CERRITOS, CA (smt)- Since our $1 million earmark for an HWCI NCAA webpage refresh did not go through (why did the other 8000+ make it?), we decided to it ourselves.  Sort of.  The blog we started last year is now going to be our homepage with a little (that's all we could afford ;-)) pizzazz thrown in.  As always, you can reach it by going to http://www.hwci.com/ncaa.  We will probably have the old pages up as a backup, so you'll be able to access both ways.  Let us know if you like or don't like the new look.  Also, due to the recession, we will keep the entry fee at 10 bucks! (Of course, it's been 10 bucks every year we've done the pool, but details, details...). 

The last time we had a recession the number of entries actually shot up but went down after the recession (the only time the number of entries has dropped, year-to-year), but we'll see what happens this year.  If number of entries goes up, we'll stay in a recession, if it goes down, we should be exiting the recession :-) 

Back to the NCAA tournament!  Louisville as the top #1 seed?  Memphis # 2?  Three Big East teams as #1s?  Six Pac 10 teams?  Only 4 non-power at-large bids?  Should be an interesting tournament.  A year after all #1 seeds finally made the Final Four, this year could be unpredictable.  Louisville (MW), Pitt (E), UNC (S), and UConn (W) secured the #1 seeds pushing Memphis to #2 in the West.  Locally, UCLA dropped to #6W (and has to go to all the way to Philly), rival USC was placed as a 10 seed (MW), and CSU-Northridge is also in the West as a 15th seed. 

The surprises in the conference tourneys (such as USC, Mississippi St., Temple) reduced the number of available at-large spots to the bubble teams.   Which means no Arizona for the first time in 25 years.  Or it should've been.  Arizona (#12S) was picked over teams like St Mary's, Creighton, San Diego St., and Penn St.  Kentucky didn't make it meaning only 'Zona and Kansas have been in our bracket all 15 years. 

Also new this year in the pool is the Facebook HWCI NCAA Group.  Here you can join the group and meet your competitors, make new friends, set up NCAA watching gatherings, and post stuff to the wall (pictures, witty comments, etc.).  Also, you can be friends with "Hwci Ncaa" (if the link doesn't work, search for "HWCI NCAA" or "[email protected]").  Mr. Hwci Ncaa will also pick up the blog automatically. 

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. We are accepting PayPal (check or PayPal funds only) to "hwci<at>hotmail.com" or credit card PayPal payments to "smt0222<at>yahoo.com" (but the entry fee is $10.59 (59 cents in PayPal fees... damn them!)).

Last year, Cliff T. won first place, a nice $440, thanks to Kansas' amazing comeback in the championship game.  Last year we also topped 100 entries (101) for the first time and so we added a 5th place prize. 

WHAT:        15th Annual HWCI NCAA Tournament Pool
DEADLINE:    9:00 a.m. PDT on Thursday, March 19, 2009
ENTRY FEE:   $10.00 per entry (max 3 entries per person)
PREV CHAMPS: 
             2008- BELUCKY2, $440 (101 entries)
             2007- VAN&SAM, $450 (98)
             2006- GATORS NEVER CHOKE, $415 (85)
             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/wordpress/?page_id=43 for more info
ARCHIVE:     Check http://www.HWCI.com/ncaa/2009/history.html
FORUM:       Post at http://www.hwci.com/forum/phpbb3/viewforum.php?f=7
BLOG:       Comment at http://www.HWCI.com/wordpress  
NOTES:       All fee money goes back into prizes
             At least four winners (top prize about 40-50%) (if >=100 entries, 5 winners)
             Set points are awarded per game (2/3/4/6/8/12 for the 6 rounds) (no upset weighting)
             Two went 16-0 on the first 1st Round day in 2003
             Only 20 people (12 in 2008, and 6 in 2007) have picked all 4 Final Four teams
             Just 116 of 800 entries have picked the correct champion
             Points possible:   196
             Most points ever:  166 by VAN&SAM in 2007
             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 Thursday AM). 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.

    Tids & Bits:  The first bracket in our pool was created an hour before the selection committee made their announcement.  Via weighted random picks, all 63 games were picked with the winner being Region 3's #1 seed (beating Region 2's #2 seed).  The bracket will be entered later tonight under PRE-SELECTION PICKS and it'll be my ten bucks (the winner can thank me later)... interesting that Stanford was 10-0 outside the Pac 10... also interesting was St. Mary's scheduling a game this week to show that Patty Mills had recovered from his injury -- it worked but it wasn't enough (boo, Arizona!)... Losses by 6 of the top 8 teams (only Louisville and Memphis won their tourney) in conference tourneys allowed other teams to make their case... only 4 non-major teams were selected as at-large bids (there were 12 in 2004) makes the BCS seem generous... UNC picked up a record 13th #1 seed... UConn may be in the West, but both titles have come after being placed in the West Region...  it's crazy the in the Big East tournament, a team could conceivably play 5 games in 5 days; of course with the OT's, Syracuse effectively played nearly 4 games in 3 days and last year, Georgia actually played 3 games in 2 days... the Big 10 (er, 11) got 7 teams in with Penn St. just missing, the same # of teams as the Big East and the ACC.  The Pac-10 with only four locks as of last week got 6 teams in as did the Big 12.  And the SEC only got 3 (which should've been 2 before Miss. St.'s win), the same as the Atlantic 10...