2015 NCAA Champions
(34-4) #1-South (Houston, TX)	Duke University Blue Devils (35-4) 5th Title: '91, '92, '01, '10, '15
2015 Winningest Conference
	The Atlantic Coast Conference (17-5) 4th Time: '04, '05, '10, '15

Monday, April 6, 2015  
Issue # 14.6.2 "Undefensable"
[ Home | Blog  | Twitter | Facebook | Updates ]

EL SEGUNDO/CERRITOS, CA (smt)- Maybe the one-and-done team people should've been worried about was #1S-Duke, not #1MW-Kentucky.  The Blue Devils' freshmen scored 60 of 68 points in their come-from-behind-aided-by-a-few-calls-here-and-there 68-63 win over #1W-Wisconsin.  With the Badgers up by 9 at 48-39 and Duke sitting  out Justise Winslow and Jahil Okafor due to foul trouble, 6'-4" guard Grayson Allen turned up the heat scoring Duke's next 8 points and he and fellow frosh Tyus Jones (game high 23) took command with a 27-10 run.  Wisconsin's Sam Dekker picked the wrong time to have an off-game missing all six of his 3-pointers.  While the Badgers benefited on a shot clock violation no-call that wasn't reviewable in their win over Kentucky, they were on the wrong end of a stepping out-of-bounds no-call that wasn't reviewable late in the game.  Add in a tipped ball out-of-bounds that somehow refs never got to see during their review, the disparity in foul calls in the 2nd half, and the fact my 3-year daughter kept chanting "blue, blue, blue" instead of "red, red, red" like I told her to do, the Duke conspiracy theories are all atwitter.  But Duke's tenacious defense never let Frank Kaminsky feel comfortable in the 2nd half and when Wisconsin needed quick baskets in the last minute, it took 10+ seconds to get a play off as Duke didn't let them penetrate the key for a quick shot.  As long as I don't have to hear "The Duke Univeristy" or "Dukkies", I'll be content.

As for the pool, Duke was picked by 8 people and 5 of the 8 ended up in the money.  Darryn B (Big Luther) becomes our second 2-time pool champion and netted our 5th highest point total ever with 155.   Patrick N (PRIDE OF TROY) picked up his 3rd win and first in 9 years.  First-timers Stephanie J (Dance Time Boyz) and Mike W (Wuk3) placed 3rd and 4th with the latter winning the tiebreaker over Man V (Will I Ever Win This) who gets his first win in 17 tries (one of our original 12 in '95).  Man, who had an 8-point lead at one point, managed to stay in the money despite not getting any finalists correct.  The $125 he won is still less than the $170 he's put in though.  Byron W (Flying Ace) who was notorious in finishing in the bottom half each year has now won money two years in a row (did not play in '14).

With Duke winning, the ACC picked up its 17th win which meant 7 were vying for the $40 Bonus.  Well, for only the second time, we have a split prize and Jonathan P (Patton) and Nicholas S (Nwspring) were both just a point off the 131 total points in final.  The $20 they each won ties our lowest payout ever ($20 for 3rd in '95).  The 8 payouts this year ties '12 when there was a split for 6th place.   

 

Prize	Winner	Nickname	Pts (Place)	Money Won	Yrs in Pool (#Ent)	# Times Won (Total $)
1st	Darryn B	Big Luther	155 (1)	$640	14 (19)	2 (1st '03, $920)
2nd	Patrick N	PRIDE OF TROY	148 (2)	$330	12 (12)	3 (4th '05, 4th '06, $515)
3rd	Stephanie J	Dance Time Boyz	138 (3)	$225	1 (1)	1 ($225)
4th	Mike W #3	Wuk3	137 (4)	$170	1 (3)	1 ($170)
5th	Man V	Will I Ever Win This	137 (5)	$125	17 (17)	1 ($125)
6th	Byron W	Flying Ace	136 (6)	$80	15 (15)	2 (4th '13, $210)
Bonus (Tie)	Jonathan P	Patton	129 (11)	$20	4 (4)	1 ($20)
Bonus (Tie)	Nicholas S	Nwspring	120 (44)	$20	4 (4)	2 (3rd '12, $210)

We are now on Twitter (@HWCI_Pools).  Please follow!  I will post using #hwcincaa mini-updates during the day so you can follow without being on Twitter (and if you are, please use #hwcincaa).  Please join our Facebook HWCI NCAA Pool Group or post comments on our blog.   

   Tids & Bits - the ACC and Big 10 are now 17-5 and 12-7, respectively... 127 entries have reached 100 points... of the 107 prizes given out, only 9 have been won on a 2nd or 3rd entry from a person (8.4%)... 26 people have won more than once (3 have won on two different entries (e.g., 1st and 2nd))... 21 have won on their 1st year (18 if you don't include '95; just 7 since '02)... the $80 6th place prize is greater than 1st place in our first year ('95 - $70)... the 64.3% winning pct overall is the best since '09 (67.5%)... the 110.6 average points overall is the best since '09 (118.8)... 308 people have submitted 408 different entries (57 entries have participated in 10+ years; 131 in 5+ years)... the $20 for Bonus ties the lowest amount won (3rd '95)... a total of 1,720 entries means people have won $17,200... Big Luther's 155 points is the 5th highest total ever... 7 got total points in final correct... Flying Ace was the only entry to get both finalists and the champion correct...

--------
Another disappointing ending for The Bracket Awakens...
Scott