EL SEGUNDO/CERRITOS, CA (smt)- Only one game was decided by three points or less as 14 favorites rolled into the 2nd, er, 3rd round.  The two upsets were by #12S-VCU, who did the First Four-to-Final Four last year as an 11 seed, held off #5S-Wichita St. Shockers and by #11S-Colorado of the much-maligned Pac-12.  #6W-Murray St, #4E-Wisconsin, #3W-Marquette, #1S-Kentucky, #7E-Gonzaga, #8S-Iowa St (knocking off defending champ #9S-UConn), #4S-Indiana, and #2E-Ohio St rolled to easy victories while #1E-Syracuse, without Fab Melo, needed some luck and calls to prevent becoming the first #1 seed to fall in the 1st, er, 2nd round.  #8E-Kansas St, #4W-Louisville, #5W-New Mexico (knocking off local team #12W-Long Beach St), #5E-Vandy (knocking off darling #12E-Harvard), and #3S-Baylor held off stronger than expected opponents.  The one close game I did manage to see was Colorado changing tactics and nearly blow a 20-point lead but luckily #6S-UNLV decided to change tactics after getting within two and losing their momentum.  Of course, for some reason, the March Madness Live app does not work on the latest Android OS (Ice Cream Sandwich) which sucks.

For the 9th straight year, the number of entries increased in our pool as we set a new record with 132 133 (134 received) entries from a record-tying 98 99 people.  This is still unofficial but thanks to all for participating.  Fifty-one picked Kentucky while 25 picked #1MW-UNC to win it all.  Sixteen teams were picked to be champs with Melo-less Syracuse only picked by three and #2W-Missouri picked by 11.  With 132 133 entries we will again have six prize slots and the Bonus prize.  Full details and prize breakdown in the middle of next week.

Michael C (aka, Swerveman) won the 2nd HWCI NCAA First Four For Charity contest by going 4-0 and winning the tiebreaker with Albert H (aka, Bracket Buster).  With 26 entries, we raised $52 for the Rice Around the Clock team participating in this year's American Cancer Society's Relay for Life in Alhambra (drop by on June 2nd if you like!).  But it gets better as contributions from Bob S (aka, Shibai44), Devon K (aka, $lumdog), and others will increase the contribution I'll make at the end of this tourney.  Thank you!

   Tids 'n' Bits- 25 people entered more than one entry with 16 entering twice and 9 entering the max three times... we introduced payment through the Discover or Chase phone app and six entries were paid that way... the lowest seeded teams picked to win it all were #8-Kansas St (Bob Gnarly) and #7W-Florida, by of course, Gator Glory... 5 got no love as all 132 picked against them... the two entries we had to remove were A Cinderella Story (got confused on our website, entered but backed out) and Ana2Vader, which is an awesome nickname, who never responded to how he would pay [3/16- After being Sherlock, I found an email that Ken B would be paying for him, so he's reinstated and we have 133 entries]... we appreciate everyone's loyalty as 32 entries have been with us for at least 10 years and 70 for at least 5 years... we had 17 new entries and 11 new people so welcome!... DeLisa S (Dancemom) and Joseph G (Kyliaar) are returning for the first time since 2006... the Big East went started 4-0 and ended 4-2 with five three more teams playing tomorrow... after 2 Kentuckys faced each other (KY-W KY) we will have two Ohios (OSU-Ohio) tomorrow...