Issue # 5.2.2 “Comeback Madness” (3/18)

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NEVADA ARE THE COMEBACK KIDS; ONLY PURDUE SURVIVES
M Star holds onto lead but ChasCroix-2 gets 5 of 8 correct and are 2 of 75 still alive

Cincy had 99.9% win probabilityCERRITOS/GOLETA, CA (smt)- #7S-Nevada was out of gas and down by 22 with 11:36 left but quickly scored 16 straight points in 2:54 en route to a closing 32-8 run to stun #2S-Cincinnati, 75-73.  What did I say in my last update?  Watch out Cincy.  Now the South is without its top 4 seeds in the Sweet 16, the first time a region has done that.  Nevada rallied from 14 down in its first round victory over #10-Texas.  #1W-Xavier had a 12-point lead with 9:50 left and a 9-point lead with 5:37 left but couldn’t hold on as #9W-Florida St 18 of the final 22 points as another #1 seed fell.  #11MW-Syracuse held #3MW-Michigan St without a FG in the last 5:43 (missing 13 shots) to rally from five down to become the fourth First Four team to reach the Sweet 16.  In the battle of low seeds, #9S-Kansas St managed to beat darling #16S-UMBC despite scoring just 50 points.  In this ugly game, the score was 34-33 Kansas St for 3:19 (11:07 to 7:48) and in one 7:15 stretch each team scored just 2 points.  In other games, #2E-Purdue, the only top 4 seed to win today, held off #10E-Butler while #7W-Texas A&M (over #2W-UNC), #5MW-Clemson (led by 41 pts over #4MW-Auburn), and #5E-West Virginia (over #13E-Marshall) rolled to easy wins.

There are the same number of 11 seeds left as 1 seeds (2) and the Sweet 16 will feature two 9 seeds, two 7 seeds, and three 5 seeds.  There are 4 ACC teams (3 in the MW) and 4 Big 12 teams with the SEC and Big Ten getting two each in the Sweet 16.

For the first time since 2012, we had to remove a few entries due to blatant non-payment.  So Bsarty31 (was 65th-T, new and also didn’t pay Jason R’s pool), SK (was 154th-T, referred by Greg P but never responded), CryingJordans (was 8th-T, veteran but second year of not paying), and Full Metal Bracket (was 104th-T, veteran but second year of not paying) are no more.  No one’s fortunes really changed that much though CryingJordans really did have a shot at the title. So our official tally is 156 entries (3rd highest) from 108 people (4th largest).

Despite only one top 4 seed winning today, ChasCroix-2 managed to get 5 of 8 games correct (Purdue, #5E-WVU, #7S-Nevada, #9W-FSU, #11MW-Syracuse), two more than the 23 who got 3 of 8 correct.  He moved from a tie for 58th to a tie for 4th (78 pts).  But M Star (84) still leads Continue reading »

Issue # 7.3.1 “Blanked in the Final Minutes”

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Star Wars Rebels on Disney XD - Season Finale Saturday!

Thursday, March 23, 2017 

XAVIER STUNS ‘ZONA WITH 9-0 RUN
King Kobra maintains 4 point lead with six tied for 2nd

CERRITOS APT (smt)- All four winning teams ended their games scoring the last few points in the final minutes.  #11W-Xavier stunned #2W-Arizona ending the game on a 9-0 run to win 73-71.  The Wildcats had a 7-point lead with 2:40 left and didn’t attempt one free throw while missing five shots and committing one turnover.  Arizona also had no timeouts and looked lost on their last few possessions.  The other Pac 12 team, #3MW-Oregon ended the game scoring the last four points in the last 1:48 to stop the incredible run of #7MW-Michigan, winning 69-68.  #1W-Gonzaga closed the game on a 6-0 run in the last 1:31 to hold off #4W-West Virginia, 61-58.  For some reason, WVU, with no timeouts, had 38 seconds, barely getting rim on two shots, grabbing both offensive rebounds, and then ran out the clock not getting a shot off as time expired.  This was a painful game to watch as WVU went on a slow 15-4 run in over 7 minutes with a ton of fouls called in between (WVU shot 27% and yet were still in the game because the Zags weren’t much better, missing a lot of free throws).  #1MW-Kansas also ended their game on a 5-0 in the last 2:11… difference was Kansas was already up by 27, routing #4MW-Purdue 98-66.  Purdue did have an 8-point first half lead at one point.

King Kobra maintained the 4-point lead (104) with Dboyz17, 9ers in ’18, Hrosen2, Thai Spice, SlumDawg, and EEChick1400 tied for 2nd at 100 points.  37 went 3-1 while six went 0-4.  BTW, who is King Kobra?  The Who’s Who has been up for a while on the homepage — see who is who.

19 lost Arizona as their champ and 71 more lost them in their Final Four. Bigtenfan2 (125th-T, 81) lost Purdue and Jackson’s Picks (101st-T, 84) lost WVU as their champ.

There are still 91 entries that can finish in the top 7 and 35 can still win the pool.  Russian Trolls (8th-Tied, 99) has the best chance to Continue reading »