NCAA Tournament Challenge 2010 (March Madness)

[mith]

http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/en/group?groupID=24107

Group ID: 24107
Group Name: Grey Labyrinth
Password: libertarian

Bracket set today, fill out by Thursday.

[dethwing]

Go Xavier!

[Undercover Monk]

Go Butler


...and New Mexico for that matter

at least 3 New Castle alumm in this year. Woot!
_________________
The Classic Blunders:
1. never get involved in a land war in Asia
2.Never go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line
3. Never release Peyton Manning

[L'lanmal]

As previously, I created a second group that rewards picking upsets. If there is enough entries, I will score it here, where each correct pick is worth (Round Number)*(Seed of winner) points. E.g. picking a #1 over a #16 is 1 point, picking a #12 over a #5 is worth 12 points, picking that #12 to win again is worth another 12*2=24 points if correct.

http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/en/group?groupID=108059
Group: GL Upsets
Password: libertarian

[dethwing]

W/ an ODU win I have a temporary lead. Go Monarchs!

[Quailman]

Having chosen poorly on that one game, I am now tied for 533,199th place, along with 2,909,421 other entries.

[dethwing]

Oh and by the way: Murray State. Bwahaa.

[Quailman]

I think I just heard The Bells of St. Mary's.

[L'lanmal]

I feel fortunate to get 3 entries this year.

Mith has the most exotic bracket, with #4 seed Maryland going all the way. Quailman also selected an interesting final matchup, with between two #3 seeds.

Fittingly, in all 3 cases the upset picks are doing as well as that player's regular picks so far this year, and we are all in the top half of ESPN brackets.

The pretourney statistics:

L'lanmal
Ambition: 28 (#14 Montana x2)
Exoticness: 20 (9+6+3+2+0+0)
Champion: #1 Duke

Mith
Ambition: 24 (#12 Cornell x2)
Exoticness: 21 (9+4+4+2+1+1)
Champion: #4 Maryland

Quailman
Ambition: 26 (#13 Houston x2)
Exoticness: 18 (9+3+1+2+2+1)
Champion: #3 Baylor

[Quailman]

bah! Other than the Ohio-Georgetown debalce, I missed 5 games yesterday by a total of 8 points.

[mith]

Ooh, L'l is about to lose his first final four team (after I lost Vandy and Quail lost Georgetown yesterday), and both Quail and I picked Cornell for 12 points.

[Quailman]

On the overall leader board http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/en/leaderboard?entryID=5011377 there's a guy who picked 30 games correctly in the first round. Too bad he had Georgetown to win it all.

Thee are three who picked 31 right and 95 who only missed 2.

[mith]

One of the 31/32 brackets has the rest of his bracket intact so far... and the game he missed was the 2OT game, not one of the big upsets. The biggest upsets he has remaining are Washington over New Mexico and Butler over Syracuse... and he has three Wildcats in the final four.

[mith]

So much for that guy.

[mikegoo*]

At least i didn't pick Kansas to win it all.

[dethwing]

Rawk Chalk Jayhuh? Stunning.

[mith]

Great ending to the Michigan St./Maryland game. Lost my Upset bracket winner, but I'll have a chance to gain 40 on all of you Kansas-pickers in the main group...

[mith]

(My GL bracket is my only one remaining with Final Four intact... but I think I'll be cheering against all four in the next round.)

[L'lanmal]

Quick update on upset brackets:
mith in the lead with 186 points from 32 correct picks
Quailman next with 176 points from 32 correct picks
L'lanmal trailing with 174 points from 30 correct picks

#12 Cornell to the sweet 16 was predicted by everyone but me.

[Undercover Monk]

Woot Butler Sweet 16 again!
_________________
The Classic Blunders:
1. never get involved in a land war in Asia
2.Never go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line
3. Never release Peyton Manning

[dethwing]

Well played K-state...go Butler.

[Undercover Monk]

sorry dethwing it was a crazy game. That 3-pointer at the end of OT was sick. I always forget why I love College Hoops until this tournament starts. No team is safe
_________________
The Classic Blunders:
1. never get involved in a land war in Asia
2.Never go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line
3. Never release Peyton Manning

[mith]

Yeah, the only thing that game was missing was Xavier winning. Even their attempt in the second OT nearly went.

In the Upsets bracket, a Tennessee win would be huge for me (after coming oh so close with Xavier). If they win, Quail would be behind 28, but can gain 29 with Baylor and Kansas St. both making the Final Four (or he wins if Baylor gets to the Finals, regardless of what else happens). Otherwise, I win.

If Tennessee loses, L'l and I will be tied, and Quail will only need Baylor to get to the Final Four, or a Baylor win tonight, a Kansas St. win tomorrow, and Duke doesn't make it to the Finals. If Quail doesn't catch us, L'l wins if Duke wins it all, I win if Duke doesn't win it all and Kentucky wins tomorrow, and we tie otherwise.

(Unless I missed something, of course. My brain is fried.)

[Quailman]

I'm glad you worked that out. I had trouble figuring it out through the second round, though it should be easier now, since I have so few teams left.

GO BAYLOR!!!!!!

[mith]

Yay, go Vols.

Couldn't care less that this completely wrecks my GL bracket. In pretty good shape in the Upset group, though Baylor has looked awfully good.

[dethwing]

To be honest, we didn't play well. Sloppy play in the 2nd half, poor FT shooting. It took a "generous" call for us to even get to the first OT. The better team [at least on that day] won.

[Trojan Horse]

It's on, mith.

Most likely, the regular GL pool will be decided on Sunday. It all comes down to the Duke/Baylor game.

If Baylor wins, mith wins.

If Duke wins, I win... unless Butler and West Virginia both win their games tomorrow. In that case, I finish tied for first with Undercover Monk.

This could all come down to a tiebreaker.

[L'lanmal]

mith pretty much covered this, but after 3 rounds:

mith in the lead with 226 points from 36 correct picks, Kentucky/Duke alive
L'lanmal with 201 points from 33 correct picks, Duke alive
Quailman with 197 points from 36 correct picks, Kentucky/Baylor/Kansas St. alive

Either Quail or mith will win.

[mith]

So to win both, I need Butler to win this game (looking good so far), Baylor to beat Duke, and Baylor to lose the next game.

[mith]

I think I also need West Virginia to make the final in order to win the mafiascum group. (Haven't looked at all the possibilities there, and my internet connection is acting up today, bleh.)

[mith]

Ok, I checked that out, and if West Virginia beats Baylor but loses in the Final I don't win. So in order to win all three groups I need West Virginia to win the title and Baylor in the Final Four.

(Apparently I missed some points in the Upset group; Quail needs Baylor to win the title by L'l's numbers.)

[Quailman]

bah! Baylor collapsed in the last five minutes or so.

[Trojan Horse]

Heehee. I guess we go to the tiebreaker now.

Undercover Monk's tiebreaker prediction: 82-76.

Trojan Horse's tiebreaker prediction: 71-69.

I gotta hope for a low-scoring championship game, I guess.

[Undercover Monk]

well since both Butler and Mich St. are defensive teams Im giving you the edge but Butler has made the Final Four so I really don't care. Go Dogs!!
_________________
The Classic Blunders:
1. never get involved in a land war in Asia
2.Never go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line
3. Never release Peyton Manning

[Trojan Horse]

61-59, Duke. That's it.

MS pool went horribly for me, but I'll take this one. Good game, all.

[Undercover Monk]

sigh first the Colts now Butler let me tell you guys I am getting sick of my teams making it to the final game only to lose. One of these days they are going to give me a heart attack.
_________________
The Classic Blunders:
1. never get involved in a land war in Asia
2.Never go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line
3. Never release Peyton Manning

[L'lanmal]

I didn't realize I never wrapped up the upset scoring.

Final Standings
mith: 225 points on 38 correct picks. Best picks: Cornell to round of 16 (24 points), Tennesse to round of 8 (18 points)
L'lanmal: 216 points on 36 correct picks. Best pick: St. Mary's to round of 16 (20 points)
Quailman: 197 points on 36 correct picks. Best pick: Cornell to round of 16 (24 points)

Max Possible this year: 515 points on 63 correct picks. Best: Butler to championship (25 points)

Awards:
Most Accurate: mith, 38
Most points per pick: L'lanmal, 6
Most Exotic: mith, 21
Most Ambitious: L'lanmal, 24
Best pick: mith and Quailman, Cornell
Winner: mith

All-time records:
Score: 225, mith 2010. (Previous record: 214, L'lanmal 2005)
Accuracy: 43/63, Dethwing 2007
Best prediction: 24 points, UW-M to round of 16, 2005 or Cornell to round of 16, 2010 both predicted by multiple players
Points per pick: 9.6, Trojan Horse 2005