2012 HWCI NCAA Pool Update|
The 18th HWCI NCAA Tournament Pool |
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2012 HWCI NCAA Pool Update |
Sunday, March 11, 2012 Issue # 1.0.1 "The Pool is Legal - 18 and Counting" [ Home | Blog | Facebook | Updates ]
CARSON/CERRITOS, CA (smt)- #1S-Kentucky (#1 overall), #1E-Syracuse, and #1MW-North Carolina all lost in their conference tournament but had long secured the #1 seed. The final game of the season saw Michigan St. win the Big Ten (with 12 teams) and nab the last #1 seed (West). Once again, we have 68 teams and hopefully the top seeds will do better than last year, when no #1 or #2 seed made the Final Four. Thanks to #11E-Colorado's surprise win of the re-branded yet dreadful Pac-12, the Pac-12 got two teams in (#12MW-Cal in the First Four game) but not its regular season camp, Washington -- the first time a power conference did not get its regular season champ in the tourney in the expanded bracket age. The Big East got 9 teams in with the Big Ten (with 12 teams) and the Big 12 (with 10 teams) getting six each. The power conferences only got 26 of the 37 at-large selections. #2MW-Kansas is the only team to be in each of our 18 pools. I actually like this new format (though it is more of a headache in executing the pool), especially being able to see all 67 games live (no waiting for CBS to belatedly switch to an exciting game).
Our HWCI NCAA Pool has reached adult-hood as this is our 18th year of keeping hope alive amidst this sluggish economy. It seems hard to beat last year's record of 125 entries (and record top prize of $515) but we've increased the number of entries for 8 straight years to defy the odds. Like last year, despite the expansion to 68 teams, our bracket and pool remains the same. Still $10. Deadline is still 9 a.m. PDT Thursday. Same point system. What will change? The #12MW team will be called "Cal_USF", the #14W team will be called "BYU_Iona", the #16S team will be called "MVS_WKU", and the #16MW team will be called "Lam_Ver". Pick as usual. If the winner of Cal-South Florida changes your mind, for example, then you can either update your bracket or email your change (easier to email one or two changes than resubmit a bracket). So you can pick as early as NOW or wait until the last minute. The only minor change, one no one cares about until the last weekend, is the "Winningest Conference" Bonus. What prints out when you submit your bracket may change depending if South Florida (Big East) wins its First Four game. Since the Big East has 9 teams, it's likely the Winningest Conference will be the Big East, so we your total may be bumped up if you have South Florida going past the 2nd Round.
Please join our Facebook HWCI NCAA Pool Group or post comments on our blog. 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.). The Discussion Board is now retired as an old relic.
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 $10.61 (61 cents in PayPal fees... damn them!)). Now, you can send money via your smartphone and pay no fees! Use Discover Money Messenger (your Discover app) or Chase Person-to-Person QuickPay (your Chase app) and send your $10 (per entry) to "hwci<at>hotmail.com" -- just make sure you put your NAME and NICKNAME in the notes section.
, Roy W. won first place in his 10th year, taking home a record $515, thanks to being one of only 2 people to pick UConn to win it all. Last year we received a record 125 entries from 97 people. WHAT: 18th Annual HWCI NCAA Tournament Pool DEADLINE: 9:00 a.m. PDT on Thursday, March 15 ENTRY FEE: $10.00 per entry (max 3 entries per person) PREV CHAMPS: 2011- KRISPY KREMER, $515 (125 entries) 2010- BLUE DEVIL BLUES, $500 (117)
2009- BIZARRO LARZBY, $495 (114)
2008- BELUCKY2, $440 (101)
2007- VAN&SAM, $450 (98)
2006- GATORS NEVER CHOKE, $415 (85)
2005- FLIP FIGHTERS, $400 (82) -- repeat winner
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/2012/history.html
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; if>=125 entries, 6 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, One did in 2009
Only 21 people (1 in 2009, 12 in 2008, 6 in 2007, 2 in 2001) have picked all 4 Final Four teams
Just 159 of 1,156 entries (13.8%) 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 16th. Complete rules and daily pool information can be found on the official site: http://www.HWCI.com/ncaa.Tids & Bits - When in the bracket form page, if there's a red
X or if the java applet fails to load, click here to download and install the Sun Java Runtime Environment... the ACC got 5 teams while the SEC, Atlantic 10, and Mountain West each got 4... the West Coast Conference got 3 while Conference USA, Metro Atlantic, Missouri Valley each got 2... #3MW-Georgetown, Kansas, #7S-Notre Dame, and #5E-Vandy have each lost to a team seeded 5 spots lower than they were the past two years with Kansas seeded #1 both years and Vandy losing to a #12 or #13 the last 3 times they made the tourney... my son's ala mater (well, he goes there for preschool) Long Beach St. made the tourney, making it almost a given to pick them into the 3rd round... #12E-Harvard (Is Jeremy Lin-sanity dead?), #15E-Loyola (Maryland), #14S-South Dakota St (the state's first-ever entrant, leaving Maine and Alaska (which has no Division I team) as the last states with no reps), and #15W-Norfolk St. are making our tourney for the first time, with the later two making the tourney for the first-time ever... #12MW-South Florida could join the group (proper 64) by winning its First Four game... interesting that Pac-12 regular season champ Washington wasn't even in the four teams that just missed out (Oral Roberts, Miami, Nevada, and Drexel) -- talk about East Coast bias... North Carolina leads with 5 teams with California, Kentucky, and New York each being represented by 4 teams each... the Great West conference is still in provisional stage, so no automatic bid... #16S-Western Kentucky was 9-18 before winning six straight and is the only team with a losing record (13-18)... the team WKY faces in the First Four is Mississippi Valley St. who were 1-11 before winning 17 straight conference games and ended the season 21-12...
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