Finally, we reach the end of the second week with, well... not many people left. It's really a moral victory if you're still picking at this point. Too bad those aren't worth jack.
Saturday, March 24, 2018
2018 NCAA Tournament Survivor Pool Day 6 Recap
Leaderboard
Day 7 Pick Form
Guys, let's be real. There's nothing to recap. Three chalk picks won, meanwhile five people put their picks on Purdue...a team that never makes Tourney runs...those people lost.
There's just 23 entries alive for Saturday. Four of those entries have forced picks as the left side of the bracket's decimation has left them with no other options. What a time to be alive.
Day 7 Pick Form
Guys, let's be real. There's nothing to recap. Three chalk picks won, meanwhile five people put their picks on Purdue...a team that never makes Tourney runs...those people lost.
There's just 23 entries alive for Saturday. Four of those entries have forced picks as the left side of the bracket's decimation has left them with no other options. What a time to be alive.
Friday, March 23, 2018
Thursday, March 22, 2018
2018 NCAA Tournament Survivor Pool Day 5 Recap
Links for the lazy:
Leaderboard
Day 6 Pick Form
Well, well, well. The fifth day of the Tournament is officially over. We entered today with over 100 brave warriors of the light still with a chance at eternal fame and fortune. We leave the day with....less. A mere 29 entries will be picking the sixth day of the Tournament. Just 6% of the entries that began this journey are still sailing along the ocean of hope.
There really hasn't been an easy day so far this year, but Thursday, March 22nd 2018 is a day that will live in infamy. Nevada kicked off the show by looking like a runaway freight train against Loyola...they ended up looking like something else entirely as Loyola stormed back, and Sister Jean lives to dance another day. Literally and figuratively....at her age neither of these can be taken for granted. Sister Jean exorcised the demons of some 34 entries, sending them straight to Hell.
Michigan meanwhile had no trouble dispatching Texas A&M advancing 10 entrants along the way. Only three entrants tried to upset the Wolverines...they did not get their money's worth.
In the game of the night, a pair of Wildcats who's logos look surprisingly like birds battled down to the wire. Kansas St., who only two people had the guts and beautiful souls to pick, and the Kentucky Wildcats who only attracted a handful of picks. It seems like most people decided to save them. But, by saving Kentucky these poor fools ended up saving themselves. In the end, Kansas State was crowned victorious and will now meat Loyola in a game most predicted from the start.
The final game of the night attracted a great deal of interest as people took the "safe" play: Gonzaga. Boy were they stupid. The Zags never looked good as Florida State dominated from the word go. We are now living in a timeline where there is a very good chance of a Loyola vs. Florida State Final 4...I'm sure CBS is thrilled to have these diehard college basketball junky fanbases around.
Congratulations to the one or two people that are still alive in this thing and reading these recaps. I'd like to tell you it gets easier from here...but, it really doesn't.
Leaderboard
Day 6 Pick Form
Well, well, well. The fifth day of the Tournament is officially over. We entered today with over 100 brave warriors of the light still with a chance at eternal fame and fortune. We leave the day with....less. A mere 29 entries will be picking the sixth day of the Tournament. Just 6% of the entries that began this journey are still sailing along the ocean of hope.
There really hasn't been an easy day so far this year, but Thursday, March 22nd 2018 is a day that will live in infamy. Nevada kicked off the show by looking like a runaway freight train against Loyola...they ended up looking like something else entirely as Loyola stormed back, and Sister Jean lives to dance another day. Literally and figuratively....at her age neither of these can be taken for granted. Sister Jean exorcised the demons of some 34 entries, sending them straight to Hell.
Michigan meanwhile had no trouble dispatching Texas A&M advancing 10 entrants along the way. Only three entrants tried to upset the Wolverines...they did not get their money's worth.
In the game of the night, a pair of Wildcats who's logos look surprisingly like birds battled down to the wire. Kansas St., who only two people had the guts and beautiful souls to pick, and the Kentucky Wildcats who only attracted a handful of picks. It seems like most people decided to save them. But, by saving Kentucky these poor fools ended up saving themselves. In the end, Kansas State was crowned victorious and will now meat Loyola in a game most predicted from the start.
The final game of the night attracted a great deal of interest as people took the "safe" play: Gonzaga. Boy were they stupid. The Zags never looked good as Florida State dominated from the word go. We are now living in a timeline where there is a very good chance of a Loyola vs. Florida State Final 4...I'm sure CBS is thrilled to have these diehard college basketball junky fanbases around.
Congratulations to the one or two people that are still alive in this thing and reading these recaps. I'd like to tell you it gets easier from here...but, it really doesn't.
2018 NCAA Survivor Sweet 16 Friday Pick
Alright sports fans, we're in the championship rounds now. Lotta gimmes Friday though.... Right???
2018 NCAA Tournament Survivor Pool Day 4 Recap
Pertinent Links:
Leaderboard
Day 5 Pick Form
Alright guys, gonna really phone this thing in since it was a long weekend...and I've been busy.
Day four was, on paper, the easiest day of the Tournament so far. With the Friday upsets, most people just took a free square and used either K State against 16 seed UMBC, or they took the other supposed free square in West Virginia against Marshall. Everyone that made those calls was rewarded and those two games advanced 98 participants. There were four people that picked Purdue to advance and moved on, and ONE person, Mo$, who looked like a genius as the only person that picked a Clemson team that won by 114 points against Auburn.
Everyone else who tried to be smart and not pick an obvious winner, turned out to be really stupid. There were 39 picks NOT on K State or West Virginia. As mentioned above, FIVE people moved on picking other teams. So, for those keeping track at home, 34 of the 39 entries that tried to be cute, can now be cute sitting on the sidelines as losers. Good job picking Michigan State, North Carolina, and Xavier losers...should've just taken 9 free points against a 16 seed in the second round.
Overall, 103 of the 137 entries that began Sunday alive will move to tonight's games. Here's a look at where everyone has fallen, thanks to Bryan H again for these:
Leaderboard
Day 5 Pick Form
Alright guys, gonna really phone this thing in since it was a long weekend...and I've been busy.
Day four was, on paper, the easiest day of the Tournament so far. With the Friday upsets, most people just took a free square and used either K State against 16 seed UMBC, or they took the other supposed free square in West Virginia against Marshall. Everyone that made those calls was rewarded and those two games advanced 98 participants. There were four people that picked Purdue to advance and moved on, and ONE person, Mo$, who looked like a genius as the only person that picked a Clemson team that won by 114 points against Auburn.
Everyone else who tried to be smart and not pick an obvious winner, turned out to be really stupid. There were 39 picks NOT on K State or West Virginia. As mentioned above, FIVE people moved on picking other teams. So, for those keeping track at home, 34 of the 39 entries that tried to be cute, can now be cute sitting on the sidelines as losers. Good job picking Michigan State, North Carolina, and Xavier losers...should've just taken 9 free points against a 16 seed in the second round.
Overall, 103 of the 137 entries that began Sunday alive will move to tonight's games. Here's a look at where everyone has fallen, thanks to Bryan H again for these:
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
2018 NCAA Tournament Survivor Pool Thursday Sweet 16 Pick
Form is below. Please note that going forward, all picks need to be in prior to the start of the games, which is about 7 PM ET!
Saturday, March 17, 2018
2018 NCAA Tournament Survivor Pool Day 3
Daily reminder on pertinent links:
DAY 4 PICK FORM
LEADERBOARD
Day 3 of the Survivor Pool began with just 217 of our original 485 entries still around to make a pick.
The first two games of the day featured Villanova and Duke...two teams no one was willing to play against, and that most people felt the need to save. Duke attracted 23 picks, while just four people used Nova. Both won easily. Pretty boring.
The evening session was kicked off with an epic battle of Kentucky vs Buffalo. Of course Buffalo made 15/30 threes against Arizona and UK made zero threes against Davidson... but, when Buffalo played UK they could only muster 7/31? Basketball can be pretty stupid you guys. Anyway, UK won and moved 36 entries on to Day 4. Clearly these 36 beautiful entrants believe now was the time to use UK before they run into a buzzsaw soon. A mere three entrants lost on Buffalo. So through 3 games we had just lost 3 entrants...
Just when it looked like a nice low key day with most everyone moving on...BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE....again....
Tennessee was the most popular pick of the day with a staggering 55 entries placing their hopes and dreams on Rick Barnes' manly shoulders. But, once again, Loyola and Sister Jean's gameplanning were just too much. So, for those keeping track at home, the biggest stars of the NCAA Tournament thus far are a 98 year old nun, and the noble Chesapeake Bay "Don't Call me Golden" Retriever. There is some bad news for Loyola however as the NCAA has opened an investigation into Sister Jean to determine whether or not her nunly prayers should be considered impermissible benefits. She also stated her bracket has Loyola losing in the Sweet 16, so we could be looking at some serious game fixing allegations if Loyola falls in the next round. Tom Carrk, the winner of our Conference Tournament pool, was the only person smart enough to use Loyola today....for his great work he gets a call out in this recap that I'm pretty sure my mom and four other people read daily.
The game between Seton Hall and Kansas didn't have huge Survivor Pool ramifications. The Kansas win moved 14 chalk eaters to day 3 and knocked out 2 gutsy entrants who flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami. Similarly uneventful was the 4/5 match-up between Gonzaga and Ohio State. The Zags drew 22 picks while Ohio State only attracted 3...our Wisdom of Crowds prevailed here as the Zags will once again move on to the Sweet 16.
Texas Tech v Florida was another game that guaranteed some more losers with picks on both sides. In the end Texas Tech was throwing tortillas in celebration and knocking out another 14 losers and freeing up time for Mike White to hopefully answer a call from Louisville.
The final game of the night was another coinflip type game between Michigan and Houston that drew picks on both sides. In yet another insane finish Houston missed two FT's while up 2 points with under 4 seconds on the clock...Michigan went from basically no prayer, to the slimmest of chances...and somehow made a contested 3 at the buzzer to advance some extremely lucky jerks. To the three of you that picked Houston...wow...that really sucks guys, you must have done something awful in a previous life to earn this kind of karma.
With that shot going in we have 137 entrants (28%) moving on to day four. Here's the daily BryanH inforgraphic to show the mayhem:
DAY 4 PICK FORM
LEADERBOARD
Day 3 of the Survivor Pool began with just 217 of our original 485 entries still around to make a pick.
The first two games of the day featured Villanova and Duke...two teams no one was willing to play against, and that most people felt the need to save. Duke attracted 23 picks, while just four people used Nova. Both won easily. Pretty boring.
The evening session was kicked off with an epic battle of Kentucky vs Buffalo. Of course Buffalo made 15/30 threes against Arizona and UK made zero threes against Davidson... but, when Buffalo played UK they could only muster 7/31? Basketball can be pretty stupid you guys. Anyway, UK won and moved 36 entries on to Day 4. Clearly these 36 beautiful entrants believe now was the time to use UK before they run into a buzzsaw soon. A mere three entrants lost on Buffalo. So through 3 games we had just lost 3 entrants...
Just when it looked like a nice low key day with most everyone moving on...BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE....again....
Tennessee was the most popular pick of the day with a staggering 55 entries placing their hopes and dreams on Rick Barnes' manly shoulders. But, once again, Loyola and Sister Jean's gameplanning were just too much. So, for those keeping track at home, the biggest stars of the NCAA Tournament thus far are a 98 year old nun, and the noble Chesapeake Bay "Don't Call me Golden" Retriever. There is some bad news for Loyola however as the NCAA has opened an investigation into Sister Jean to determine whether or not her nunly prayers should be considered impermissible benefits. She also stated her bracket has Loyola losing in the Sweet 16, so we could be looking at some serious game fixing allegations if Loyola falls in the next round. Tom Carrk, the winner of our Conference Tournament pool, was the only person smart enough to use Loyola today....for his great work he gets a call out in this recap that I'm pretty sure my mom and four other people read daily.
The game between Seton Hall and Kansas didn't have huge Survivor Pool ramifications. The Kansas win moved 14 chalk eaters to day 3 and knocked out 2 gutsy entrants who flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami. Similarly uneventful was the 4/5 match-up between Gonzaga and Ohio State. The Zags drew 22 picks while Ohio State only attracted 3...our Wisdom of Crowds prevailed here as the Zags will once again move on to the Sweet 16.
Texas Tech v Florida was another game that guaranteed some more losers with picks on both sides. In the end Texas Tech was throwing tortillas in celebration and knocking out another 14 losers and freeing up time for Mike White to hopefully answer a call from Louisville.
The final game of the night was another coinflip type game between Michigan and Houston that drew picks on both sides. In yet another insane finish Houston missed two FT's while up 2 points with under 4 seconds on the clock...Michigan went from basically no prayer, to the slimmest of chances...and somehow made a contested 3 at the buzzer to advance some extremely lucky jerks. To the three of you that picked Houston...wow...that really sucks guys, you must have done something awful in a previous life to earn this kind of karma.
With that shot going in we have 137 entrants (28%) moving on to day four. Here's the daily BryanH inforgraphic to show the mayhem:
2018 NCAA Tournament Survivor Pool Day 4 Pick
Thankfully, the final pick of a landmine of an opening weekend is below. Good luck.
Friday, March 16, 2018
2018 NCAA Survivor Pool Day 2 Recap
As always, pertinent links first:
DAY 3 PICK FORM
LEADERBOARD
We entered the second day of the gauntlet known as the Survivor Pool with 354 brave souls still alive with a chance to take down our biggest prize ever. Meanwhile, 131 Day 1 losers sat angrily in a corner somewhere plotting their revenge. But, this isn't a tale of the losers, today is about the winners...or at least those who were able to remain winners for one day...
Day two was kicked off by an epic battle of Catholics (remember their Day 1 dominance) vs their arch-nemesis, Texans. Providence carried with it the hopes and dreams of 17 one day survivors while 12 of their opponents cast their lot with the Aggies. For some reason Ed Cooley decided to go away from his trademark pant's ripping gameplan, and it turned out to be a mistake that allowed the Aggies to prevail.
The second game of the day featured the most popular Day 2 pick. Surprisingly, 64 contestants put their faith into the hands of Gregg Marshall and the Wichita State Shockers. The committee loves these kinds of blood feuds. Obviously this one being for who deserves the rights to the name Marshall? Would it be Gregg? Or would The University of win the battle? It seemed like the advantage was obvious when Marshall's (the University not the coach) coach showed up in a T-Shirt....at that point you had to feel good if you were backing Wichita. It was a back and forth game most of the way, and right when it seemed like Wichita might have the game where they wanted it...BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE! Dan D'antoni takes his t-shirt on to the Round of 32, meanwhile, Gregg Marshall didn't have the best trip to San Diego. At least Gregg has a sweet and supportive wife that will cheer him up. Surprisingly, not a single entrant took a shot with the Thundering Herd.
The other early games were relatively easy wins for Cincinnati and Purdue. Between the two games 33 chalk eating weasels advanced to Day 3 with a lousy 2 tie-breaker points to show for it. The only real story from these games was that Purdue will move on without 7'3 giant of a man, Isaac Haas, who broke his elbow and is out for the rest of the tournament.
The second session started with North Carolina crushing Lipscomb. I'll admit, I don't know a lot about Lipscomb, but I do know their school name is an anagram from Lip Combs. So, that's something. Texas and Nevada also played in this session, a game that only attracted 13 picks as most people thought it was a complete toss up...which it was...it went to OT where Nevada prevailed, advancing 5 combatants and a fairly excited coach.
One of the more popular picks of the day, Butler, didn't really have much trouble dispatching Arkansas by 17 points. In a game that seemed like a toss up on paper, Butler advanced 29 entries while just 5 suckers fell for the allure of the Razorbacks.
In one of the more interesting results of the day West Virginia knocked off Murray State. This isn't that interesting from a Survivor Pool point of view since it moved 55 people to Day 3 while knocking out no one. But, what is interesting is that it sets up a second round match-up between West Virginia and Marshall. Consider this for a minute guys...West Virginians burn couches WHEN THEY WIN. Which begs the question....what do they burn when they lose?? West Virginia is sure to be a popular pick with anyone who survives to Sunday, and it should be a good clean basketball game between two teams that respect, and possibly even love, one another.
The evening session wasn't super eventful for the Survivor Pool either. K State became another 9+ seed winner that not a single entrant selected as they knocked out the 11 losers that picked Creighton. Michigan State knocked off Bucknell in a game that was more interesting than expected, 8 chalk eaters advanced here. And, Xavier advanced easily moving on the 10 entrants who weren't worried about getting a mere 1 point and losing the ability to ever pick Chris Mack again this year.
The one game of consequence in the evening session was the battle between Auburn and College of Charleston. Auburn, and their celebrity spokesperson Charles Barkley, who you may know from EVERY FREAKING NCAA COMMERCIAL, were taking on Charleston, who showed up with a celebrity of their own....the guy from The Good Wife and some new doctor show. It was obviously very exciting with all this star power, and the game on the court was pretty exciting as well. Jeremy Hutslar was sitting pretty and looking like a genius as the only entrant to pick Charleston...until Auburn pulled away late breaking his heart. Sorry Jeremy, you gave it a good run. 37 other people trusted Auburn instead and survive to battle on Day 3.
Look, let's be real here. I'm not going to write about all the night games, because everyone was only watching one of them....VIRGINIA LOST TO UMBC! We all watched it, there's nothing else that needs to be said, here are a few of my favorite Tweets from the night:
One
Two
Three
Four
In the other late games Syracuse helped two people advance, Chaos Itself and Kyle Sterrenberg have huge tiebreaker scores thanks to that win. Meanwhile, Jamie Dixon didn't want to be outdone by Tony Bennett, he's a great choke artist in his own right and he brought his choking ways to Texas, TCU's loss eliminated 17 teams. The New Mexico State and Missouri losses knocked out another 12 entries.
So, for the day, we ended up with 217 combatants moving on to Day 3. For those keeping track that means we've lost more than half of our original entries as 268 picks will not need entered for Day 3. Here's the BryanH infographic through the end of Day 2:
Good luck with Day 3 everyone....you'll need it!
DAY 3 PICK FORM
LEADERBOARD
We entered the second day of the gauntlet known as the Survivor Pool with 354 brave souls still alive with a chance to take down our biggest prize ever. Meanwhile, 131 Day 1 losers sat angrily in a corner somewhere plotting their revenge. But, this isn't a tale of the losers, today is about the winners...or at least those who were able to remain winners for one day...
Day two was kicked off by an epic battle of Catholics (remember their Day 1 dominance) vs their arch-nemesis, Texans. Providence carried with it the hopes and dreams of 17 one day survivors while 12 of their opponents cast their lot with the Aggies. For some reason Ed Cooley decided to go away from his trademark pant's ripping gameplan, and it turned out to be a mistake that allowed the Aggies to prevail.
The second game of the day featured the most popular Day 2 pick. Surprisingly, 64 contestants put their faith into the hands of Gregg Marshall and the Wichita State Shockers. The committee loves these kinds of blood feuds. Obviously this one being for who deserves the rights to the name Marshall? Would it be Gregg? Or would The University of win the battle? It seemed like the advantage was obvious when Marshall's (the University not the coach) coach showed up in a T-Shirt....at that point you had to feel good if you were backing Wichita. It was a back and forth game most of the way, and right when it seemed like Wichita might have the game where they wanted it...BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE! Dan D'antoni takes his t-shirt on to the Round of 32, meanwhile, Gregg Marshall didn't have the best trip to San Diego. At least Gregg has a sweet and supportive wife that will cheer him up. Surprisingly, not a single entrant took a shot with the Thundering Herd.
The other early games were relatively easy wins for Cincinnati and Purdue. Between the two games 33 chalk eating weasels advanced to Day 3 with a lousy 2 tie-breaker points to show for it. The only real story from these games was that Purdue will move on without 7'3 giant of a man, Isaac Haas, who broke his elbow and is out for the rest of the tournament.
The second session started with North Carolina crushing Lipscomb. I'll admit, I don't know a lot about Lipscomb, but I do know their school name is an anagram from Lip Combs. So, that's something. Texas and Nevada also played in this session, a game that only attracted 13 picks as most people thought it was a complete toss up...which it was...it went to OT where Nevada prevailed, advancing 5 combatants and a fairly excited coach.
One of the more popular picks of the day, Butler, didn't really have much trouble dispatching Arkansas by 17 points. In a game that seemed like a toss up on paper, Butler advanced 29 entries while just 5 suckers fell for the allure of the Razorbacks.
In one of the more interesting results of the day West Virginia knocked off Murray State. This isn't that interesting from a Survivor Pool point of view since it moved 55 people to Day 3 while knocking out no one. But, what is interesting is that it sets up a second round match-up between West Virginia and Marshall. Consider this for a minute guys...West Virginians burn couches WHEN THEY WIN. Which begs the question....what do they burn when they lose?? West Virginia is sure to be a popular pick with anyone who survives to Sunday, and it should be a good clean basketball game between two teams that respect, and possibly even love, one another.
The evening session wasn't super eventful for the Survivor Pool either. K State became another 9+ seed winner that not a single entrant selected as they knocked out the 11 losers that picked Creighton. Michigan State knocked off Bucknell in a game that was more interesting than expected, 8 chalk eaters advanced here. And, Xavier advanced easily moving on the 10 entrants who weren't worried about getting a mere 1 point and losing the ability to ever pick Chris Mack again this year.
The one game of consequence in the evening session was the battle between Auburn and College of Charleston. Auburn, and their celebrity spokesperson Charles Barkley, who you may know from EVERY FREAKING NCAA COMMERCIAL, were taking on Charleston, who showed up with a celebrity of their own....the guy from The Good Wife and some new doctor show. It was obviously very exciting with all this star power, and the game on the court was pretty exciting as well. Jeremy Hutslar was sitting pretty and looking like a genius as the only entrant to pick Charleston...until Auburn pulled away late breaking his heart. Sorry Jeremy, you gave it a good run. 37 other people trusted Auburn instead and survive to battle on Day 3.
Look, let's be real here. I'm not going to write about all the night games, because everyone was only watching one of them....VIRGINIA LOST TO UMBC! We all watched it, there's nothing else that needs to be said, here are a few of my favorite Tweets from the night:
One
Two
Three
Four
In the other late games Syracuse helped two people advance, Chaos Itself and Kyle Sterrenberg have huge tiebreaker scores thanks to that win. Meanwhile, Jamie Dixon didn't want to be outdone by Tony Bennett, he's a great choke artist in his own right and he brought his choking ways to Texas, TCU's loss eliminated 17 teams. The New Mexico State and Missouri losses knocked out another 12 entries.
So, for the day, we ended up with 217 combatants moving on to Day 3. For those keeping track that means we've lost more than half of our original entries as 268 picks will not need entered for Day 3. Here's the BryanH infographic through the end of Day 2:
Good luck with Day 3 everyone....you'll need it!
2018 NCAA Survivor Pool Saturday Round 2 Pick Form
Pick form is below for all looking to get their Saturday picks in. The entry list is populated with all entries alive as of 9:15 PM ET.
Thursday, March 15, 2018
2018 NCAA Survivor Pool Day 1 Recap
Before we get this underway, here's the pertinent links for the day:
LEADERBOARD
DAY 2 PICK FORM it's all the way at the bottom...
Day 1 is in the books. Two years ago we got to 260 entries, which seemed pretty cool. Last year it grew to 357 entries, which was even better. But, this year we all came together, we worked hard as a community, and we were able to do even better - 485 entries for a prize pool just shy of $10,000. Really, I'm a little disappointed a few of you didn't buy some last minute entries to make sure we hit five figures.
With 20 picks on Rhode Island and 21 on Oklahoma we were guaranteed to lose some people in the first game of the day. It was a pretty exciting match up between a team that had a 2-8 record since February 1st, and a team that got beat by 30, at home, on their own Senior night, by a team with a losing record two weeks ago. In other words, it's the kind of dream match-up you only find in a Championship crowning single elimination tournament. Trae Young wasn't able to knock down contested 45 foot jumpers, so Oklahoma's offensive gameplan didn't work out today and Rhode Island moved 21 people on with 7 tiebreaker points.
In other early games Tennessee destroyed Wright State which left 34 people advancing while thinking, "Did I just burn my Tennessee pick too early?" while one person, Jim Uhl, was left thinking, "Maybe Wright St. was a bad choice." Meanwhile, Gonzaga escaped by 4 in a game where literally no one picked against them, advancing 15 entrants that had far more anxious moments than they expected today. And, Kansas got lucky and ran into the first Ivy League tournament team ever that couldn't make free throws. This allowed the Jayhawks to walk away with a win that advanced three entrants who apparently have no concern for tiebreaker points or having the Jayhawks available next weekend.
The second session kicked off with everyone's favorite double digit seed, Loyola and no one's favorite 6 seed, Miami. Loyola was among the most popular picks of Day 1 with 39 people unable to resist the allure of those 11 tiebreaker points. Alternatively, Miami captured the hearts of a mere 9 entries. But what those 9 entrants, and Jim Larranaga, didn't account for was the level of scouting that Loyola did on each and every opponent. And in the end, Loyola walked away with an easy two point win.
Oh, also, Duke destroyed Iona advancing 7 people that probably wanted to burn Duke before they face Michigan State. Ohio State also advanced 38 participants that took a stand against South Dakota St. and THE DAUMINATOR. That's right, THIS GUY is one of the best offensive players in the tournament...but, his 5 threes weren't enough and, to add insult to injury, now they have to return to South Dakota. Seriously, they're the only team in America that's disappointed that they have to spend less time in Boise, Idaho. And, Seton Hall knocked out the 8 entrants that trusted NC State and helped 19 combatants to advance.
The third session highlight was obviously Houston v San Diego State. If you were planning on starting a March Madness boy band, and really, who isn't, you should have started with this game. It featured the perfect leading man, Max Montana, with a perfect stage name and those delightful curls. More importantly it also featured a tough, but adorable, bad boy in Rob Gray. He sports a man bun and gets plenty of street cred for being a rule breaker that even served a suspension this season. He must have done something pretty tough and bad ass. Oh, and he's also ok at basketball. Houston won by 2 advancing 34 entries while Rob Gray broke the 12 hearts that picked SDSU.
Villanova also destroyed Radford. Kentucky got extraordinarily lucky and advanced 41 contestants who felt UK could not possibly beat any team in the tournament other than Davidson. Six beautiful souls picked Davidson, they may have lost their entries, but they earned my love and respect. And, Texas Tech pulled out a late win over Stephen F Austin moving on another 28 warriors.
The final set of games kicked off with Alabama knocking out Virginia Tech and sending yet another ACC team packing, they also sent 22 participants home while advancing 13 others to Friday.
Twenty-Nine entrants decided to take the easy free pass today and play Arizona who trounced a completely overmatched Buffalo team by 21, thrashing them 89-68....wait....what? Arizona got beat by Buffalo by 21!? Oh. LOL. I wonder how Sean Miller is taking it? At least now they have time to focus on a great off season full of rest and relaxation.
The last couple games of the night brought very little drama. Michigan pwned Montana advancing 22 brave souls and knocking out no one. And Florida and my Louisville coaching search man crush advanced 34 combatants while sending 10 people home who backed St. Bonaventure, the only team that brought a blemish to an otherwise undefeated day for Catholicism...seriously, just a day of domination by Catholicism. Villanova, Gonzaga, Seton Hall, and Loyola all move on, Catholicism hasn't dominated like this since the Middle Ages.
All in all it was a pretty good first day. In the last couple years the entries have been spread thin on the opening weekend, so no one game blows stuff up quite like a few years back. But, Day 1 still found a way to knock out 131 of the 485 entries, meaning 27% of the entries are already dead. Not so easy after all is it! Buckle in boys and girls, because we've only just begun!
Oh, and here's a nifty little infographic brought to you by BryanH that illustrates who people have erroneously put their trust in...oh Arizona:
LEADERBOARD
DAY 2 PICK FORM it's all the way at the bottom...
Day 1 is in the books. Two years ago we got to 260 entries, which seemed pretty cool. Last year it grew to 357 entries, which was even better. But, this year we all came together, we worked hard as a community, and we were able to do even better - 485 entries for a prize pool just shy of $10,000. Really, I'm a little disappointed a few of you didn't buy some last minute entries to make sure we hit five figures.
With 20 picks on Rhode Island and 21 on Oklahoma we were guaranteed to lose some people in the first game of the day. It was a pretty exciting match up between a team that had a 2-8 record since February 1st, and a team that got beat by 30, at home, on their own Senior night, by a team with a losing record two weeks ago. In other words, it's the kind of dream match-up you only find in a Championship crowning single elimination tournament. Trae Young wasn't able to knock down contested 45 foot jumpers, so Oklahoma's offensive gameplan didn't work out today and Rhode Island moved 21 people on with 7 tiebreaker points.
In other early games Tennessee destroyed Wright State which left 34 people advancing while thinking, "Did I just burn my Tennessee pick too early?" while one person, Jim Uhl, was left thinking, "Maybe Wright St. was a bad choice." Meanwhile, Gonzaga escaped by 4 in a game where literally no one picked against them, advancing 15 entrants that had far more anxious moments than they expected today. And, Kansas got lucky and ran into the first Ivy League tournament team ever that couldn't make free throws. This allowed the Jayhawks to walk away with a win that advanced three entrants who apparently have no concern for tiebreaker points or having the Jayhawks available next weekend.
The second session kicked off with everyone's favorite double digit seed, Loyola and no one's favorite 6 seed, Miami. Loyola was among the most popular picks of Day 1 with 39 people unable to resist the allure of those 11 tiebreaker points. Alternatively, Miami captured the hearts of a mere 9 entries. But what those 9 entrants, and Jim Larranaga, didn't account for was the level of scouting that Loyola did on each and every opponent. And in the end, Loyola walked away with an easy two point win.
Oh, also, Duke destroyed Iona advancing 7 people that probably wanted to burn Duke before they face Michigan State. Ohio State also advanced 38 participants that took a stand against South Dakota St. and THE DAUMINATOR. That's right, THIS GUY is one of the best offensive players in the tournament...but, his 5 threes weren't enough and, to add insult to injury, now they have to return to South Dakota. Seriously, they're the only team in America that's disappointed that they have to spend less time in Boise, Idaho. And, Seton Hall knocked out the 8 entrants that trusted NC State and helped 19 combatants to advance.
The third session highlight was obviously Houston v San Diego State. If you were planning on starting a March Madness boy band, and really, who isn't, you should have started with this game. It featured the perfect leading man, Max Montana, with a perfect stage name and those delightful curls. More importantly it also featured a tough, but adorable, bad boy in Rob Gray. He sports a man bun and gets plenty of street cred for being a rule breaker that even served a suspension this season. He must have done something pretty tough and bad ass. Oh, and he's also ok at basketball. Houston won by 2 advancing 34 entries while Rob Gray broke the 12 hearts that picked SDSU.
Villanova also destroyed Radford. Kentucky got extraordinarily lucky and advanced 41 contestants who felt UK could not possibly beat any team in the tournament other than Davidson. Six beautiful souls picked Davidson, they may have lost their entries, but they earned my love and respect. And, Texas Tech pulled out a late win over Stephen F Austin moving on another 28 warriors.
The final set of games kicked off with Alabama knocking out Virginia Tech and sending yet another ACC team packing, they also sent 22 participants home while advancing 13 others to Friday.
Twenty-Nine entrants decided to take the easy free pass today and play Arizona who trounced a completely overmatched Buffalo team by 21, thrashing them 89-68....wait....what? Arizona got beat by Buffalo by 21!? Oh. LOL. I wonder how Sean Miller is taking it? At least now they have time to focus on a great off season full of rest and relaxation.
The last couple games of the night brought very little drama. Michigan pwned Montana advancing 22 brave souls and knocking out no one. And Florida and my Louisville coaching search man crush advanced 34 combatants while sending 10 people home who backed St. Bonaventure, the only team that brought a blemish to an otherwise undefeated day for Catholicism...seriously, just a day of domination by Catholicism. Villanova, Gonzaga, Seton Hall, and Loyola all move on, Catholicism hasn't dominated like this since the Middle Ages.
All in all it was a pretty good first day. In the last couple years the entries have been spread thin on the opening weekend, so no one game blows stuff up quite like a few years back. But, Day 1 still found a way to knock out 131 of the 485 entries, meaning 27% of the entries are already dead. Not so easy after all is it! Buckle in boys and girls, because we've only just begun!
Oh, and here's a nifty little infographic brought to you by BryanH that illustrates who people have erroneously put their trust in...oh Arizona:
2018 NCAA Survivor Pool Leaderboard
Alright gang, the leaderboard is live!
2018 NCAA Survivor Pool Leaderboard
I'll be updating this as picks come through all weekend. Few frequently asked questions that I get throughout the weekend:
2018 NCAA Survivor Pool Leaderboard
I'll be updating this as picks come through all weekend. Few frequently asked questions that I get throughout the weekend:
- If you lose early today, you can re-enter as long as there is still a team left to pick. However, you have to have a winner at some point today! No jumping in with two picks tomorrow or something.
- Before asking me if I got your pick, check the top row, where I'll be keeping track of when the last time I updated the leaderboard.
- As usual, if you want to change a pick for a game that hasn't started, just resubmit. I do update picks that are on the leaderboard if the game hasn't started yet. (Only applies for the first two rounds of course.)
- Check the Payouts tab on the link above to know what the current pot is sitting at. I may adjust the splits, but more than likely, I'm just keeping last year's splits.
Sunday, March 11, 2018
2018 NCAA Tournament Survivor Pool
(Entry forms are at the bottom for both Thursday and Friday....now onto the annual tale of the birth of the Survivor Pool)
The year was 2010, and the Ides of March were upon us. The elder brother awoke in a cold sweat. He looked to the clock with eyes accustomed to the night, 3 am. He sighed. Another nightmare. Each March these horrors descended upon him. He was haunted by a sense of dread and emptiness, by a feeling that there was something more. Something just waiting to be discovered to make the lives of everyone around him complete. An end to the suffering and injustices his people endured each year.
He tossed and turned, but once again sleep would evade him.
In a neighboring kingdom, the younger brother slept well that night. And, while his brother awoke listless, the younger brother had less of a dream, and more of a vision. The following day he awoke overtaken by a sense of calm and understanding...And, he knew he had the answer they had been yearning for.
For as long as anyone could remember The NCAA Tournament was wagered upon in one way: filling out brackets. The single greatest spectacle in sports, a 64 team single-elimination blowout, was turned into a glorified lottery. Since the dawn of man this is how it had been, and in the eyes of many...including the corrupt sheriff, this is how it would, nay, how it SHOULD always be. Yes, throughout the years some foolish souls had brought up alternatives. But, they were typically hung in the town square for witchcraft. The brothers saw others endure this fate, yet they persisted, knowing in their hearts that their mission was pure and noble.
When the younger brother spoke to his elder the next day he spoke of his vision. The black crow flew low against a red sky, the sun was rising, the day was born anew. He realized this could mean only one thing.....instead of filling out brackets people should make one selection each day in an NCAA TOURNAMENT SURVIVOR SHOWDOWN!
And, that's why, eight years ago, much to the chagrin of the evil sheriff, we hastily threw together the greatest pool ever - The NCAA Tournament Survivor Pool! Years ago we thought we had maxed out when we had over 100 entries. Boy were we stupid. A couple years back we eclipsed 200 entries and the winner walked away with $2,000. Last year we had 359 entries and a total prize pool of $7,180! Each year more people awaken to the Survivor Pool Revolution. Burn down your brackets and pick up your...Survivor Pool! Tell your friends, tell your family (even that one super creepy uncle...you know the one), and let's get this thing started.
As always 100% of the entry money is paid out...we just run this pool because no one else has ever come up with anything this awesome for us to enter...
SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT RULES:
The year was 2010, and the Ides of March were upon us. The elder brother awoke in a cold sweat. He looked to the clock with eyes accustomed to the night, 3 am. He sighed. Another nightmare. Each March these horrors descended upon him. He was haunted by a sense of dread and emptiness, by a feeling that there was something more. Something just waiting to be discovered to make the lives of everyone around him complete. An end to the suffering and injustices his people endured each year.
He tossed and turned, but once again sleep would evade him.
In a neighboring kingdom, the younger brother slept well that night. And, while his brother awoke listless, the younger brother had less of a dream, and more of a vision. The following day he awoke overtaken by a sense of calm and understanding...And, he knew he had the answer they had been yearning for.
For as long as anyone could remember The NCAA Tournament was wagered upon in one way: filling out brackets. The single greatest spectacle in sports, a 64 team single-elimination blowout, was turned into a glorified lottery. Since the dawn of man this is how it had been, and in the eyes of many...including the corrupt sheriff, this is how it would, nay, how it SHOULD always be. Yes, throughout the years some foolish souls had brought up alternatives. But, they were typically hung in the town square for witchcraft. The brothers saw others endure this fate, yet they persisted, knowing in their hearts that their mission was pure and noble.
When the younger brother spoke to his elder the next day he spoke of his vision. The black crow flew low against a red sky, the sun was rising, the day was born anew. He realized this could mean only one thing.....instead of filling out brackets people should make one selection each day in an NCAA TOURNAMENT SURVIVOR SHOWDOWN!
And, that's why, eight years ago, much to the chagrin of the evil sheriff, we hastily threw together the greatest pool ever - The NCAA Tournament Survivor Pool! Years ago we thought we had maxed out when we had over 100 entries. Boy were we stupid. A couple years back we eclipsed 200 entries and the winner walked away with $2,000. Last year we had 359 entries and a total prize pool of $7,180! Each year more people awaken to the Survivor Pool Revolution. Burn down your brackets and pick up your...Survivor Pool! Tell your friends, tell your family (even that one super creepy uncle...you know the one), and let's get this thing started.
As always 100% of the entry money is paid out...we just run this pool because no one else has ever come up with anything this awesome for us to enter...
SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT RULES:
- You are allowed UNLIMITED entries
- Entries are open until the tip of the last game on day one. Even if you have 50 entries already you can buy more until that game tips off
First, remind me of all the links and stuff I need. I’m going to ask about it, so just put it up here.
Good call. Here’s a quick reference for all the links you should need:
Entry Fee: $20/entry (no limit on entries per person, buy 2, buy 10, hell, buy 20, I might.)
- Website: tourneypools.blogspot.com – the leaderboard and all updates will be posted here. If you have a question where ANYTHING is, go here before asking, because odds are it’s here.
- Entry Form: Embedded in the bottom
- Email: tourneypools@gmail.com – I’m constantly monitoring this and can get back to you fairly quickly. I ask that you do not send questions asking if I got your pick or payment. If you see an error, then send me a question - 99% of the time it's something I screwed up.
- Paypal ID: tourneypools@gmail.com
- Venmo ID: tourneypools@gmail.com - Venmo is basically Paypal for people who are somehow to slow on the uptake to figure out Paypal. You really have no excuse anymore. It's an app you can get on your fancy smartphone.
Wait wait wait, before you start into your convoluted rules, did you change anything? I played this stupid game last year, so just give me the changes so I can get on with my day!
Ok ok no need to yell here. There's nothing new here other than bad jokes. Just scroll to the bottom and enjoy the show!
As usual, do not email, text, call, direct message, or facebook message me picks. I will ignore them.
And with that, now to the rules proper…
Rules
- Choose one team each day that you think will win for that particular day.
- If your team wins, congrats, you move on to the next day of picks (assuming you can still pick a team. If not, see next rule). If not, you are out. If you forget to pick one day, you will receive the “best” team available to you in the last set of games. The “best” team will be determined by whatever spread I find first, probably Bovada.
- Once you have a chosen a team, you cannot choose that team again for the rest of the contest. If you use Kentucky to beat Davidson in round 1, you cannot use Kentucky again for the remainder of the tournament. If you ever get to a point where you cannot pick a team b/c you have used all the teams playing that day, then your entry will be treated like an entry who could pick that day and lost.
- This comes up every year as a point of contention, but just to reiterate – even if someone does not have a pick, you still have to pick correctly for that day to finish ahead of them. Picking to the point where you run out of teams is an acceptable strategy.
- Multiple entries are allowed – buy early, buy often
- How to submit picks:
- Every day, I will create a Google form that will be used by participants to choose their team for that day. The first day will ask for a handful of information. Subsequent days will not ask for as much info. Trust me when I say all info is necessary.
- Subsequent days will only ask for your entry name and your pick. Entry names will be in a drop-down list, so simply find your remaining entry (or entries) name(s) and then make your selection.
- If you want to change your pick for a day, just use the same form and pick again. I can see timestamps on my end, and I’ll just take the latest one.
Deadlines
- Day One purchase and pick deadline is prior to tip for the last set of games of the evening, which usually occurs around 10:30 PM EDT. If you lose at noon, go ahead and rebuy on day one - you will not be alone. AGAIN YOU CAN RE-BUY UNTIL THE LAST GAME TIPS OFF ON DAY ONE!!!
- Daily pick deadlines for rounds 1 and 2 are prior to tip for the last set of games for that day. For the Sweet 16 and later, the deadline is prior to tip of the first game of the day. Each form will have the deadline on there.
Winner/Tiebreaker
The order of finish is first determined by the total number of winning picks made. In the event of a tie, the tie will be broken in the following manner…
- Highest combined total of all seeds selected
- Ex: You and I get knocked out on Day 6. Because I’m awesome, I had that 12 seed that won in round one. My combined seed picking total is 28, and yours is 26. I win.
- Highest individual seed selected, and then second highest individual seed, etc.
- Ex. You and I get knocked out Day 6, but both of our combined seed totals are 28. I had my 12 seed, but your highest seed you picked was a 10 seed. I win again. (This was the tie-breaker we had to get to in 2012, so make sure you UNDERSTAND THIS RULE.)
- Highest individual seed selected by round, and then second highest individual seed by round, etc.
- Ex. You and I get knocked out Day 6, both of our combined seed totals are 28, and we have happened to have every seed we’ve chosen be the exact same. However, you picked a 10 seed to win in round 1 (which they did), but I had my 10 seed to win in round 2 (which they did). Once again you lose. You’re really bad at this. (If you don’t understand this rule, that’s fine. Odds are it will not come in to play.)
- If this does not result in a tie being broken, the pot will be split evenly.
Payment
- Entry cost: $20
- Money must be in my grubby hands in some form before you make your pick. The pool was big enough last year that I feel like I can big-time you all like this. You can do this one of three ways:
- Venmo - Venmo is a nifty app that lets you quickly send payments to people. You don't even have to worry about commissions. It's basically Paypal for dummies. My Venmo ID is above.
- PayPal – Still the easiest to track and you don’t have to track me down. The paypal ID is above. In addition, when paying on PayPal, CHOOSE THAT IT IS A PERSONAL PAYMENT! Otherwise, PayPal will take a commission. If you do not have a PayPal account, sign up now so it can check your bank account. Again, this is the preferred method of payment. Not only does it guarantee I get the money, it also GETS YOU PAID FASTER IF YOU WIN!!!
- Find me or one of my designated trusted goons (whoever told you about this pool is probably one of them) and physically hand one of us cash or a check. I literally have to have the payment in my hand. Do not call me and say “I’ll get you Sunday.” Not happening. Unless that Sunday is the Sunday before the tournament starts.
- Payouts will be determined at the end based on number of entries. We will not pay out beyond 7 spots.
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
2018 NCAA Conference Tournament Picks and Payouts
As promised, here's a graphical breakdown of everyone's picks as well as payouts. Let's get the payouts out of the way...
1st - $650
2nd - $280
3rd - $120
4th - $70
Ok, let's see how people picked...
A-10 - Davidson ends up just barely most picked with 20.7% of the picks. VCU ends up 2nd probably b/c they're just a name people know. Shaka Smart is still in Texas everyone.
ACC - When a top 10 team gets a six-seed in any tournament, they're gonna be popular. UNC appears on more entries than any other team
Big 12 - Just like the conference itself, this graph is a mess. West Virginia slightly leads what is one of the more wide open affairs this weekend.
Big East - I'm shocked more people didn't pick Villanova. I guess some people thought Dougie McBuckets never left Creighton.
Mountain West - Kinda surprised there weren't more Nevadas given that they're a Top 25 team and one of the heavier favorites. Lot of people went 5+ here after presumably picking every other conference and then realizing I made them learn who Fresno St. was again.
Pac-12 - Another mess, probably b/c again, nobody knows about the conference and its a shitshow anyway. Nobody picks USC, who has a cakewalk to the finals.
SEC - Not too surprised to see BBN as the most popular SEC pick given just how bad the 4 line seemed to be this year. However, you can't feel great about that pick with the news that top freshman Michael Porter Jr is coming back for Mizzou, who is more than likely UK's first opponent.
1st - $650
2nd - $280
3rd - $120
4th - $70
Ok, let's see how people picked...
A-10 - Davidson ends up just barely most picked with 20.7% of the picks. VCU ends up 2nd probably b/c they're just a name people know. Shaka Smart is still in Texas everyone.
ACC - When a top 10 team gets a six-seed in any tournament, they're gonna be popular. UNC appears on more entries than any other team
Big 12 - Just like the conference itself, this graph is a mess. West Virginia slightly leads what is one of the more wide open affairs this weekend.
Big East - I'm shocked more people didn't pick Villanova. I guess some people thought Dougie McBuckets never left Creighton.
Mountain West - Kinda surprised there weren't more Nevadas given that they're a Top 25 team and one of the heavier favorites. Lot of people went 5+ here after presumably picking every other conference and then realizing I made them learn who Fresno St. was again.
Pac-12 - Another mess, probably b/c again, nobody knows about the conference and its a shitshow anyway. Nobody picks USC, who has a cakewalk to the finals.
SEC - Not too surprised to see BBN as the most popular SEC pick given just how bad the 4 line seemed to be this year. However, you can't feel great about that pick with the news that top freshman Michael Porter Jr is coming back for Mizzou, who is more than likely UK's first opponent.