Issue # 8.3.2 “Love Conquers All” (3/25)

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ST PETER’S DOES IT, ACC ROLLS IN
Mia Culpa lead by 13, clinches at least 4th; 33 still alive

3.5 HOUR LONG DRIVE GOLETA TO HOME, CA (smt) – In the city of brother love, #4E-UCLA had a three-point lead under 2 minutes and UNC clanked a bad shot but a hustle play to save the ball created a UNC three-point opportunity by Caleb Love (who had a jaw-dropping 27 points in the 2nd half – UCLA had 35 total in the 2nd half) to tie and later allowed another offensive rebound that UNC tipped in to go up by 5.  UNC hit their free throws to win 73-66, outscoring the Bruins 12-2 to end the game.  The west coast is toasted, once again.  UCLA played well committing just 6 turnovers but it was two hustle plays that doomed them.  I also blame the telecast using UCLA in ugly yellow background for the scoreline.

#15E-St Peter’s played well and didn’t panic when #3E-Purdue went up 56-52 and went on a 9-1 run, hit 19/21 free throws, and their defense made Purdue miss their first 10 threes of the 2nd half in winning 67-64.  In a rare one possession game, Purdue actually had a very decent look to tie as the buzzer-beater just missed.  St Peter’s is the first team to win twice as double-digit underdogs and becomes the first 13/14/15/16 seed to make the Elite 8.

Issue # 25.3 “25 Years: The Conferences”

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Tuesday, April 7, 2020 [ 1-Entries | 2-Teams ]

25 YEARS:  38 CONFERENCES HAVE EXISTED IN OUR POOLS
30-32 automatic bids each year, 9 conf never getting more than 1 bid

EL SEGUNDO/HOME, CA (smt)- Would the Big Ten (B10) have gotten a record 12 (of 14) teams into the tournament?  More likely 10 which would’ve been the second-highest ever (Big East (BE) 11 in ’11).  Would the Big Ten top the record 19 wins by the Atlantic Coast (ACC) in ’16?  But we’ll never know.  So without a tournament, here is another 25 Year retrospective, this time focusing on the conferences who have made the tournament (the proper 64 that is).

What we do know is that for the past 25 years, 38 conferences have existed with only the American West (AW) (’95-’96) and Great West (GW) (’10-’13) not putting any teams in (no automatic bid due to not enough teams in conference those years).  Currently, all 32 Division I conferences get an automatic bid (though again, four of the worst conference tournament winners will vie in First Four).  Nine conferences have never gotten an at-large bid.  From ’01-’10 the two lowest auto bid tournament champions (team #64 and #65) played in the Opening Round game.  From ’11 to present, the four lowest auto bid champions play in the First Four.  13 conferences have put their auto bid team in the Opening Round/First Four with the Southwestern Athletic (SWA) doing it 11 of 19 years.  Because they have lost 9 of those Opening Round/First Four games, the SWA have only placed a team in the proper 64 bracket 16 of 25 years.

The Atlantic 10 (A10) is a perfect 3-0 in the First Four with five others 2-0 (America East (AE) – keeping a streak of all 25 years with just one team in proper 64, Big West (BW), Colonial Athletic (CAA), Ohio Valley (OVC), and Summit (SUM)).  The Pac-12 (P12) is 3-4 (including losing both in ’18, the only conference to ever have 2 teams in First Four) while the Big 12 (B12) has appeared just once (won in ’17).  The Northeast (NEC) has appeared in 7 straight First Four games (’13 to present) going 3-4 (4-5 overall).  The Mid-Eastern Athletic (MEA) has lost 3 straight First Four games (’17 to present) (3-6 overall).  Despite this, the MEA actually has 3 wins in the tournament (#15 Coppin St ’97, #15 Hampton ’01, and #15 Norfolk St in ’12).

Issue # 6.2.3 “Six Conferences Battle it Out for Supremacy”

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Tuesday, March 21, 2017 

CERRITOS APT/EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt)- The top overall seed Villanova and 2 seeds Duke and Louisville are no more in somewhat of a chalk tournament thus far.  12 of the top 16 seeds are in the Sweet 16.  While there have been no buzzer beaters or overtime games, there has been a lot of drama watching teams make clutch play after play (while you are taking a breather, take a listen to one of the unsigned bands Paul T (Poolrider) helps promote, Foreign Figures).  Our 23rd year saw a record number of entries (178) from a record number of people (124), some making their appearance for the first time since 2002.  For the first time, we will have SEVEN money spots as we have $1,780 to divvy out. The top prize will be $690, $95 more than last year. The prize distribution is listed below and as always, all fee money goes into prizes. So we have those top seven spots plus the Bonus. What’s the Bonus? Read on…

As it has been for the past 13 years, the Conference Wins is the Bonus Prize (as detailed below) (aka, Bonus1). However, if no one wins it, the Bonus2 takes effect and the entry who is closest to the Total Points in Final tiebreaker gets the Bonus Prize. We have used this Bonus to give hope to those who get eliminated early as only those who do not finish in the top 7 will be eligible to win. Rules follow below…

Bonus1 – Winningest Conference

When you completed your online entry and saw your picks (to print out), some of you might have been wondering what the heck “Winningest Conference(s): ?? | Wins: #” meant. And thus, subliminally, you were also picking which conference would get the most wins in the tournament and how many wins that conference would get via your direct picks. Neat, eh? So that output, which in my case (Air Fabone 23), says Read the rest of this entry »

Issue # 1.0.1 “23 is Legendary”

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Monday, March 13, 2017  **HELP support innovation, deployment and adaptation of Technology for Humanitarian Goals (deadline Tue 3:40 pm PDT **

DEFENDING CHAMP VILLANOVA TOP OVERALL SEED WHILE ACC NETS NINE TEAMS
Our HWCI Pool wears the legendary #23

SALT LAKE CITY, UT/CARSON, CA (smt)- Defending champion E-Villanova earned the top overall seed while MW-Kansas and S-North Carolina (7 losses) got one seeds despite losing in their conference tournament.  For the second time, W-Gonzaga (32-1) got a #1 seed though last time they got ousted in the second round.  W-Duke had an up-and-down season but won four games in four days to win the ACC tournament and moved from a 4 seed to a 2 seed (7th overall team) while MW-Michigan had their plane slide off the runway, played their first tournament game in practice jerseys, and won four games in four days but only moved to a 7 seed.  The ACC got 9 of its 15 teams in the tourney while the Big East got 7 of its 10 in (70%).  The Big 10 also got half its 14 teams in and the Big 12 got 6 of its 10 in.  Only four at-large spots went to non-major conferences with the Atlantic 10 (2), The American, and the West Coast getting more than one team in.  Despite being ranked 20th in the country, S-Wichita St got dumped to a 10 seed and is actually a 6.5-point favorite over #7S-Dayton.  Not much controversy over the at-large teams or seeding for the most part and no leak of the bracket early like last year.

Locally, #11bE-USC (Southern Cal, not to be confused with the other 7E-USC, South Carolina) snuck into as one of the last four in but Read the rest of this entry »