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

2023 NCAA Tournament Pool - Sweex Sixteen/Day 1

 

Busy, busy day at my real job, so I will be updating this in segments today.  I will erase the "IN PROGRESS/STANDY" once complete.

The leader stays the same, but there was a lot of movement at the top, and bottom of the standings.  Rich Samuels 1 is still in first, with Mitch K (Lamb) in second.  We know how a two-way tie for the third with John Hopps and Allison Parker.  And, at the bottom of the standings, Lily Spuhler is no longer in sole possession of last place, as she - through Gonzaga - managed to tie for 137th with Lizzy W (Lamb), and Lily has her champion still alive.  Your Tournament Host's bracket is a mess.

And speaking of mess, there is no bigger mess than Jeremy Spuhler and A.J. Ripin.  Neither of them put their name on their bracket, which I did when I printed them.  However, I noticed today when scoring, that I printed the same bracket for both of them.  I noticed because somebody had "UU" winning the UCLA - Gonzaga game.  The worst part is - neither one of them has contacted me to discuss their scoring.  I will scour my e-mails and find which one was not printed, and place it in the correct position once I find it - sometime this weekend.  

Three more champions are down as Michigan State lost to Kansas State, Tennessee lost to Florida Atlantic, and Gonzaga defeated UCLA.  Our champions are:  Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Duke, Florida Atlantic, Gonzaga, Houston, Indiana, Kansas, Kansas State, Marquette, Miami, Michigan State, Purdue, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA.  Miami plays Houston today, so we are guaranteed to lose at least one more champion.

Gonzaga was a popular pick, and a few people selected Kansas State and Connecticut, but the real movers in the pool were those that selected 3 winners.  Those were Allison Parker, Drew Foster, Steven Usma 3, Martha Kroesen and Arelene Amo Hopps.  Arlene was the only one of this group that selected Florida Atlantic, and so for that pick, and earning 12 points, she wins the Pikc of the Day.  Honorable Mention for also picking FAU is Duncan Merchant.  Neither Arlene or Duncan were eligible for bonus points, however, as they did not have FAU defeating Tennessee.

Due to time constraints, I will not be doing a history today, but I will do today's tomorrow, and tomorrow's tomorrow.

Stats of the Day

2.  Drew Timme of Gonzaga scored 20 points in an NCAA Tournament game for the 10th time, breaking the record he shared with Bill Bradley, Elvin Hayes, Danny Manning, Glen Rice, Corliss Williamson, and Richard Hamilton.

1.  Marquis Nowell of Kansas State set an NCAA record with 19 assists in a tournament game, breaking the record held by Mark Wade of UNLV.

Players of the Day

Honestly, three players stood out way, WAY, above the crowd, but I'll do top 4.

4.  Jordan Hawkins, Connecticut - 24 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal in a blowout of Arkansas.

3.  Jaime Jacquez, Jr., UCLA - 29 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 block in a devastating loss to Gonzaga, again.  (See, Suggs, Jalen)

2.  Drew Timme, Gonzaga - 36 points , 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks

1.  Markquis Norwell, Kansas State - 20 points, 3 rebounds, 19 assists, 5 steals. AND THIS RIDICULOUS ALLEY-OOP  

Here are our current standings.  Please double check me, and if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, let me know.

1.  Rich Samuels 1 - 69 - Alabama/Texas

2.  Mitch K (Lamb) - 61 - Gonzaga/Marquette

3.  John Hopps - 60 - Houston/Purdue

     Allison Parker - 60 - Houston/Alabama

5.  Drew Foster - 58 - Texas/Kansas State

6.  Carolyn Fowler - 57 - Houston/Alabama

     Arlene Hopps - 57 - Florida Atlantic/Gonzaga

     Marcus Jackson - 57 -Kansas/Alabama

     Ty Leatherman - 57 - Houston/Alabama

     Silas Nichols - 57 - Alabama/Houston

     Javier Rodriguez 2 - 57 - Miami/Alabama

12.  Guy Hughes - 56 - Alabama/Texas

       Steven Usma 5 - 56 - Alabama/Gonzaga

14.  Shane Jernigan 1 - 55 - Marquette/Gonzaga

       Martha Kroesen - 55 - Alabama/Houston

       Skip LaForte - 55 - Michigan State/Houston

       Dana Williams - 55 - Alabama/Houston

       Bubba Zdrowak - 55 - Kansas/Purdue

19.  Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds - 54 - Alabama/Houston

       Karen Katz - 54 - Marquette/Kansas

       Edy "Almond" Pecan - 54 - Kansas State/Houston

       Jeff Plamondon 2 - 54 - Texas/Marquette

       Rich Samuels 2 - 54 - Houston/Alabama

       Steven Usma 4 - 54 - Miami/Arizona

25.  Jacey Fowler II - 53 - Alabama/Texas

       Shane Jernigan 2 - 53 - Duke/Connecticut

       Colonel Kareem Montague - 53 - Purdue/UCLA

       Sasha Moon - 53 - Houston/Arizona

       Jessica Samuels - 53 - Houston/Marquette

30.  Sal DiSanza - 52 - Alabama/Kansas

       Stephanie Henderson - 52 - Connecticut/Baylor

       Blake Jackson - 52 - Purdue/Gonzaga

33.  Scott Bieterman 1 - 51 - Purdue/Houston

       Quinn Jackson - 51 - Houston/Baylor

       Kisha Marzouca 2 - 51 - UCLA/Purdue

       Sean McInerney 4 - Alabama/Houston

37.  Justin Gaeta - 50 - Houston/Marquette

       Jeff Plamondon 1 - 50 - Alabama/Houston

       Pepe Sosa - 50 - Houston/Arizona

       Jason Spuhler - 50 - Kansas/Baylor

41.  George Fox 3 - 49 - Texas/Baylor

       Bennie Merchant - 49 - Arizona/Houston

       Javier Rodriguez 4 - 49 - Alabama/Houston

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 49 - Houston/Texas

45.  Scott Bieterman 2 - 48 - Houston/Arizona

       Jacey Fowler 1 - 48 - Alabama/Houston

       Matt Okell 1 - 48 - Indiana/Duke

48.  Bill Ganoe 1 - 47 - Houston/Alabama

       Bill Ganoe 2 - 47 - Arizona/UCLA

       Kyle Henderson - 47 - Marquette/Houston

       Martha Kroesen - 47 - Purdue/UCLA

       Dan Laishley - 47 - Kansas/Alabama

       Max Macon 1 - 47 - Purdue/Houston

       Brian McMahon - 47 - Kansas/Marquette

       Ashley Poer 2 - 47 - Arizona/UCLA

       Jane Reynolds 47 - Alabama/Houston

       Brittany Sosa - 47 - Kansas/Duke

       Steven Usma 2 - 47 - Marquette/Connecticut

       Jonathan Wasserman - 47 - Duke/Houston

       Day Yi 1 - 47 - Gonzaga/Alabama

61.  Jonathan Cox - 46 - Connecticut/Marquette

       Sean McInerney 3 - 46 - Kansas/Alabama

       Javier Rodriguez 1 - 46 - Alabama/Houston

       Steven Usma 1 - 46 - Arizona/Connecticut

65.  Bill Ganoe 3 - 45 - Alabama/Houstoun

       Alvaro Gonzalez - 45 - Alabama/Texas

       Braeden Helland - 45 - Alabama/Gonzaga

       Matt Hopps - 45 - Alabama/Houston

       Eric Inge - 45 - Alabama/Kansas

       Adam Jorgensen - 45 - Kansas/Arizona

       Kisha Marzouca 3 - 45 - Houston/Tennessee

       Justin Yung - 45 - Arizona/Connecticut

73.  Liam Gray - 44 - Arizona/Kansas

       Chris Kroesen - 44 - Purdue/Houston

       Max Macon 2 - 44 - UCLA/Purdue

       Duncan Merchant - 44 - Gonzaga/Alabama

       Sean McInerney 2 - 44 - Alabama/Gonzaga

       Javier Rodriguez 3 - 44 - Houston/Duke

       Steven Usma 3 - 44 - Houston/Alabama

       George Walks 4 - 44 - Tennessee/UCLA

81.  Jenna Finkelstein - 43 - Kansas State/Texas A&M

       George Fox 1 - 43 - Kansas/Duke

       George Fox 2 - 43 - Houston/Purdue

       Alyssa Hopps - 43 - Virginia/Gonzaga

       Miles Jackson - 43 - Houston/Purdue

       Sean McInerney 1 - 43 - Houston/Kansas State

       Chris Simmons - 43 - UCLA/Alabama

       George Walks 3 - 43 - Kansas State/UCLA

       Day Yi 2 - 43 - Purdue/Houston

       Amy Zdrowak - 43 - UCLA/Duke

91.  Jim Coleman - 42 - Arizona/Kansas

       Paul Cummings 2  42 - Texas/Baylor

       Dawn Lamb - 42 - Kansas/Alabama

       Matt Okell 2 - 42 - Arizona/Kansas

       Jamie Toole - 42 - Houston/Marquette

       Joshua Zdrowak - 42 - Kansas/Marquette

97.  Kyle Henderson 2 - 41 - Houston/Marquette

       Mac Kroesen - 41 - Alabama/Houston

       Matt Okell 3 - 41 - Kansas/Purdue

       George Walks 1 - Arizona/Houston

101.  Jim Baruffi - 40 - UCLA/Duke

         Paul Cummings 1 - 40 - Houston/Baylor

         James Garvin - 40 - Alabama/Houston

         Skip LaForte 2 - 40 - Houston/Purdue

         Kisha Marzouca 1 - 40 - Houston/Alabama

         Kingfish Parham - 40 - Alabama/Kansas

         George Walks 2 - 40 - Texas/Alabama

         Mike Wolff - 40 - Kansas/Arizona

109.  Aly Baruffi - 39 - Purdue/Northwestern

         Brent Bellinger - 39 - Marquette/Texas

         Justine Frank - 39 - Gonzaga/Marquette

         Katie Kollmeyer - 39 - Indiana/Purdue

         Rich Samuels 3 - 39 -Houston/Alabama

         Logan Spuhler - 39 - Alabama/Xavier

115.  Annabelle Fowler - 38 - Alabama/Houston

         Keith W 2 (Lamb) - 38 - Kansas/Arizona

         Dave Marzouca 1 - 38 - Duke/Gonzaga

118.  Max Macon 3 - 37 - Houston/Alabama

         Max Macon 4 - 37 - Alabama/Kansas

         Dave Piasecki - 37 - Houston/Marquette

         Hannah Sosa - 37 - Houston/Alabama

         Cheryl Spuhler - 37 - Houston/Purdue

         Amanda Staudt - 37 - Houston/Purdue

124.  Mark Holbert - 35 - Houston/Marquette

         Keith W 1 (Lamb) - 35 - Texas/Alabama

         Savannah Grace Pressly - 35 - UCLA/Alabama

         Katie Zdrowak - 35 - Duke/Texas

128.  Ashley Poer 1 - 34 - Houston/Alabama

         Keith Zdrowak - 34 - Purdue/Texas

130.  William Pujals - 33 - UCLA/Arizona

         Barkley Sosa - 33 - Houston/Alabama

132.  Dave Marzouca 3 - 32 - Alabama/Houston

         AJ Ripin - 32 - Kansas/Tennessee

         Jeremy Spuhler - 32 - Kansas/Tennessee

135.  Dave Marzoucs 2 - 31 - Houston/Purdue

136.  Mango Merchant - 29 - UCLA/Purdue

137.  Lizzy W (Lamb) - 25 - Kansas/Duke

         Lily Spuhler - 25 - Houston/Purdue

NCAA Tournament Pool - Final Four

 

WOW!!!  That is all I can say.  Jalen Suggs - welcome to the pantheon of NCAA Tournament memorable last second shots, joinging the likes of Kris Jenkins, Lorenzo Charles, Christian Laettner, Bryce Drew, Tate George, Danny Ainge and Ali Faroukmanesh.  

I, and many others, expected one close game and one blowout last night, and that is exactly what we got - in reverse order.  Baylor, for the majority of the year the number 2 ranked team in the country, just annihilated Houston from the get-go, whereas UCLA gave Gonzaga everything they could handle, taking the Bulldogs to overtime, which culminated in the Jalen Suggs banked-in game-winning three- pointer at the buzzer from Damian Lillard territory.

So, we get the game between the teams that have basically been the best 2 teams all year.  Who would have thought it?

 With Houston out of the tournament, only 2 chamions remain in our pool, and, obviously, whether Gonzaga or Baylor wins will determine the winners of the pool.  If Gonzaga wins, then our current leader, William Pujals of Charlotte, North Carolina wins the pool, with Brent Bellinger 1 of Austin, Texas in second and Measha Williams 3 of Houston, Texas in third.  If Baylor wins, Edy Pecan of the Greater West Palm Beach, Florida and Steven Usma 3 of Miami, Florida tie for first, and Brian Hinaman of Parrish, Florida finishes third.  I have not yet done the computation to break the tie, so if Baylor wins, our winners will be surprised too!  Matt Hopps of Quincy, Massachusetts, currently sits tied for second, but has Michigan as the winner.

 While we await tomorrow night's final between Gonzaga and Baylor, Houston joins the rest of our dismissed champions: Alabama, Florida, Florida STate, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Michgan State, Ohio State and Virginia.

Most entrants had at least 1 game correct.  If you had both, you rocketed up the standings.  If you had zero, you fell.

Stats of the Day

 3.  As Juwan Howard was the first person to be a number 1 seed in the NCAA tournament as a player and a coach, I then wanted to see if any players of the year had success as coaches on the college level.  As it turns out, South Carolina women's basketball coach was a Naismith Award winner as player of the year, and has also coached in the Final Four.

2.  Speaking of South Carolina women's basketball, although the Gamecocks lost in the Final Four to Stanford, in the Elite 8 South Carolina held Texas to 0 points for the entire fourth quarter.  ZERO POINTS!!!

1.  This is the fifth time that the NCAA championship game has been played by the teams ranked 1 and 2 in the preseason poll since 1961 (when the preseason poll started).  It is, however, the first time since Duke defeated Arizona in 2001.

Players of the Day

8.  Marcus Sasser, Houston.  Sasser was the only Cougar not overwhelmed by Baylor, scoring 20 points with 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

7.  Cody Riley, UCLA.  Riley had 14 points and 10 rebounds, but 6 important points late in the game to keep UCLA close.

6.  Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga.  The freshman phenom finished with 16 points, 5 rebounds, 6 asissts, 2 steals and 1 block.

5.  Jared Butler, Baylor.  In an ominous sign for Baylor opponents, Butler is starting to find his shot, finishing 4-5 from 3 points range for 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.

4.  Joel Ayayi, Gonzaga.  For long stretches of the game, Ayayi was Gonzaga's best player.  He scored 22 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

3.  Drew Timme, Gonzaga.  He finished with 25 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, but had 6 straignt Gonzaga points to start overtime.

2.  Johnny Juzang, UCLA.  Scored 29 points on 12-18 shooting, and 3-6 from three point range.  Also added 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.  He has been the best player in the tournament.

1.  Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga.  Just for the last buzzer-beating shot that put Gonzaga into the finals and kept UCLA out of the second overtime.

Plays of the Day

3.  Under ordinary circumstances, Andrew Nembhard's three-pointer to send the game into overtime would have been the big shot in a game.  It barely registers last night, which is why I want to mention it.

2.  Under ordinary circumstances, Jalen Suggs' block of Cody Riley's dunk with the game tied 77-77 and 2:01 left, and then his subsequent half-court pass to a streakng Drew Timme would be a player's most memorable play of their college career.  Click through to watch this amazing play.  But then ...

1.  Jalen Suggs calls GAME!!!

Jalen Suggs' shot was preceded by Johnny Juzang's missed shot, offensive rebound putback to tie the game at 90.  Not only did Suggs win the game and rip the heart out of UCLA fans everywhere, he deprived Juzang of his place in tournament history.  Which reminds me ..

The 2016 Final Four took place in Houston, at NRG Stadium about 4,286 miles outside of town.  (OK, slight exaggeration, but it is about as far out of town as a stadium can get and still be listed as being in the same city.  At least State Farm Stadium says it is in Glendale, Arizona and not Phoenix.)  This was a rather boring Final Four as Villanova just dumptrucked Oklahoma 95-51, whil Syracuse kept is semi-final game relatively close, losing to North Carolina 83-66.   But, then we get to the Finals between Villanova and North Carolina.  That game happened on April 4, 2016, exactly 5 years ago.  Villanova won 77-74 behind Phil Booth's 20 points off the bench, whereas North Carolina was led by Marcus Paige's 21 and Joel Berry II's 20 points.  But, this ending was very similar to last night's game.

North Carolina led by 5 at halftime, before Villanova gradually caught up and then took the lead late.  North Carolina then eventually completed their comeback from being down 6 with 1:52 left in the game.  The Tar Heels comeback culminated in a Marcus Paige double-clutch off-balance three-pointer to tie the game with 4.7 seconds left.  Paige was all set to be remembered by history.  Then, Kris Jenkins happened.  To quote Villanova coach Jay Wright when Jenkins put up the shot, Bang!  And yes, he said it before the ball had even went through the hoop.  BANG indeed!

And yes, your Tournament Host was there.  Here is the court immediately after the shot, from behind the Villanova basket.

I would also be remiss if I did not mention a bit about the immediate past history of the Baylor Bears men's basketball team.  While the Bears' women's team has had a ton of recent success, being champions in 2005, 2012, and 2019, and adding another Final Four in 2010, and Elite 8s in 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021, Baylor's men's team has not been in a Final Four since 1950, and the Final game since 1948, where they lost to the Kentucky Wildcats.  (See, I made a Kentucky reference without menting the Johnny Juzang transfer.)

Scott Drew took over the program in 2003, and has been the head coach for 18 years.  But what was the state of Baylor men's basketball in 2003 when Drew arrived?  In about as awful a place as any team could be.  See, in the summer of 2003, June 12 to be exact, Baylor player Patrick Dennehy was murdered by Carlton Dotson, his teammate on the Bears.  Dennehy and Dotson were concerned about their safety earlier in the summer, so they each purchased two pistols and a rifle, and practiced shooting outside of Waco, Texas.  Dennehy spoke to one of his friends and mentioned that some threats were made to Dotson, but that they would be going out to a party the next night, but neither arrived at the party.  Over the next few days, Dennehy didn't call his partents of Father's Day, his roomate came home and found his dogs not fed, and nobody had seen Dennehy in over a week.  A missing person's report was filed, and on June 25, Dennehy's Tahoe was found in a shopping mall in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with its license plate removed.  Ultimately, the police were led to Dotson, who spoke with the FBI, and on July 25, Dennehy's body was found in a gravel pit outside of Waco, Texas.  Dotson ultimately pled guilty in 2005, and was sentenced to 35 years in prison.  He is eligible for parole later this year.

For more information on this story, Showtime produced a documentary about it called Disgraced.

Not many coaches would have wanted to walk into a situation like that, except Scott Drew did, and now he is in the National Championship game.

Now, on to the standings.  As always, feel free to let me know if you think your score is incorrect, and I will be happy to double-check it.

 1.  William Pujals - 119 - Gonzaga

2.  Brent Bellinger 1 - 118 - Gonzaga

     Matt Hopps - 118 - Michigan

4.  Measha Williams 3 - 116 - Gonzaga

5.  Edy Pecan - 114 - Baylor

     Steven Usma - 114 - Baylor

7.  Brian Hinaman - 113 - Baylor

8.  Ty Leatherman - 110 - Baylor

      Day Yi 1 - 110 - Gonzaga

10.  Jeff Plamondon - 109 - Gonzaga

       Measha Williams 2 - 109 - Gonzaga

12.  James Garvin - 108 - Gonzaga

       Colleen Hamilton 2 - 108 - Gonzaga

14.  Braeden Helland 4 - 106 - Gonzaga

       Emily Lawson 2 - 106 - Baylor

16.  Silas Nichols 1 - 105 - Gonzaga

       Measha Williams 1 - 105 - Gonzaga

18.  Guy Hughes - 103 - Gonzaga

       Chris Igtiben 1 - 103 - Illinois

20.  Skip LaForte - 101 - Michigan State

       Silas Nichols 2 - 101 - Illinois

22.  Emily Lawson 1 - 100 - Gonzaga

       Javier Rodriguez - 100 - Gonzaga

       Steven Usma 1 - 100 - Gonzaga

25.  Justin Hallack - 98 - Baylor

       Ashley Poer 2 - 98 - Houston

27.  Rich Samuels 1 - 97 - Hosuton

28.  Kingfish Parham - 96 - Gonzaga

       Pepe Sosa - 96 - Gonzaga

30.  Jacey Fowler-Reynolds 2 - 95 - Alabama

       Max Macon 1 - 95 - Gonzaga

32.  Braeden Helland 3 - 94 - Gonzaga

       Measha Williams 4 - 94 - Gonzaga

34.  Dave Marzouca 1 - 93 - Baylor

35.  Kyle Henderson 2 - 92 - Baylor

       Amy Zdrowak - 92 - Gonzaga

37.  Martha Kroesen - 91 - Illinois

       Brittany Sosa - 91 - Illinois

39.  Rachel Bornn - 90 - Illinois

       Alvaro Gonzalez - 90 - Gonzaga

       Jeremy Spuhler - 90 - Gonzaga

       Steven Usma 4 - Baylor

43.  Jacey Fowler-Reynolds 1 - 89 - Gonzaga

       Larry Green - 89  Gonzaga

       Carey Taylor - 89 - Gonzaga

46.  Jenna Finkelstein - 88 - Kansas

       Colleen Hamilton 3 - 88 - Ohio State

       Adan Jorgensen 1 - 88 - Illinois

       Jason Spuhler - 88 - Gonzaga

50.  Adam Jorgensen 3 - 87 - Gonzaga

       Max Macon 4 - 87 - Baylor

       Joshua Ward - 87 - Baylor

53.  Paul Cummings - 86 - Gonzaga

       Justin Yung - 86 - Alabama

55.  Dan Barsky 1 - 85 - Gonzaga

       Ashley Poer 1 - 85 - Gonzaga

       Ashley Poer 3 - 85 - Baylor

       Cheryl Spuhler - 85 - Baylor

59.  Kisha Marzouca 2 - 84 - Baylor

       Colonel Kareem Montague - 84 - Gonzaga

61.  Colleen Hamilton 4 - 83 - Ohio State

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 83 - Baylor

       Katie Zdrowak - 83 - Iowa

64.  Liz Carew - 81 - Gonzaga

       Kyle Henderson 1 - 81 - Gonzaga

66.  Sasha Moon - 80 - Gonzaga

67.  Keith Zdrowak - 79 - Ohio State

68.  Scott Bieterman - 78 - Illinois

       Rich Samuels 3 - 78 - Gonzaga

       George Walks 3 - 78 - Illinois

71.  Stephanie Henderson - 77 - Baylor

       Mac Kroesen - 77 - Gonzaga

       George Walks 4 - 77 - Houston

74.  Dan Laishley - 76 - Baylor

75.  Braeden Helland 1 - 75 - Illinois

       Quinn Jackson - 75 - Illinois

       Jessica Samuels - 75 - Gonzaga

       Ken Ward - 75 - Virginia

79.  Luis Briones - 74 - Ohio State

80.  Brent Bellinger - 73 - Illinois

       Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 73 - Illinois

       Marcus Jackson - 73 - Gonzaga

       Shane Dogmillionaire Jernigan - 73 - Illinois

       Michael McNally - 73 - Illinois

       George Walks 1 - 73 - Gonzaga

86.  Shane Dogmillionaire Jernigan - 72 - Gonzaga

87.  Dan Barsky 2 - 71 - Illinois

       Nancy McInerney - 71 - Alabama

       Steven Usma 2 - 71 - Illinois

90.  Jonathan Wasserman - 70 - Michigan

91.  Joshua Zdrowak - 69 - Baylor

92.  Jane Reynolds - 68 - Alabama

       Rich Samuels 2 - 68 - Baylor

94.  Chris Igtiben 2 - 67 - Michigan

       Chris LaForte - 67 - Michigan

       Wes Wiggins - 67 - Gonzaga

97.  Max Macon 2- 65 - Michigan

98.  Eric Inge - 64 - Illinois

       Max Macon 3 - 64 - FSU

100.  Adam Jorgensen 2 - 63 - Iowa

         Brian McMahon - 63 - Gonzaga

102.  Colleen Hamilton - 60 - FSU

         Greg Lieberman - 60 - Michigan

         Kisha Marzouca 1 - 60 - Illinois

         Hannah Sosa - 60 - Florida

106.  George Walks 3 - 59 - Michigan

107.  Carolyn Fowler - 58 - Illinois

         Brandon Satterwhite - 58 - Alabama

         Amanda Staudt - 58 - Illinois

110.  Arlene Amo Hopps - 56 - Villanova

         Miles Jackson - 56 - Illinois

112.  Karen Katz - 55 - Illinois

         Katie Kollmeyer - 55 - Michigan

114.  Blake Jackson - 52 - Alabama

115.  Day Yi 2 - 51 - Michigan

116.  Dave Marzouca 2 - 45 - Ohio State

         Barkley Sosa - 45 - Florida

118.  Bubba Zdrowak - 43 - Alabama

119.  Braeden Helland 2 - 41 - Iowa

120.  Sean McInerney - 39 - Ohio State

NCAA Tournament Pool - Elite 8/Day 2

 

Gonzaga and UCLA join Baylor and Houston so that we now have a complete Final Four.  Gonzaga absolutely annihilated USC, and UCLA defeated Michigan in a competitive, if sloppy struggle of a game.  Most people in our pool selected Gonzaga, so if you didn't, you dropped in the standings.  Although nobody selected UCLA, a large number of entries had Michigan in the Final Four, and a good amount had them in the finals and even winning.  So the UCLA victory did affect our pool greatly in terms of who has a chance to win going forward.

William Pujals of Charlotte, North Carolina, remains at the top of our pool, as not much changed in terms of the standings.  Again, nobody earned points in the UCLA-Michigan game, but that game's effects will be felt in the Final Four.

Losing Michigan, we now only have 3 remaining champions, Baylor, Gonzaga, and Houston.  Those champions that have been eliminated are:  Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan STate, Ohio State, and Virginia.  

The opposite of champion is last place, and the race to last place is O-V-E-R.  Sean McInerney of Atlantic Beach, Florida earns that dubious distinction, as he is in last place and has no possibility of earning points this weekend.  He receives his money back, because, well, we shouldn't take money from people that do that bad.  Your payment is forthcoming.

And, this reminds me, there are about 12 brackets that have yet to pay.  If I don't receive payment by the next update, YOU WILL BE CALLED OUT PUBLICLY BY NAME.  It's only $5, and you can mail me a check, Venmo me, PayPal me, Zelle me.  Even Cash App.  The information is on the instructions/rules, but contact me if you need the information again.

Stats of the Day

3.  I was thinking I could use this one once Michigan qualified for the Final Four, but alas, I am using it anyway.  Michigan's coach Juwan Howard is the only person to have been a player on a number 1 seed, as well as the coach of a number 1 seed.

2.  UCLA missed 15 shots in a row in the first half, and still went on the defeat Michigan.  In fact, the Bruins led at the half 27-23, despite that atrocious offense.

1.  Gonzaga has won 26 games in a row BY DOUBLE DIGITS!!!

Players of the Day

4.  Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga.  Suggs had 18 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists and Gonzaga coasted past USC.

3.  Drew Timme, Gonzaga.  Timme finished as the leading scorer in the Gonzaga-USC game scoring 23 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, dished out 4 assists, and had 3 steals.

2.  Unknow Witch Doctor, UCLA.  Somebody put a voodoo hex on Michigan's Franz Wagner, who finished the game with 4 points on 1-10 shooting from the field, and 0-4 from three-point range, including a horrible airball three down the stretch.

1.  Johnny Juzang, UCLA.  The Kentucky transfer (stop me if you have heard that before), literally carried the entire offense of the game, scoring 28 points in 38 minutes, on 11-19 shooting, including 2-5 from three.  Juzang has easily been the best player in the tournament so far, with Drew Timme not far behind.

Social Media Posts of the Day

Nothing truly interesting, as both games were relatively boring. Yes, the late game was close, but it was still somewhat boring.

What was not boring was the 2006 Final Four, also in Indianapolis.  UCLA also made that Final Four.  Although the Bruins also made the Final Four in 2008 - the last time they made it that far - 2008 was not memorable for UCLA.  2006 was.  UCLA, the two seed in the west, advanced to the Final Four where they defeated LSU on the Semi-Final Saturday.  This pit them in the championship against the 3 seed Florida Gators.  Your Tournament Host was present at that Final Four along with Silas Nichols of Washington, D.C.  As no games are played on the Sunday of the Final Four, we decided to explore the NCAA Hall of Fame, which is astounding.  They have a basketball court inside where you can put up shots.  The floor has labels on it in the location from where famous Final Four shots were made.  Knowing Silas is from Syracuse, I proceeded to hit a shot from the Keith Smart location.  Knowing I am a Kentucky fan, Silas reciprocated from hitting a shot from the Christian Laettner spot.  God do we hate each other sometimes.

The Hall of Fame also had a computer and screen where you can play every single One Shining Moment from the Tournament, arranged by year.  I say "had", because apparently a fire in the building destroyed it, and they have no recreated it yet.  We were supposed to be there this year to check on whether or not that was rebuilt, but alas, Covid-19.

The lobby also has the flag of every current NCAA champion, from every division, from every sport, overhead.  Pretty awesome.

So, after our tour of the Hall of Fame and museum, we sauntered over to TGI Friday's.  Why on earth would you go to TGI Friday's would you ask?  Well, the Hall of Fame is a bit of a walk from downtown, and TGI Friday's is the closest place to get a drink on the way back into downtown.  And, it was the UCLA host bar.  So we saunter in, and this place is empty.  Of course, it is like 11:00.  We sit at the bar and proceed to order when the UCLA cheerleaders arrive.  So, it is us, the UCLA cheerleaders, the employees, and nobody else.  The cheerleaders come up to the bar, start chatting with us about basketball, Silas undercuts me by telling them I am from Florida, but I tell them that I cannot root for the Gators because Joakin Noah is too ugly.  This conversation lasts for the next couple of hours.

Fast forward to the championship game on Monday, and the University of Florida Gators just annihilate UCLA 73-57.  Jordan Farmar had 18 points for UCLA, Aaron Afflalo had 10, Ryan Hollins had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Luc Richard M'bah a Moute also grabbed 10 rebounds.  And yes, I just wanted to type "Luc Richard M'bah a Moute".  Florida had very balanced scoring with Corey Brewer scoring 11, Al Horford 14, Lee Humphrey 15, and the Final Four Most Outstanding Player - the aforementioned Joakim Noah - scored 16 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.

But, Noah is remembered more for his winking and blowing kisses and the UCLA cheerleaders at the end of the game.  When asked why he did that in a post-game interview, Noah stated that it was because the cheerleaders were calling him ugly the entire game.  I wonder where they got that idea?

Now, onto the standings.  Please double check my work, and contact me if you have any questions.  Once again I will list the final two picks for each entrant, so you can see what possible combinations of points are available for everyone, if at all.

1.  William Pujals 103 - Gonzaga/Houston

2.  Matt Hopps - 102 - Michigan/Baylor

3.  Edy Pecan - 98 - Baylor/Alabama

4.  Day Yi 1 - 94 - Gonaga/Houston

5.  Jeff Plamondon - 93 - Gonzaga/Houston

     Measha Williams 2 - 93 - Gonzaga/Houston

7.  Silas Nichols 1 - 89 - Gonzaga/Illinois

8.  Chris Igtiben #1 - 87 - Illinois/Gonzaga

9.  Brent Bellinger 1 - 86 - Gonzaga/Baylor

     Justin Yung - 86 - Alabama/Houston

11.  Skip LaForte - 85 - Michigan State/Baylor

       Silas Nichols 2 - 85 - Illinois/Gonzaga

13.  Javier Rodriguez - 84 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Steven Usma 4 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Measha Williams 3 - 84 - Gonzaga/Baylor

16.  Colleen Hamilton 4 - 83 - Ohio State/Texas

        Katie Zdrowak - 83 - Iowa/Houston

18.  Ashley Poer 2 - 82 - Houston/Gonzaga

       Steven Usma 3 - 82 - Baylor/Gonzaga

 

20.  Brian Hinaman - 81 - Baylor/Gonzaga

       Rich Samuels 1 - 81 - Houston/Gonzaga

22.  Kingfish Parham - 80 - Gonzaga/Arkansas

       Pepe Sosa - 80 - Gonzaga/Illinois

24.  Jacey Fowler-Reynolds 2 - 79 - Alabama/Baylor

25.  Braeden Helland 3 - 78 - Gonzaga/Houston

       Ty Leatherman - 78 - Gonzaga/Baylor

       George Walks 2 - 78 - Illinois/Kansas

       Measha WIlliams 4 - 78 - Gonzaga/Illinois

29.  Dave Marzouca 1 - 77 - Baylor/Kansas

       George Walks 4 - 77 - Houston/Alabama

31.   James Garvin - 76 - Gonzaga/Baylor

        Colleen Hamilton 2 - 76 - Gonzaga/Baylor

        Amy Zdrowak - 76 - Gonzaga/Illinois

34.  Martha Kroesen - 75 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Brittany Sosa - 75 - Illinois/Gonzaga

36.  Rachel Bornn - 74 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Braeden Helland 4 - 74 - Gonzaga/Baylor

       Emily Lawson 2 - 74 - Baylor/Gonzaga

       Jeremy Spuhler - 74 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Steven Usma 4 - 74 - Baylor/LSU

41.  Brent Bellinger 2 - 73 - Illinois/Iowa

       Jacey Fowler-Reynolds 1 - 73 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Larry Green - 73 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Carey Taylor - 73 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Measha Williams 1 - 76 - Gonzaga/Baylor

46.  Jenna Finkelstein - 72 - Kansas/Baylor

       Colleen Hamilton 3 - 72 - Ohio State/Gonzaga

       Adam Jorgensen 1 - 72 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Jason Spuhler - 72 - Gonzaga/Illinois

50.  Guy Hughes - 71 - Gonzaga/Baylor

       Adam Jorgensen 3 - 71 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Max Macon 4 - 71 - Baylor/Michigan

       Nancy McInerney - 71 - Alabama/Syracuse

       Steven Usma 2 - 71 - Illinois/Michigan

       Joshua Ward - 71 - Baylor/Michigan

56.  Paul Cummings - 70 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Jonathan Wasserman - 70 - Michigan/West Virginia

58.  Dan Barsky 1 - 69 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Ashley Poer 1 - 69 - Gonzaga/Villanova

       Ashley Poer 3 - 69 - Baylor/FSU

       Cheryl Spuhler - 69 - Baylor/Alabama

62.  Emily Lawson 1 - 68 - Gonzaga/Baylor

       Kisha Marzouca 2 - 68  Baylor/Michigan

       Colonel Kareem Montague - 68 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Jane Reynolds - 68 - Alabama/Illinois

66.  Chris Igtiben 2 - 67 - Michigan/Ohio State

       Chris LaForte - 67 - Michigan/Houston

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 67 - Baylor/Iowa

69.  Justin Hallack - 66 - Baylor/Gonzaga

70.  Liz Carew - 65 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Kyle Henderson 1 - 65 - Gonzaga/Oklahoma State

       Max Macon 2 - 65 - Michigan/West Virginia

73.  Eric Inge - 64 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Max Macon 3 - 64 - FSU/Arkansas

       Sasha Moon - 64 - Gonzaga/Illinois

76.  Adam Jorgensen 2 - 63 - Iowa/Illinois

       Max Macon 1 - 63 - Gonzaga/Baylor

       Keith Zdrowak - 63 - Ohio State/Gonzaga

79.  Scott Bieterman - 62 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Rich Samuels 3 - 62 - Gonzaga/Illinois

81.  Stephanie Henderson - 61 - Baylor/Iowa

       Mac Kroesen - 61 - Gonzaga/Illinois

83.  Colleen Hamilton 1 - 60 - FSU/Arkansas

       Kyle Henderson 2 - 60 - Baylor/Gonzaga

       Dan Laishley - 60 - Baylor/FSU

       Greg Lieberman - 60 - Michigan/Ohio State

       Kisha Marzouca 1 - 60 - Illinois/Michigan

       Hannah Sosa - 60 - Florida/Michigan

89.  Braeden Helland 1 - 59 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Quinn Jackson - 59 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Jessica Samuels - 59 - Gonzaga/West Virginia

       George Walks 3 - 59 - Michigan/Illinois

       Ken Ward - 59 - Virginia/Baylor

94.  Luis Briones - 58 - Ohio State/Gonzaga

       Carolyn Fowler - 58 - Illinois/Alabama

       Alvaro Gonzalez - 58 - Gonzaga/Baylor

       Brandon Satterwhite - 58 - Alabama/Ohio State

       Amanda Staudt - 58 - Illinois/Michigan

99.  Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 57 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Marcus Jackson - 57 - Gonzaga/Illinois

       Shane Dogmillionaire Jernigan 1 - 57 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       Michael McNally - 57 - Illinois/Gonzaga

       George Walks 1 - 57 - Gonzaga/Illinois

104.  Arlene Amo Hopps - 56 - Villanova/Kansas

         Miles Jackson - 56 - Illinois/Alabama

         Shane Dogmillionaire Jernigan - 56 - Gonzaga/Illinois

107.  Dan Barsky 2 - 55 - Illinois/Gonzaga

         Karen Katz - 55 - Illinois/Iowa

         Katie Kollmeyer - 55 - Michigan/Illinois

110.  Joshua Zdrowak - 53 - Baylor/Michigan

111.  Blake Jackson - 52 - Alabama/Ohio State

         Rich Samuels 2 - 52 - Baylor/Iowa

113.  Wes Wiggins - 51 - Gonzaga/Ohio State

         Day Yi 2 - 51 - Michigan/Illinois

115.  Brian McMahon - 47 - Gonzaga/Ohio State

116.  Dave Marzouca 2 - 45 - Ohio State/Kansas

         Barkley Sosa - 45 - Florida/Virginia

118.  Bubba Zdrowak - 43 - Alabama/Oklahoma State

119.  Braeden Helland 2 - 41 - Iowa/Ohio State

120. - Sean McInerney - 39 - Ohio State/Iowa

2019 NCAA Tournament Pool Standings - Sweet Sixteen/Day 1

To reference yesterday's post, my Marlins are now mathematically eliminated from the baseball playoffs this season, so I can turn all of my attention this weekend to our basketball pool.  To quote Matt Hopps of Quincy, Massachusetts, "The Marlins are just short an arm".  God I hate him.  The good thing for me is that he fell from a tie for first place, so that is a start.  Our two NEW leaders are Max Macon 2 of Jupiter, Florida Measha Williams #3 of Houston, Texas.  Astute veterans of this pool may recognize Measha Williams # 3 as our third place finisher in the 2017 pool, the same year that Measha Williams #2 won the pool.  Welcome back to the top of the pool Measha.  For Max, however, yesterday was a bittersweet day as (1) Yes he did ascend into the lead; but (2) he lost his champion.  For that Max gets the "Hard Luck Bracket of the Day" Award, which I just made up.

Biscuit Zdrowak, of Orlando, Florida seems to be doing just fine after getting over the UCF loss to Duke, as he was one of a few brackets to go 4-0 yesterday.  With that stellar 16 point day, Biscuit dramatically rises to 100th place. The highest placed entrant with all four games correct yesterday was Max Marion #2, of Delray Beach, Florida.  With his 16 points, Max Marion - and yes we have multiple brackets from Max Macon and Max Marion, jumps up to 11th place.  Max MARION is our "Pick of the Day".

On the opposite side of the spectrum is Scott Bieterman of West Palm Beach, Florida.  Scott, who is an alumnus of Purdue University, was the highest ranking bracket to receive 0 points yesterday.  That is right folks, Scott picked Tennessee over his alma mater.  Now I do appreciate people who do not blindly select their own school to win even when they do not have a realistic, or even a possible, chance of winning - I am looking at you 2019 Florida fans - but Scott lost out on some important points and plummeted to 32nd place. For that he is awarded the "Worst Pick of the Day".

Now, plenty of others also received 0 points yesterday, and for those that fall into that category please note, this means that you will not receive any points after Saturday's games, either.

Three champions were defeated yesterday (we could have lost 4 maximum), so a bunch of brackets took a hit.  You can celebrate by seeing your champion unbolded from our list below.  Our champions - with the 8 remaining champions in bold - are:  Duke, Florida, Florida State, Gonzaga, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina, Purdue, Syracuse, Tennessee, Villanova, Virginia.

We have five potential champions playing tonight, culminating in a battle of picked champions in Kansas City, Missouri as #2 seed Kentucky - with or without P.J. Washington we do not know - plays #3 seed Houston.  The precursor to that game in Kansas City is top seeded North Carolina playing red-hot Auburn.  North Carolina might be without heralded freshman Nassir Little, who might be the most athletic player on the Tar Heels team. He participated in the shootaround today, but even if he plays he is likely to be slowed by a flu-like illness,  In the Washington, D.C. regional the #3 seed LSU Tigers play the Big 10 Champion and #2 seed Michigan State Spartans, with the closing game being top seeded Duke against fellow ACC rival Virginia Tech.

Hopefully these games are more interesting than last nights, which although two were fairly close at times, the games themselves were not very competitive.  Florida State - Gonzaga led off with Gonzaga holding a 8-11 point lead most of the game.  Florida State had a late flurry to pull within 3, but Gonzaga held serve and pulled away for the victory.  Although the game was not generally close, the dunks, blocks and steals were absolutely amazing.  For that reason this game was worth it.

The second game - Purdue and Tennessee - should have been eventful as it went to overtime.  But, Purdue jumped out to an 18 point lead and Tennessee seemed lucky to bring the game back to even, and actually took the lead before Carsen Edwards hit 2 out of 3 free throws to force overtime, where Tennessee ran out of steam, and players as multiple starters/contributors fouled out.

I am not even going to justify the late games with words as Michigan and Oregon were destroyed by Texas Tech and North Carolina, respectively.

Since I wrote last year about Texas Tech, and have already written about Purdue and Oregon this year, we are going to take a walk down memory lane and visit history of Gonzaga basketball in the NCAA Tournament.  Those of you as old as I remember that Gonzaga wasn't always a top-4 seed that perennially made Sweet Sixteens and Elite 8s (this is their 5th consecutive Sweet Sixteen - tops in the NCAA).  Gonzaga started as the plucky, small school underdog.

Way back in 1999, after some previous close calls, the Bulldogs  led by Matt Santangelo and Richard Frahm earned a 10th seed in the west regional.  Gonzaga received a scheduling break, though, as the team from Spokane, Washington only had to travel to Seattle to play against the 7th seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers, who they defeated 75-63.  Up next were the 2 seed, the Stanford Cardinal, which Gonzaga beat 82-74.  A much closer 73-72 win over the 6th seeded Florida Gators in Phoenix put Gonzaga into the Elite 8, where they lost to the top seeded and eventual champion Connecticut.

Gonzaga returned to the NCAA Tournament the following year behind star player Casey Calvary, and again earned the 10 seed in the West.  This time, Gonzaga had to travel to Tucson, Arizona and entertain the 7th seeded Louisville, Cardinals, which they dispatched 77-66, and followed that game with a victory over the second seeded St. John's 82-76 to earn a second consecutive Sweet Sixteen birth.  The Bulldogs, however, lost in the Sweet Sixteen to Purdue 75-66.

In 2001, Gonzaga returned again to the NCAA tournament, and would not miss another tournament through 2019, but this time as a 12th seed in the South Region, meaning the tournament committee did not think Gonzaga was even as good as the past two years and Gonzaga had to travel.  And travel they did as they defeated Virginia 86-85 and Indiana State 85-68 to return to the Sweet Sixteen for a third straight year.  Unfortunately, despite returning star players Casey Calvary and Dan Dickau, Gonzaga fell to a Michigan State team led by Charlie Bell and Zach Randolph.

A 2002 tournament firs round loss to Wyoming as a 6 seed showed the Gonzaga was not yet ready for life as a higher seed.  The Bulldogs followed that up with a first round victory in 2003 over Cincinnati as a 9th seed, then a 2004 first round victory over Valparaiso as a 2 seed and a 2005 victory over Winthrop as a 3 seed.  These tournament wins were short-lived as Gonzaga fell in the second round in each of these tournaments.

2006 would prove to be more successful for Gonzaga.  The Bulldogs returned to the tournament as a 3 seed, and defeated Xavier and Indiana before falling to UCLA in the Sweet 16, but at this point, Gonzaga is no longer the plucky underdog.

Gonzaga advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2009, 2016 and 2018, and to the Elite 8 in 2015 and 2019 and to the Final Four, where they finished second, in 2017.

For all of the Belmonts, UC-Irvine's and Liberty's out there, look to Gonzaga as your road map.  Hire a great coach (first Dan Monson, the Mark Few - who has been at Gonzaga for 20 years - and hope those coaches can continually bring in good players.

Enough history for today and boy do I hope something better happens in tonight's games that trigger a better - and more interesting - history lesson.  Plus, the NCAA Hockey Tournament is on with Harvard playing the #1 seed UMass Minutemen.  GO CRIMSON!!!

Feel free to check your scores.  Let me know if you see a discrepancy.  Otherwise, enjoy the start of the Sweet Sixteen.

1 - Max Macon #2 - 88 - Tennessee/Michigan State
     Measha Williams #3 - 88 - Gonzaga/Virginia

3 - Carolyn Fowler - 86 - Gonzaga/North Carolina

      Matt Hopps - 86 - Duke/North Carolina

      Marcus Jackson - 86 - Virginia/Duke

6 - Justin Yung - 85 - Gonzaga/Virginia

7 - Measha Williams #2 - 84 - Gonzaga/Virginia

8 - Max Macon #4 - 83 - Duke/Houston

9 - Ty Leatherman - 81 - Duke/Virginia

10 - Melanie Scherr - 90 - North Carolina/Duke

11 - Karen Katz - 79 - Gonzaga/Houston
       Max Marion #2 - 79 - Duke/North Carolina

13 - Katie Kollmeyer - 78 - Tennessee/Duke
       Steven Usma #3 - 78 - Kentucky/Duke
       Measha Williams #1 - 78 - Gonzaga/North Carolina

16 - Brian Hinaman - 77 - Duke/North Carolina

       Mac Kroesen - 77 - North Carolina/Duke

       Ashley Poer #2 - 77 - Virginia/Michigan State

       Steven Usma #4 - 77 - Duke/Kentucky

20 - Paul Cummings - 76 - North Carolina/Duke
       Debbie Igdaloff Nieman - 76 - Duke/North Carolina

22 - Chris Kroesen - 75 - North Carolina/Michigan State

        Silas Nichols - 75 - North Carolina/Michigan

        Brittany Sosa #1 - 75 - Duke/North Carolina

        Steven Usma #5 - 75 - Virginia/Gonzaga

26 - Bill Ganoe #1 - 74 - North Carolina/Duke

       Duncan Merchant - 74 - Duke/Houston

       Steven Usma #1 - 74 - Duke/North Carolina

       George Walks #2 - 74 - North Carolina/Duke

30 - Alyssa Ave - 73 - Purdue/Michigan

       Kareem Montague - 73 - Virginia/Duke

32 - Scott Bieterman - 72 - Duke/Kentucky

       Coby Kroesen - 72 - North Carolina/Duke

       Martha Kroesen - 72 - Gonzaga/North Carolina

       Dave Piasecki #1 -72 - Florida/Kentucky

36 - Philip Kroesen - 71 - North Carolina/Duke

       Max Macon #1 - 71 - Virginia/LSU
       Barkley Sosa - 71 - Kentucky/LSU
       Krystal Travers - 71 - Kansas State/Florida State
       Harrington Wax III - 71 - North Carolina/Michigan State

41 - Alvaro Gonzalez - 70 - Duke/Tennessee
       William Pujals - 70 - Duke/North Carolina
        Rich Samuels #2 - North Carolina/LSU
       Mike Zachary - 70 - Duke/North Carolina

45 - Dan Barsky #2 - 69 - Duke/North Carolina
       Anthony LaPira - 69 - Duke/Tennessee
       Mango Merchant - 69 - Gonzaga/Virginia
       Chad Phillips - 69 - Florida State/North Carolina
       Kyle Sheehan - 69 - Duke/Kentucky
       Amy Zdrowak - 69 - Duke/Virginia

51 - Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds - 68 - Kentucky/Michigan State

       Jacey Fowler #2 - 68 - North Carolina/Florida State
       Michael Spicer - 68 - North Carolina/Buffalo

       Jeremy Spuhler - 68 - Tennessee/LSU

       George Walks #5 - 68 - Gonzaga/North Carolina

       Jonathan Wasserman - 68 - North Carolina/Duke

57 - Dana Mandelbaum - 67 - North Carolina/Duke

       Sean McInerney - 67 - Duke/North Carolina

       Allison Parker - 67 - Kentucky/Michigan
       Dave Piasecki #2 - 67 - Florida/North Carolina
       Annette Pritchard #2 - 67 - Duke.North Carolina
       Brittany Sosa #2 - 67 - Gonzaga/Virginia
       Pepe Sosa - 67 - Kentucky/Michigan State
       Robert Tanen #2 - 67 - Gonzaga/Virginia

65 - Jenna Finkelstein - 66 - Gonzaga/Tennessee
       Max Marion - 66 - Duke/Virginia
       Steven Usma #2 - 66 - Virginia/Michigan State

68 - Glen Merchant - 65 - Duke/Houston
       Chris Petit - 65 - North Carolina/Duke
       George Walks #3 - 65 - Florida State/Kentucky
       George Walks #4 - 65 - Duke/Virginia

72 - Adam Jorgensen - 64 - Michigan State/Virginia

       Hilary Kroesen 64 - Kentucky/Gonzaga

       Sasha Moon - 64 - Duke/Tennessee
       Traci Sheehan - 64 - Michigan State/Tennessee

        Jason Spuhler - 64 - Duke/North Carolina

77 - Bill Ganoe #2 - 63 - Gonzaga/North Carolina

       Arlene Amo Hopps - 63 - Villanova/Virginia Tech

       Michael Litsey - 63 - Michigan/Virginia

       Annette Pritchard - 63 - Gonzaga/North Carolina

81 - Eric Inge - 62 - Duke/North Carolina
       Ashley Poer #1 - 62 - Duke/Tennessee
      Josh and Katie Zdrowak - 62 - North Carolina/Duke

84 - Jean Calixte - 61 - Duke/North Carolina

       Scott Hansel - 61 - Duke/Kentucky

       Matt Nieman - 61 - Virginia/Gonzaga
       Jane Reynolds - 61 - Duke/Kentucky

       John Santucci - 61 - Kansas/Michigan

       Wes Wiggins - 61 - Gonzaga/Virginia

90 - Rachel Bornn - 60 - Duke/Kentucky
       Edy Pecan - 60 - Syracuse/Kentucky

92 - Skip LaForte - 59 - Michigan State/North Carolina
       Jeff Pamondon - 59 - Duke/Tennessee
       Meredith Tanen - 59 - Gonzaga/Virginia

95 - Dan Barsky #1 - 58 - Gonzaga/North Carolina

       Jacey Fowler #1 - 58 - Villanova/Texas Tech

       Kline Kroesen - 58 - North Carolina/Michigan
       Jordyn Sheehan - 58 - Duke/Tennessee
       Robert Tanen #1 - 58 - Florida State/North Carolina

100 - Kingfish Rod Parham - 57 - Duke/Tennessee
         Ira Schulteis - 57 - Duke/North Carolina

         George Walks #1 - 57 - Kansas/Duke

         Biscuit Zdrowak - 57 - Virginia/Michigan State

104 - Tara Elliott - 55 - North Carolina/Duke
         James Garvin - 55 - Duke/Virginia

         Robert Hosmer - 55 - Duke/Virginia

         Hilary Kroesen #2 - 55 - Kansas/Marquette

         Max Macon #3 - 55 - Gonzaga/Kentucky

         Rich Samuels #1 - 55 - Duke/Kentucky

         Cheryl Spuhler - 55 - Duke/Tennessee

         Joshua Zdrowak - 55 - North Carolina/Michigan

112 - David Olson - 54 - North Carolina/Duke

         Samantha Sheehan - 54 - Duke/Tennessee

114 - Liz Carew - 53 - Kentucky/Duke
         Hannah Sosa - 53 - Virginia/Duke

116 - Griffey Parker - 52 - Houston/Duke
         Abigail Sosa - 52 - Tennessee/Duke

118 - Luis Briones - 49 - Duke/Villanova

119 - Jessica Samuels - 48 - Virginia/Gonzaga

         Katie Zdrowak - 48 - Duke/Tennessee

121 - Jennifer Armstrong - 47 - Duke/Wisconsin

122 - Keith Zdrowak - 40 - Duke/North Carolina

123 - Cubbie Kroesen - 39 - Kentucky/Marquette