63 Shining Moments! Welcome to the 2024 Block Square Pool

Happy Selection Sunday everyone and welcome to the 2024 NCAA Tournament Block Squares Pool! This game is played for entertainment purposes only. For the next three weeks, this space will be used to communicate administration. The brackets will be unveiled later today and I am sure that we are all excited for another wild tournament. All of the blocks for the pool are filled, and the numbers have been drawn. The official pool has been distributed to everyone and is posted below.

The rules for this game are as follows: 

1. Each entry will keep its numbers for the entirety of the tournament. We will not re-draw numbers.
2. A winning block is one that has a two number combination that matches the last digits of the final score for each team in the game. As an example, if the Home team wins a game 78-63, then the box corresponding to Home 8; Away 3 is the winner. This applies to the final score, not the score at the end of regulation.
3. For game tracking, “Home” is defined as the team with the lower number seed and “Away” as the team with the higher number seed. As an example, if a 4-seed is playing a 13-seed then the 4-seed is the Home team and the 13-seed is the Away team.
4. As we get later in the tournament, there is the possibility of teams with the same tournament seed playing each other. In these circumstances, the higher ranked team as established at the start of the tournament will be designated the Home team. We will be using the overall seeding as published at CBS sports once the bracket has been unveiled.
5. I will post an updated “leaderboard” shortly after each day of play that links to the official game scores and lists winners in this pool.
6. All winnings will be paid out at the end of the tournament.

The pool will pay out winners for all 63 games of the main tournament played starting with the first game on Thursday, March 21^st and finishing in Glendale AZ with the Championship Game. The Play-In games are not part of this tournament pool. The payouts per round will be:

• 1^st Round Games - 25 each
• 2^nd Round Games - 50 each
• Sweet 16 Games - 100 each
• Elite 8 Games - 200 each
• Final 4 Games - 400 each
• Championship Game - 1000

Good luck everyone! I am looking forward to an exciting tournament.

Your commissioner

Sinickal

Gambling Sucks: The Block Pool Sweet 16, Day 1 Results

I am working on deadline today at my real job, so no time for thoughts about last nights game. I will just say congratulations to Emily Lawson who is the only person in the pool so far to win a game in every round. Of course, this sucks because I am still shut out. Gambling sucks. 

Good luck in tonight's games

Don't Ever Bet On The Big Ten: The Block Pool Day 2 Results

I really have nothing smart to say about yesterday's action in the tournament. As usual, the first round produced a good amount of drama and surprises, but in the end we still have a lot of "blue bloods" hanging around. You might ask about Purdue losing in the worst tournament upset ever but if you know me, you know that I have never thought much of the Big Ten in this tournament (or at all). Afterall, its most recent national championship belongs to a team that was in the ACC when they won it and that happened 20 years ago. 

In other words, I have no faith in the Big Ten teams and you shouldn't either. Just set your money on fire if you are betting there. It is faster. Seriously, that slow, lumbering team with horrible guard play won a major conference? Seriously?

Anyway, the small money games are done, and Steve Hofmann continues to rack up wins. Also, a nice birthday gift for Adam Miller yesterday as he won two games. His wife Lindsey Parobek won one also. Actually, it was a good day for couples overall as Justin and Christy Nielson also won games. With that, here are yesterdays winners.

On to Round 2. Good luck everyone!

Your commissioner.

Virginia Is A Dumpster Fire: The Block Pool Day One Results

Just an observation from yesterday's games before we get to the pool results...

I should be congratulating all of you Furman fans, but I just can't. A heavily favored Virginia team underachieving like this should be the least surprising outcome of the tournament and we are only one day in. Historically, they seem to be destined to only one of two outcomes, a bracket busting early exit or the national championship. The fact that Virginia sandwiched a National Championship run in 2019 between two first round exits should be the subject of 30 for 30. That group is hot garbage! 

In their last eight appearances in this tournament, Virginia has been eliminated in the 1st round three times (2012, 2018 and 2021) and in the 2nd round two other times (2015, 2017). In more than 60% of their appearances over a decade, this trash fire is gone before the second weekend of the tournament. That program has been at wrong end of maybe the two most ridiculous and famous upsets of all time! Just an embarrassment of a program.

As for our Block Pool, it was a good first day for Bill Greaves, Matt Hopps and Steve Hofmann. Congratulations on multiple wins yesterday. The results for the first 16 games are below. Please let me know if you see something incorrect.

Home Team	Final	Away Team	Final	Winner
Maryland (8)	67	West Virginia (9)	65	Fuji Briscoe
Virginia (4)	67	Furman (13)	68	Adam Kemp
Missouri (7)	76	Utah St (10)	65	Matt Hopps
Kansas (1)	96	Howard (16)	68	Mike Lyons
Alabama (1)	96	Texas A&M-CC (16)	75	Matt Hopps
San Diego St (5)	63	Col of Charleston (12)	57	Nehemias Gonzalez
Arizona (2)	55	Princeton (15)	59	Steve Hofmann
Arkansas (8)	73	Illinois (9)	63	Bill Greaves
Iowa (8)	75	Auburn (9)	83	Andrew Neill
Duke (5)	74	Oral Roberts (12)	51	Bill Greaves
Texas (2)	81	Colgate (15)	61	Kwan Anderson
Northwestern (7)	75	Boise St (10)	67	Kevin Dick
Houston (1)	63	N Kentucky (16)	52	Caleb Huff
Tennessee (4)	58	Louisiana (13)	55	Steph Kerr
Texas A&M (7)	59	Penn St (10)	76	Steve Hofmann
UCLA (2)	86	UNC Asheville (15)	53	Matt Doherty

I will close with one more thing, my favorite Twitter exchange from yesterday

I freaking love this tournament!

Your Commissioner

The 2023 NCAA Tournament Block Pool

 

When you haven’t written anything substantial for a while, it sometimes is difficult to remember basic things like how to start, what the structure should look like, or how to spell. All of these afflictions will haunt me over the next few weeks as I get back into this concept of writing things down for other people.

With that, happy NCAA Tournament 2023!

For the next three weeks, this space will be used to communicate administration of the NCAA Tournament Block Pool.

The rules are pretty simple for this. Now that the final grid has been distributed and everyone has their numbers, a few things from your commissioner:

1. Each entry will keep its numbers for the entirety of the tournament. We will not re-draw numbers.
2. A winning block is one that has a two number combination that matches the last digits of the final score for each team in the game. As an example, if the Home team wins a game 78-63, then the box corresponding to Home 8; Away 3 is the winner. This applies to the final score, not the score at the end of regulation.
3. For game tracking, “Home” is defined as the team with the lower number seed and “Away” as the team with the higher number seed. As an example, if a 4-seed is playing a 13-seed then the 4-seed is the Home team and the 13-seed is the Away team. 
4. As we get later in the tournament, there is the possibility of teams with the same tournament seed playing each other. In these circumstances, the higher ranked team as established at the start of the tournament will be designated the Home team. We will be using the overall seeding as published at CBS sports.
5. I will post an updated “leaderboard” shortly after each day of play that links to the official game scores and lists winners in this pool.

6.     All winnings will be paid out at the end of the tournament.

The pool will pay out winners for all 63 games played starting West Virginia (Away) – Maryland (Home) and finishing in Houston with the Championship Game. The payouts per round will be:

• 1^st Round Games - $25 each
• 2^nd Round Games - $50 each
• Sweet 16 Games - $100 each
• Elite 8 Games - $200 each
• Final 4 Games - $400 each
• Championship Game - $1000

Good luck everyone! I am looking forward to an exciting tournament.

Your commissioner

Sinickal