Gonzaga basketball team that landed in Detroit to play in last night's Sweet Sixteen game against Purdue.  Now, to be honest, throughout the last couple of decades many higher-seeded teams have considered the Gonzaga Bulldogs to be illegal invaders into the bastion that is the upper-echelon of the NCAA basketball elite.  See, you all thought I was going to get political with this, but it is all about the baskeball.

Sadly, it isn't all about the basketball anymore for Gonzaga, which fell to the number 1 seed Purdue 80-68, behind the stellar play of Zach Edey - who along with Terrence Shannon has been the best player in this tournament.  Gonzaga, on the other hand, is back on its way to invade Spokane, Washington.

Purdue will move on to play the Tennessee Volunteers, who eliminated Creighton 82-75 despite a fantastic game from Baylor Scheierman, who had 25 points and 6 boards.  He was no match for Tennessee's Dalton Knecht, who scored 24, and added 6 rebounds, 5 assists, two steals, and 1 block.

On the other side of the bracket Duke outlasted Houston 54-51, after Houston's All-American leader Jamal Shead left with approximately 16 minutes left due to an ankle injury sustained in the game.  Not to say that the game would have been different, but Jeremy Roach, whom Shead was primarily guarding, scored 12 of his 14 points after Shead's injury.  Yes, injuries are part of the game, but they are also part of the story.

Duke advances to play its old ACC foe North Carolina State, who continued its surprise run defeating Marquette 67-58.  This was a weird game to watch as NC State took a big lead and as Marquette kept chipping away, they just couldnt' get close enough.  NC State was offensively discombobulated the entire lsat 12:30, but from about the 12:30 mark until the under 8 minute time-out, Marquette could barely score either. 

With North Carolina State being an 11-seed  and defeating 2-seed Marquette, bonus points were in play.  However, none of the 4 people that selected North Carolina State into the Elite Eight had them defeating Marquette.  So no bonuses awarded.  But kudos to Logan Spuhler of Acworth, Georgia, Clair Bullock of Columbus, Ohio, Barkley Sosa of Riviera Beach, Florida and Colleen Giamberini of Boynton Beach, Florida for selecting the Wolfpack.  Wait, did I say 4?  I meant 5.  The Pick of the Day is awarded to John Hedgpeth of Wilimington, North Carolina who not only selected North Carolina State, but also chose Duke, Purdue and Tennessee.  He had a perfect 4 for 4.  His only flaw was that he also did not have North Carlina State over Marquette, so no extra 5 bonus points.  Either way, John passed a lot of of entries as he flew up the Leaderboard.  Congratulations, John.

We lost four champions last night, Creighton, Gonzaga, Houston and Marquette, leaving us with 7 possible champions - basically everybody but Clemson.  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, out of the 12 remaining teams in the tournament, entries have each of them as their champion, except Clemson.

Stats of the Day

2.  North Carolina State's Mohamed Diarra had 11 rebounds in the first half; Marquette had 12.

1.  Indiana's women's basketball team hit more three-pointers (13) in their loss to South Carolina yesterday than South Carolina has ever given up in a single game since Dawn Staley became their coach in the 2008-2009 season.  Also, Dawn Staley has been the coach since the 2008-2009 season!

Players of the Day

10.  Kyle Filipowski, Duke - 16 points, 9 rebounds

9.  DJ Horne, North Carolina State - 19 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist

8.  Kam Jones, Marquette - 20 points

7.  Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina - 22 points on 10-12 shooting

6.  Graham Ike, Gonzaga, 18 points, 10 rebounds

5.  Braden Smith, Purdue - 14 points, 8 rebounds, 15 assists

4.  Dalton Knecht, Tennessee - 24 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block

3.  Aziaha James, North Carolina State - 29 points, 5 assists

2.  Baylor Scheierman, Creighton - 25 points, 6 rebounds

1.  Zach Edey, Purdue - 27 points, 14 rebounds

I don't know how I failed to mention this.  Nobody is talking about it, but I am pretty sure that Jamal Shead of Houston was injured when Duke's Kyle Filipowski tripped him.  Filipowski, knowing that you cannot fully embrace your inner Grayson Allenness until you have multiple trips in one year, needed at least one more after his intentional hit job on North Carolina's Harrison Ingram.  Now, he claims he didn't do it on purpose and didn't even know Ingram was there, but the video doesn't lie; Filipowski BE TRIPPIN'!

So, maybe Filipowki didn't actually trip Shead, but Grayson Allen does have multiple trips.  Here is a walk down memory lane with a GRAYSON ALLEN TRIPPING COMPILATION.

Of course, none of that compares to the travesty surrounding the greatest non-ejection in NCAA Tournament history, which happened in the Elite 8 in Philadelphia in 1992 when wannabetoughguy (yes, all one word) Christian Laettner stomped on all around nice guy and great citizen Aminu Timberlake and SHOULD HAVE BEEN EJECTED!

And no, I am not bitter.

Here is what we have to look forward to today, Illinois is an 8 1/2 point underdog to defending champion - and rolling like they are in Ibiza - Connecticut.  Both are champions in our pool, so this is a big game.  Illinois is going to have to come out of the gates firing, and it needs a big game from Terrence Shannon who, along with Purdue's Zach Edey, is playing the best of anybody in this tournament.

In the second game, 6-seed Clemson and 4-seed Alabama meet for the first time since Clemson upended Alabama on 44-16 on January 7, 2019 in Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.  Alabama is an incredibly high-scoring team that can be very exciting.  Can Clemson slow them down to crash the party?

Have fun watching the games, and always double check your brackets in case I made a scoring error.  Remember today's games are worth 8 points each.  And, as you will see, there is room to make up on the leaders, if you have your championship game intact, as well as most of your Final Four.  For now, here is your Leaderboard.

Tournament Standings after Sweet Sixteen/Day 2

1.  Blake Jackson - 96 - DUKE/Arizona

2.  Bill Ganoe 3 - 91 - North Carolina/Houston

     Max Marion 3 - 91 - PURDUE/Baylor

4.  Allison Parker - 90 - North Carolina/DUKE

5.  Ty Hedgepth - 86 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

     Marcus Jackson - 86 - Kansas/ALABAMA

7.  Miles Jackson - 85 - Kentucky/CONNECTICUT

     Brian McMahon - 85 - CONNECTICUT/Kentucky

     Jeff Plamondon - 85 - CONNECTICUT/Marquette

10.  Braeden Helland - 84 - Auburn/Creighton

11.  George Fox 2 - 83 - CONNECTICUT/DUKE

12.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 82 - NORTH CAROLINA/TENNESSEE

       Javier Rodriguez - 82 - PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Chris Simmons - 82 - TENNESSEE/CONNECTICUT

       Measha Williams 3 - 82- PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Justin Yung - 82 - North Carolina/PURDUE

17.  Jody Cox - 81 - Marquette/Arizona

18.  Rich Samuels 4 - 80 - Houston/CONNECTICUT

19.  Lee Pagan - 79 - Arizona/PURDUE

       Cassi Spruill - 79 - Houston/ILLINOIS

       Jeremy Spuhler - 79 - CONNECTICUT/TENNESSEE

       Bubba Zdrowak - 79 - DUKE/Arizona

23.  Daniel Barsky 1 - 78 - CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

       Rich Samuels 2 - 78 - PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Measha Williams 1 - 78 - Houston/CONNECTICUT

       Josh Zdrowak - 78 - Arizona/Kentucky

27.  Paul Cummings 2 -77 - CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

       Alvaro Gonzalez - 77 - PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       John Hedgpeth - 77 - DUKE/North Carolina

       Marcus Spruill - 77 - North Carolina/PURDUE

       Cheryl Spuhler - 77 - CONNECTICUT/Marquette

       Amanda Staudt - 77 - Arizona/PURDUE

33.  Kevin Dick - 76 - Kentucky/North Carolina

       Carolyn Fowler - 76 - North Carolina/TENNESSEE

       Mark Holbert - 76 - North Carolina/Kentucky

       Matt Hopps - 76 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

       Max Macon 2 - 76 - PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Si Nichols - 76 - CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

       William Pujals - 76 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

40.  George Walks 3 - 75 - PURDUE/Baylor

       Amy Zdrowak - 75 - PURDUE/Baylor

42.  Joel Chernoff - 74 - North Carolina/Houston

       Kyle Henderson 1 - 74 - Creighton/CONNECTICUT

       Jacey Reynolds 2 - 74 - North Carolina/TENNESSEE

       Rich Samuels 5 - 74 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

       Measha Williams 2 - 74 - Houston/Auburn

47.  James Coleman - 73 - CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

       Sean McInerney 2 - 73 - CONNECTICUT/Creighton

       Brigadier General Kareem Montague - 73 - CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

       Matt Okell - 73 - North Carolina/Houston

       Dave Piasecki - 73 - Florida/Auburn

       Keith Zdrowak - 73 - PURDUE/Baylor

53.  Scott Bieterman 1 - 72 - PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Shane Jernigan 2 - 72 - Auburn/PURDUE

       Brittany Sosa - 72 - PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Logan Spuhler - 72 - Arizona/DUKE

57.  Bill Ganoe 2 - 71 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

       Ashley Poer - 71 - Iowa State/Houston

       Silas Nichols - 71 - CONNECTICUT/Kentucky

       Jane Reynolds - 71 - ALABAMA/TENNESSEE

       Pepe Sosa - 71 - Arizona/Kentucky

62.  Paul Cummings 3 - 70 - CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

       Justine Frank - 70 - CONNECTICUT/Marquette

       George Walks 4 - 70 - PURDUE/North Carolina

65.  Paul Cummings 1 - 69 - PURDUE/Iowa State

       Derrick Lowe - 69 - Kentucky/North Carolina

       Ryan Rodriguez - 69 - DUKE/Auburn

       Katie Zdrowak - 69 - Arizona/PURDUE

69.  Skip LaForte - 68 - Michigan State/Houston

       Max Marion 2 - 68 - Kentucky/CONNECTICUT

       Sasha Moon - 68 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

       Rich Samuels 1 - 68 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

       Rich Samuels 3 - 68 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 68 - Kentucky/Iowa State

75.  George Fox 1 - 67 - PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

       Kyle Henderson 2 - 67 - Houston/CONNECTICUT

77.  Melissa Gaynor - 66 - ILLINOIS/South Carolina

       Tyler Giamberini - 66 - Arizona/Kansas

       Quinn Jackson - 66 - Iowa State/Gonzaga

       Dan Laishley - 66 - Houston/CONNECTICUT

       Lily Spuhler - 66 - Kansas/North Carolina

       Mike Wolff 1 - 66 - DUKE/North Carolina

       Jonathan Wasserman - 66 - Kentucky/ILLINOIS

84.  Scott Bieterman 2 - 65 - Kentucky/Auburn

       Jenna Finkelstein - 65 - Florida/CONNECTICUT

       Dawn Lamb - 65 - CONNECTICUT/Marquette

       Chris O'Neil - 65 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

       Kingfish Parham - 65 - Auburn/Oregon

       Jessica Samuels - 65 - Florida Atlantic/Houston

       Day Yi - 65 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

91.  Jacey Fowler 1 - 64 - North Carolina/PURDUE

       Cheryl Spuhler - 64 - Iowa State/Marquette

93.  Max Macon 1 - 63 - CONNECTICUT/TENNESSEE

       Max Marion 2 - 63 - North Carolina/Marquette

       Kisha Marzouca 1 - 63 - Arizona/DUKE

       George Walks 1 - 63 - North Carolina/Kentucky

       Keith Wynne - 63 - CONNECTICUT/Marquette

98.  Michael McNally - 62 - Gonzaga/Baylor

       George Walks 2 - 62 Baylor/Gonzaga

       Coco Wynne - 62 - Creighton/ILLINOIS

101.  Max Macon 3 - 61 - Florida/North Carolina

         Max Macon 4 - 61 - Houston/North Carolina

         Jamie Toole - 61 - Houston/Arizona

104.  Clair Bullock - 60 - NORTH CAROLINA STATE/North Carolina

         James Garvin - 60 - PURDUE/Iowa State

         Natalie Moon - 60 - CONNECTICUT/PURDUE

107.  Brent Bellinger - 59 - ILLINOIS/PURDUE

        Adam Jorgensen 1 - 59 - CONNECTICUT/Creighton

        Adam Jorgensen 2 - 59 - Houston/CONNECTICUT

        Nick Kuehl - 59 - Auburn/Marquette

        Max Marion 4 - 59 - Houston/Iowa State

        Noel Martinez - 59 - PURDUE/CONNECTICUT

113.  Daniel Barsky 2 - 58 - PURDUE/Baylor

         Barbie Curlett 1 - 58 - Houston/CONNECTICUT

         Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 58 - TENNESSEE/Arizona

         Katie Kollmeyer - 58 - Arizona/Houston

         Sean McInerney 1 - 58 - Marquette/North Carolina

         Chris Pettit - 58 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

119.  Barbie Curlett 2 - 56 - CONNECTICUT/Marquette

         Arlene Amo Hopps - 56 - North Carolina/DUKE

         Karen Katz - 56 - PURDUE/Auburn

         Savannah Grace Pressly - 56 - Florida Atlantic/Marquette

123.   Shane Jernigan 1 - 54 - CONNECTICUT/Marquette

124.  Kisha Marzouca 2 - 52 - Arizona/Houston

         Jason Spuhler - 52 - CONNECTICUT/Houston

126.  Guy Hughes - 51 - Houston/Iowa State

         Anne-Marie O'Neil - 51 - PURDUE/Arizona

         Barkley Sosa - 51 - CONNECTICUT/Gonzaga

         Mike Wolff 2 - 51 - North Carolina/Florida

130.  Colleen Giamberini - 50 - CONNECTICUT/NORTH CAROLINA STATE

         Dave Marzouca 2 - 50 - Arizona/DUKE

132.  Noel Martinez 2 - 49 - Auburn/TENNESSEE

         A.J. Ripin - 49 - North Carolina/Houston

134.  Stephanie Henderson - 48 - Marquette/CONNECTICUT

135.  Dave Marzouca 1 - 47 - Wisconsin/CONNECTICUT

         Hannah Sosa - 47 - Florida/Arizona

137.  ALYSSA HOPPS - QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS, 35 - North Carolina/Kentucky - CLINCHES LAST PLACE AND ENTRY FEE RETURNED

2023 NCAA Tournament Pool - Round 1/Day 1

 

Welcome to all - Veterans and Rookies alike!!!  As always, it was a crazy start to the Tournament, as the Paladins proved they truly are "A knight without armor in a savage land"!  If you don't know this lyric, it is a line from the theme song to a television show Have Gun, Will Travel, by Johnny Western.  The name of the song is the The Ballad of Paladin.  What is a Paladin you ask?  It is a team that just beat Virginia when JP Pegues launched a three-pointer with 2.2 seconds left in the game to defeat the Cavaliers by 1, that is what a Paladin is.  By the way, doesn't Paladin versus Cavaliers seem like some sort of team jousting competition?  Just me?  Ok.

A side note, there are two concurrent pools being run on this blog.  They are very different as one is a traditional "squares" pool regarding final scores and the other is this one.  I have a feeling that you can wade your way through.  Just wait until we arrive in Houston and start posting our tournament blog!

Before the tournament even started we had shots fired (not the Alabama basketball kind) and the trash talk commenced. Allison Parker of Washington, D.C. submitted her bracket with a frown emoticon drawn next to each time she selected Alabama and a filled-in heart emoticon for each time she selected Duke.  No, she is not an alumna of Duke, she did that to spite me, and I will exact my revenge, somehow.  Feel free to contribute to the trash talk in the comment section.

Well, back to the welcome.  We not only have some new entrants into the tourney, we even have a new city represented.  No, not a city that hasn't had a resident entrant before, an actually new city.  We have veteran contenders that used to live in Lake Worth, Florida that now live in Lake Worth Beach, Florida - and none of them moved.  How is this relevant?  It probably isn't - but just expanding the breadth of the pool.

Welcome back to 2 of our reigning pool winners from last year:  Dawn Lamb (Keith) of Delray Beach, Florida and Jeff Plamondon of Lincoln, Rhode Island.  

So, the road to Houston has already proved troublesome for some high ranked teams, like the aforementioned Virginia, and also Arizona.  Fourth-seeded Virginia lost to 13th seeded Furman - the Paladins - and the 15th seeded Princeton Tigers of the Ivy League shocked the 2-seed in Arizona.  Those were the only two upsets to win bonus points in our pool, and yes, we had entrants that selected each of those upsets.  In fact, 24 entries selected Furman, including three guarantees.  Those were Carolyn Fowler of Greenacres, Florida, Mitch K (Lamb) of Delray Beach, Florida, and Pepe Sosa of Riviera Beach, Florida.  For those that don't know Pepe Sosa, I hear that he is a helluva guy.  Two people chose Princeton to upset Arizona, and they are Alyssa Hopps of Quincy, Massachussetts, and the aforementioned Allison Parker of Washington, D.C.  Since 24 people chose Furman, the pick of the day goes jointly to Alyssa and Allison.  A special note to Paul Cummings 2 of Palm City, Florida who was the only person to correctly pick 14 games.

Although, more of us should have seen this upset coming.  Although this is only the 11th time a 15th seed has defeated a 2 seed (and for the third year in a row), it is the second that that this has happened to Arizona.  Anyone remember that game?  Well, you will now.

Santa Clara entered the NCAA tournament as a 15th seed in the west bracket, and played Arizona in the first round in Salt Lake City, Utah, where Arizona was a 19 1/2 point favorite.  Arizona was loaded that year, started Ed Stokes, Khalid Reeves, Chris Mills, Ray Owes and Damon Stoudamire, with Reggie Geary playing major minutes off the bench.  Some of these guys played major NBA minutes, but not as much as Santa Clara's "star."  Santa Clara won with defense, holding the vaunted Arizona offense to just 17-55 shooting, while shooting just under 49% themselves.   The Broncos were led with 19 points and 8 rebounts by Pete Eisenrich, with starters DeWayne Lewis and John Woolery each adding double digit.  But the name to come out of this game, and off the bench for Santa Clara, is a generously listed 6'3" point guard from Canada named Steve Nash.  Nash came off the bench and scored 10 points, added 7 rebounds and led the team with 4 assists as the Broncos defeated the Wildcats 64-61.

Santa Clara proceeded to lose to Temple 68-57 in the second round as Aaron McKie scored 25, Rick Brunson contributed 20 and Eddie Jones added 17.  All three of these players had solid to great NBA careers, but none of them ended up in the Basketball Hall of Fame or won 2 MVPs like Steve Nash.

I bet Silas Nichols of Washington, DC, thought I was going to write about the Richmond Spiders, the first 15 seed to defeat a 2 seed when the beat Syracuse Orange, nee Orangemen, 73-69 in 1991, but I wouldn't do something like that, seeing that I already did that last year.  You can see that entry here.

Since Arizona lost, now is the time to discuss our pool's predicted champions.  We have 18 this year, including Arizona.  All picked champions will remain in the updates, but only those teams that remain will be capitalized.  The champions selected are:  Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Duke, Florida Atlantic, Gonzaga, Houston, Indiana, Kansas, Kansas State, Miami, Marquette, Michigan State, Purdue, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA, Virginia.

You read that correctly, somebody chose Florida Atlantic.  And although we do have a current FAU student in our pool this year, it was not her.  We might have more to come on this topic.

As for the rest of the games, the only unanimous picks from yesterday were:  Alabama and Houston.  So yes, that means some entrants selected Howard over Kansas, and Northern Kentucky over Houston.  A few even selected UNC-Asheville over UCLA.  With craziness like these picks, that is how we have entrants with Princeton over Arizona and Furman over Virginia.

Interesting Stats - Day 1

4.  Alabama All-American Brandon Miller scored 0 points in Alabama's first round victory.  ZERO!

3.  Virginia basketball is 1-3 in its last four first round games in the NCAA Tournament, including the infamous defeat to University of Maryland - Baltimore County in 2018.

2.  Furman last won an NCAA tournament game in 1974, defeating South Carolina.

1.  After three games had finished yesterday, only 6.6% of brackets uploaded to CBS Sportsline had 100% of the games correct.  AFTER THREE GAMES!

Fun Social Media Posts

Ok - I admittedly didn't follow much social media yesterday, but perhaps more today.

1.  From Facebook:  "Glad to see Alabama didn't come into the NCAA Tournament gun-shy!"

Players of the Day

6.  Dereck Lively - Duke - 4 points, 12 rebounds, 6 blocks

5.  Jalen Swanson - Furman - 19 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists

4.  Johni Broome - Auburn - 19 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks

3.  D'Moi Hodge - Missouri - 23 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals

2.  Sir'Jabari Rice - Texas - 23 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists

1.  Andrew Frank - Penn State - 27 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist

Now, on to the standings.  Feel free to let me know if you think I made a mistake, as sometimes I do.  Just know that if I re-score your sheet and find a mistake that was made in your favor, I will correct that to.  Now, onto the standings ...

1.  Pepe Sosa - 21

2.  Mitch K (Lamb) - 20

3.  Carolyn Fowler - 19

4.  Gracie Kroesen - 18

5.  Scott Bieterman 1 - 17

     Justin Gaeta - 17

     Stephanie Henderson - 17

     Alyssa Hopps - 17

     Silas Nichols - 17

     Jeff Plamondon - 17

     Brittany Sosa - 17

12.  Scott Bieterman 2 - 16

       Jim Coleman - 16

       Shane Jernigan - 16

       Skip LaForte 1 - 16

       Bennie Merchant - 16

       Colonel Kareem Montague - 16

       Matt Okell 1 - 16

       Edy Almond Pecan - 16

20.  Drew Foster - 15

       Martha Kroesen - 15

       Allison Parker - 15

       Rich Samuels 1 - 15

       Rich Samuels 2 - 15

       Dana Williams - 15

26.  Paul Cummings 2 - 14

       Bill Ganoe 3 - 14

       Katie Kollmeyer - 14

29.  Jacey Fowler 1 - 13

       Bill Ganoe 1 - 13

       Eric Inge - 1

       Sean McInerney 1 - 13

       Sean McInerney 3 - 13

       Duncan Merchant - 13

       Sasha Moon - 13

       Amy Zdrowak - 13

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 13

       Bubba Zdrowak - 13

39.  Jim Baruffi - 12

       Sal DiSanza - 12

       Jenna Finkelstein - 12

       George Fox 2 - 12

       Alvaro Gonzalez - 12

       Kyle Henderson - 12

       Guy Hughes - 12

       Blake Jackson - 12

       Marcus Jackson - 12

       Miles Jackson - 12

       Quinn Jackson - 12

       Adam Jorgensen - 12

       Max Macon 3 - 12

       Kisha Marzouca 2 - 12

       Sean McInerney 4 - 12

       Chris Simmons - 12

       Barkley Sosa - 12

       Cheryl Spuhler - 12

       Jonathan Wasserman - 12

       Day Yi 1 - 12

       Joshua Zdrowak - 12

60.  Aly Baruffi - 11

       Jacey Fowler 2 - 11

       George Fox 3 - 11

       James Garvin - 11

       Matt Hopps - 11

       Chris Kroesen - 11

       Skip LaForte 2 - 11

       Dan Laishley - 11

       Ty Leatherman - 11

       Brian McMahon - 11

       Jeff Plamondon 2 - 11

       Jessica Samuels - 11

       Jason Spuhler - 11

       Logan Spuhler - 11

       Amanda Staudt - 11

       Jamie Toole - 11

       Steven Usma 2 - 11

       Day Yi 2 - 11

       Katie Zdrowak - 11

79.   Brent Bellinger - 10

        Annabelle Fowler - 10

        Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds - 10

        Justine Frank - 10 

        Bill Ganoe 2 - 10 

        Liam Gray - 10

        Kyle Henderson 2 - 10

        John Hopps - 10

       Mac Kroesen - 10

       Dawn Lamb - 10

       Keith W1 (Lamb) - 10

       Keith W2 (Lamb) - 10

       Lizzy W (Lamb) - 10

       Max Macon 1 - 10

       Max Macon 2 - 10

       Max Macon 4 - 10

       Kisha Marzouca 1 - 10

       Kisha Marzouca 3 - 10

       Matt Okell 2 - 10

       Ashley Poer 1 - 10

       Jane Reynolds - 10

       Jeremy Spuhler - 10

       Steven Usma 3 - 10

       George Walks 2 - 10

       George Walks 4 - 10

       Mike Wolff - 10

       Keith Zdrowak - 10

106.  Paul Cummings 1 - 9

         George Fox 1 - 9

         Mark Holbert - 9

         Arlene Amo Hopps - 9

         Dave Marzouca 1 - 9

         Dave Marzouca 2 - 9

         Dave Marzouca 3 - 9

         Mango Merchant - 9

         Matt Okell - 9

         Kingfish Parham - 9

        Ashley Poer 2 - 9

        Savannah Grace Pressly - 9

        William Pujals - 9

        A.J. Ripin - 9

        Hannah Sosa - 9

        Steven Usma 1 - 9

        Steven Usma 4 - 9

        Steven Usma 5 - 9

        George Walks 1 - 5

125.  Braeden Helland - 8

         Shane Jernigan - 8

         Sean McInerney - 8

         Rich Samuels 3 - 8

         George Walks 3 - 8

         Justin Yung - 8

131.  Lily Spuhler - 7