[Scott's Pool Updates]

Saturday, April 5, 2014
Issue # 13.5.1 "#7 vs #8, Oy Vey!"
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UCONN DOES IT AGAIN; FRESHMEN TOP UPPER CLASSMEN
Bigtenfan2 is still holding on to 1st while 8 are "guaranteed" with a chance to finish in money

UConn HuskiesFOUNTAIN VALLEY/ROSEMEAD, CA (smt)- The UConn Huskies have Florida's number.  The Gator's 30-game winning streak came to a screeching halt bookended by losses to the Huskies four months apart.  The last #1 seed to fall made UConn the first #7 seed in the championship.  The Huskies 63-53 win, led by DeAndre Daniels 20 points and 10 rebounds, means they are now 7-1 in the Final Four and will try to win their 4th title in 16 years.

Kentucky WildcatsIn a wild game that saw Kentucky go on a 15-0 second half run only to be answered by Wisconsin's 15-4 run, Aaron Harrison made his 3rd straight go-ahead 3-pointer in 3 games, this time with 5.7 seconds left to give the Wildcats a 74-73 win over the Badgers.  The Kentucky freshmen (66 points, a Final Four record) once again stepped up when it counted in knocking off the "veteran" Wisconsin team.  The Badgers missed just one free throw (19/20) but it was a crucial one.  At 71-71, just when you thought once again a dumb foul on a late 3-point attempt costing a team a game, the Badgers made just 2 of 3, giving Harrison his clutch shot for the win instead of the tie.  One of the more fun players to watch during the tournament, Wisconsin's 7-foot Frank Kaminsky only had 8 points.  Kentucky is battle-tested as their five wins are only by a combined total of 18 points and will try to win their 4th title in 19 years.

This was a bracket buster day as only one person got something correct.  Badzy was the only person to pick UConn and moved from 32nd-Tied to 5th-Tied (109).  The 1 correct win is the lowest since '98 when only 2 people got a team correct.  The 0.01% percentage (1 of 276) is by far the worst showing ever (previous was 0.06% in '11 (7 of 250)).  This poor showing allowed Bigtenfan2 to remain in 1st place (116) and all 8 entries still alive are now guaranteed to have a chance to finish in the top 6 money spots.  In other words, the tiebreaker will be in effect for either 5th (if UConn wins) or 6th place (if Kentucky wins), possibly leaving 1 or 2 players out of the money.  The battle for the pool title is between two players who are just in their second year:  Badzy & Bigtenfan2, and that means we'll have our 19th different pool champion in our 20 years of doing this pool.

If CONNCTCUT beats KENTUCKY in the final, then the possible winners are...
               Badzy Score:121 (place 1 winner)
          Bigtenfan2 Score:116 (place 2 winner)
             Hawkeye Score:114 (place 3 winner)
      Beyond Elite 8 Score:111 (place 4 winner)
          ShivaBlast Score:110 (place 5 winner)
               Fabio Score:109 (tiebreak=135 | 6th if <=137)
The Downtown Fiction Score:109 (tiebreak=140 | 6th if 138-140)
      Wooden-Soldier Score:109 (tiebreak=141 | 6th if >=141)

If KENTUCKY beats CONNCTCUT in the final, then the possible winners are...
          Bigtenfan2 Score:116 (place 1 winner)
             Hawkeye Score:114 (place 2 winner)
      Beyond Elite 8 Score:111 (place 3 winner)
          ShivaBlast Score:110 (place 4 winner)
               Badzy Score:109 (tiebreak=100 | 5th if <=117   | 6th if 118-119        | 6th-Tie if 120)
               Fabio Score:109 (tiebreak=135 | 5th if 118-137 | 6th if <=117          | 6th-Tie if 138)
The Downtown Fiction Score:109 (tiebreak=140 | 5th if 138-140 | 6th if 121-137, >=141 | 6th-Tie if 120)
      Wooden-Soldier Score:109 (tiebreak=141 | 5th if >=141   | 6th if 139-140        | 6th-Tie if 138)

For the $40 Bonus, with Kentucky (SEC) beating Wisconsin (Big 10), no one will get the winning conference correct.  The SEC has 11 wins and has a chance for 12 (which Beyond Elite 8 did pick but will win 3rd and can't double dip so is ineligible).  Since no one will win Bonus1, Bonus2 is in effect.  Bonus2 is the total points tiebreaker so whoever is closest will win the Bonus.  The tiebreaker is actual placement in standings so if two people are tied but one is in 30th place with 100 points and another is in 35th place with 99 points, the person in 30th wins the Bonus.  This actually means 51 entries are now alive (but none of my 2) to win the Bonus.  So cheer up and root for your point total!

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   Tids & Bits - Including the First Four, there have been 7 OT games thus far... Kentucky only shot 5 3-pointers... Florida only had 3 assists, which seems very hard to do... the SEC, who only got 2 teams into the regular tourney (plus 1 in the First Four), is 12-2 so far (including First Four win by Tennessee)... 69 had picked Florida and 8 Wisconsin... North Texas set an NCAA basketball attendance record with 79,444 fans... UConn won their title in '12 by beating a #8 seeded team (Butler)... Badzy has moved from 85th to 69th to 67th to 32nd to 5th... if UConn doesn't win the title (Badzy picked them), it'll be the first time since '98 that no one picked the correct champion; it has only happened twice ('97) while just one person has picked the correct champion in '03 & '06... I enjoyed the GameCasts on TNT and truTV, flipping back and forth between the Wildcat homers and the Badger homer announcers (they did try to be neutral)...

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Celebrating my son's birthday today, much better than a chance to win $555...

Scott


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