The 16th HWCI NCAA Tournament Pool |
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Sunday, April 4, 2010 Issue # 15.5.2 "Our Pool Reaches Maturity" [ Home | Blog | Facebook | Updates ]
SWEET 16TH A COMING OUT PARTY FOR AT LEAST THREE
A sweet look back at our 16 years
CERRITOS, CA (smt) - Well, this is interesting. Everyone is using the David vs. Goliath analogy and who can blame them? Horizon League #5W-Butler Bulldogs against the mighty ACC #1S-Duke University Blue Devils. Either it'll be a hard-fought defensive game or it'll be a rout. But Butler is playing five miles from home though Duke will be the home team. And anyone that is not a Duke alumni will be rooting against them. The tournament began with the mighty Big East and its 8 teams and quickly fizzled out while the mid-majors snuck five teams in the Sweet 16. Only half the top seeds made the Elite 8. It's been that type of tournament.
We will have a 15th different champion in 16 years as either You're My
Boy Blue or Blue Devil Blues
will win not only the title but for the first time ever. Another
first-time winner, Hummeless, will also win money. If
Butler wins, The Pride of Troy! will win money for the 3rd time
(all 4th place finishes; '05 & '06) while Another Two-Peat ('06
Champ) will battle Jinx (3rd '06) for 5th. If Duke wins,
Eros will claim 3rd for her first win in 3 tries while
FOMI ('00 Champ) and Deemed to Win ('02 Champ, 3rd
'98, 2nd '99, 3rd '00, Bonus '03) will battle for the 5th and final spot.
Except for Eros, all possible winners have been in our pool at
least 7 years. 47-48 entries who will not finish in the top 5
have a chance for the $40 Bonus and will
rely on the total points in final as no one guessed that the Big 12/Big 10 (and
maybe the ACC if Duke wins) will be the winningest conference with 9 wins.
We have had 1,031 entries from 249 people in our 16 years of existence. In
sixteen years, the pool has steadily (and controllably) grown in size as friends
of friends refer friends. In fact, our longest Six Degrees of Scott
is: Steve W who knows David S who knows Roy W (Krispy Kremer) who
knows Leonard K who knows Jeff L j(#1) who knows me (Sweet
Fabone). Also, we have 28 online entries (9 new entries) from 22
people who, for some reason, trust us. And we have referrals from online
entries as well, which is even scarier! At the end of Monday, we will have
doled $1,170 to six people and closed out another three weeks of excitement,
frustration, cursing, and elation. A little history.... In 1995, the
first year of the pool, just 12 people entered in a modest effort put forth by
HW-UCLA and their close friends. Names like BAD ASS and LIVER
BOY graced the pool. Of course, their interest was heightened because UCLA
was favored to win it all. Indeed, 10 of 12 picked UCLA while 2 picked Kentucky.
This pool featured the infamous LOSER WHO DIDN'T PICK UCLA (Dennis K) who
set an all-time record (still stands today) with a 14-2 2nd Round to go from
tied for 9th to tied for 1st before going 0-7 in the final 3 rounds to finish
dead last (12th) with 98 points. TINA'S BOY (Mark C) became the first
person to be eliminated when the 2nd round ended. He was, however, one of only 3
people (all in 1995) to correctly pick the two teams in the final and the
champion prior to 1999. BIX PIX (Fernando B, 1st, 148) and MR. NELSON
(Nelson, 2nd, 146) were the other two and claimed the top two spots, winning $70
and $30, respectively. THE MIGHTY MOBELFAKTA (Dave F, 3rd, 141) claimed
third prize worth $20. All but one finished with 110 points or more, the highest
scoring pool ever (130.6 avg). In 1996, 19
people participated in the pool. Without the HW-UCLA guys picking nicknames, we
had some boring stuff like JAMES, JOSEPH, and HEATHER. That
year, the total points tiebreaker was first used to settle ties. A newcomer,
JAYBIAN (Jason S, 1st, 144) rode Kentucky to a first place prize of $110. He
also set a record going 8-0 for the 3rd round (still the only person today) and
never looked back. BIX PIX TWEY (Fernando B, 5th, 129), hoping to
duplicate last year's effort, fell short of winning money thanks to his loyalty
to UCLA. JOSEPH (Joseph K, 2nd, 140) and JAMES (James L, 3rd, 139)
won $50 and $30, respectively. Six picked Kentucky that year with just as many
picking UCLA (who lost to Princeton in the first round- ouch!). This was the
first year someone entered twice (Dave F) and ended up 11th (REALISTIC
MOBELFAKTA, 113) and 16th (THE MIGHTY MOBELFAKTA, 106). MM and
HATE THE DUCKS (Mark C, 12th, 112) became the 2nd and 3rd people to go
0-for-the- Final-Four. HATE THE DUCKS had a 64% chance of winning money
heading into the 4th round, and 0% chance after. THE CHEF (Douglas H,
19th, 80) set an all-time low in points for a pool at the time. In 1997, the
first real debate on whether to raise the pool fee to $20 from $10 was raised.
Fortunately, it was defeated in a vote. But, three people did plunk down $20 to
enter twice as 22 entries were received in the third annual pool. Like Dave F
before them, the three people went moneyless (Tuan H- RODERICK (15th, 97)
and RHODES (14th, 97); Alvin K- BAD ASS I (4th, 111) and BAD
ASS II (18th, 93); and Dennis K- LENNY (6th, 107) and DUKE
(12th, 99)). This was also the first year no one picked the correct NCAA
champion. Arizona, who usually bowed out in the first or second round, surprised
everyone, including Kentucky, in winning the championship in overtime. The #4-SE
seed beat three # 1 seeds, the first time that's happened. Twelve had picked
Kansas and four North Carolina, neither which made the championship game. MAX
(Sean D, 1st, 116) bounced back from a 15th place finish the year before to win
the $125 top prize. The Selander brothers took 2nd (Brian S, THE FLYING ELVI,
115) and 3rd (Jason S, JAYBIAIN II, 113) for $60 and $35, respectively.
Jason S became the first person to win money twice (1st in 1996). Todd S. (FRODO,
5th, 109) became the first person to lead going into the Final Four and end up
with nothing. Just half (11 of 22) finished 100 points or higher. In 1998, a
record 28 entries tried their luck. ANNA COME LATELY (Anna, 1st, 126),
the last entry we received, seemed like the least likely to win, picking a Utah
over UCLA final. Well, Utah surprised the 27 other entrants (no one else even
had them in the Final Four) and gave ANNA COME LATELY the record top
prize of $150. James L became the 2nd person to win twice taking the $70 second
place prize (CAVEMAN, 2nd, 113) while THE FABONE (Scott T, 3rd,
110) won money for the first time in four tries to take home $40. For the first
time, a 4th place prize was created and that went to SCOTTMAN (Scott H,
4th, 108), which was also the first time the tiebreaker played a part in the top
spots as he won the 4-way tie for 4th place. With Kentucky's rally and win over
Utah in the final, this was the 2nd straight year no one picked the champion.
Sixteen pegged UNC while five hoped for an Arizona repeat. UTHOPE (Donald
G, 24th, 92) became the 4th person to go 0-7 in the last three rounds. ANNA
COME LATELY's 13-point win was the largest margin of victory ever (still
stands today). Tuan H once again entered twice with the same results- no money (STRAIGHT
BUTTER, 10th, 106 and EN FUEGO, 13th, 104) extending the drought for
dual entries to 0-for-5. In 1999, a
record 36 entries (18 NCAA pool newcomers, 13 pool newcomers if you include
those who participated in the World Cup Pool) were received with two dual
entries (Scott T- THE FABONE V and FREE FABONE and Gareth M-
CARSERONI and MAJERUS FOR SDSU). This was the first year the referral
program was in effect (free entry for 5 referrals). Mark C (DARKSHARK)
became the first person to go 0-for-7 in the Final Four twice (1996). SHARY
BOBBINS (Lisa T, 1st, 146) and CARSERONI (Gareth M, 3rd, 120) became
the 12th and 13th different people to win HWCI NCAA pool money. Scott T (FREE
FABONE) and Gareth M (CARSERONI) broke a streak of winless dual
entries with a 2nd and 3rd Place finish in one of their entries. James L (BIG
GAME, 5th, 117) bid to go 3-for-3 in winning money came falling down with
Duke's stunning loss. Three of four people who picked UConn (29 picked Duke) to
win it all won money. Rob C (LUIS ENRIQUE'S ARMADA, 11th, 113) became the
first person to pick the correct champion and lose out to someone who didn't
(where the correct champion was picked). Fernando B (BIG SPIDER BECK,
4th, 118) had just a 4 in 132 chance to win money and took 4th, his second
winning entry ever. Loretta A (TRUE BRUIN, 36th, 67) finished with
all-time record low in points at the time. In 2000, a
record-tying 36 entries once again tried their luck as 14 newcomers entered. Sam
N (MORALES' MOUNDS, 122 pts) became the sixth different champion after
finishing 26th and 31st in the previous two years. He became the first person to
either be tied or in the lead after each of the six rounds. After a record
breaking first round that saw two people get 30 of 32 first round games correct,
the brackets started to fall apart as no one got more than 3 of 8 Sweet Sixteen
games correct and eight people went go 0-7 in the Final Four (just six have done
so before (117 entries)). Just one #1 and one #2 seed advanced to the Elite
Eight. Dave F (THE MIGHTY MOBELFAKTA) returns to the winner's circle with
a 2nd Place finish. Scott T (THE FABONE VI) won money for a record third
straight pool. Beth S (BETHEON, 36th, 62) shattered the all-time low in
points at the time. Fourteen people pegged Michigan St. as the correct champion.
Craig E (CRAIGS99) won 4th place in his first pool. In 2001, a
record shattering 59 entries were received by 53 people (21 new people).
Robinson C (TEAM SAMURAI) won the biggest prize ever of $280 after
finishing 3rd to last (34th) last year. He entered three times and it worked.
Three others (Scott T, Mike K, Fernando B) went winless in both of their entries
after the last three people to enter twice won money (3-8 overall for those with
2 entries; Robinson is the first 3-time entry-er). Sam N (B-S FC), last
year's pool champion, and Dylan R (DYLAN) become just the 3rd and 4th
people to not get at least half the games correct. Four people went 0-7 in the
Final Four (just 18 people have done so out of 212 entries) with Donald G (UTHPOPE)
doing it for the second time (Mark C is the only other person with this dubious
distinction). On the flip side, two people (BINGO and PEEPS)
became the first-ever entries to predict all four Final Four teams correctly.
Eleven different teams were picked to be the champion with 18 picking Stanford,
15 Duke, and 8 Arizona. In addition to Robinson C, Lisa F (ARMIN TAMZARIAN)
won for the 2nd time. Bing F (BINGO) took 3rd in his second try and Sam P
(JAYHAWK FC) took home 4th. The top 13 finishers all had Duke winning it
all. In 2002, a
record breaking 80 entries were received. A hefty 80 entries from 71 people
including 29 new people and 42 returnees. Seven people entered twice and one
person entered 3 times but only Scott T managed to take home something, his
first pool title in 8 years (THE FABON8ER) and largest take ever, $400,
giving him a lifetime total of $590 and his 4th win (1 1st, 2 2nd, and 3 3rd
place finishes). Jeff H (RANDOM PICKS) had the largest 1st and 2nd round
leads ever (4 and 7 pts) and most pts after 2 rounds (90) but had to settle for
2nd. Ann B. (LITTLE ANN) and Paul N. (KAIZEN) took 3rd and 4th,
with the 4th Place prize of $70 matching our first ever 1st Place prize of $70
in 1995. In reference to quantity does not equal quality, Gabriel T (GOBAY)
and Dan H (HENDO) shattered records for lowest point total (49) and worst
2nd round (3-13). Gabriel also set records for worst 2nd Round Saturday (1-7),
worst record in 3rd round (0-8), worst record in last 4 rounds (0-15) at the
time. HENDO set a record for least wins (22) and lowest pt total after 2
rounds (45) (both still standing). Eight people failed to get half the games
right (just 4 in previous 7 pools) and eight went 0-7 in the last 3 rounds (just
18 in previous 7 pools). 22 entries chose Duke to win it all but all four
winners (out of 17) correctly chose Maryland. In 2003, with
the War in Iraq looming that week, 63 valid entries (including a record 47
returnees) from 58 people were received, our second highest total. With some
complaints that four prizes weren't enough, we institued our first-ever Bonus
Prize of $40 to the entry who picked the winningest conference and number of
wins correctly. This allowed 21 extra entries with a chance for money heading
into the Final Four. Scott T (THE FABO9ERS) won the prize (11th,
110), his fifth win, pushing his lifetime total to $630. Four people entered
twice and none won anything. Cliff T became the first person to enter twice and
have both of his entries eliminated after the 2nd Round. Darryn B (BIG LUTHER),
in his second pool, took home the first place prize of $280, our 9th different
pool champion. John S (MR. WIZARD) and Quang P (KRIMSONGUARD) took
home 2nd and 3rd, respectively, their first-ever wins, and the 23rd and 24th
different people to win money. Catrina B (BLUEBERRY) had a record-setting
perfect first day (16-0) but eventually lost her last 14 games and 26 of the
last 31 games to finish in 62nd place. John B (BLOOMERS123) also went
16-0 on the first day but finished 27th. Twelve teams were picked to win it all
but the overwhelming choices were Kentucky (32 entries) and Arizona (13) but
neither team made it to the Final Four. For the first time since the pool
started, 3 #1 seeds lost in the Elite 8, and for the second time, no #1 seed was
in the Final. With that disaster Elite 8 round, a record 26 entries went
0-for-the-Final Four, matching the previous eight-year combined total of 26 (in
292 entries). No one had more than 2 Final Four teams correctly picked. Robinson
C (TEAM SAMURAI, 63rd, 72) became the 13th entry to not get more than
half the games correct. Fern B (GALAXY, 5th, 117) missed money by one
point and became just the 2nd entry to get the correct champion (Syracuse) and
lose to someone who didn't pick the champion (in years where the correct
champion was picked). To add insult to injury, Fern also picked the tiebreaker
correctly (which means with one extra point he would have won 4th), just the
third person to do so. In 2004, our
10th anniversary, the pool bounced back and 79 entries were received from 70
people (7 dual entries, 1 3-entries), including a record 54 return entries. Once
again, none of the 8 people who entered multiple entries won money. Six
different people led after each of the first four days before Bing F (BINGO)
took over after Rounds 3 and 4. However, after Round 5, Jeff H (RANDOM PICKS)
took the lead pushing Bing F to no higher than 3rd and in the end, became just
the second person to lead going into the Final Four and wind up moneyless. For
the first-time ever, the pool champion was not crowned after Round 5 and we had
to wait til after Monday's game to find out who our Pool champion would be. It
was Rick F (FABIO) who took home the $370 top prize and became our 10th
different champion. Rick F and Darius B (OMG), who took 2nd Place, were
our 25th and 26th different persons to win money. Dave F (THE MIGHTY
MOBELFAKTA) took 3rd, his 3rd win ever (total: $230). Jeff H took the 4th
place prize of $80, his second win, pushing his win total to $280. Jeff H was
also just the third person to ever snatch a money spot away from someone who
picked the correct champion (he had Kentucky) beating David S (SHRINER,
5th) by one point. After eight winless years, Mike B. (BUCKEYE MIKE)
finally won something, taking home the $40 Bonus Prize. Fourteen different teams
were picked to win it all, but 2 of the top 3 didn't make it to the Sweet 16
(Stanford (21) and Kentucky (12)). Duke (16) lost in the Semis but eventual
champion UConn was picked by 11. Despite only one #1 seed making the Final Four,
17 entries got 3 of the 4 teams correct. Three entries got less than 32 games
correct (16 overall). Twelve went 0-for-the-Final-Four (64 overall). A record 5
people got the tiebreaker exact (just happened three times before). In 2005, the
start of our second decade, 82 entries from 73 people (both records) were
submitted, including a record 65 returnees. Of the eight who entered at least
twice, two won money. Robinson C became the first two-time HWCI NCAA Pool
champion (2001) winning with his FLIP FIGHTERS (140 pts) entry (his 2nd
of 3 entries) and taking home a record-tying $400, giving him a grand total of
$680 (record) over six years (16 total entries). Roy W entered twice and
won with his first entry, KRISPY KREMER, finishing 3rd in his 4th try.
First-time online entry Paul T (HOOPGURU) took home 2nd and Patrick N (KING
KLITSCHKO) took home 4th, winning a 3-way tiebreaker, in his third try.
All four entries (Robinson's 1st entry won last time) were first time winners
(the last time this happened was in 1996) and all four correctly picked UNC.
The three big teams from the ACC (UNC (19), Duke (11), and Wake Forest (8)) were
picked by a combined 38 entries compared to the 27 who picked Illinois to win it
all. Wake Forest was the only team picked unanimously to go to the Sweet 16, and
of course, they failed to do so. With Duke losing in the Sweet 16, that allowed
the Big 10 to have the most conference wins and for the first time, no one won
the Bonus Prize. That allowed the top 4 prizes to increase, satisfying the
winners. A record nine entries were still alive going into the Final and for the
second straight year, the pool champ was undecided. Also, for the first time,
not one entry was guaranteed money (only Chuck H's ACE OF SPADES could
win in either case but could lose on a tiebreaker, which he did (lost 3-way tie
for 4th) going into the Final). Despite just eight top seeds making the Sweet 16
and three making the Elite 8, a record 20 still managed to pick the final two
teams (just 25 in 434 previous entries). Four entries were below .500 (20
overall) and four went 0-for-the-Final-Four (68 overall). In 2006, our
website was down for almost 21 hours but that didn't stop us from receiving a
record 85 entries from a record 77 people (and a record 71 entries were
returnees). The Big East had a record 8 teams in the tourney but only
UConn (39) and Villanova (4) were picked to win it all. Duke (19) and
hometown UCLA (9) also were favorites. For the second straight year, none
of the record-tying nine entries were guaranteed to win money and for the third
straight year, the champion was not crowned after the semifinals. Taking home a
record $415 was Ken B (GATORS NEVER CHOKE) in his seventh try.
Other first-time winners included Jake P (LORENZO MATA) and John C (JINX)
who took home $200 and $140, respectively. Pat N (AGENT 86 OF CONTROL)
won 4th place for the second straight year ($95) becoming just the 10th multiple
winner in our pool (total: $185). No one won the Bonus for the second
straight year as the SEC (13), not the Big East, won the most games. For
the first time, no #1 seed made the Final Four but five still managed to pick 2
of the 4 teams. However, a record 41 went 0-for-the-Final-Four
(just 68 previously) (all-time low average of 0.58 of 4 teams) and nine were
below .500 (29 overall). An all-time low average of just 90.8 points were
won by our players. In 2007, travel
interrupted Scott & Dave in not getting the site ready til early Monday, but a
record 98 entries from a record 83 people (and a record 72 return entries) came
pouring in, including 58 on Wednesday alone. This was the year of records
as seven of the top 8 teams made the Elite 8. Van P (VAN&SAM) set
records for most points (166) and wins (55) and just missed a perfect Last 15
(perfect Elite 8 onward). She is the rare champion who won despite not
picking the NCAA winner because she had such a huge lead (the other three
winners had Florida as their champ). She won the first place prize of $450
before the Final , snapping a streak of three years where the winner wasn't
known before the Final. Ann B (THAI SPICE) took 2nd ($230) for her
second win and has won a grand total of $360. Troy B (SNOOP'S DOGS)
won for the first time (six years) in taking 3rd place ($155). Don C (DC944)
returned for the first time in three years and won 4th ($105). A
record-tying 17 entries were still alive going into the Final Four. Four
entries had a perfect Elite 8 (just one before) and six had a perfect Final Four
(just two before), and 17 had a perfect Final Two, but only VAN&SAM was perfect
in all three. The top two picks were Ohio St. (31 picks) and Florida (13)
and both made the Final. The pool entrants set records for the best 3rd
(70.8%) and 4th rounds (56.6%) ever. For the first time since 1996, the
average points went above 110 (121.9). On the other side, four went
0-for-the-Final-Four. The Bonus was tweaked to add a Bonus2, so that
someone will win the Bonus Prize of $40 but for the first time in three years,
someone correctly picked the winningest conference and wins (Wendy B (BUCKEYE23)
which was the SEC with 11 wins. In 2008, we
didn't have a website for almost six months as we lost our free hosting and now
had to pay for a server. We got the web up at the end of February and
added a blog. We received a
record 101 entries from a record-tying 83 people. Amazingly, 80 of the 101
entries were return entries. We had a record 3 people have triple entries
and a record 12 dual entries. We started off strong with 39 entries at the
end of Tuesday (including a record 19 on Monday) before slowing down to just
beat last year's total of 98. Doug H (JUNO INO) became the first
person to have a Perfect Final Four twice, and he did so in back-to-back years.
With all 4 #1 seeds making the Final Four for the first time (which helped set a
record of 2.52 wins in the 4th Round), a record 12 went 4-0 in the Elite 8 and
24 people were still in the running for money after the Elite 8. This was
partially helped by the new addition of a 5th place prize (since we had 100+
entries). The top two #1 seeds were UCLA (44 picked to win it all) and UNC
(30) but both lost in the semifinals. Kansas' amazing comeback win helped
Cliff T (BELUCKY2) become the first person to ever get a perfect
Last-7 (all four Final 4 teams + both finalists + champ). The overtime
added 17 points (total: 143) which was enough to give Bob G (COBI'S DAD)
the tiebreaker and 2nd place ($220) over Doug H (JUNO INO) who took 3rd
($150). The top 3 winners are all first-time winners (Cliff & Bob's 1st wins in
10 pools; Doug's 1st in five pools). Don C (DC944) won 4th place ($100)
for the second straight year (total: $205 in 3 pools) winning the tiebreaker
over Jeff H (U BETTA BELIEVE IT), who won for the 3rd time (total: $340
in 6 pools) in taking our first-ever 5th place prize ($60). Three of the 7 who
picked Kansas won money. The Jayhawk win gave the Big 12 12 wins for the
winningest conference title for the second time since 2003. Four people were
eligible for the $40 Bonus Prize which was won by Robby D (ARBEDYTHREE),
also a first-time winner (4th year). Jake P (QUICKPICK MCGRAW)
became the 114th entry to go 0-for-the-Final-Four and is the only entry
to ever tie or have the lowest win total in each of the six rounds. This
was the third straight year the NCAA Champ has come out of the Midwest Regional. In 2009, our
15th anniversary, we got a new look for the web, integrating our blog with our
homepage, which delayed the brackets until just past midnight Sunday. We
also created a HWCI
NCAA Facebook group and a person to connect with,
Hwci Ncaa.
Despite the dour economy (or maybe because of it), we got 114 entries (91 return
entries) from 98 people, all records. We started off slow with just 25
entries at the end of Tuesday but then we had a record 62 entries submitted on
Wednesday and another record 27 on Thursday. The Big East got a record 3
#1 seeds and a record 5 in the Sweet 16 but none made it to the Final.
However it was the non-Big East #1, UNC, which led the way with 36 picking the
Tar Heels to win with 3 picking Michigan St. Twenty-one picked Louisville,
18 picked Pitt, and 14 picked Memphis as 3 of the 13 teams chosen to win it all.
For the first time, at least one entry went perfect on the first day of the 1st
Round (Buckeye Mike (Mike B)), the first day of the 2nd Round (21 tied),
the first day of the 3rd Round (2 tied), and the first day of the 4th Round (5
tied). Also, two went 2-0 in the 5th Round and someone will pick the
correct champ. Rainman (Ford R) became just the 6th entry to have a
Perfect Elite 8 and Bizarro Larzby (Lawrence M) became just the 21st
entry to have a perfect Final Four. Bizarro Larzby used a perfect
Final Four to claim the HWCI NCAA Pool title (his first money spot in 6 tries)
($495) and our 14th different champion in the 15 years of the pool. He also won
with his 2nd entry, just the third time this has happened. Buckeye23
(Wendy B) won 2nd, her 2nd win (Bonus in '07).
AC (Adam C, 1st year) won 3rd ($170),
Rainman (2 years) won 4th ($115), and Buckeye Mike (14 years, $40
bonus in '04) won 5th ($70). Shake N' Bake (Kevin T) won
the $40 Bonus by guessing the Big East with 17 wins and being just two points
off the total points in final (161) tiebreaker, his first time in the
money in 4 tries. The average number of wins for the 2nd Round was 12.1
shattering the previous high of 11.1 in 1995. In 2010,
our Sweet 16th, we saw thanks to people who found us on the web to amazingly
increase our number of entries to 117 (91 return entries submitted by 93
people). We got an entry on Sunday for the first time since 2005 and got a
record 23 entries on Tuesday and 33 on Thursday morning. The Big East got
8 teams in but only one made the Elite 8. Just four of eight top seeds
made the Elite 8 (with overall #1 Kansas, picked by a record 64 entries, losing
in the 2nd Round, #1 Kentucky, picked by 23, losing in the Elite 8, and #1
Syracuse, picked by 8, losing in the Sweet 16). Only #1S-Duke, picked by
only 4, made the Final and faces mid-major Horizon League champ #5W-Butler in
the ultimate David vs. Goliath clash. No one picked more than 2 Final Four
teams, only 22 picked Duke to make the Final, and either 4 will have correctly
picked Duke to win it all or no one will have picked a champion for the first
time since 1998. The pool champion will be decided after the Final with
either You're My Boy Blue (Joe D) (2nd ($255) if Duke wins)
winning money for the first time in 7 years or Blue Devil Blues
(Kim B) (2nd or 3rd ($175) if Butler wins) will win money for the first time in
9 years and will become our 4th female champion ($500). Either way, it'll
be our 15th champion in 16 years. Hummeless (Kevin J)
will also win money (2nd, 3rd, or 4th ($120)) for the first time in 8 years.
If Butler wins, The Pride of Troy! (Pat N) will win 4th for the
3rd time ('05 ($90), '06 ($95), 8 years) and either Another Two-Peat
(Ken B) (1st '06 ($415), 11 years) or Jinx (John C) (3rd '06
($140), 11 years) will win 5th ($80), their 2nd win. If Duke wins,
Eros (Cynthia S) will win money (3rd) for the first time in 3 years and
either FOMI (Sam N) (1st '00 ($180), 13 years) or
Deemed to Win (Scott T) (3rd '98 ($40), 2nd '99 ($90), 3rd '00 ($60),
1st '02 ($400), Bonus '03 ($40), 16 years) will win 5th. Scott T's entry
is the only entry that is the 2nd or 3rd entry tried and John C and Sam N are the only
other people who submitted more than one entry
(18 submitted 2 entries and 3 tried the max 3)
. 47-48 still have a chance to win the $40 Bonus with the Total Points in
Final criteria as no one guessed the Big 10/Big 12 (and maybe ACC) was the
winningest conference with 9 wins.
The Pride of Troy! and Another
Two-Peat will try to become the first person since '06 (when #3-Florida
met #2-UCLA) to not get a Finalist correct and win money. A record 56 went
0-for-the-Final-Four (188 total). A record-low was set with the
average number of wins (35.0) and points (88.8). The latest daily pool information can be found on the official site:
http://www.HWCI.com/ncaa.
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What will next year bring?..
Scott