CERRITOS, CA (smt)- As if nothing better to do, the NCAA Committee has eliminated the traditional geographical regional names and replaced the each regional by their host city. For simplicity, I'll still be using the traditional names for the regions (Midwest = St. Louis, South = Atlanta, West = Phoenix, and East = East Rutherford). And if you don't know that St. Louis is Midwest and Atlanta is South, that probably just means you went to high school in the U.S. The Committee also ranked the four #1 seeds officially for the first time. So Duke's loss in the ACC Final likely gave #1MW-Kentucky (26-4) (who was ranked #8 in the AP poll prior to this week) the top ranking with #1S-Duke (27-5) second, followed by #1W-Stanford (29-1) and #1E-St. Joseph's (27-1). The surprise of St. Joe's keeping their #1 seed despite losing their opening conference tourney game (ending the perfect season) reminded me of a question a reporter asked st. Joe's coach earlier this year- something like if you go undefeated this year, do you think you'll get a #1 seed? No respect. No respect for #3E-Pitt, whose last second shot that didn't fall pushed them down to a #3 seed and to the Milwaukee, WI pod- and a likely matchup with #6E-Wisconsin in the 2nd Round. #2MW-Gonzaga got some respect. But the last time Gonzaga wasn't a Cinderella, it was upset in the 1st Round.

A decade of tournament pool frustrations. It's our 10th Anniversary of the first HWCI NCAA Pool. We hope you will join us in our pool and maybe you'll win some money out of it as well. Darryn B. won the $280 top prize last year, our 9th different person to win 1st place.

This seems to be one of the toughest tournaments to read. Stanford and St. Joe's, despite being undefeated for most of the season, didn't scare anyone. Duke and #2W-UConn, top picks to begin the season, have struggled. Only 3 teams each made it from the Big 10 and Pac 10 and just 4 in the Big 12. A very odd season.

So go ahead and fill out your bracket. For the past two years, there is no local team to root for (is Nevada the closest team?). So no loyalties mean you can pick with a good conscience.

WHAT:        10th Annual HWCI NCAA Tournament Pool
RECRUITING
INCENTIVE:   None (but still recruit!)
DEADLINE:    9:00 a.m. PST on Thursday, March 18, 2002
ENTRY FEE:   $10.00 per entry (max 3 entries per person)
PREV CHAMPS: 2003- BIG LUTHER, $280 (63 entries)
             2002- THE FABON8ER, $400 (80)
             2001- TEAM SAMURAI, $280 (59)
             2000- MORALES' MOUNDS, $180 (36)
             1999- SHARY BOBBINS, $180 (36)
             1998- ANNA COME LATELY, $150 (28)
             1997- MAX, $125 (22)
             1996- JAYBIAN, $110 (19)
             1995- BIX PIX, $70 (12)
RULES:       Check http://www.HWCI.com/ncaa/rules.html for more info
ARCHIVE:     Check http://www.HWCI.com/ncaa/history.html
FORUM:       Click on Discussion Board at http://www.hwci.com/ncaa
NOTES:       All fee money goes back into prizes
             At least four winners (top prize about 40-50%)
             Set points are awarded per game (2/3/4/6/8/12 for the 6 rnds)
             Two went 16-0 on the first 1st Round day in 2003
             Only 2 people (both in 2001) have picked all 4 Final Four teams
             Just 66 of 355 entries have picked the correct champion
             Points possible:   196
             Most points ever:  148 by BIX PIX in 1995
             Least points ever:  49 by GOBAY, HENDO in 2002  

     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)

via email to ncaa(at)hwci.com or enter online at http://www.HWCI.com/ncaa/entry.html. You can also fax your entry to me at (707) 221-2715. Make arrangements (such as PayPal) to send in your $10 entry fee(s) by March 19th. Complete rules and daily pool information can be found on the official site: http://www.HWCI.com/ncaa.

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Cheers!...
Scott