Great day for Duke haters

Incredibly, the second #2 seed went down this afternoon but it wasn’t that after 11 years since the last time a #2 went down, we now have had two, it was that it was Duke.  Duke University.  We’ve had two #2 seeds fall during our time doing the pool, in 1997 and in 2001, but those teams were #2 South Carolina and #2 Iowa St, not exactly powerhouses.  Same with Missouri earlier.  What a great day to watch upsets, not so for my (or your) bracket.

After 12 games today, Larzby has built a four-point lead going 24-4.  The last five games have been upsets and we have six today.  AsherPrancerVixen is in last going just 13-15 thus far.  Dr Fun and SlackJaw were the only two to pick Lehigh, or probably more likely, against Duke.  Great job.

Don’t ever bet against Purdue in the first game.  They have now won 13 straight 1st (now called 2nd) round games in our pool.  Crazy.  I knew this and still didn’t pick them, because they were playing a California team, and the California teams quickly went 0-4 (with Cal not even making it into the proper 64 bracket).

MEAC’d!

Just the fifth time a #15 has knocked off a #2, the third time in the HWCI NCAA Pool era.  MEAC champ Norfolk St was picked by none of the 133 entries while 11 that had Missouri winning it all are ready to tear up their brackets… don’t do it yet… all you need is an early Kentucky loss and everyone is back to almost even. Wow.  Still putting everything together, hopefully done by the evening.

EEChick1400 and Larzby lead with 44 pts (22-2).  Interestingly, we had back-to-back sweeps as all 133 picked UNC correctly and then all 133 picked Missouri incorrectly.

Up to 133 – still unofficial

Like Sherlock Holmes, forensics showed that Ana2Vader would be covered by Gator Glory so we now have 133 entries.  There are no more “unknowns”, everyone else has paid or is a veteran so 133 should be our final number.  We’re still unofficial until tomorrow, though.

First Four For Charity Champ – Michael C

Congrats to Michael C who edged out Albert H on point differential, 15 to 25.  Both got all 4 First Four games correct.  Ron E and Fernando B (who decided to sit the pool out, maybe wisely so) both went 0-4 with the latter taking last with a 60 point differential.

Thanks to all who participated.  A minimum of $67 will be donated ($52 for the pool, $17 by other generous folks) to the Rice Around the Clock team who are participating in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life in Alhambra.

Final standings below… eh, finishing 20th does not bode well for me in the pool… Continue reading »

5 hours til deadline!

We have received 109 entries thus far (2 likely to be removed) which makes it a slight chance we could top 125 we had last year.  For full disclosure, David (The Mighty Mobelfakta) and my (Legally Fabone) picks are here:

http://www.hwci.com/ncaa/2012/picks.asp?entries=The+Mighty+Mobelfakta

http://www.hwci.com/ncaa/2012/picks.asp?entries=Legally+Fabone

I will probably submit a 2nd entry and I will post it here as well.  Remember, the deadline is 9 am.  If you have problems, you can take a photo or scan your bracket and email it to me.

Viewing your picks…

I’ve put up a temporary web page to view your picks (or anyone else’s).  Please note that if you have emailed changes, I haven’t put it in yet (and I will personally email you when that is done).  I’ll be updating nicknames as well (e.g., changing Joker’s Wild-Update back to Joker’s Wild).  If you have questions, let us know.