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The sad news is known, the Jayhawks lost to Michigan in heartbreaking fashion in the Sweet 16. Down deep I expected them to lose eventually, but later, hopefully, and not after leading the entire friggin game. But what are you gonna do.
Either way, I’ve still got a pool to run so let’s check in on the top of the leaderboard after weekend #2.
1st place, 151 points: Actually this is me, my upset pick bracket. I only have Syracuse left and have them losing in the next round so can’t score any more points.
2nd place, 139 points: Nate – has Louisville advancing in the next round. If they do he’ll earn 13 points for that, moving into first place.
3rd place, 133 points: Ebs’ bracket – no teams left, he’s done.
4th place, 128 points: Jared – has both Louisville and Syracuse left & meeting in the final, strong position. Could earn 13 + 13 + 21 points to finish with 175.
5th place, 126 points: Lilla – has Louisville winning it all – the next two rounds would earn her 13 + 21 points if they win out, putting her at 160. However, since Jared also has Louisville and is up, she can’t finish higher than second.
6th place, 124 points: My dad – no teams left, done as well.
7th place, 117 points: My real bracket – could earn 13 more moving ahead of my dad, but no further.
8th through 24th place: these guys are all pretty much hopeless. Better luck next year!
The only scenario in which I would win the pool (bittersweet, granted) would be if Wichita State somehow manages to upset Louisville & Michigan (who nobody picked) takes out Syracuse. That’d leave all the scores as they currently stand. Frankly after watching the video of Kevin Ware’s leg breaking tonight, it’s hard for me to pull too hard against Louisville. That was just brutal.
Regardless. In my first season of playing fantasy football, I made the finals, and lost. As you can see in the bottom right I got thumped pretty good in the final (125-145), despite scoring more points than I have all season. I could have made up those 20 points using the team I had with perfect foresight, starting Russell Wilson (+10 over Andrew Luck), Heath Miller (+3 over Aaron Hernandez), Jeremy Maclin (+7 over Vincent Jackson) and the Indy defense (+2 over Green Bay). But those wouldn’t have been entirely rational decisions based on past performance (particularly the Maclin switch), so I’m happy enough to finishing second. Props to Lucy & her dominant win.
as I was last night when AZ got tickets to the sweet sixteen and got to see both UNC & KU win. Sure we had a round here in Boston as well but Syracuse & Ohio State? I’m asleep already.
Just a brief note to update on the status of the pool. AZ & VK are tied for first, my bracket & le momma are tied for 3rd. Maija’s pro-dog-mascot strategy failed miserably this year with the first round failure of UConn.
I also want to clarify something: yes, BO & I picked UNC to win this tournament. And yes that means I, at some point, expected them to beat KU tomorrow. But NO OF COURSE I am not cheering for UNC in the next game. Screw my bracket, Jayhawks to the final four!
Edit to add: Nate points out the Lady Jayhawks are playing their own sweet sixteen game against Tennessee right now.
Well good for them, I guess.
More importantly, Hondo & spawn‘s combined bracket somehow, miraculously, wins our pool, despite her failing to even to properly fill the form out leaving her with the ever popular (No Pick) to win it all. The outcome really didn’t depend on tonight’s final – nobody in the pool had Duke or Butler winning the dang thing so the die was cast when Michigan State and West Virginia lost Saturday. If both those semi-finals had gone the other way maija would have won with the random button and I would have come in second by one point. DARNMGLLE. Anyway, cheers to our winners (and their highly prescient blue eyes for blue devils POTD).
The odds of me winning an NCAA pool are poor. And yet they’re so much lower yet when my team is THE OVERALL #1 SEED and therefore everyone and their mother’s brother’s monkey will be picking them. But really, this is the sort of problem we should all have. Anyway, join our pool, fill out a bracket. But please, be the least bit contrarian and leave the Jayhawks to me ok*?
For sake of historical amusement, let’s remember that the unlikeliest possible person won our pool last year.
*If you don’t believe me, believe Wilbon.
As for those who got in, the fun is going to be in figuring out which high seeds are going out of the tournament first, because they’re not all going to make a run, not this year. Northern Iowa, which won 28 games, will be a threat to Kansas in the second round. Maryland, with seniors Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes, would be a serious threat to Kansas . . . if the Terrapins can get past Houston and Michigan State, which would be a serious threat to Kansas. Georgetown would be a serious threat to Kansas, and certainly Ohio State would be, seeing as Evan Turner of the Buckeyes is the most versatile, most highly skilled player in college basketball this season. I can’t see Kansas, which I think is the best team in the field, going through all four of those teams in the Midwest Region. This, without question, is the Group of Death.
In this weekend’s illicit gambling update, UNC (+ Saint Roy) won & UConn (w/ Dirty Dirty Jim Calhoun) lost today so the top two positions in our pool are finalized – Shazzbot is the winner & Jaywalkers will come in a close second place, two points back. All that’s left to be determined during Monday’s final is if Zed will drop from bronze to fifth if Michigan State can’t continue their run. Interestingly enough, all human entries in the pool were beaten by the automated method of all top seeds (+ UNC). Thanks to all for playing, next year sweet redemption will almost certainly be mine as there’s literally nowhere* for me to go but up.
Oh yeah, and Bill Self is Coach of the Year! Not too shabby as far as pity-party consolation prizes go.
*Ok technically I beat SMHB & NP by 1 point but that’s not saying much considering I tied the dog whose entry was filled out with the friggin random button.
Oh also. If you need one, here’s a little quasify pool. Sign up, win big, mad cash and prizes. The best part is there’s no reason to worry about losing to me (unless of course Kansas repeats…).
Well crapola. I don’t know why I’m bothering to post these, considering how horribly things went for my prognostifications. But, for posterity, the results of our little (tiny) Oscars pool. Congratulations to yjp.
1) yjp (88)
2) ohab (86)
3) valerie, valerah (78)
4) hondo (68)
5) vida nueva (64)
6) zannejude (56)
7) nanio (42)
In brighter news, I made cupcakes. Only a minor disaster in that everything went everywhere, the apartment filled with smoke and now I have a more cupcakes than friends problem.
Sunday is the Academy Awards and since no one else has mentioned it I’ve decided to run an Oscar pool. To the winner go modest bragging rights and/or the lifetime earnings potential bump that comes with smug superiority. To play in the pool just click hyar. I left out a few of the who cares categories (best lipstick, pimpingest catering truck), and those that are left will be weighted to sum to a nice fat 100 (specifically: 14, 10, 10, 10, 8, 8, 10, 6, 6, 4, 2, 2, 2, 4 and 4).
Feel free to cheat by using picks from Nate Silver, the HSX derivatives market, or the Large Hadron Collider Earth Destruction Tool to fill out your bracket. Submit anytime between now and the start of the show. I’ll post my ill-informed choices before the broadcast to quell the inevitable insinuations about my ethics.
UPDATE: my picks
- Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
- Best Director: Gus Van Sant for Milk
- Best Actor: Sean Penn in Milk
- Best Actress: Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married
- Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
- Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona
- Best Original Screenplay: WALL-E
- Cinematography: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Original Score: WALL-E
- Original Song: Down to Earth from WALL-E
- Best Visual Effects: Iron Man
- Best Animated Feature Film: WALL-E
- Best Foreign Language Film: Waltz with Bashir — Israel
- Best Documentary Feature: Encounters at the End of the World
- Best Documentary Short: The Final Inch
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