Category Archives: HWNCAA Pool 17

Issue # 2.1.1 “Luck of the Irish”

Posted on by

Archive

CBS's Survivor's 34th season is a Game Changers one with all returning players. Wednesdays 9/8c.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

IRISH HOLDS ON, LEADS CHALK DOMINANCE
A record 6 entries are perfect as a record 178 entries vie for 2017 title

Day 1 - 6 perfectCERRITOS APT, CA (smt)- The day started off exciting with #12E-UNC Wilmington up by 15 and #12W-Princeton in a close game but in the end, #5E-Virginia woke up to win easily and the luck of the Irish was there a day early as the Tiger’s lined up for an open three at the buzzer that just went long to give #5W-Notre Dame the victory  After that everything continued to either go chalk with the exception of the consensus upset pick #12S-Middle Tennessee and #11W-Xavier.  There were struggles as #1E-Villanova (only led by a point at halftime) and #1W-Gonzaga didn’t get the routs they thought.  #4S-Butler, #7W-St. Mary’s, #3W-Florida St., and #4W-West Virginia won close games while #4E-Florida, #4MW-Purdue, #8E-Wisconsin, #2W-Arizona, and #5MW-Iowa St. won in double-digits.

The most bizarre ending was after going up by 1, #9W-Vandy’s Matthew Fisher-Davis thought they were down 1 and intentionally fouled #8W-Northwestern giving them two free throws with 15 seconds left.  Though a huge brain fart, that didn’t lose the game for them.  Northwestern still had to make two free throws which they did and Vandy had 15 seconds left.  A badly drawn three-pointer missed badly and Northwestern, who waited 78 years to play their first tournament game, is now 1-for-1.  NW won the game like the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl.  Atlanta made dumb mistakes but NE still had to go down the field twice and convert two two-point plays.  Vandy had 15 seconds left and took a bad shot.  That’s what lost the game.

PerfectionThe ho-hum day meant that we had a record six entries go a perfect 16-0.  We only had six in the previous 22 pools. and only two of those ended up winning money.  Air Fabone 23, Bobby Cee Racer, Hrosen2, Nwspring1, The Gambler, and The Swami go into the history books.  Scott T has done it back-to-back years and is the first person to do it twice.  Of course, last year, he finished 7th which was out of the money so a strong start is not indicative of success, money-wise.  There 15 others right behind at 15-1.  Fefe had a bad day, going 9-7.

We unofficially have a record 178 entries, topping 2015’s record by 17.  By going Continue reading »

Team Distribution

Posted on by

Unofficially, we set a new record with 176 entries.  Will be vetting throughout the day but all look good to go.  If have at least 175 entries, we will add our first 7th place prize.  In the meantime, you’ll notice a new menu item above “Team Dist“.  This will show what team everyone picked to make each round.  In our pool, there are 17 teams that could win the pool led by North Carolina with 30, Villanova with 27, and the Zags with 25.  There are 7 1st round games where it was unanimous the underdog would lose.  Locally, UCLA was picked by 16 to win the title, 7 have St. Mary’s reaching the Elite 8, and 9 have USC making the Sweet 16.

Other oddities include one picking St. Mary’s to win it all, 23 having Oregon in the Final Four despite injuries, one having Seton Hall in the final, two having Vermont in the Final Four, and one picking Florida to win it all.  Oh, wait, that last one is Ken B (Gators Resurgence) so that is not odd 🙂

The century mark

Posted on by

We just hit another milestone (by 4 pm, or Hour 67), getting our 100th entry courtesy of Alex J’s third entry Jackson’s Picks 3.  The earliest we have ever hit 100 was at 9 pm.  With 100 entries, that is above the pace of our record year in 2016 when we had 74 at this time.  We have received entries from 70 people, though only 8 are new players (welcome!).  It might be that there is no consensus team to win the title but we have already had 10 people submit the maximum of three entries (record:  11 in 2015) while 10 have submitted two entries (record: 26 in 2015).

Though I won’t discourage it (it increases the pot with these extra entries), but in the last 5 years there have 36 37 money spots and only 4 of those winners have won on their 2nd or 3rd entry.  And of the seven winners last year (top 6 + Bonus), all won on their first entry.  So you’re gut instinct is usually the one with the best chance.

Edit – it’s 37 money spots because we also had a tie for the Bonus in 2015 (I already accounted for the tie for 6th in 2012).

Hungry for more?

Posted on by

Jason R (Buccos 1), who is participating in our 9th pool, is also running NCAA pool of his own.  So I could vouch for him and I know we have some serial paid players out there who play in multiple paid pools (or in Paul T’s (Poolraider) case, every pool ;-)).  Let Jason know you play in our pool so he knows he can trust you!

The details are: Continue reading »

First Four Tipoff

Posted on by

It’s 3:40 pm and the first First Four match has tipped off, more than 42 hours after the earliest we have ever got the web entry up (9 pm Sunday).  At this time, we have 54 entries, which is 17 more than our previous best, 37 in 2014.  In our record-setting year of 2016 (161 entries), we had just 27 so we’ve doubled that.   The graph is time-based so, for example, you can see most people are sleeping between hours 25 and 33 (10 pm – 6 am).  The biggest increase in entries will be tomorrow from 9 am until 3 am Thursday (Hours 60 to 78) so that will be a better indication if we will top the 161 entries we had in 2016.

Speaking of topping the record number of entries, if we do that, I’ll donate another $25 to the IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference, this year’s HWCI NCAA First Four for Charity choice (charity meaning any non-profit).  We did get 16 entries so that’s at least $32 that will go to the conference.  I already got a good lead from Neil O (Dagger) for next year’s charity of choice so I can’t wait.

Also, if you want to see your bracket, you can click on “Your Picks” in the top menu.  These are all unofficial.

Record Monday

Posted on by

The online web entry was delayed until Monday morning but that hasn’t stopped people from entering in record numbers.  A total of 26 entries was received today breaking the record of 20 set in 2013 and 2016.  26 also breaks the record of 21 combined for Sunday-Monday.  On the flip side, all 18 people have entered have participated before (so no new players… yet).

Not sure what has prompted the revival but we have some people back after a long hiatus.  Eric P (last participated in 2002), Jake P (2008), Robert E (2009), and Corey S (2011) are hoping 2017 is their triumphant return.

Don’t forget to send a quick email to ncaa<at>hwci.com with your First Four winners (and margin of victory) and I’ll donate $2/entry.  Deadline is Tuesday 3:40 pm PDT!

Issue # 1.0.1 “23 is Legendary”

Posted on by

Archive

IEEE Global Humitarian Technology Conference - GHTC is the flagship IEEE Conference focusing on innovation, deployment and adaptation of Technology for Humanitarian Goals and Sustainable Development.

Monday, March 13, 2017  **HELP support innovation, deployment and adaptation of Technology for Humanitarian Goals (deadline Tue 3:40 pm PDT **

DEFENDING CHAMP VILLANOVA TOP OVERALL SEED WHILE ACC NETS NINE TEAMS
Our HWCI Pool wears the legendary #23

2017 Seed ListSALT LAKE CITY, UT/CARSON, CA (smt)- Defending champion E-Villanova earned the top overall seed while MW-Kansas and S-North Carolina (7 losses) got one seeds despite losing in their conference tournament.  For the second time, W-Gonzaga (32-1) got a #1 seed though last time they got ousted in the second round.  W-Duke had an up-and-down season but won four games in four days to win the ACC tournament and moved from a 4 seed to a 2 seed (7th overall team) while MW-Michigan had their plane slide off the runway, played their first tournament game in practice jerseys, and won four games in four days but only moved to a 7 seed.  The ACC got 9 of its 15 teams in the tourney while the Big East got 7 of its 10 in (70%).  The Big 10 also got half its 14 teams in and the Big 12 got 6 of its 10 in.  Only four at-large spots went to non-major conferences with the Atlantic 10 (2), The American, and the West Coast getting more than one team in.  Despite being ranked 20th in the country, S-Wichita St got dumped to a 10 seed and is actually a 6.5-point favorite over #7S-Dayton.  Not much controversy over the at-large teams or seeding for the most part and no leak of the bracket early like last year.

Locally, #11bE-USC (Southern Cal, not to be confused with the other 7E-USC, South Carolina) snuck into as one of the last four in but Continue reading »

7th HWCI NCAA First Four for Charity (Due: 3:40 pm PDT Tuesday)

Posted on by

While you decide who will win the tourney, for the 7th year I’m doing the HWCI NCAA First Four for Charity, where I will donate $2 per entry to a charity, this year to IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference, which is the flagship IEEE Conference focusing on innovation, deployment and adaptation of Technology for Humanitarian Goals and Sustainable Development.  This First Four for Charity is free and you just have to submit (you can comment on this post to enter, email, post to Facebook, tweet @HWCI_Pools) who the four First Four winners will be and by what point margin. For example: Wake Forest by 8, New Orleans by 3, UC Davis by 1, and Providence by 4.   The four games are Kansas St vs Wake Forest, Mt. St. Mary’s vs New Orleans, NC Central vs UC Davis, and Providence vs Southern Cal.  Get your entry by 3:40 pm PDT Tuesday.  As a bonus, in the end, if we top our record of 161 entries this year, I’ll donate an additional $25.  Also, invite your friends and people can enter this charity contest but not our main pool.

Our Generosity

Posted on by

A few new things this year in the tournament in general — the NCAA released an early projection of the top 16 teams back on February 11 for the first-time ever and the Ivy League now has a conference tournament (though just 4 teams qualify).  It’s interesting that much has changed in the top 4 seeds but hopefully UCLA improves on their four seed and hoping USC sneaks in as a First Four team, as they have done well from that position.  Now, instead of the Ivy League regular season champion being the first automatic bid in the tournament (if there’s no extra game tiebreaker) to one of the last, as the final is on Sunday (though next year it will move up in the week).

This is an early heads-up as after the brackets are released, we will have our 7th HWCI First Four for Charity contest.  This is where we took the headache of having 68 teams (instead of 65) and made it into a fundraiser.  More than $556 has been donated to six various charities or efforts.  There is no fee to enter and you just pick the four First Four winners and margin of victory of each.  I will donate $2 per entry (remember, the entry is free and you don’t have to play in our normal $10 pool so friends and family are welcome!) and usually by the end of the tournament, my fellow players will donate a matching set or more!  Luckily, no major disasters this season so I’m open to suggestions for charity options.

My fallback will be a donation to the IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference — the flagship IEEE Conference focusing on innovation, deployment and adaptation of Technology for Humanitarian Goals and Sustainable Development.  For nearly all technical conferences, you have to pay to access papers, sometimes even your own!  At this conference, it’s Open Access — that means the papers are free to anyone so that the ideas can be shared with the most people because the goal is IMPLEMENTING the technology to those in need in the fastest way possible (boots on the ground).

Until then, Sunday is coming up fast!

Fat Tuesday

Posted on by

Seven teams are in with Jacksonville St making their first-ever tournament appearance after winning the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.  Today, two other teams can make their first tournament (Omaha (Summit) and Northern Kentucky (Horizon)) and St. Francis (PA) can make their first tourney since 1991 (NEC).  And with an above .500 Big 10 record, Northwestern is poised to make their first tournament ever (last from a major conference) leaving just four original-160 teams still looking for their first (Army, St. Francis (NY), The Citidel, and William & Mary).  Since our pool started in 1995, we have at least one team make their first appearance in our pool era.  Last year we had the long-awaited Yale team finally win the Ivy League title after several tries breaking a 54-year drought, second-longest (Dartmouth has been waiting the longest – since ’59), and major Oregon St. make the tourney (last 1990).

We will once again be doing our pool, our 23rd year with hopefully a red-hot UCLA team to follow.  Same rules, same format.  Look for changes in the site towards the end of the week.  Tell your friends now, and study up!