Issue # 1.0.1 “The Following Takes Place Between 9am Monday and 9am Thursday”

Archive

Monday, March 12, 2018  **HELP support World Vision (deadline Tue 3:40 pm PDT )**

VIRGINIA SECURES TOP SEED WHILE PAC 12 IS KICKED TO THE GROUND
For pool # 24, events occur in real time

BUTTE, MT/CERRITOS, CA (smt)- S-Virginia steam-rolled in the tough ACC winning the regular season and tournament to get the tournament selection committee’s top #1 overall seed with a 31-2 record.  Two Big East teams (E-Villanova and W-Xavier) and Big 12 champ MW-Kansas got the other three #1s.  This was the second straight year Kansas got a 1 seed despite 7 losses but at least this year they won their conference tournament.  The Cavs led the ACC contingent who got a record-tying 9 teams while the SEC got a record 8 teams (was 6) but none higher than a 3 seed (S-Tennessee).  The Big 12 got 7 of its 10 teams in (with early hopes for 9) and the Big Ten got four, who played their tournament a week early in order to have their games at Madison Square Garden.  That leaves the Pac 12 as the last of the Big 6 conferences and they were treated that way by having their conference & tourney champ Arizona seeded 4th and in the South, two others only getting to the First Four (#11bE-UCLA and #11aMW-Arizona St), and their conference runner-up and tourney finalist USC getting left out entirely despite an RPI of 34 (record for lowest RPI not to make tourney since ’11).  Notre Dame was actually the first out and they can blame #12S-Davidson’s upset Atlantic 10 final win over #7MW-Rhode Island for stealing a spot on Sunday.  A record five teams had 8-10 conference records and made the tourney (Notre Dame was also 8-10 while USC was 12-6) albeit two face each other in the First Four (Arizona St and #11bMW-Syracuse) and #9E-Alabama was comfortably in despite losing a record-tying 15 games (Vandy in ’17).  Five at-large berths were given outside the Big 6 with the American and Atlantic 10 each getting two and the Mountain West getting one.

The selection committee (BTW, why the $%#! was the selection show not on CBS???) seemed to emphasize wins equally throughout the season, which is great except that if you lose 11 of 15 games to end a season including the first game of your conference tournament, sorry, #10MW-Oklahoma, you were not deserving of a bid and should’ve played yourselves out of a spot.  HOWEVER, for these last at-large bids I’m okay for TV reasons to choose a team with a star player like OK’s Trae Young but the committee should just admit that over whatever baloney they tried to convince TNT’s Charles Barkley with.  Quadrant wins were also a factor putting less emphasis on RPI for the first time.  But then again, if you can’t schedule teams in Quadrant 1, how could you ever pick up Quadrant 1 wins, so it seems to benefit the big conferences more.  I really hope Syracuse’s inclusion wasn’t due to all their complaining about missing the tourney last year.

Locally, UCLA snuck into as one of the last four while USC missed the cut after Read the rest of this entry »

Record Monday

The online web entry was delayed until Monday morning but that hasn’t stopped people from entering in record numbers.  A total of 26 entries was received today breaking the record of 20 set in 2013 and 2016.  26 also breaks the record of 21 combined for Sunday-Monday.  On the flip side, all 18 people have entered have participated before (so no new players… yet).

Not sure what has prompted the revival but we have some people back after a long hiatus.  Eric P (last participated in 2002), Jake P (2008), Robert E (2009), and Corey S (2011) are hoping 2017 is their triumphant return.

Don’t forget to send a quick email to ncaa<at>hwci.com with your First Four winners (and margin of victory) and I’ll donate $2/entry.  Deadline is Tuesday 3:40 pm PDT!

Web Entry is up!

#hwciNCAA We are live! You can enter now. Email blast in a couple hours!

Issue # 2.0.2 “Be a Force For Change!”

Archive

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt)- I hope the first two games of the tournament are no indication of what’s to come as #16Ea-FGCU trounced #16Eb-Fairleigh Dickinson by 30 and #11Sb-Wichita St knocked off #11Sa-Vandy by 20.  Hope for some close matches and some good upsets.  It’s amazing there are multiple ways to watch the game but in a car, it’s not on the radio.  Thank goodness for TuneIn radio so was able to hear the blowouts on my long drive home.

So there was apparently a leak of the bracket thirty or so minutes into a 2-hour long debacle of a Selection Show.  It’s one of many things I’ve been oblivious of the past several months (there was a terrorist attack nearby in San Bernardino?   Star Wars TV spots were airing maybe spoiling the film a little bit?) as work and family schedules ramped up.  But this pool is fun and worth all the work that goes into it.

With 69 entries with 18 hours to go (on graph, Hour 66), we are just slightly off 2014’s (72) and 2015’s (73) paces.  If you look at the historical trends since we’ve been doing this entry form since 2002, you can see the majority of the entries come tonight (you can see that last year, from 3 pm to midnight we got 50 entries (from 73 to 123) — that seems like it will be very hard to duplicate).  And remember, Read the rest of this entry »

Issue # 1.0.1 “Catch 22!”

Archive

Monday, March 14, 2016  **HELP Support Star Wars Force for Change **
[ Home | Blog  | Twitter | Facebook | Updates | Enter Now! ]

LOSSES DON’T MATTER; PAC 12 REPRESENTS
Our HWCI Pool is in its 22nd year and keeps on ticking

CERRITOS, CA (smt)- There is no undefeated team like Kentucky last year and in fact, losses are a plenty as the top #1 seed S-Kansas has four losses while MW-Virginia has 7 losses.  With E-North Carolina and W-Oregon with six losses each, the #1 seeds have a combined 23 losses, three more than any previous quartet.  No team in the tourney has less than 4 losses.  Other oddities exist with one particular team, with the 6th-best team odds makers like to win it all, E-Kentucky, getting a 4 seed, Kentucky beating 3W-Texas A&M in SEC final but getting ranked worse, and getting set-up for a possible 2nd round matchup with 5E-Indiana, who they refuse to play in the regular season.  A lot of regular season mid-major champions lost in their tournament leaving some strong contenders such as Monmouth, San Diego St., and St. Mary’s getting skipped over while 11bS-Wichita St and 10S-Temple getting in.  Four conferences (Pac-12, Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC) got 7 teams in while the Big East (5), ACC (4), SEC (3), and MVC (2) also got multiple bids.

Locally, 8E-USC made the tourney for the first time in five years while a little further away, 15W-CSU Bakersfield made the tourney for the first time, and a little more further away but connected by an ocean (granted, a big one), 13S-Hawai’i made the tourney for the first time since 2002.  And what happened to UCLA?  Getting beat three times by rival USC?  There’s always next year, hopefully with a different coach.

Our HWCI NCAA Pool is our 22nd, which means our pool is a Read the rest of this entry »

Web Entry Up! Deadline Thursday 9:15 am PDT

It’s time!  You are invited to join our 22nd HWCI NCAA Pool.  You can enter online via our Web Entry.  The rules are the same as always, entry fee is still $10 per entry (max 3 entries per person).  We believe we have finally streamlined it so that you only have to fill out the form once (no introductory form).  Let us know of any issues at ncaa<at>hwci.com.  Remember, the deadline is 9:15 am PDT Thursday!

Issue # 1.0.1 “Of Legal Age!”

Archive

Monday, March 16, 2015  **HELP Support Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation**

Issue # 1.0.1 “Of Legal Age!”
[ Home | Blog  | Twitter | Facebook | Updates | Enter Now! ]

CERRITOS, CA (smt)- Who can stop Kentucky?  The Wildcats completed their perfect regular season (34-0) and claimed the #1 of #1 seeds holding serve in their home state in the Midwest Region.  Incredibly, you can pick the field (any of the other 67 teams) at even money to win the tournament.  The Wildcats beat Wichita St last year, who was also undefeated entering the tournament.  The other #1 seeds were E-Villanova, S-Duke, and W-Wisconsin, who won the Big Ten tournament shutting out #7E-Michigan St in overtime.  Despite not getting a #1 seed, the Big 12 got 7 of their 10 teams in the tournament matching the Big Ten.  The new Big East got six teams in and when joined with the other Power 5 conferences, garnered 29 of 36 at-large bids.  One of the biggest surprises, though great for us local folks, was #11S-UCLA making it not only in the tournament, but not as a bubble last 4 in team.  And one of the more entertaining parts of the slow Selection Show was watching the deer-caught-in-the-headlights look of Chairman Scott Barnes try to explain why UCLA made it and ignoring they are playing #6S-SMU, coached by ex-Bruin coach Larry Brown.  Our very own Anteaters of #13E-UC-Irvine are in their very first tournament (beating my local favorite Hawai’i) and rounding out the last California team, #8S-San Diego St. will travel to Charlotte.

Besides the Bruins, Read the rest of this entry »

Catching up

Well, my business review is over and it went well.  Drove almost two hours from Pax River in Maryland back to Tyson’s Corner in Virginia.  Got a very good filet, crab bisque, and very fresh scallops (and I don’t care for scallops).  Then walked about 5 miles in DC in sub-freezing weather.  So now, playing catch-up with the pool.  First of all, sorry to everyone if you’re an Apple fanboy/girl and couldn’t load the java applet to see the bracket but thanks to you for being flexible and taking pictures with your smartphone (yes, even iPhones) and sending it to us.  I think I’ve finally entered the last of them delaying David in posting the standings.  If it’s not up soon, then check tomorrow morning.

So it’s weird that at dinner, only half the games have been completed (here in the EDT).  Or is it weird Read the rest of this entry »

Poor Anteaters

Well, UC-Irvine had a chance to make the tourney for the first time but came out short (literally on their late 3-pt attempts).  And the big UC, UCLA lost in the Pac 12 Championship.  San Diego St. may be the only other SoCal team with a chance to make the tourney.  Brackets start to come out at 3 pm PDT (you can add this to your calendar).  We hope to get the online entry done by Monday morning, though in the past we’ve snuck it in before midnight Sunday.  Check often.  Please follow us (@HWCI_Pools) and use #hwcincaa for any tweets and for the latest quick (intra-day) updates.  The initial email has been sent out so if you didn’t get one, please let us know.  Everything is the same as before – $10/entry (up to 3 entries) with a Thursday 9 a.m. PDT deadline.

Web entry up

For those who are eager, click on “Web Entry” on the main menu to enter.

Harvard? Not yet…

As we head into the 2011 March Madness, it is possible the Harvard Crimson (eh?) may make the tournament.  They have a share of the Ivy League title and if Princeton loses today (starts in 30 minutes, and is only on ESPN3.com), the Crimson are in.  If not, then a one-game playoff on Saturday.  Harvard?!

As for the 2011 HWCI NCAA Pool, no changes to format or point system.  What will happen is that the First Four (games played on Tuesday/Wednesday) winners get inserted into the proper 64-team bracket (as the Opening Game winner has been since 2003).  What may happen, is that depending who wins, you may want to update your bracket (likely the #11, #12, or #13 seed).  Feel free to email the update (if it’s just one or two changes) rather than refilling a bracket before the deadline.

What will be interesting is that with TBS, TNT, and TruTV entering the mix, the schedule for Thursday-Sunday are wall-to-wall basketball, with games now separated by half-hours instead of starting 3-4 games at the same time, meaning, ideally, no games should end at the same time, so CBS has less of a chance of screwing it up.  Full tip-off times are found here.

Neurotic Updator’s Picks…

Okay, finally made my picks, boring as heck.  All four #1 seeds.  Too tired to think.  You can view my pick, Sweet Fabone, here.  I’ll see if I want to donate another $10 to the winner by creating a second entry after some sleep.

Eight Hours Left

Eight hours remain til the 9 am PDT deadline.  Note:  We will accept brackets til tipoff, which is 9:20 am, but the entry form will be disabled just past 9 am, so if you get to the java bracket, you can still enter your picks but make sure you submit it before 9:20 (we have a timestamp on the file you submit).  If you think you may not make it, scan and email your pencil-written bracket or fax it to me.

Currently, we have 89 entries including 53 that came in Wednesday.  That is short of our record 62 we got last year so topping 114 doesn’t look good, but there is still time.  Best of luck to everyone!

PayPal is Deemed Evil (So I’m not calling them that, just deeming them to be so)

PayPal apparently now charges fees for receiving money of any type if you click their button.  They even take fees for donations!  Apparently the charitable giving is to PayPal, not the recipient.  Don’t know how long this has been going (I checked last year’s payments and they didn’t do this then) but I found out by accident because PayPal doesn’t SHOW you they took fees, just what the “gross” amount is.  So when I’m seeing $10 across the board, everything looks fine.  Click on details, and presto, halfway down the page, -59 cents for fees.  I’ve contacted those who aleady paid and asked them to volunatarily make up the difference (purely optional on their part, their entries still count and I’ll absorb the fees).

The website should be updated, but if you just want to send just $10.00 (no credit card payments), you have to do it the old fashioned way and log in to PayPal, click Send Money to “hwci@hotmail.com“, choose a PERSONAL reason (not a PURCHASE reason) such as Gift, and send.

If you don’t mind paying $10.61 (regardless if it’s PayPal funds, eCheck, Credit Card or personal bank account), click the PayPal button on your web bracket confirmation page.

Despite all this, PayPal is still the easiest and most convenient solution out there and it allows us to accept credit card payments.  Just wish they weren’t all Pelosi-Reid about this.

Tricklin’ in…

Our first entry was from Brian S. (Flying Elvi) who was going to be on vacation during this time in the Far East so he chose all the favorites for the first few rounds and then ordered his top eight teams (looking at only last week’s rankings).  Luckily, he had Purdue a very low #7 or else he may have regretted it when he came back (Duke was his 5th choice, so they will take out Purdue in the Sweet 16).  Although I picked my teams before Selection Sunday as well last year, we didn’t get the bracket up and running til Monday morning, so the Flying Elvi is the first entry submitted on Sunday since 2005.

Eight more came in on Monday which seems low but this seems to be a harder bracket to crack.  Of course last year, we had just 11 by Tuesday and ended up with a record 114.  Currently, we have 17 which is the same as last year at this time.  Interestingly, 8 of the 17 are online entries (people who somehow trust us with their money and found us through the magic of bing (okay, google).  Last year we had 13 online entries and in 2008 we had a record 15.  Of course, the best part of the online entries is that they always pay up immediately 🙂  The fact 15 of the 17 have paid up is nice (and I have beats on the other two).

For those who have played in the pool for ages, the “Referred by:” box is typically ignored but it does allow people to express their wittiness (if not in their chosen nickname).  Some gems:  “Mom“, “Gosh, I don’t know…been doing it for years...”, “walrus+sledgehammer=orgy“, “History/Picked by 4yr daughter“, “Mrs. Wonderful“, “The voices in my head“, “Ghosts“, “A little bird told me“, and “GOD“.  I bring this up because no one sees this but David F. and myself .  So, the Los Angeles Galaxy (now without Becks but the Galaxy should be used to that) have a mascot, okay, he’s sometimes a starting forward named Alan Gordon.  When the Galaxy missed the playoffs for three straight years, he was a source of entertainment (infamously known for tying his shoelaces while on a break, and thus, the nice cross into the box went to where he would’ve been had he not been tying his shoe).  So last year, Sam N. put down in the referred box “Alan Gordon” – I laughed out loud.  This year, David A. also put down “Alan Gordon” which I thought was classic until I remembered Sammy did it last year.  So if someone calls you an “Alan Gordon”, it’s not a compliment.