Monday, March 11, 2002                     
Issue # 1.0.1 "The Amazing Race..."
http://www.HWCI.com/ncaa

CERRITOS/EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt)- Like last year when two Big 10 teams (Michigan St. and Illinois) lost in their tourney and got # 1 seeds, Maryland and Kansas were rewarded for losing their last game by getting the #1 seed in the East and Midwest, respectively. Duke (South) and Cincinnati (West) got the other two #1 seeds. Winthrop improves from the 1st-ever 65th team last year to 63rd and will play Duke (poor guys).

Again, a 65th team was awarded and again, we won't care. A new quirk in the selection process was that regional 1st/2nd round sites were matched with local high-ranked teams. So instead of the city of Sacramento hosting eight teams in the West Regional, they'll host four teams in the Midwest Regional (with #2 Oregon) and four teams in the South Regional (with #4 USC, as in Southern Cal, not South Carolina). This'll give several teams home-court advantages of sorts, and could affect predicting which teams will win... which brings us to...

Drum roll, please, as we are proud to present the 8th Annual HWCI NCAA Tournament Pool. Fifteen people correctly picked Duke to win it all last year but only four came away with any money with Robinson C. taking home the $280 first-place prize, our largest ever. A record 54 people (59 entries) tried their prediction skills with most getting burned by an upset-minded first round and Stanford's Elite 8 loss to Maryland.

So now it's time to use your jedi mind tricks on this year's tournament, with no clear-cut #1 team. How does Gonzaga, the No. 6 team in the nation in the latest poll, get just a #6W seed (the same seed as Bobby Knight's Texas Tech team in the East)? At least Pepperdine (#10MW) got in. Who would've thought at the beginning of the season UCLA *and* Stanford would both be #8 seeds? Will #2W-Oklahoma show #1W-Cincinnati it deserved the #1 seed after knocking off Kansas? Well, you have until 9 am Thursday to make up your minds. Because this is no ordinary pool... this is the Amazing Pool.

WHAT: 8th Annual HWCI NCAA Tournament Pool
RECRUITING INCENTIVE: One free entry for every five referred entrants
DEADLINE: 9:00 a.m. PST on Thursday, March 14, 2002
ENTRY FEE: $10.00 per entry (max 3 entries per person)
PREV CHAMPS: 2001- TEAM SAMURAI, $280.00 (59 entries)
* 2000- MORALES' MOUNDS, $180.00 (36 entries)
* 1999- SHARY BOBBINS, $180.00 (36 entries)
* 1998- ANNA COME LATELY, $150.00 (28 entries)
* 1997- MAX, $125.00 (22 entries)
* 1996- JAYBIAN, $110.00 (19 entries)
* 1995- BIX PIX, $70.00 (12 entries)
RULES: Check http://www.HWCI.com/ncaa for more info
ARCHIVE: Check http://www.HWCI.com/ncaa/2001 for last year's pool
* Check http://www.HWCI.com/ncaa/2000
* Check http://www.HWCI.com/ncaa/1999
* Check http://www.HWCI.com/ncaa/1998
FORUM: Click on Discussion Board at http://www.hwci.com/ncaa
NOTES: All fee money goes back into prizes
-4 winners, roughly 50/25/17/8% breakdown
-Set points are awarded per game (2/3/4/6/8/12 for the 6 rnds)
-No one has gone 16-0 on either of the 1st Round days
-Only 2 people (all last year) have picked all 4 Final Four teams
-Just 48 of 212 entries have picked the correct champion
-Points possible: 196
-Most points ever: 148 by BIX PIX in 1995
-Least points ever: 62 by BETHEON in 2000

So, send in your:

- Full name
- Nickname
- Email or phone # (contact info)
- Final game total score
- NCAA Champion
- Runner-up
- Final Four losers (Round 5)
- Round 4 (Elite 8) losers (4 teams)
- Round 3 (Sweet 16) losers (8 teams)
- Round 2 losers (16 teams)