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

We Are Almost There: The NCAA Block Squares Pool

State Farm Stadium in Glendale AZ

We are almost there! 

The NCAA Tournament is maybe my favorite major sporting event. For three weeks, we get a single elimination tournament that always delivers no matter what type of fan you are. Small school alumni can root for their team to make national news as a Cinderella team, the gambling is uncomplicated and inclusive, and more often than not, we end March with the best college basketball teams fighting for the title of Champion (cue Luther Vandross).

This year is no exception. The Sweet 16 produced some exciting basketball between some really good teams. At times the games turned into rock fights, but for the most part it was a fun two days! And yesterday, we confirmed that there is another juggernaut in the bracket. Yes, Purdue! A perennial dog in this tournament, Zach Edey and the Boilermakers appear to have finally figured it out and they are laying waste to opponents in this years tournament. 

The other notable takeaway for me last night was the ankle injury to Jamal Shead. I am not going to say that Houston wins that game against Duke last night if he is able to play, but it was a completely different team after he left. All credit to Duke however. They had to fight through a stifling defense to pull that out. 

And finally, N.C. State. That's it, that's the take. 

For the Block Squares Pool, we keep introducing new people to the winners circle! Winners from last night are below. 

Given the large number of winners this year, I am going to pay out the first four rounds of the pool starting on Sunday night or Monday. If you have won any squares, you will be paid the way you paid me. 

Also, the stakes double again today to $200 per game. Good luck everyone!!

--Your Commissioner

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