Monday, April 4
First off, a big congratulations to TONY FIORI for winning the pool. As I said earlier, with the picks that all of us made, including Tony, it's sort of like an Olympic sprinter bragging about winning the 100 yard dash at the nursing home, but I suspect when Tony is spending all of our money, he won't really care. Congrats also to Tommy Lyles and Mark Warner for finishing second and third, and to Ken E and Denny Lea for placing first and second in the Sweet 16 pool. Ken actually picked UConn to win it all in the Sweet 16 pool
As for tonight....Butler vs UConn. Since I had one of those teams losing in the first round and the other in the second round, I am clearly not the one to offer expert opinion on tonight. Naturally that won't stop me.
For two years worth of NCAA tournament games, Butler has forced other teams to play their pace and their type of game. Actually it goes back farther than that, but for the purposes of this writing, let's say two years. They have parlayed that into a 10-1 record in the tournament and back-to-back appearances in the championship game. I think they'll do the same to UConn tonight.
UConn usually has a long, athletic, skilled team, and tonight is no exception. They are also very young though. To say Kemba Walker can't do it by himself is probably incorrect, as he's done pretty much everything you could ask through UConn's Big East tournament run and their run to the championship game. But can he get enough help? I just don't think so.
Here's what I see......Matt Howard supplying the scoring inside, Shelvin Mack hitting a handful of threes, and Butler maintaining a small lead throughout most of the second half. They will force the tempo into a slow down game, and execute their half court offense and defense better than UConn. I see a low scoring game, and Butler winning something like 66-62. (Congrats to UCOnn for their upcoming 88-80 win.)
Finally, the money. I am woefully behind as many of you know. It's just been busy in Chez Armstrong. For the first time since I think 1987, I didn't see a minute of the Final Four. Not one. I won't hold that against my sister in law and her new husband forever, but only because Turner was the BEST FLOWER GIRL EVER. Yeah, that's right. I was at/in a wedding on Saturday and didn't see one second of either game. To this point, I haven't even seen a highlight.
So tonight while watching the game I am going to do my best to sort through the checks and paypals that I have and get all caught up. You should also know that the mailman has a habit of taking my mail next door. Thankfully she is nice enough to bring it over every few days. The last delivery included some of your checks. That's just an excuse though, because there are many others I have just been holding on to for a couple of weeks. My hope is to have it all sorted out tonight or tomorrow, then start hounding the people who haven't paid (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) and hopefully get the winner paid by next week.
Tuesday, March 29
I know, I know....no updates since last Friday, or really since Thursday. Cut me some slack. There is a period of mourning that goes along with the death of a family member, or with the unexpected end of a Duke basketball season.
I'm still not sure what happened against Arizona. One minute Duke has a decent lead, and seem to be playing well enough to advance to the Elite Eight. The next minute(s), they look like they're running in sand while Arizona keeps scoring, and scoring, and scoring. It really was awful.
Instead of dwelling on the sad, let's recognize and remember a better day...a MUCH better day. Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of what is one of the top two Duke games of all time (the other being Kentucky in 1992). Twenty years ago tomorrow, Duke played a UNLV team that was 34-0. A UNLV team whose average margin of victory in those 34 wins was a shocking 28 points. A UNLV team who, one year earlier, had defeated Duke 103-73 in the National Championship game.
But March 30, 1991 proved to be Duke's day. I will never forget watching that game. At first I watched in terror, anticipating another 30 point blowout. Then I watched with pride, as at least Duke wasn't rollling over. That turned into disbelief that it could really happen, and finally, in the last three or four minutes, I think I actuallly allowed myself to think it could happen. Of course, Christian Laettner hit the eventual game winning free throws to give Duke a 79-77 lead, but that was with about 12 seconds left. I'm telling you, those were the longest 12 seconds of my life.
Duke still had to take care of Kansas (and ol' Roy) on Monday night which they did with relative ease, but in all honesty the championship was won on Saturday. I couldn't find any good video of this game, but I did find this great picture of probably the two most talented players on the floor that Saturday night - Larry Johnson and Grant Hill.
Now that I've worked through some of my issues by reliving the past, I'll return to the present.
I am obviously behind on entering payments. I'll try to get to it tomorrow night, and hopefully the little yellow bar that says please pay will go away for many of you. That is, if we decide to award any money at all this year. Seriously, we have had some bad years in this thing, but this has to take the cake as the worst ever. Maybe next year I will add a rule that there has to be a minimum number of points earned by the winner in order for any money to be awarded. Winning this year is like being valedictorian of a class of two. Yeah, you can claim it, but it ain't all that impressive.
Friday, March 25
It's like I'm trapped in a nightmare and can't get out. Please, someone, help me.
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Oh look, the tournament is still on. Apparently Marquette didn't know there were games tonight though.
Thursday, March 24
If you make a comment about this game, I am deleting your bracket and keeping your money.
Good night.
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Kemba and Jimmer. Jimmer and Kemba. Two of the most dynamic players in the college game this year. One moved on tonight, while the other went home. Kemba put his Huskie teammates on his back tonight and willed them to the Elite Eight. Jimmer, despite another valiant effort, bowed out with a long highlight reel and a busted chin.
I think those two games ended my dream of winning the pool. You can check your status by going to "Reports" at the top and pulling down to the "What if? calculator." This gives you the ability to see the outcome of the pool after you enter your outcome of choice.
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I don't have words to describe the awesomeness of this video.
Sunday, March 20
I don't even know where to start. With VCU's shockingly easy blowout of Purdue? With Marquette knocking out Syracuse? With Ohio State's thoroughly dominating performance? The Kansas win?
How about with Texas. As was pointed out to me by my brother, Rick Barnes deserves to be on the Jamie Dixon-Kevin Stallings list. Next year when you get your bracket and you see Texas listed with a small number beside their name, don't pay attention to it. Consider them a 13 or 14 seed, and proceed with caution. Counting this year, that's five of the last seven they haven't advanced past the first weekend.
I guess something also needs to be said about the Big East. Eleven teams in....only two advance to the Sweet 16, unless Notre Dame makes up this 17 point deficit in the last nine minutes. I didn't really think they would run the table in the NCAAs, but to see Pitt, Notre Dame, and Louisville ALL lose in the first weekend was surprising and, for the conference, disappointing.
At some point tonight or tomorrow, I will activate the SWEET SIXTEEN POOL. It's $10.50 per entry. I usually just wait to see how many enter before deciding how to split the money. The last few years it's been 75/25.
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Too nervous to type much......ohmygoodness Duke makes me nervous sometimes.......it was that zone....they acted like they had never seen a zone before....survive and advance....survive and advance.....going back to my oxygen mask and blood pressure meds now.
Oh, and Carolina won.
Saturday, March 19
You know who is the opposite of Jamie Dixon and Kevin Stallings? Bo Ryan. Every year he takes a team that looks like it ought to be playing 2A Academy ball and goes a round or two deeper than anyone thinks he will. And you know what, he has a better than decent chance of making it to the Final Four, doing so with a player like this.
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You can call that whatever you like, but here's the bottom line. The last couple of minutes of that game was highlighted by multiple bad decisions, boneheaded plays and inability to do basic things. Butler won it, but almost as equally, Pitt lost it. And Jamie Dixon is officially the anti-Izzo, always seemingly losing a round or two before he should. You know, like Kevin Stallings.
San Diego State did manage to survive a less than artistic double overtime game with Temple to move on to the Sweet 16. Other than the do-or-die nature of an NCAA tournament double OT game, it was fairly hard to watch.
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As expected, the first two teams in the Sweet 16 are from the SEC.
Wait? Huh? The SEC?
It's been a down year in the SEC and I am somewhat surprised to see two teams survive the first weekend. I've been selling Florida short all year, yet they keep getting it done. Kentucky was Kentucky, making enough plays to win.
Meanwhile, UCLA can spend the offseason here.
It's not that hard UCLA. It nearly cost you a 23-point lead against Michigan State Thursday night, and it cost you any chance you had of winning today.
Friday, March 18
The last of the bonus points will be awarded as the clock ticks down on this Syracuse win over gritty (read: white) Indiana State. This bonus point group for a perfect East region was led by the cutest contestant in Mark's Madness. No Matt Dunn, I am not talking to you. Or you Allen Ruiffin. Or you, beardless Justin Nims. We all know who the cutest contestant is.
OFF THE CHARTS CUTE
Turner Armstrong
Dan Cicconi
Gregory Curry
Cindy Drumm
Matt Dunn
Pat Gruca
Sean Henry
Stephen Neslage #2
Justin Nims
Allen Ruffin
Shauna Tucker #2
On to tomorrow, and a real tournament anomaly - conference opponents meeting in the second round. That's right NCAA, I said second round. No matter how badly you want us to call tomorrow the third round, it's not. We're not as stupid as you are greedy.
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Safe to say at this point that Illinois is going to win the final 8/9 game. Actually it was safe about an hour ago, so you can chalk up five bonus points for Oliver, Arlene, Dan, Jake and Dennis.
Meanwhile, in the Southwest region (also known as the upper right on our brackets), David Engel was the only person to call the Morehead State upset and therefore the only one still shooting for a perfect region. Alas, he had UNLV, so no one gets those points.
It's a different story in the East (upper left), where 17 poolers are awaiting the outcome of the Syracuse/Indiana State and Washington/Georgia games. I won't waste time with the combinations, but if Syracuse loses, no one gets points.
It's been a fantastic two days of the tournament thus far. Feel free to comment on the message board link above.
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More bonus points! A whopping 17 people correctly picked the eight West games to earn five bonus points. Those recipients are:
Oliver Aaron
Callum #2
Mary Grandgeorge #2
Tommy Lyles
Jonathan Bates #2
Tony Fiori #2
Chris Dossett
Ken Goodwin
Brooke Graham #2
Dennis Groboske
Matthew Campbell
Wes Neal
Ken Reeves #2
Mark Armstrong
Jeff Fortner
Charlie Wemyss
Ben Knight
Been another good day of games, particularly the George Mason-Villanova and Arizona-Memphis contests.
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Poor Villanova. Last year, they nearly lost to a dude named Robert Morris in the first round. Today they lost to a dude named George Mason.
It may look like he's laughing, but he's actually crying.
In the 8/9 world, this was a huge game. There are now only nine people who have a chance to pick up the 8/9 bonus points.
If Illinois beats UNLV, the following get five bonus points:
Oliver Aaron
Arlene
Dan Ciccone
Jake Goodwin
Dennis Groboske
If UNLV wins, these four get points
Callum #2
Ghansen28
Mary Grandgeorge #2
ken e
You might notice that ken e is the leader, so even if you picked UNLV to win, unless you are one of the other three listed above with ken, then a win by the Runnin' Rebels is going to put you five points farther behind Ken. Just saying....sometimes losing is winning
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As today progresses, I think the most important part of the pool will be the bonus points. Three people picked up five bonus points for perfect Southeast regions yesterday, and three more regions are up for grabs today in addition to the 8/9 games. You can almost completely strike out on one region, but with some successful picking in other regions and 8/9 games, you can more than make up for it. At least that's what I keep telling myself after posting a disastrous West bracket.
The biggest basketball news of the day centers around Bruce Pearl. After being found guilty of multiple NCAA infractions which were compounded by his inability to tell the truth to the NCAA and his employer, Brucie entered the NCAAs with an uncertain future. On Wednesday night, his own Athletic Director said "the jury is out" in regards to his future. Then after racing out to a nice lead in the first half, Tennessee fell apart like no team I have seen in recent memory. That Michigan won the game is not that big of a shock given the quality of the SEC this year. That they won by 30 against a lifeless unenergetic, seemingly indifferent Tennessee team should be cause for great concern on Rocky Top.
Pearl has won many fans in his time at UT, but let's remember his history: former assistant coach at Iowa who did his best to undermine a rival coach over a recruit with a tape recording tactic that eventually led to his being black balled in major college coaching. He worked his way back into the spotlight with good squads at UW-Milwaukee, but it appears that ethics have never really been Pearl's long suit.
Anyway, this situation is far from over, and will be interesting to watch.
Thursday, March 17
So Florida didn't really struggle at all did they? Oh well, as is often the case in this event, you win some, you lose some.
After a welcome absence this afternoon, Mr. Blowout made several appearances tonight. In fact, the only game that really seemed to be in any doubt heading down the stretch was UCLA-Michigan State, and even then that was only after UCLA was trying to give back a 23 point lead in the last eight minutes. I should have given more validity to the Michigan State regular season because in the end, that's who they really were. Not good enough to advance, even with Izzo on the bench.
A little sad to see St. John's bow out. I grew up a Chris Mullin fan, and the resurgence of the Johnnies this year brought back some good memories of the old school Big East wars. They lose a lot this year but have a great recruiting class coming in, so perhaps they will be a factor for the foreseeable future.
As for the pool, it's crowded at the top. Sure, there is a little pack that went 14-2 today, but as impressive as that is there are still a boatload of people within striking distance. Three of those leaders also earned five bonus points for a perfect region, putting them tied for first. At least three are three other regions for you to try and earn bonus points.
Tomorrow we also have five bonus points on the line with the 8/9 games.. If you picked Butler today, you are alive for those points, but you have to get all three 8/9 games right tomorrow as well. I will do my best to update that throughout the day.
So for now, after a good 12 hours of non-stop action, we'll call it today and do it alllllll again tomorrow.
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I hate to say I told you so about Vandy, but I told you so. From this year forward, no one should ever pick Vandy to win a game in the tournament until they once again prove they can do it. Of course, this is also a reflection of the weakness of the SEC. We'll check in on Florida later today, but in my opinion, they are certainly not a walkover against UCSB.
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NOW WE'RE TALKING!!!!!!!
Kentucky survived Princeton's upset bid when Brandon Knight hit his only shot of the day with two seconds left, and Pitt is about to polish off a very Pitt-esque type of win.No real surpises there, either in results or margin. That's right - I am not suprised at all that Princeton played Kentucky down to the wire. It's what they've done to more athletic teams for 20 years now.
As the first half of today wraps up, Vandy is positioned perfectly to do what Vandy does this year - blow a lead - and San Diego State is strugglng a bit. Stay tuned to these two.
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NOW WE'RE TALKING!!!!!!!
Butler won on a buzzer beater from Matt Howard, and Morehead State knocked out Louisville with a last second three and a great block on the perimeter to close it out. Penn State and Temple went down to the wire before the Owls made the game winner with less than a second left. And with that trio of games, NOW we have a tournament going on.
And for the record, I will not miss Louisvillle or Rick Pitino. Thank you Morehead State. Now, Princeton, do your part and rid me of Calipari.
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A very good start to the tournament as West Virginia rallies from a slow start to down Clemson. Butler and Old Dominion have barely been separated by more than 4-5 points all day long, with over 20 lead changes. You also have to keep your eye on Morehead State and Louisville who are tied at 33 at halftime.
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Already the best part of the tournament......
Welcome to college hoops Chuck.
It is finally here! Hurry up!!! First tip is at 11:15!!!!!
Tuesday, March 15
To most of you, welcome back. To a few newcomers, welcome. The start of the real tournament draws closer and closer. We just have to survive this abomination known as the First Four. I hate it. I am certain that 64 is enough. Until someone from the First Four wins the tournament, I will hold that opinion. I actually hate it more for the little guys than the type of schools like Clemson and UAB. Each of those teams could have played their way in and didn't, so because the NCAA is perhaps the greediest organization in the country next to the Federal Government, they force the little fellas to have a play off to get in the real tournament, depriving UALR the opportunity to go experience the real tournament. Instead, they got to go to Dayton. Yippee.
Whatever, it's not my decision, so we're stuck with it. Now go finish your bracket.
Have a great day, but remember that like a billion years ago today, Julius Caesar got punked.
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