2018 HWCI NCAA Pool Update

TENN AND HOUSTON SHOCKED BY LAST MINUTE BASKETS
M Star shoots back to top as 18 go 7-1

CERRITOS (smt)- We got our first true buzzer-beater as a great designed play got the ball to Jordan Poole who fired off a spread-eagled three before the buzzer and nailed it to give #3W-Michigan a one-point 64-63 victory over #6W-Houston. Houston missed both free throws before the play and couldn't extend a two-point lead with 3.6 seconds left and they did not guard the inbound pass (I thought the famous '92 Duke buzzer-beater made teams start to guard the inbound pass). that wasn't the only late-game drama as #11S-Loyola-Chicago blew a 10 point lead with 4 minutes left and trailed by 1 with 21 seconds left. Clayton Custer took an off balanced jumper that hit the front of the rim, then the backboard, and then into the rim with 3.6 seconds left to give the Ramblers a 63-62 win over #3S-Tennessee. The Vols, with no timeouts, took the inbound and actually had a great look at a 3 that was just long. The South has now lost its #1, #3, and #4 teams. Watch out #2S-Cincinnati.

#5S-Kentucky (ending game on 21-6 run after #13S-Buffalo got within 3), #1E-Villanova, and #2MW-Duke dominated second half for an easy win while #1MW-Kansas, #4W-Gonzaga, and #3E-Texas Tech all held on to narrow wins. Six top seeds won today.

M Star was one of 18 to go 7-1 today to take the lead with 75 pts. Wuk2 and Bwakewey 1 are 3 pts behind. Pitino's Pit of Misery, Notcraig, Billiam, Bob's Best Bets, and The Swami used their 7-1 run to move into a tie for 4th (71). The lowest entry to go 7-1 was Walkure Ga Tomaranai who went from a tie for 157th to a tie for 132nd. Five went 3-5 including iWillLose who sits in last (41). Just 18 picked Loyola-Chicago and 52 Kentucky. Just six had Tennessee in the Final Four and Gators Ragnarok (143rd-T, 53) lost his champ Florida (it's always Florida but it has paid off twice) and Tennessee in the Final Four. Everyone still has at least 2 Final Four teams left. We Fam! won the first six games moving from 104th to 35th at one point before settling at 59th-T (63).

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Tids & Bits - In the proper 64, the SEC is 7-5, the Big East is 5-3, the Big 12 is 6-3, the ACC is 6-4, and the Big Ten is 5-1 ... Three have only 3 of 8 Elite 8 teams remaining while 8 have lost half their Final Four... no one has all 16 teams intact (8 have 14 of 16), six have all 3 Elite 8 teams alive, and 28 have their Final Four intact... Gonzaga won their 16th straight... for the first time in forever, we have two entries that picked the exact same 63 games (they differ only in tiebreaker total points in final) -- CryingJordans and AlfordBlows (12th-T, 68) will forever be tied together... Bwakewey 1 and Bwakewey 3 (12th-T, 68) can each get a max of 173 pts while LuteLuteLuteLute (157th-t, 46) can only get a max of 99 pts...

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The following takes place between 9 am Saturday and 9 am Sunday. Events occur in real time.

There have been at least three other 3-pt made before the buzzer (in meaningless games) such as Bucknell and Seton Hall (vs Kan) which made 4-point margins closer than they really were...
Scott