Sunday, March 20, 2022 
Issue # 5.2.2 "Big Ten Implodes"
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LAZY DOG, CERRITOS, CA (smt) - After #11S-Michigan won yesterday extending the Big Ten's win streak to six, they could only watch as #4S-Illinois, #7S-Ohio St, #7W-Michigan St, and #3MW-Wisconsin fell in four consecutive games to start the day.  But #3E-Purdue salvaged the Big Ten day by going on an early 20-0 run and hitting 33 of 46 free throws to beat #6E-Texas.

Illinois had pulled within four (46-42) on a fast break dunk but RJ Melendez was called for a technical for hanging on a rim to protect himself.  #5S-Houston hit the free throw and went on a 19-7 run to blow the game open to make their third straight Sweet 16 (complete with shirtless coach).  Ohio St missed two front ends of a one-and-one and hit just 1 of 7 shots after rallying from 15 down to get it down to 2 as #2S-Villanova survived.  Michigan St went on a 13-2 run to go up by 5 late but #2W-Duke rallied back, going on a 15-4 run themselves and hit 7  free throws in the final minute to win by 9.  Playing near home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin was just 1 of 21 on threes at one point (before a meaningless three with seconds left) as #11MW-Iowa St went on a 9-0 run after the Badgers went up 28-27 and never looked back in reaching their first Sweet 16 since '16.

#10MW-Miami (FL) never trailed and took a one-point halftime lead to double-digits to beat #2MW-Auburn by 18.  #3W-Texas Tech hit 13/14 free throws in the 2nd half to make their 6th Sweet 16.

#9S-TCU had #1S-Arizona on the ropes thanks to 20 offensive rebounds and went on a 12-0 run after being down by 9 (67-58 to 70-67) but the Wildcats came up with two big threes to tie it at 75.  TCU's last possession had them lose the ball at midcourt (refs were allowing them to play) and Zona had a break for a dunk but was a fraction of a second short (no buzzer beater again).  In overtime, Arizona was the one to get 3 straight offensive rebounds to go ahead by 3 and then another with 14 seconds left off a missed shot for a dunk to put Zona up by 5.  My favorite player is now TCU's Eddie Lampkin Jr as he was everywhere and had 20 points and 10 (!) offensive rebounds (he just can't hit free throws and was just 4/10).

Mia Culpa and Frost Toasted (15th-Tied, 76 pts) went 7-1 with the former now taking the lead with 85 pts and the latter the only one to go 12-4 for the round.  Carseroni (83) is 2nd with Pac-10 Rules!, Lady Chocoholic, and Wuk#2 tied for 3rd (81).  Jouez Bien (165th, 54) and LABuckeye (168th, 49) got just 1 of 8 correct with the latter the only one to get just 3 of 16 2nd Round games correct.

With the 2nd Round over, we now know which entries are still alive (to finish in the top 7 prize slots) and who can win the pool.  59 entries were eliminated leaving 110 still alive.  66 can still win the pool with Mia Culpa the best chance at 22.8%.  Eight have a better than 1 in 4 chance to win money.  Suznana is tied for 35th (73) but is eliminated while Buccos 3 is tied for 161st (56) but can still finish 6th.  FrankFromSeattle is tied for 15th (76) but can't win the pool while Orange Crush is tied for 129th (63) but can still win the pool.

Later this week, the prize distribution will be announced as well as for the 59 eliminated entries, can they still win the Bonus?

We are now on Twitter (@HWCI_Pools) and Discord.  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 - 5 picked Miami, 6 Iowa St, 86 Houston (most popular #5 pick), 120 Purdue, 136 Texas Tech, 139 Nova, 150 Duke, and 168 Zona... CrazeyJaney (69th-T, 69) was the only one not to pick Arizona... 16 are tied for 69th with 69 points... entries got an average of 4.79 games correct today and 8.4 wins for the round... Miami had just 4 turnovers and only 7 in 2 games... the Big 12 is 9-4, the ACC 7-2 (6-2 in proper 64), Big Ten 9-7 (8-6 in proper 64), SEC 4-5, Big East 5-4, American 3-1, WCC 3-2, Pac 12 4-1, Atlantic 10 1-2, and MWC 0-4 (0-3 in proper 64)... of the 48 games, just four were one possession losses (not including regulation tie of an overtime game) (Creighton by 3, Miami by 2, and Illinois and Michigan St each won by 1)... Mia Culpa, Carseroni, and Pac-10 Rules! can get a max of 155 pts while Free From Gators (161st-T, 56) can only get 72... six lost Auburn as their champ while Alyonushka (121st-T, 64) lost Illinois and ChasCroix2 (15th-T, 76) lost Wisconsin... my All R Picks R Dead (129th-T, 63) is dead while The Perfect Fabone (69th-T) has a 2 in 32,768 chance to win 7th (ugh)...

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If you are going to track me, can the March Madness Live app at least remember what I have watched and show different commercials every time?..
Scott