Issue # 14.6.1 “UConn’s Route was to Rout”

Archive

2023 NCAA Champions
	#4-West Regional Champions University of Connecticut Huskies (31-8) 5th Title
2023 Winningest Conference
	The Big East Conference (12-4) 1st Time (Previous 3 times trace to current AAC; new Big East formed in 2013)

Monday, April 3, 2023 

UCONN REMAINS UNDEFEATED IN TITLE GAMES
Jah Lives-2 rides UConn to win the pool; Krispy Seconds takes last top 8 slot

HOME, CA (smt) – #4W-UConn trailed early 10-6 but dominated the rest of the way in winning their 5th title in 24 tournaments, beating #5S-San Diego St, 76-59.  UConn won the title for the 4th time coming from the West Regional, the 4th time beating a lower seed, and the 4th time in Texas (twice in Houston).  Even after SDSU clawed their way back to 5 points (60-55 with 5:19 left), UConn quickly hit a 3-pointer en route to a 9-0 run to put the game away. 

UConn won all six games by 13 or more points and scored 70 or more points in each.  Despite being a #4 seed (only the second #4 seed to win it (Arizona in ’97)), they only faced one higher seed (where they routed #3W-Gonzaga by 28).  SDSU shot poorly (32%) at one point missing 14 straight after taking the 10-6 lead and also missed their first 7 layups.  Once again the mid-major falls just short (last one to win, UNLV in 1990).

Issue # 6.2.3 “Is Eight Enough?” (3/22) [Prize Distribution & Bonus]

Archive

Wednesday, March 22, 2023 

NEW 8TH PLACE PRIZE PLUS THE BONUS ARE UP FOR GRABS
Including Bonus, 165 entries can still win money

HOME, CA (smt) – Just nine top four seeds made the Sweet 16 including #15S-Princeton.  The West has #2-4 (losing #1 Kansas) while the South has #1 Arkansas but a #5, #6, and #15.  The Midwest has #1-3 and #5 while the East has #3 and #4 joined by #7 and #9.  #1E-Purdue became the second team to lose to a #16 seed (FDU) while #2S-Arizona lost in the first round.  But you can’t be worse than POTUS who had Arizona as his champ and Virginia over Alabama in Sweet 16.

There have been no overtime games (there were 5 last year) and very few one possession wins (7, though 3 more than last year after the 2nd Round) in the 48 proper 64 games played thus far.  More than half (25 of 48) have been double-digit wins. 

7 of 8 Big Ten teams are already out and the ACC barely squeaked by getting a team (Miami (FL)) in the Sweet 16 every year since 1979.  It’s the SEC dominating going 9-4 (not including First Four loss) as 11 conferences sent a team to the Sweet 16.  Overall #1 Alabama has won each game by 21 and 22 points while only two other teams, #1MW-Houston and #4W-UConn, have won both games by double-digits.

Issue # 15.6.1 “Jayhawks Rally Like it’s ’08” (4/4)

Archive

2022 NCAA Champions
	#1-Midwest Regional Champions University of Kansas Jayhawks (34-6) 4th Title
2022 Winningest Conference
	The Atlantic Coast Conference (13-5) 8th time & The Big 12 Conference (13-5) 5th time

Monday, April 4, 2022   ***HAPPY 82ND BIRTHDAY DAD (BELUCKY2)!!!***

KANSAS RALLIES FROM 16 DOWN TO STUN UNC
Bob, Glen, and Greg join the winner’s circle; Chris wins Bonus

VERY LONG BOY SCOUT MEETING IN CYPRESS, CA (smt) – In 2008, Kansas was down 9 to Memphis with 2:12 left in the Final and rallied to force overtime and pick up their 3rd NCAA title.  A 15-point halftime deficit?  No big deal.  #1MW-Kansas overcame a record 16-point overall deficit and record 15-point second half deficit to hold off a hobbled #8E-UNC team, 72-69, for their fourth title.  Three different UNC players got injured but played through in turning a 56-50 deficit into a 69-68 lead with 1:42 left.  Hobbled players affected the final minute stumbling with a couple turnovers and forcing bad threes because the quickness wasn’t there anymore.  Up by 3, Kansas ran out of bounds with 4.3 seconds left but UNC’s long three by Caleb Love (who hit deciding threes vs UCLA and Duke) was way short.

Issue # 6.2.3 “Eight Money Spots” (3/22)

Archive

TOP 7 PLUS THE BONUS ARE UP FOR GRABS
Including Bonus, 130 entries can still win money

RARE WORKDAY IN EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt) – The four double-digit seeds (#10, two #11s, #15) in the Sweet 16 match last year’s total with only the West getting all four top seeds in and the East losing #1 and #2.  While the NCAA contest produced 506 perfect East Regions, our 169 entries only managed to produce 8 with 3 of the 4 teams (no one had St. Peter’s).  While defending champ #1E-Baylor was not expected to repeat, #2E-Kentucky was a popular two seed to win it all (3rd highest pick (14) behind Gonzaga and Arizona).  While only four of 48 games (not including First Four) have ended with a 3 point margin or less, five games have gone to overtime.  #1MW-Kansas, #1W-Gonzaga, and #1S-Arizona all survived nail-biters in the 2nd round, with the Zona game going to overtime.  Only #5S-Houston has been stress free winning each game by at least 14 points.  Only 4 of the 16 2nd Round games were won by more than 10 points.

Our 27th year saw a second-best 169 entries from 106 people.  Of the 106, 27 entered twice (up 7 from last year) and 18 entered three times (down 4).  But thanks to all, we hit the magic number of 165 entries (I had to look at my own history links page to find out what I had set it to years back) which means we will have a 7th place prize for the 3rd time.  We will have eight money spots (top 7 plus Bonus) and we have $1,690 to divvy out. The top prize will be $650, $10 more than last year.  The prize distribution is listed below and as always, all fee money goes into prizes. What’s the Bonus? Read on…

Issue # 14.5.3 “Offense and Offensive Rebounds” (4/5)

Archive

2021 NCAA Champions
	#1- South Regional Champions Baylor University Bears (28-2) 1st Title
2021 Winningest Conference
	The Pac 12 Conference (13-5) 1st Time

BAYLOR OUT-MUSCLES ZAGS FOR FIRST TITLE
MizzouTgr11 2 wins pool in his 6th year, Wuk#3 wins 3-way tie for 7th

EL SEGUNDO/CYPRESS, CA (smt) – #1S-Baylor jumped out to a 9-0 and 29-10 lead en route to a 86-70 drubbing of previously unbeaten #1W-Gonzaga for their first national title.  The Zags still did what they do in the first half, shooting 54.5%, but the Bears had 16 more shots thanks to 9 offensive rebounds and forcing 8 turnovers in taking a 10-point lead into the half.  There was no 2nd half momentum as Baylor poured it on again and when the deficit got cut to 9, Baylor ran off 7 straight points.  Baylor dominated in the tournament, only trailing once (by 2) in the 2nd half of all six games.  The Bulldogs’ hangover from their dramatic overtime win did them in, as the 19-point early deficit was too much to overcome.  At one point, Baylor made 10 threes to Gonzaga’s one.  At one point when they were threatening, Gonzaga missed four of five free throws (including the front end of a 1-and-1, a loss of 5 crucial points).

To me, the MVP was Baylor’s Mark Vital, who had 8 offensive rebounds (3 more the whole Zags team), 2 steals, 6 pts, and a great “bear” hug of his coach.  How nice one of the mascots “Joy” gets etched into the championship logo.  Gonzaga finishes 31-1 and their lowest point total of the season.  More impressively, all the sacrifices of the players, coaches, and staff to live in the Indy bubble gave us a great tournament (except poor VCU) with all the highs and lows we missed last year and maybe, just maybe, the Pac 12 will be respected (UCLA #1?) once again. 

Issue # 6.2.3 “Hello 7th Place, We Missed Ya” (3/26)

Archive
JUST 2ND TIME 7TH PLACE OFFERED
For Bonus, all but two entries could guess conference wins correct

NOT IN EL SEGUNDO,CA (smt) – While the last tournament (’19) saw a record low seed total in the Sweet 16 (four #1, four #2, four #3, two #4, #5, #12) of 49, this year saw a record high seed total of 94 (three #1, two #2, #3, #4, two #5, #6, #7, #8, two #11, #12, #15) (was 89 in ’86).  The four double-digit seeds are not a record (6) but it is nice that we have at least one #1-#8 seed (large-large-large-large straight) in the Sweet 16.  While #1MW-Illinois bit the dust the other three #1 seeds are still chugging along, with #1W-Gonzaga getting #5W-Creighton, and if past that, Pac 12 winner between #6W-USC and #7W-Oregon.  While there were four overtime games in the first 16 games of the tourney (including First Four), there have been none since.  9 of the past 10 have been double-digit wins.  The Big Ten (9 teams before First Four) saw its first three teams bow out in overtime (including #2S-Ohio St to #15S-Oral Roberts, who are in the Sweet 16) and then 5 of 6 lose in the 2nd round.  The Big 12 (7 teams) won its first 5 games and then lost 6 of the next 7.  But the SEC, ACC, and Big East managed to two teams in the Sweet 16.

While you are taking an extended break (next game isn’t until Saturday!), take a listen to “Fall of the American Dream” (no, it’s not dire like that) from one of the unsigned bands Paul T (Poolraider (121st-T, 58 pts) helps promote (always his 3rd entry, Rebel Kicks (142nd-T, 55)), an alt-rock band from NYC).  Though I prefer the acoustic version.  Our 26th year saw a second-best 165 entries from 101 people.  Of the 101, 20 entered twice and a record 22 entered three times.  But thanks to all, we hit the magic number of 165 entries (I had to look at my own history links page to find out what I had set it to years back) which means we will have a 7th place prize (only other time was in ’17 when we got 178 entries).  We will have eight money spots (top 7 plus Bonus) and we have $1,650 to divvy out. The top prize will be $640, $5 less than last year to accommodate the 7th place prize. The prize distribution is listed below and as always, all fee money goes into prizes. What’s the Bonus? Read on…

Issue # 25.6 “25 Years: The Prizes”

Archive

Wednesday, April 22, 2020  **HAPPY 50th EARTH DAY**
[ 1-Entries | 2-Teams  | 3-Confs  | 4-Charities  | 5-Payments ]

25 YEARS:  $23,650 HAVE BEEN WON BY  88 PEOPLE
Bob G is all-time earner with $1,120  but Robinson C and Darryn B are only two-time champs

SAFER-AT-HOME W/REQUIRED FACE COVERING, CA (smt)- While a lot of American citizens will receive up to $1200 from the Federal government (and the rich getting some as well), a good number of us middle class folks won’t, and so we hope to win in the pool (not this year though).  While our largest pot was $1780, what was the largest prize an individual could win?  So here is another 25 Year retrospective, this time on the various HWCI NCAA prizes.

As stated in the last issue, 100% of each entry fee (including ours) goes into prizes.  Always has, always will.  So if there are 100 entries, then there will be $1,000 doled out.  I started doing an update on prizes but started getting into how intricate the payments worked and when I was done, wrote more than 1,900 words, so this was split up (Payments and Prizes).  So we’ve had 2,365 total entries over 25 years which means we have doled out $23,650 ($940.60 avg). 

While we started off with just 3 prizes in ’95 (1st/2nd/3rd) we have expanded over the years to as many as 8 prizes in ’17 (1st-7th, Bonus).  We added a 4th place prize in ’98 if we got 25 or more entries and Scott H (1 year/1 entry, 1 prize/$20 total winnings) won the first 4th place prize ($20).  We added a $40 Bonus Prize in ’03 and Scott T (25/42, 5/$630) won the first Bonus.  We added a 5th place prize in ’08 if we got 100 or more entries and Jeff H (16/16, 3/$340) won the first 5th place prize ($60).  We added a 6th place prize in ’11 if we got 125 or more entries and Charles D (1 0/28, 1/$60) won the first 4th place prize ($60) with his 2nd entry.   We added a 7th place prize in ’17 if we got 165 or more but have only hit that once (’17).  Alex K (3/4, 1/$60) won the first 7th place prize ($60).

We never thought the pool would be as big as it today which is why the 5th place prize never really crossed our minds until we hit the magic 100 entry milestone.  So while there were 75 entries in between 4th and 5th (25:100), we quickly added another prize 25 entries later (100:125).  When we jumped 29 entries from 149 to 178, it was so big that another prize seemed warranted, though we were hesitant.  But we decided to add the 7th place prize to get the top 7 prizes back up to over 4% of the total entries (7/165 4.2%).  We may not add an 8th until we hit 200 (8/200 4%) but we shall see.  We have dipped below that 165 entry mark for the last two years.  That “4%” has been keeping an average of 75% of the entries still alive after the first weekend which is good.  We don’t want too few top prize spots that too many entries are eliminated and skip the Sweet 16 but we want some stress and mortality.  We do have outliers such as the upset-heavy ’18 pool where 51.9% of the 156 entries were eliminated (’cause a lot of favorites lost including #1 Virginia losing to #16 UMBC) and the mostly chalk ’09 pool where just 7.0% of the 114 entries were eliminated.

There have been 136 total prizes won by 96 different entries (88 people).  A quite healthy 24.1% (88/365) of all people have won something which I’m quite proud of because I like spreading the wealth and no one person has dominated.  Each person is allowed to enter up to 3 times.  Scott T has won the most times with 5 prizes ($630) including winning the pool in ’02.  He has submitted 42 total entries over 25 years.  His first entry has won 4 times (25 yrs, 4/$540), tying David F (25/26, 4/$490) for the most wins for an entry.  Including Scott T, a total of 7 people have won on at least two different entries.  Eric F is the only person to win on 3 different entries (1st entry in ’14, 2nd in ’17, and 3rd in ’19; 9/15, 3/$620).  Blakely H (10/28, 2/$315) is the only person to win on his/her 3rd entry twice.  Mike W (4/12, 1/$170) and Ron E (12/28, 1/$320) are the only others to win on his/her 3rd entry.  Dual and triple entries are quite common but no one has won a prize twice in the same year.  Yet.

Issue # 14.6.1 “Wahoowa!”

Archive

Monday, April 8, 2019 

VIRGINIA GETS 1ST TITLE IN OVERTIME IN SURPRISING HIGH SCORING GAME
Kds911 wins tiebreaker over The Gambler 2 to win the pool

SANTA BARBARA, CA (smt)- More than five minutes into the game, the score was 3-2.  Seriously.  Five points with #3W-Texas Tech’s three points on free throws.  The Red Raiders didn’t hit their first field goal until 12:38 left in the first half.  7 minutes in it was 7-3 #1S-Virginia and the projected total points was just 57.  It was what expected with 2 of the top 3 defenses this year.  But the last 13 minutes saw 51 points and the second half had a lot of clutch shooting as Virginia blew another second half lead as Texas Tech tied it at 59.  Down by three, Virginia’s De’Andre Hunter hit a three to tie it at 68 with 12.9 seconds left.  That’s 136 points and the over/under for the game was 118.  On to overtime.  Virginia actually had an 11-0 run and hit all 12 free throws to win their first championship, 85-77.  Hunter and Kyle Guy combined for 51 points.  The Cavaliers won the championship a year after becoming the first #1 seed to lose to a #16 with the difference being that Hunter was healthy this tournament. 

Issue # 6.2.3 “We’ll Pay You in Silver” (Bonus Prize & Prize Distribution)

Archive

Tuesday, March 26, 2019 

TOP SIX AND BONUS WILL WIN $1,620 POT
20 of 23 eliminated entries eligible for Bonus in our Silver Anniversary

GOLETA, CA (smt)- With all four #1s, #2s, #3s and two #4s and a #5 and #12 in the Sweet 16, the sum seed total of 49 is the lowest since seeding began.  #1W-Gonzaga and #1MW-UNC have closed out games strongly while #1E-Duke needed some luck and non-whistles and #1S-Virginia trailed #16S-Gardner-Webb by 14 at one point.  Beleaguered conference Pac 12 has its #12S-Oregon in the mix while the ACC (5), SEC (4), and the Big Ten (3) continue to dominate.

With the mostly chalk Sweet 16, one entry (Center Road) around the world actually has a perfect bracket, and he didn’t even know it!  I use this sometimes in my statistics class showing the 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,780,000 odds of picking a perfect bracket or if you do some weighting of seeds, maybe get it down to 1 in 67,582,737,423.  Still virtually impossible.  How has our group done in 25 years?  No one has gone a perfect first round with Air Fabone 23 (Scott T) going 31-1 in 2017.  With Honey Badger (Scott D) going 16-0 this year, he became the first to have a perfect Round 2.  What the future lie?  Van&Sam (Van P) in 2007 was able to 8-0 in the Sweet 16, 4-0 in the Elite 8, and 2-0 for the Final Four.  But she missed the champion (Florida beat Ohio St)!  Unfortunately, Center Road was not eligible for Warren Buffet’s million dollar for life Sweet 16 challenge!

Issue # 15.6.1 “Nova Nation” (4/2)

Archive

2018 NCAA Champions
#1-East Boston, MA Hosted by Boston College (ACC) TD Garden	Villanova University Wildcats (36-4) 3rd Title: ’85, ’16
2018 Winningest Conference
	The Big 12 Conference (12-7) 4th Time: ’03, ’08, ’10

GOODLAND HOTEL IN GOLETA, CA (smt)- Nine minutes into Monday’s game, #3W-Michigan actually had more three-pointers than #1E-Villanova (2 to 1) and built a 21-14 lead but then couldn’t hit a shot.  Villanova found their rhythm, hitting 3 of their next 4 three-point attempts and went on a 23-7 run to close the half en route to another double-digit win, 79-62.  After allowing Michigan to get a quick basket after the break, Villanova scored the next 7 points and never looked back.  The Wolverines tried to get back, cutting the lead to 12 but consecutive threes by Donte DiVencenzo (who had a record 31 points off the bench which was 24 more than Michigan’s whole bench) had the Wildcats back up by 18 with 7:55 left.  In the end, Villanova won their 3rd title and second in three years, hitting 10 more threes to extend their record of 28 threes in the Final Four and 76 in the tournament.

Villanova’s rout moved Billy T (Billiam), Greg J (BamaG 2), and Chuck D (ChasCroix-1) into the 4th, 5th, and 6th money spots.  The garbage time scoring in the end pushed the total points to 141 which gave Greg J 5th place over Chuck D.  Last year, Read the rest of this entry »

Issue # 7.2.3 “Your Comeback for the Ages?”

Archive

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

CERRITOS/EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt)- It’s been one of the wildest weekends featuring three buzzer beaters, a couple of double overtime games, one of the biggest upsets, and one of the biggest comebacks (while you take a breather, take a listen to one of the unsigned bands Poolrider helps promote, Hydrogen Child).  Our 22nd year features the 2nd highest total for entries (149) and 2nd most people (110).  For the sixth straight year, we will have six money spots as we have $1,490 to divvy out.  The top prize will be $595. The prize distribution is listed below and as always, all fee money goes into prizes. So we have those top six spots plus the Bonus.  What’s the Bonus?  Read on…

As it has been for the past 12 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 6 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 Read the rest of this entry »

Issue # 14.6.1 “Undefensable”

Archive

2015 NCAA Champions
(34-4) #1-South (Houston, TX)	Duke University Blue Devils (35-4) 5th Title: ’91, ’92, ’01, ’10, ’15
2015 Winningest Conference
	The Atlantic Coast Conference (17-5) 4th Time: ’04, ’05, ’10, ’15

Monday, April 6, 2015

EL SEGUNDO/CERRITOS, CA (smt)- Maybe the one-and-done team people should’ve been worried about was #1S-Duke, not #1MW-Kentucky.  The Blue Devils’ freshmen scored 60 of 68 points in their come-from-behind-aided-by-a-few-calls-here-and-there 68-63 win over #1W-Wisconsin.  With the Badgers up by 9 at 48-39 and Duke sitting  out Justise Winslow and Jahil Okafor due to foul trouble, 6′-4″ guard Grayson Allen turned up the heat scoring Duke’s next 8 points and he and fellow frosh Tyus Jones (game high 23) took command with a 27-10 run.  Wisconsin’s Sam Dekker picked the wrong time to have an off-game missing all six of his 3-pointers.  While the Badgers benefited on a shot clock violation no-call that wasn’t reviewable in their win over Kentucky, they were on the wrong end of a stepping out-of-bounds no-call that wasn’t reviewable late in the game.  Add in a tipped ball out-of-bounds that somehow refs never got to see during their review, the disparity in foul calls in the 2nd half, and the fact my 3-year daughter kept chanting “blue, blue, blue” instead of “red, red, red” like I told her to do, the Duke conspiracy theories are all atwitter.  But Duke’s tenacious defense never let Frank Kaminsky feel comfortable in the 2nd half and when Wisconsin needed quick baskets in the last minute, it took 10+ seconds to get a play off as Duke didn’t let them penetrate the key for a quick shot.  As long as I don’t have to hear “The Duke Univeristy” or “Dukkies”, I’ll be content.

As for the pool, Duke was picked by 8 people and 5 of the 8 ended up in the money.  Darryn B (Big Luther) becomes our second 2-time pool champion and Read the rest of this entry »

Issue # 7.2.3 “Second Chance Points” + Watch Ceasefire!

Archive

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt)- The pace of entries never ceased (as an aside, take a listen to one of the unsigned bands Poolrider helps promote, Ceasefire) as we shattered the previous record of 138 entries by 23.  For the fifth straight year, we will have six money spots as we have a record $1,610 to divvy out.  The top prize will be a record $640 which is $85 more than the record in 2014. The prize distribution is listed below and as always, all fee money goes into prizes. So we have those top six spots plus the Bonus.  What’s the Bonus?  Read on…

As it has been for the past 11 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 6 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 Read the rest of this entry »

Issue # 15.6.1 “Freshmen Hazed”

Archive

2014 NCAA Champions
#7-East (New York, NY)	The University of Connecticut Huskies (32-8) 4th Title: ’99, ’04, ’11, ’14
2014 Winningest Conference
	The Southeastern Conference (11-3) 3rd time: ’06, ’07, ’14

CERRITOS, CA (smt)- The veteran starting lineup of #7E-UConn, some who stayed on despite the Huskies being banned from postseason last year, came out hungry against the all-freshmen starting lineup from #8MW-Kentucky jumping to a 30-15 lead and eventually hanging on to a 60-54 victory.  The Huskies never trailed in winning their 4th title (the same number as Duke!), all in the last 16 years and two years removed from retired coach Jim Calhoun and one year removed from a postseason ban due to academics.  While UConn was a perfect 10/10 from the charity stripe, Kentucky bookended 6/7 by missing 7 of their first 13 free throws and their last three (including a front end of a one-and-one).  Senior Shabazz Napier, while taking some ill-advised or quick shots, scored 22 pts and had 6 rebounds as he was one of the few who stayed on through the postseason ban.  This capped a wild tournament partially aided by bad seeding by the selection committee and that sometimes, just the name on the shirt (with a little luck) is enough to propel you to the finals.

In a strange twist, all 8 entries alive to win money were guaranteed to finish at least tied for 6th (before the dreaded tiebreaker), meaning two would lose the tiebreaker and go home empty handed.  But first, Read the rest of this entry »

Issue # 15.6.1 “I’m Luke Hancock, I’m Here to Rescue You”

Congrats to Louisville, a deserving champion (even though I didn’t pick them). Also, congrats to the 7 winners in our pool.

Read today’s update below (or original here):

2013 NCAA Champions
#1-Midwest (Indianapolis, IN)	The University of Louisville Cardinals (35-5)
2013 Winningest Conference
	The Big 10 Conference (14-7)

Monday, April 8, 2013 
Issue # 15.6.1 "I'm Luke Hancock, I'm Here to Rescue You"
[ Home | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Updates ]