CERRITOS, CA (smt) - Three blue blood universities (Tourney champs #1MW-Kansas, #1E-Kentucky, #1S-Duke) got #1 seeds and were joined by the Syracuse Orange (W) who edged out fellow Big East tourney champ #2E-West Virginia.  The Jayhawks are the overall #1 seed while the Blue Devils edged out Syracuse as the 3rd #1 seed.  The committee opted to not flip the East and South regions (Syracuse couldn't be in the East since they are hosting the Regional finals) and bump the Orange down due to not winning their conference tournament and the uncertain injury to star center Arinze Onuaku.  A couple of key injuries knocked Purdue from a possible #1 seed to a 4-seed in the South and prime for being upset.  The Big East got 8 teams while the Big 12 got 7.  Eight mid-major teams got at-large bids (doubling last year's total) led by the Mountain West with three. 

For the first time ever, Arizona will not be in our bracket, leaving Kansas as the only team that has been in all 16 of our pools.  So having not watched any games til the past week, what happened to the Pac-10?  Not only did the Pac-10 only get 2 teams, some felt the seeds were too generous for #8S-Cal and #11E-Washington!  At least Oregon St. gets to defend its CBI title.  How do four preseason top 20 teams (led by #6 UNC) fail to make the tourney?  How does Texas who reached #1 for a couple of weeks fall to an 8E seed?  Besides where are the traditional powers (UConn, UCLA, UNC, Arizona), where is Memphis, which had won 30 or more games the past four seasons?  And Mississippi St. came within 0.1 seconds of upsetting Kentucky and doesn't get picked?

Well, that'll all make the pool fun this year.  For our 16th season, we hope to defray some of your health care cost increases by winning prize money in our pool.  Last year, $1,140 was doled out.  Based on our past history, since we're technically out of a recession, it is expected the number of entries to decrease, but the economy is still very dour, so maybe you'll ignore the pundits and help push the number of entries past last year's 114 total. 

Please join our Facebook HWCI NCAA Pool Group.  Here you can join the group and meet your competitors, make new friends, set up NCAA watching gatherings, and post stuff to the wall (pictures, witty comments, etc.).  Also, you can be friends with "Hwci Ncaa".  Mr. Hwci Ncaa will also pick up the blog automatically and you can post to his wall. 

You can mail your entry fee (email me for snail mail) or give your $10 (per entry) to someone who will give the money to David or Scott. We are accepting PayPal (check or PayPal funds only) to "hwci<at>hotmail.com" or credit card PayPal payments to "smt0222<at>yahoo.com" (but the entry fee is $10.61 (61 cents in PayPal fees... damn them!)).

WHAT:        16th Annual HWCI NCAA Tournament Pool
DEADLINE:    9:00 a.m. PDT on Thursday, March 18, 2010
ENTRY FEE:   $10.00 per entry (max 3 entries per person)
PREV CHAMPS: 
             2009- BIZARRO LARZBY, $495 (114 entries)
             2008- BELUCKY2, $440 (101)
             2007- VAN&SAM, $450 (98)
             2006- GATORS NEVER CHOKE, $415 (85)
             2005- FLIP FIGHTERS, $400 (82)
             2004- FABIO, $370 (79)
             2003- BIG LUTHER, $280 (63)
             2002- THE FABON8ER, $400 (80)
             2001- TEAM SAMURAI, $280 (59)
             2000- MORALES' MOUNDS, $180 (36)
             1999- SHARY BOBBINS, $180 (36)
             1998- ANNA COME LATELY, $150 (28)
             1997- MAX, $125 (22)
             1996- JAYBIAN, $110 (19)
             1995- BIX PIX, $70 (12)
RULES:       Check http://www.hwci.com/wordpress/?page_id=43 for more info
ARCHIVE:     Check http://www.HWCI.com/ncaa/2010/history.html
FORUM:       Post at http://www.hwci.com/forum/phpbb3/viewforum.php?f=8
BLOG:       Comment at http://www.HWCI.com/wordpress  
NOTES:       All fee money goes back into prizes
             At least four winners (top prize about 40-50%) (if >=100 entries, 5 winners)
             Set points are awarded per game (2/3/4/6/8/12 for the 6 rounds) (no upset weighting)
             Two went 16-0 on the first 1st Round day in 2003, One did in 2009
             Only 21 people (1 in 2009, 12 in 2008, 6 in 2007, 2 in 2001) have picked all 4 Final Four teams
             Just 153 of 914 entries have picked the correct champion
             Points possible:   196
             Most points ever:  166 by VAN&SAM in 2007
             Least points ever:  49 by GOBAY, HENDO in 2002