Thursday, March 17, 2016  **LUCK OF THE IRISH**
Issue # 3.1.1 "We Missed You 12, Not So Much the Pac 12"
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CERRITOS/LOS ALAMITOS, CA (smt)- The 12 seed is a favorite upset pick but last year, in a rarity, all four #12 seeds lost.  This year, they are 2-for-3 as #12MW-Little Rock came back from 13 down with 3:19 left to win in 2 overtimes and #12W-Yale beat a top 25 team for the first time since 1952.  Plus the Bulldogs did us a favor so we didn't have to see those awful neon #5W-Baylor uniforms.  I thought my daughter marked our TV with a highlighter.  The 12s weren't the only ones to come back with vengeance as the #9 seeds were shut out last year and are now 3-for-3 with #9MW-Butler, #9S-UConn, and #9E-Providence winning.  The latter  benefited from #8E-USC missing two front ends of a 1-and-1 and inexplicably allowing an open man under the basket with 3 seconds left for the game-winning shot.  While #1E-UNC had only a one point lead at halftime, they pulled away in the second half and fellow 1 seeds MW-Virginia and S-Kansas (105 pts) had easy victories.  #4W-Duke, #4MW-Iowa St, #3S-Miami, #5E-Indiana, #3MW-Utah, #11S-Wichita St (another First Four team who wins a 2nd game, 6th straight year), #11MW-Gonzaga, and #4E-Kentucky were challenged but pulled away.

The Pac 12 imploded going 1-3 with only Utah winning (all 7 teams are top 8 seeds) while the ACC went 3-0.  There were untimely technicals, airballed free throws, final drives where the driver lost the ball, and clutch shots.   The Zags won for the eighth straight 1st round game despite not always getting a high seed.  And we'll get the rivalry game back, Indiana v Kentucky.

In the pool, 66 started 4-0, 4 started 8-0, two were 12-0 but only The Resistance (32 pts) managed to go a perfect 16-0, just the sixth person to do so.  With 7 upsets, Shooters (who also won the first 15 games), BamaG 2, and Taylor Swift still went 15-1.  No one lost their champ while three lost a finalist.  Three went just 8-8.  As for the pool, our 22nd year unofficially has 149 entries, which is short of last year's record of 161 but still our 2nd highest total.  More details to come but if you can see everyone's bracket now.

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.  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.). 

   Tids & Bits - Duke's Grayson Allen hit more free throws (15) than #13W-UNC-Wilmington combined (14)... Utah's Jakob Poeltl had more rebounds (18) than #14Mw-Fresno St combined (15)... #6MW-Seton Hall's Isaiah Whitehead tied a record going 0-for-10 from 3-point range... Arizona only had 19 points at halftime... assuming 149 entries, 53 picked Michigan St to win it all while 45 picked Kansas; 11 other teams were picked...  a round of up the First Four will be early next week or you can find out who won now... 

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I could probably retire now, 16-0 is nice...
Scott