We have a champion!!! Congratulations to the Baylor Bears, and congratulations to everyone in our pool that selected Baylor!
Baylor was just too fast, too physical, too maniacal, and just better than Gonzaga. But, we should have known that. There is no way that Indiana, which professes to be a great basketball state, was going to allow the NCAA's first undefeated champion since 1976, which was Indiana. Come to think of it, that makes as much sense as anything for the reason why Wisconsonsin was able to defeat Kentucky in the Final Four in Lucas Oil Stadium in 2015 (See, it really is all about Kentucky).
I won't make you all read too much, as I know most of you are just here for the Final Standings, but I am still going to add some information about the game, this tourney, and the history because, well, it's my pool.
Stats of the Day
2. This was the 6th time in the history of the Associated Press pre-season basketball poll (circa 1961) that the preseason numbers 1 and 2 faced each other in the championship game - and the first since 2001 - with the preseason number 2 winning each of the games.
1. Mark Vital had 9 offensive rebounds inthe game - and 3 in the first 3 minutes. He finished with 11 total rebounds.
Players of the Day
6. Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua, Baylor. He had the best name in the tournament.
5. Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga. He did finish with 22 points, but his early foul trouble against an agressive Baylor defense (1 of those fouls was a charge) really allowed Baylor to set the early tone and tempo.
4. MaCio Teague, Baylor. Sometime overlooked, but oh-so-important to the Bears finished with 19 points, including 2 of 3 from three point range.
3. Haley Jones, Stanford. The Stanford star was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Women's Final Four deserves a mention here, even though the best player in the tournament was clearly Aari McDonald of Arizona.
2. Jared Butler, Baylor. The men's Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four finished with a game high 22 (with Jalen Suggs), added 3 rebounds and 7 assists while shooting 4-9 from three.
1. Davion Mitchell, Baylor. The Bears point guard controlled the game, and although he finished "only" with 15 points, he had 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, all while playing stifling defense on Jalen Suggs and whomever else Gonzaga put in front of him. He set the tone early by taking a charge against Suggs, and was just as aggressive offensively often driving unimpeded to the rim. Butler is the first team All-American and the MOP, but this team does not win this year without Mitchell.
My All Tournament Teams (Listed Alphabetically)
Honorable Mention
Since Baylor defeated Gonzaga to keep Gonzaga from becoming the first undefeated basketball champions since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers, let's take a look at that squad.
While the football Hoosiers were toiling in the fall under the tutelege of coach Lee Corso, (Yes, THAT Lee Corso), the basketball team was riding high, returning 71% of its minutes played and 68% of its scoring from the previous season which saw it advance to the Elite 8 where it lost to eventual runner-up Kentucky (See, it is all about Kentucky!!!) (As an aside, that Kentucky team had Rick Robey and Jack Givens as freshman, and were led by Kevin Grevey and his 23.5 points per game. Those freshman would win the 1978 championship as seniors, behind Jack Givens' 41 points in the championship game. They beat Duke, by the way).
Back to Indiana. That team was stacked, returning seniors Scott May and Quinn Buckner as well as junior Kent Benson. That roster had 4 Parade High School All-Americans (Buckner, Benson, and freshmen Bob Bender and Rich Valavicius), and had 6 future NBAers (May, Benson, Buckner, Tom Abernathy, Bob Wilkerson, and Wayne Radford.
Indiana offensively was led by Scott May and his 23.5 points per game (and 7.7 rebounds), with big man Kent Benson contributing 17.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. The team was led in assists by Bob Wilkerson;s 5.3 per game and Quinn Buckner's 4.2 per game, but as a team they averaged 20.5 assists a game - with an average of 34 made field goals, constantly sharing the ball in an offense that featured movement under then 36 year old coach Bobby Knight. For more on Bobby Knight and his time at Indiana, I recommend watching the ESPN 30-for-30 Last Days of Knight.
Indiana was the top seed (well, they didn't technically do seeds, but being undefeated, they were) in the Mideast region played in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. And boy, was that region loaded with coaches - Besides Bobby Knight, C.M. Newton at Alabama, Al McGuire of Marquette, Dean Smith of North Carolina, Lou Carnesecca at St. John's and Don DeVoe of Virginia Tech were other coaches in that region. Just loaded. (Also coaching in this tournament - Ray Meyer at Depaul, Peter Carril at Princeton, Terry Holland at Virginia, Johnny Orr at Michigan, Norm Stewart at Missouri, Digger Phelps at Notre Dame, John Thompson at Georgetown, Jerry Tarkanian at UNLV and Gene Bartow UCLA - WOW!)
The first round, however, was not played in Baton Rouge as the Hoosiers had to travel all the way to South Bend, Indiana, where they dispatched St. John's 90-70. Moving to the regional semifinals in Baton Rouge, Indiana beat Alabama 74-69 and then defeated Marquette 65-56 to advance to the Final Four in the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In the Final Four, Indiana defeated defending champion UCLA 65-51, and advanced to the championship game against Michigan, which they won 86-68, behind Scott May's 26 points and 8 rebounds, Kent Benson's 25 points and 9 rebounds, Quinn Buckner's 16 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals, and Tom Abernathy's 11 points. All told, Indiana had 19 assists on its 32 made field goals, and had 10 total steals, led by Buckner's 5.
Anyway, who cares who won in 1976. We just care who won in 2021, right? And not even the tournament - just our pool!!! Please check and double check if you feel so inclined, I know I did. And it was important to do so, as we did actually have a tie for first. As a refresher, rule 20 governs ties, and rule 20 is "Should a tie occur after the championship game, the tiebreaker is determined by number of first round games selected correctly (not total points in the first round); then second round games, etc. until the tie is broken. Correct score of the Final IS NOT a tiebreaker. Do not attempt to select the score of the Championship game." Despite this, 23 of you did submit a championship game score, but none of those involved in the tiebreaker. So, the tiebreaker is between Edy Pecan of West Palm Beach, Florida, and Steven Usma 3 of Miami, Florida both tied with 142. Going with the tiebreakers, Steven's first round record was 22-10, and Edy's first round record was 23-9. So, by the difference of 1 game, Edy Pecan of West Palm Beach is our champion. Steven Usma 3 of Miami, Florida finishes in second, and Brian Hinaman of Parrish, Florida finishes in third, only 1 point behind our leaders.
With 120 entrants into the pool, and last place reciving their $5 back, ordinarily I would split the total amount for 119 entrants among the top 3, but, since 120 is such an even/round number, I will issue payouts based upon the 120. So, Edy will receive $360, Steve will receive $150, and Brian will receive $90. A reminder, Sean McInerney of Atlantic Beach, Florida receives his $5 back. Notice I say each of these four will "receive" certain amounts, not that they won. That is because this was for AMUSEMENT PURPOSES ONLY!
Also, one entrant in this pool was very generous, and made a contribution for my time and effort in hosting. That was unnecessary and definitely not required, but, I will continue that generous mood and give some to the highest ranking first-timer in the pool. This is done because (a) I feel like passing some of that good-will forward (some, not all); and (b) that might encourage that person and others to bring in new people next year. And to the generous participant, THANK YOU!
The first-time participant with the highest score is ... Emily Lawson 2, of New York City, New York who finished in 5th place with 134 points. And this was a closer battle than I anticipated as 5th, 6th and 7th place were all first timers. Sandwiched in between those 4 winners was Ty Leatherman, of Wilmington, North Carolina, who finished in fourth place. Also of note, William Pujals of Charlotte, North Carolina was the highest finisher that did not have Baylor winning the championship, finishing in 9th place. Also of note is Biscuit Zdrowak of Orlando, Florida, that is our highest finishing animal entry, finishing in 19th place. Also a special mention to Rich Samuels 2 of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, who was the lowest ranking bracket that correctly selected Baylor to win the championship; finishing in 40th place.
BUT REMEMBER, NO M ATTER IN WHAT PLACE YOU FINISHED, SO LONG AS YOU WERE THE TOP IN YOUR FAMILY/FRIENDS GROUP YOU ARE A WINNER!!!
Edy, Steven, Brian, and Emily, bear with me a day or two as I consolidate the payments from my bank account, PayPal, Venmo and CashApp, so that I can conveniently pay you all properly. Just let me know your preferred method to receive your money.
Thank you all for playing - and Your Tournament Host is looking forward to being at next year's Final Four in person, as the The Road to New Orleans begins now.
Now, on to the standings:
1. EDY PECAN - 142 - BAYLOR
2. STEVEN USMA 3 - 142 - BAYLOR
3. BRIAN HINAMAN - 141 - BAYLOR
4. Ty Leatherman - 138 - Baylor
5. Emily Lawson - 134 - Baylor
6. Justin Hallack - 126 - Baylor
7. Dave Marzouca 1 - 121 - Baylor
8. Kyle Henderson 2 - 120 - Baylor
9. William Pujals - 119
