Thanks to everyone who helped make our $477.00 donation to the Lymphoma Research Foundation in honor of my mom, a lymphoma survivor. Myself, David A, Annie F, Tom J, and Andy F helped contribute $238.50 and my company will generously match the amount. The $477 is our third-highest donation total.
We have now donated a total of $5,168.20 to 14 different charities over 14 years. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
| 2024 NCAA CHAMPIONS | |
 | #1-East Regional Champions |
| University of Connecticut Huskies (37-3) 6th Title | |
| 2024 WINNINGEST CONFERENCE | |
 | The Atlantic Coast Conference (12-4) 9th Time |
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
UCONN, DESTROYER OF TEAMS
Flying Ace wins 1st pool; Zippy’sWife Nets Bonus; 71 picked UConn
49% SOLAR ELCIPSE, CA (smt) – #1E-UConn let #1MW-Purdue’s Zach Edey get two points at a time (ended with 37 pts, a good number in garbage time) while the Huskies allowed just one three while hitting six en route to a 75-60 rout to complete the back-to-back championships. UConn never panicked and methodically destroyed their 12th straight tournament team by 13 or more points.
UConn dominated opponents for a second straight year, this time averaging a record 23.3 points per win for six games (since ’85). UConn spread their love again with four of the starters in double-figures in points and all with at least 5 rebounds.
Purdue failed to duplicate Virginia’s accomplishment of losing to a #16 seed and winning the title a year later. Like Iowa in the Women’s final, the team seemed to believe too much of the hype of their star player and forgot they were good as well, as Edey scored 37 of the 60 points (61.6%) and took 46.2% of the shots (Clark scored 40% of Iowa’s points and took 44.4% of the shots). The loss extends the Big Ten’s title drought to 24 years (23 tourneys).
Continue reading12:20 am – 18 hours to tip off! Lots of excitement in the pool as only two have locked up prize money.
5:43 pm – Geez, on East Coast you have to wait until 9:20 for tip off. In the first round, Spokane games began at 10:30 am local. Brooklyn and Pitt last games announced a 9:40 pm local start, but usually started later.
6:30 pm – UConn 11-9 early 15:04 left. 20 pts projects to 160 pts.
6:38 pm – Edey has scored Purdue’s last 11 points but UConn still leads 18-16.
6:48 pm – Tied at 23. 6:50 left. Project about 142 pts.
7:15 – UConn leads 36-30. 66 halftime pts projects to 132 pts. Miss Mia 3 would win Bonus. Sunscar22 would win 5th place tiebreaker .
7:40 pm – UConn 43-34 15:54 left. . Edey no pts in last 10 min. 77 pts projects to 128 (Jouez Bien) as scoring pace slows down. Android app failing big time. Trying to use Max app.
7:44 – UConn has built a 13 point lead (47-34), their margin of victory on last 9 tourney games.
7:51 – UConn running away 51-38 11:31 left. Project 125 pts (Alfred Moniaga).
7:58 – UConn up 16! 56-40. 9:27 left. Project to 126 (SKG23).
8:31 – Back to Back. Late flurry pushes to 135 total pts. Zippy’sWife takes $40 bonus. Last UConn basket gives Bwakewey 3 5th place over Sunscar22.
| 2024 NCAA FINAL @ Phoenix, Arizona – The Floor | ||
| The Road Ends Here | ||
| #1-Midwest (Seed #3, NET #3, AP #3) | -vs- | #1-East (Seed #1, NET #2, AP #1) |
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| Purdue University Boilermakers (34-4) | University of Connecticut Huskies (36-3) | |
| Big Ten Conf – Regular Season Champs West Lafayette, Indiana 2nd Final (’69) def #16 Grambling State 78-50 def #8 Utah State 106-67 def #5 Gonzaga 80-68 def #2 Tennessee 72-66 def #11S North Carolina State 63-50 | Big East Conf – Reg Season & Tourney Champs Storrs, Connecticut 6th Final (’99, ’04, ’11, ’14, ’23) def #16 Stetson 91-52 def #9 Northwestern 75-58 def #5 San Diego State 82-52 def #3 Illinois 77-52 def #4W Alabama 86-72 | |
Sunday, April 7, 2024
UCONN JUST ROUTS, PURDUE HOPING FOR VIRGINIA MAGIC
Two guaranteed money leaving 13 vying for final 6 money spots
YARD WORK, HOME, CA (smt) – Like a leap year which adds a 29th day to February (most years), almost every four pools has yielded something interesting with this being our 29th pool. 1995 was our first pool and the Pac-12’s last title (UCLA). 1999 saw UConn upset Duke for the 1st of 5 titles. 2003 saw Syracuse win their first title as a 3 seed (only picked by one). 2007 saw Florida go back-to-back, the last team to do so, and the last time the top 2 picked teams met in the final. 2011 saw another #3 seed, UConn, win the title. 2015 saw Coach K win his last title with Duke. 2019 saw Virginia win the title a year after losing to a #16 seed. With 2020 canceled, 2024 is the fourth year and we will either see #1E-UConn win back-to-back titles or #1MW-Purdue do what Virginia did, win a title a year after losing to a #16 seed.
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Saturday, April 6, 2024
PURDUE AND UCONN FINISH STRONG
Flying Ace takes over first; Bigtenfan clinches money; 30 go 2-0
CYPRESS, CA (smt) – #1MW-Purdue’s lead was cut to 7 with 8 minutes left but then went on a 13-1 run to put away #11S-NC State, 63-50, to advance to their 2nd finals appearance. NC State’s incredible 9-game win streak was snapped and made it 0-8 for double-digit Final Four teams in the semifinals. Zach Edey was a force on the court but not necessarily on the stat sheet (“just” 20 pts, 12 rebounds) as his teammates excelled in the low-scoring game.
#1E-UConn never led by 30 like the other four games and found itself tied at 56 with 12:44 left but then went on an 11-2 run in winning by 13+ for the 11th straight tourney game, 86-72, over #4W-Alabama. UConn is vying to become the first back-to-back champion since Florida (2006-2007) and is undefeated in the finals (5-0). Alabama was hot in the first half hitting 8/11 from three but still trailed 44-40 at halftime (they cooled hitting just 3/12 in the 2nd half). UConn had great team dynamics with 20 assists on 31 made baskets while Purdue only had 9 assists on 26 baskets.
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| 2024 NCAA FINAL FOUR @ Phoenix, Arizona 2nd Final Four (’17) Hosted by Arizona St. U. (Pac 12 Conf) (2nd Final Four) – The Floor | |||
| First Semifinal | Second Semifinal | ||
| #11-South (Seed #45, NET #63, AP #29) Dallas, Texas (6th Regional) Hosted by Big 12 Conference | #1-Midwest (Seed #3, NET #3, AP #3) Detroit, Michigan (5th Regional) – Hosted by U. of Detroit Mercy and Oakland U. | #4-West (Seed #16, NET #9, AP #19) Los Angeles, California (10th Regional) Hosted by Pepperdine U. | #1-East (Seed #1, NET #2, AP #1) Boston, Massachusets (4th Regional) Hosted by Boston College |
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| North Carolina State University Wolfpack (26-14) | Purdue University Boilermakers (33-4) | University of Alabama Crimson Tide (25-11) | University of Connecticut Huskies (35-3) |
| Atlantic Coast Conf – Tourney Champs Raleigh, North Carolina 4th Final Four (’50, ’74, ’83) def #6 Texas Tech 80-67 def #14 Oakland 79-73 (OT) def #8 Marquette 67-58 def #4 Duke 76-64 | Big Ten Conf – Regular Season Champs West Lafayette, Indiana 3rd Final Four (’69, ’80) def #16 Grambling State 78-50 def #8 Utah State 106-67 def #5 Gonzaga 80-68 def #2 Tennessee 72-66 | Southeastern Conf – 5th Place Tuscaloosa, Alabama 1st Final Four def #13 Charleston 109-96 def #12 Grand Canyon 72-61 def #5 North Carolina 89-87 def #6 Clemson 89-82 | Big East Conf – Reg Season & Tourney Champs Storrs, Connecticut 7th Final Four (’99, ’04, ’09, ’11, ’14, ’23) def #16 Stetson 91-52 def #9 Northwestern 75-58 def #5 San Diego State 82-52 def #3 Illinois 77-52 |
Thursday, April 4, 2024 ***HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD… RIP***
UCONN AND PURDUE ROLLING OPPONENTS; NC STATE ON A ROLL
At least $477 will be donated to Lymphoma Research Foundation; over $5,168 donated over 14 years
LA MIRADA, CA (smt) – After last year where the top 12 teams (all #1/2/3 seeds) were eliminated before the Final Four, we do have two #1 seeds for the first time since 2021. The one thing that remains the same is #1W-UConn, who are trying to become the first back-to-back champions since Florida did it in 2007. #1MW-Purdue will try to do what Virginia did in 2019 and that is lose to a #16 seed the year before and then win the title. #11S-NC State will try to continue their amazing run, winning 5 games-in-5 days to claim the auto bid for the ACC and then winning the first four games of the tourney including surviving an overtime game vs #14S-Oakland (of Massachusetts, not California). #4W-Alabama is making its first Final Four and while they have not played a better seed yet, they have eliminated two straight ACC teams.
The first round saw 11 upsets including three #11 seeds, two #12 seeds, and #13E-Yale (who knocked off #4E-Auburn) and #14S-Oakland (who knocked off #3S-Kentucky). The second round saw just two worse seeds (#6W-Clemson over #3W-Baylor and #5MW-Gonzaga over #4MW-Kansas) win which led to the Sweet 16 netting all the #1 and #2 seeds for the just the fifth time (but saw just 3 of the 8 make the Elite 8). UConn has built a 30-point lead in all four games and has beaten ten straight tourney opponents by 13 points or more. Purdue’s only trouble was in their last game against #2MW-Tennessee but with Zach Edey scoring 14 straight points for Purdue, ending up winning by six.
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Sunday, March 31, 2024 (Posted Tuesday April 2)
NC STATE BEATS DUKE AGAIN, EDEY POWERS PURDUE
Concrete Kidstays in first; Concrete Kid and Figure Four go 2-0
MANZANAR NHS/DEATH VALLEY, CA (smt) – #1MW-Purdue’s 7′-4″ center Zach Edey had a career-high 40 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Boilermakers to their first Final Four since 1980 with a 72-66 win over #2MW-Tennessee. Edey shot 22 free throws (made only 14) and had just one block, but a key one with 33 seconds left (zero last game). Edey is so tall he didn’t even need a ladder to cut a piece of the net for himself. Purdue only made 20% of their threes and just 63.6% of their free throws but still overcame the Vol’s 11 threes and Dalton’s Knect’s 37 points. Purdue outscored Tenn 11-6 to end the game.
#11S-NC State continued their magical run in knocking off #4S-Duke for the second time during their 9-game winning streak, 76-64, to make their first Final Four since 1983. The Wolfpack slowly chipped away at Duke’s 6-point halftime lead and after tying it at 35, went on a 23-9 run and never let the Blue Devils cut the lead to single digits. NC State becomes the 7th double-digit Final Four team since 1985 (when field expanded to 64) and will try to become the first to make the final.
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Saturday, March 30, 2024
IMPROBABLE 30-0 RUN PROPELS UCONN; BAMA MAKES 1ST FINAL FOUR
Concrete Kid stays in first; 7 go 2-0
DIGNITY HEALTH SPORTS PARK, CARSON, CA (smt) – 23-23 seemed like a good battle for #3E-Illinois in holding defending champ #1E-UConn near the end of the first half. But then… but then, UConn went on a 30-0 (!) run in about 9:08 where Illinois missed 17 straight shots to advance to their 7th Final Four, 77-52. UConn won in double-digits for a record 10th straight time and they have led by 30 or more points in all four games (led 67-37 here).
#4W-Alabama went on a 20-2 first half run to turn a 13-point deficit into a 5-point lead to keep #6W-Clemson’s hope just out of reach (the Tigers never got within 3 the last 16:44 of the game) in advancing to their first Final Four, 89-82. The Crimson Tide made more three pointers (16) than free throws (15) or two-point field goals (13).
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Friday, March 29, 2024
DUKE PUTS HOUSTON OUT OF MISERY; ACC NABS 3 E8 SPOTS
Concrete Kidheads to the front of the class; Jonna goes 4-0 after going 0-4
‘GODIZILLA X KONG‘ 3-D IMAX IN ALHAMBRA, CA (smt) – #4S-Duke returned back to the Elite 8 after a one-year absence (their 24th Elite 8 and first since Coach K retired), holding off #1S-Houston, 54-51 in the Cougar’s home state of Texas (Dallas). The Cougar’s Jamal Shead, who was the hero in overtime last game and All-American, injured his ankle 13 minutes in and never returned (well, except on a scooter). Duke will play fellow ACC member #11S-NC State who continued their incredible run in shutting down #2S-Marquette, 67-58. Marquette was just 4/31 from three (12.9%) and could never get closer than 6 in the second half. The Wolfpack were 17-14 and had to win 5 games in 5 days in the ACC tournament just to make the Big Dance and now have added three more wins.
#1MW-Purdue had a second half 16-2 run to beat #5MW-Gonzaga, 80-68. 7′-4″ Zach Edey had 27 points and 14 rebounds (but interestingly no blocks, in fact, there were zero blocks for both teams) for the Boilermakers. #2MW-Tennessee knocked off #3MW-Creighton 82-75 thanks to a 16-0 run after Creighton took a brief 39-37 second half lead. While Creighton was hitting 3s (3 in the last 22 seconds), Tennessee was making free throws (8/9 in the last 32 seconds) to keep the game out of reach. This is the only region with the top 2 teams still alive.
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Thursday, March 28, 2024
UPSETS RULE DAY, BUT CAN’T TOUCH UCONN
Emmadness jumps to 1st but 13 others have better chance to win pool
EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt) – #1E-UConn continued to dominate opponents, beating its 9th straight tournament team by double-digits, this time 30 over #5E-San Diego St. The rematch of last year’s final had the same result with UConn outscoring SDSU 29-13 to end the game to win 82-52. The other three top seeds didn’t have much luck though.
#4W-Alabama tried to keep pace with #1W-UNC in the first half as the Tar Heels hit 10/16 three-pointers. The second half saw ‘Bama fight back with its defense holding UNC to just 2/16 from three in the second half. Alabama’s Grant Nelson took control in the last five minutes with 12 points, 3 blocks, and one steal in the Razorback’s 89-87 win. After intentionally (well, he should have) missing the second free throw with less than a second left, he left no doubt of a chance of a Hail Mary 3/4 court game-winner by blocking the heave, which was pretty funny.
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Tuesday, March 26, 2023
RECORD POT WILL BE SPLIT 9 WAYS: TOP 8 + BONUS
Including Bonus, 171 entries can still win money
TORRANCE, CA (smt) – In our pool, we do not count any stats from the First Four, thus, in our eyes, the ACC is a perfect 8-0 (not including Virginia who lost in the First Four) and the Big East is 6-0. Interestingly, #11S-NC State, who won the ACC tournament (where they beat Wake Forest, #4S-Duke, #10aMW-Virginia, and #1W-UNC in their 5 wins in 5 days), may have stolen a bid from fellow ACC members Pitt (4th team out) or Wake Forest. The Big East’s three teams were all top 10 (#1E-UConn (1), #2S-Marquette (7), #3MW-Creighton (10)) with no one in the middle (Seton Hall was 2nd team out, ~#46). The Pac-12, which will temporarily cease for two years while Oregon St and #7E-Washington St join the WCC as affiliate members, started the tournament 5-0 (6-0 including #10bS-Colorado’s First Four win) before ending 0-3 and leaving just #2W-Arizona left. The Mountain West got a record six teams in (five excluding the First Four) but went just 3-4 (4-5 including First Four) with #5E-San Diego St left standing. The SEC and Big 12 each got 8 teams in but both have just two teams in the Sweet 16. The Big Ten got 6 teams in and is a respectable 6-4 with two teams in the Sweet 16.
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Sunday, March 24, 2024
ALL #1 AND #2 SEEDS ADVANCE, NOT EASILY THOUGH
Larzby stays in 1st again; Bigtenfan3 jumps 65 spots to a tie for 19th
HOME, CA (smt) – Despite drama, the Sweet 16 will feature all #1 and #2 seeds for just the 5th time. With two #3 and two #4 seeds also advancing, 12 of the top 16 seeds won, the most since 14 did so in 2019. About as chalk as it could get. While #1MW-Purdue, #1E-UConn, #4S-Duke, and #5E-San Diego St all won by 17 or more (though UConn did lead by 30 in the second half before winning by 17), the other four games played to the final minutes.
#1S-Houston had a 13-point lead with 3:53 left and a 10-point lead with 1:26 left and yet, #9S-Texas A&M rallied to tie it on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer off an inbound with 1.2 seconds on the clock. It was a clutch shot but how did Houston allow a 3-pointer to be taken? Had it not been for a couple of sneakers on the 3-point line (one a few inches, one a few millimeters), Texas A&M might have closed the gap faster. In a foul-fest where bodies were falling everywhere, somehow Texas A&M outscored Houston 12-3 in about 45 seconds with the clock stopping so many times. The Cougars had four (!) players foul out (all starters) including their top 3 scorers and held on in overtime. Houston won 100-95, becoming the 5th team in triple digits this tournament and making their 5th straight Sweet 16.
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Saturday, March 23, 2024
ZAGS MAKE 9TH STRAIGHT SWEET 16 AS TOP SEEDS PREVAIL
Larzby alone in first plus MissT-3 jumps 84 places to 39rd
BUILDING A CATAPULT AT VETERANS PARK, CYPRESS, CA (smt) – #5MW-Gonzaga trailed #4MW-Kansas 49-48 early in the second half but then ripped off a 32-4 run (to lead 80-53) to make their 9th straight Sweet 16, winning 89-68. #1W-UNC trailed 28-20 to #9W-Michigan St but went on a 23-3 run to advance to their 36th Sweet 16. #2MW-Tennessee couldn’t shoot from three (3/25), had a ton of turnovers, but still had a 9-point lead at the half and eventually topped #7MW-Texas, who were much worse. #2W-Arizona and #2E-Iowa St were in a battle early in the second half before pulling out double-digit wins. #3E-Illinois led 50-24 and 75-43 in their rout of #11E-Duquesne, finally allowing their coach to retire!
In a clean game, #11MW-Oregon didn’t attempt a free throw until 26.4 seconds left up by 2 because #3MW-Creighton need to foul. But what a big attempt it was, as Oregon could have gone up by 4 but missed the front end of a 1-and-1 which the Bluejays took advantage to tie the game at 62 and send the game to overtime. But we did two overtimes with Creighton scoring the first 15 points in the 2nd OT (eventually outscoring the Ducks 15-2, with Oregon’s only two points at free throws at the end) to prevent the upset.
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Friday, March 22, 2024
HIGH SCORING AND FREE THROWS DEFINE DAY 2
A 3-way tie for first plus Alfred Moniaga jumps 126 places to 23rd
HOME, CA (smt) – You gotta hit your free throws. Last year semifinalist #8E-FAU rallied from 9 points down late to lead by 2 and a chance to add to it but missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and #9-Northwestern tied it at 58 to send it to overtime (2nd OT game including First Four). Northwestern then dominated the OT period 19-7 to advance. Last year semifinalist #5E-San Diego St did not make a FG in the last 4:11 but hit 8/10 free throws to hold off #12E-UAB by three. #4E-Auburn missed their last 3 free throws in the final 10 seconds in a 2-point loss to #13E-Yale, who hit 5/6 in the last 45 seconds. The Tigers lost a starter to an ejection just 3:01 into the game, lost a player to injury in the final scramble, and blew a 10-point lead with 7:27 left.
Last year semifinalist #1E-UConn jumped to a 42-10 lead (eventually built to 55-19) in routing first-timer #16E-Stetson, 91-52. #4W-Alabama (109 with loser #13W-College of Charleston scoring 96), #3W-Baylor (92), #9E-Texas A&M (98) each scored more than 90 with #10S-Colorado and #7S-Florida each reaching 100 points in the Buffaloes prevailing 102-100 on a side jumper that bounced a few times on the rim before falling in with 1.7 seconds left.
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Thursday, March 21, 2024
THREE #11 SEEDS JOIN #14 OAKLAND INTO 2ND ROUND
A record 195 entries from 124 people with 20 teams picked to be champion
RECOERING FROM HONOLULU (smt) – #3S-Kentucky was the best 3-point shooting team in the nation but it was#14S-Oakland with 15 threes (10 (!) from Jake Gohlke, who came off the bench) to stun the Wildcats (who were 9/28 from three) 80-76. Three 11 seeds advanced with #11E-Duquesne, #11MW-Oregon, and #11S-NC State pulling off upsets. #9W-Michigan St pulled off the small upset (there were highly favored to win) but #10W-Nevada blew a 56-39 lead (getting outscored 24-4 the rest of the way) to #7W-Dayton and #10E-Drake blew a late 8-point lead to #7E-Washington St or it could’ve been worse.
A lot worse, as #4MW-Kansas nearly blew all of a 20-point second half lead (#13MW-Samford came with one with 5 minutes left) and needed a bad call to put away Samford. While the Kansas player fell on a dunk attempt, replays showed a clean block but a foul was called. That changed momentum and Kansas survived 93-89. #3MW-Creighton, #2W-Arizona, #1W-UNC, #3E-Illinois, #7MW-Texas (holding #10MW-Colorado St to just 11 points in the 1st half), #5MW-Gonzaga, #2E-Iowa St, and #2MW-Tennessee picked up double-digit victories.
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