Friday, March 22, 2019 [Rev A]
Issue # 3.1.2 "ZOT! ZOT! ZOT!"
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GOLETA/CERRITOS, CA (smt)- The lone local team, #13S-UC Irvine, rallied with a 17-4 run to put away #4S-Kansas St to reach the Round of 32.  UCI was just one of 8 upsets on the day with #12S-Oregon, #9S-Oklahoma, #9MW-Washington (and their relentless defense), and #9E-Central Florida (with great name and player Tacko Fall) winning comfortably and #10S-Iowa (over hometown crowd #7S-Ciincy), #12E-Liberty, and #11MW-Ohio St pulled out close wins.  #1 seeds struggled with infamous #1S-Viriginia going down 30-16 to #16S-Gardner-Webb, but the difference from last year to this year is that De'Anndre Hunter wasn't injured and scored 23 points in helping rally from a 5-point halftime deficit with a 25-5 run to start the 2nd half.  #1MW-UNC also was down 5 at the half to #16MW-Iona but broke from halftime on a 25-7 run to win easily.  #1E-Duke fell behind by 7 early to #16E-North Dakota St before scoring 54 points in the 2nd half.  #3W-Texas Tech, #6W-Buffalo, #3MW-Houston, and #4E-Virginia Tech won easily but #2S-Tennessee trailed 52-50 but held on to win by 7. 

The Big Ten went 7-1 overall with #5S-Wisconsin the only blemish.  The Pac 12, with all 3 teams seeded 9 or worse, rebounded nicely from the past two horrible years with all 3 teams winning once but First Four winner #11aW-Arizona St lost meaning it was the first time in the 9 years of the First Four that at least one First Four team did not make the 2nd Round (#11aE-Belmont lost Thursday).  All four #9 seeds, three #10 seeds, three #12 seeds, and one #11 and one #13 made the 2nd round.  Only one game (Ohio St-Iowa St) was decided by 3 points or less and just 3 of 32 games were decided by one possession.  11 games were decided by double-digits meaning 19 of 32 were big blowouts. 

Buckeye Mike, ZQUEEN (curiously picked #13E-St Louis), Kai Pomeroy, StayingUpLate, and Rat Pack lead with 54 points.  Maitai is last with 26 points and sets a record low (previously was 30 by Quickpick McGraw in '08 and AsherPrancerVixen in '12).  Kai Pomeroy, MMMtheBOSS (14th-Tied, 50) and Rat Pack went 15-1 for the day while Maitai went 6-10 and has lost all just 1 of 4 Final Four teams (Bradley, Utah St, Arizona St, and Purdue) and 45 of 8 Elite 8s.  144139 still have their Final Four intact and 11694 have all 8 Elite 8 teams alive.

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 tandem of RJ Barrett (26) and Zion Williamson (25) combined for 51 points... Belmont has won 21 in a row... UCI has won 17 in a row... Miss St missed their last 6 three-point shots while Liberty hit 12 of 25... forgot to mention that my son Tama Spency Boy (14th-T, 50) was actually tied for first on Thursday...at least one #11 team has won in 15 straight tournaments... typed this last update:  will popular upset picks Liberty, UC Irvine, or Oregon fulfill their destiny?  ANSWER:  Yes, Yes, and Yes... 96 picked UCF, 80 Oklahoma, 68 Oregon, 66 Washington, 56 UCI,  46 Ohio St, 32 Iowa, and 35 Liberty... top 14 seeded teams still alive (Kansas St was #15)... while 5 were tied for first on Thursday, only ZQUEEN stayed on top with 9ers in '20 (14th-T), Fake News (35th-T, 48), SlumDawg (14th-T), and Tama Spency Boy falling... the ACC went 5-2, the SEC 5-2, the Big 12 4-2, and the American (AAC) 2-1...

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Wife's (SpAva) alma mater UCI victorious and rewarded tied for 6th (52 pts)...
Scott