Thursday, March 28, 2024
UPSETS RULE DAY, BUT CAN’T TOUCH UCONN
Emmadness jumps to 1st but 13 others have better chance to win pool
EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt) – #1E-UConn continued to dominate opponents, beating its 9th straight tournament team by double-digits, this time 30 over #5E-San Diego St. The rematch of last year’s final had the same result with UConn outscoring SDSU 29-13 to end the game to win 82-52. The other three top seeds didn’t have much luck though.
#4W-Alabama tried to keep pace with #1W-UNC in the first half as the Tar Heels hit 10/16 three-pointers. The second half saw ‘Bama fight back with its defense holding UNC to just 2/16 from three in the second half. Alabama’s Grant Nelson took control in the last five minutes with 12 points, 3 blocks, and one steal in the Razorback’s 89-87 win. After intentionally (well, he should have) missing the second free throw with less than a second left, he left no doubt of a chance of a Hail Mary 3/4 court game-winner by blocking the heave, which was pretty funny.
#6W-Clemson used a tiny 9-2 run to break a 56-56 tie and kept #2W-Arizona at bay the rest of the game, winning 77-72. It looked like the ACC was going to have another good day with this upset win but UNC later lost. The Pac-12 is now done as next year Washington St and Oregon St will be affiliate members of the WCC for at least two years. #3E-Illinois led by 10 at halftime but never led by double-digits nor never trailed the rest of the way, in holding off #2E-Iowa St, 72-69.
Emmadness had her 14-game win streak snapped with UNC’s loss (who she picked as champ) to take over first with 101 points. She was one of 6 to go 3-1 despite three upsets. Bigtenfan also went 3-1 to move into a tie for 3rd with Indy Kid (97). JessaFish is 2nd (98) with 5 tied for 5th with 95 pts. Jonna was one of 23 who went 0-4 to go from a tie for 6th to a tie for 30th (88).
Because Emmadness lost UNC as her champ, 13 entries have a better chance to win the pool with Indy Kid and Mauhammy (5th-T) tied with a 10.8% chance (2.5%). Emmadness does have the best chance to win money (41.2%) with five having percentages in the 30s.
14 lost UNC as their champ and 8 each lost Arizona and Iowa St. That leaves 117 entries still alive to win money and 38 with a chance to win the pool. Zippy’s Wife is tied for 16th (92) but can’t win the pool (only has UConn in Final Four) while NotKansas (1 of 4 to pick Clemson along with Emmadness, Chase (83rd-T, 82), and Emilybama2 (102nd-T, 80)) is tied for 133rd and can still win it all (Gonzaga as champ with Duke in Final Four). Sharkeemarkey (had UNC and Iowa St in Final Four) is tied for 52nd (86) but is eliminated while Tswizzle (Purdue over Illinois in final) is tied for 170th (67) but can still win 4th.
For the Bonus, with the ACC and Big 12 taking one hit, 56 entries can still win the Bonus. The Pac-12 was eliminated with the ACC the current leader with 9 wins (max: 16).
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Tids & Bits – Poor Pac-12 as they finish 5-4 (6-4 including First Four) in their last year… the two one-possession games almost matched the 3 total in the previous 48 games… Clemson (1980) and Alabama (2004) made just their second Elite 8… UConn made their 13th Elite 8 and Illinois their 10th… UConn is the first defending champ to make the Elite 8 since Florida in 2007 (which they did defend their title)… the West is only left with Gonzaga for the moment with Arizona and SDSU losing… Arizona was just 5/28 from three… lots of second chance shots as UNC had 22 offensive rebounds (leading to a ridiculously high 78 shots taken (making just 30 or 38.5%)) and Alabama 15… UConn is 3-0 vs SDSU in the tourney (’11 Sweet 16)… the Big East is still perfect at 7-0… Charlie Hustle 2 has long clinched last and finishes with a record-low 30 points… any chance of a record-point total was lost today with 3 upset wins… just 3 still have the Final Four intact – The Rat Pack (19th-T, 91), MizzouTgr11 3 (70th-T, 83), and The 5 Body Problem (41st-T, 87)… four will be 0-for-the-Final-Four… entries averaged 1.31 wins today…
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Why ‘Zona, why?…
Scott
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