Saturday, March 30, 2024
IMPROBABLE 30-0 RUN PROPELS UCONN; BAMA MAKES 1ST FINAL FOUR
Concrete Kid stays in first; 7 go 2-0
DIGNITY HEALTH SPORTS PARK, CARSON, CA (smt) – 23-23 seemed like a good battle for #3E-Illinois in holding defending champ #1E-UConn near the end of the first half. But then… but then, UConn went on a 30-0 (!) run in about 9:08 where Illinois missed 17 straight shots to advance to their 7th Final Four, 77-52. UConn won in double-digits for a record 10th straight time and they have led by 30 or more points in all four games (led 67-37 here).
#4W-Alabama went on a 20-2 first half run to turn a 13-point deficit into a 5-point lead to keep #6W-Clemson’s hope just out of reach (the Tigers never got within 3 the last 16:44 of the game) in advancing to their first Final Four, 89-82. The Crimson Tide made more three pointers (16) than free throws (15) or two-point field goals (13).
Ten picked Alabama and 138 UConn which led to 7 entries that got both correct. The Rat Pack jumped from a tie for 19th to a tie for 3rd (111 pts), UncleChimps moved from a tie for 33rd to 10th (108), and TahOhio and The 5 Body Problem moved from a tie for 39th to a tie for 11th (107).
Concrete Kid (113) and JessaFish (112) remained 1-2 in the standings. Three lost Illinois as their champ (Bigtenfan2 (43rd-T, 100), If OnILLy (53rd-T, 98), and UpsetTown (141st-T, 83)). Jonna was one of 54 to go 0-2 and fell from 6th to a tie for 25th (104). 13 still can get 3 of 4 Final Four teams right. 9 lost Illinois in their Final Four.
Just 4 entries were eliminated with UConn’s win and no one was eliminated with Alabama’s win, leaving 46 still in contention to win money. Just 11 can win the pool. Concrete Kid has the best chance at first but only at 21.9%. Five others are between 12-16%. Uconnrepeats (7th-T, 109) has the best chance at money (62.5%) with Flying Ace (3rd-T) next at 56.25%.
WinnerTown is tied for 7th but can’t win the pool (others have UConn/Purdue in Final Four) while Eggman2 is tied for 28th (103) and can still win it all (UConn over Tenn in final). TahOhio is tied for 11th but are eliminated (only can pick up UConn wins like everyone else) while ThaiSpice is tied for 94th (93) but can still win 8th (Tenn over UConn in final).
For the Bonus, the Big Ten was eliminated leaving just the ACC (which will get a minimum 12 wins) and the SEC (max 12 wins), meaning just Jonna can win the Bonus. But if 12 is the number, the ACC gets 13 wins, or Jonna finishes in the money with the ACC at 14 wins, then no one would win this Bonus (Bonus1) and we would go to Bonus2, the total points tiebreaker.
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Tids & Bits – all of UConn’s Final Four appearances have happened during our pool era (their 1st was in 1999)… UConn is 35-3, the 35 wins a school record… Illinois shot just 25.4% (17/67)… UConn was just 3/17 from three and only 70.6% from the free throw line (12/17)… Alabama was 16/36 from three (44.4%), 10 in the 2nd half; the Tide started 1/13 and ended 15/23 (65.2%)… Charlie Hustle 2 has long clinched last and finishes with a record-low 30 points… .. 9 will be 0-for-the-Final-Four… entries averaged 0.76 wins today…
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LA Galaxy get first home win, still undefeated at 3-0-3 to lead the West…
Scott
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