MERCED/CERRITOS, CA (smt)- Ohio St. is the #1 team in the country and they're the 3rd #1 seed. UCLA loses two straight to non-tourney teams and gets to stay in California til the Final Four. Memphis, with a 22-game win steak, gets a #2 seed despite only beating up on teams from Conference USA, of which they are the only qualifier. Just about every "Texas" team made it (North Texas, Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Texas A&M Corpus Christi). The Pac-10 gets six teams while the Big-12 only gets four. For the first time, the NCAA tourney will take place in Daylight Savings time (for those who observe it). The NCAA reverts back to the traditional regional names (vs. Cities the past 3 years) for the four regions and then assigns Florida to the Midwest and Ohio St. to the South. And you wonder why our children don't do as well in school.

Not only did the mid-majors get overlooked, but there will be no Syracuse or Kansas St. (well, they have Bob Huggins as coach) as well. Defending Champ Florida is the overall #1 seed while North Carolina (E) is the second #1 seed leaving Kansas (W) as the last #1 seed. Interestingly, all the #1 seeds won their conference tournament (though it was admitted that Kansas still would've been the #1 seed if they lost in the final). Duke still gets respect despite losing three in a row by maintaining a #6 seed, but this is still one lower than Butler (#5), of all teams! And Gonzaga could've missed the tourney if they didn't win the WCC- what would a tourney without Gonzaga be like (especially to mess up our brackets by doing good when they should be losing and losing when they should be doing good)? Oh, and where's last year's darling George Mason?

Just three teams have made the tourney in all 13 years of the pool- Arizona, Kansas, and Kentucky. Kentucky has never lost in the first round during the pool years (12-0) while Penn is 0-7 in the first round. The Wildcats also have the most wins with 36 (average of 3 per year). North Carolina is hit-or-miss as they have either failed to make the Sweet 16 (5 times) or advanced to the Final Four (5 times) in their 10 appearances. Duke had averaged a #2 seed (1.9) in their 11 previous appearances.

You can mail your entry fee (email me for snail mail) or give your $10 (per entry) to someone who will give the money to David or Scott. Despite the PayPal threat, we are still accepting PayPal (check or PayPal funds only) to "[email protected]" or credit card PayPal payments to "[email protected]" (but the entry fee is $10.61 (61 cents in PayPal fees... damn them!).

Now, for those who need hope, Ken B. never finished higher than 50th place for the previous five years before winning the largest pot ever at $415 last year. John C. finished 60th or worse in 3 of the previous 4 years before winning 3rd ($140). So hang in there (enter twice if you like)...

WHAT:        13th Annual HWCI NCAA Tournament Pool
DEADLINE:    9:00 a.m. PST on Thursday, March 15, 2006
ENTRY FEE:   $10.00 per entry (max 3 entries per person)
PREV CHAMPS: 2006- GATORS NEVER CHOKE, $415 (85 entries)
             2005- FLIP FIGHTERS, $400 (82)
             2004- FABIO, $370 (79)
             2003- BIG LUTHER, $280 (63)
             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/2007/rules.html for more info
ARCHIVE:     Check http://www.HWCI.com/ncaa/2007/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) (no upset weighting)
             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 96 of 601 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  

Enter online now! You can also fax your entry to me at (720) 368-0816 or email us for a snail mail address (postmarked by Thurs AM). Make arrangements (such as PayPal) to send in your $10 entry fee(s) by March 16th. Complete rules and daily pool information can be found on the official site: http://www.HWCI.com/ncaa.