Monthly Archives: March 2016

Issue # 10.4.1 “Ones Go Down”

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Saturday, March 26, 2016

BEST AND WORST ONE SEEDS FALL
The Resistance leads but can’t win pool but ten others can

CERRITOS, CA (smt)- #2W-Oklahoma built a big halftime lead and held serve the second half behind Buddy Hield’s 37 points to beat our pool’s weakest #1 seed, Oregon, 80-68.  #2S-Villanova used a 10-0 run midway in the second half and then hit their free throws to defeat our pool’s dominant #1 seed, #1S-Kansas, 64-59.  The Wildcats held the Jayhawks to just 25 1st half points.  ‘Nova was allowing Kansas to get an easy two to pull within one but that confused the Jayhawks who hesitated, tried to pull back for a three and then fumbled the ball over to the Wildcats.

In the pool, The Resistance (116 pts) still holds onto a 2-point lead but now has lost both finalists and can’t win the pool and is likely to drop out of money altogether.  Eight went 2-0 including Bwakewey 1 (2nd-Tied, 114), Larzby (7th-T, 110), Buckeye23 (7th-T, 107), and JJ (1th-T, 104) who all moved up in the standings and are 4 of 10 who have a chance to win the pool.  73 went 0-2 including Billy Hoyle’s Socks who “clinches” last with 66 points.  Bwakewey 1 has a 34.4% chance to win the pool with Buckeye23 andBuccos 1 (2nd-T, 114) (12.5%) both better than a 1-in-10 chance to win the pool.  Those three and The Resistance have a better than 1-in-2 chance to win money.  For the Bonus, Ito will win the $40 Bonus if Oklahoma or Oregon win the championship since she is eliminated from money.  If those teams don’t win the title, then an ACC team will and Bob’s Ball Hogs (11th-T, 105) will win the Bonus if he doesn’t finish in the money – if he does, Bonus2 takes effect (total points in final) and all eliminated entries are back in play.

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 – 63 picked Oklahoma and 21 picked Villanova… with Sunday’s games moving to TBS, a later start than usual (3 pm PDT) today… 3 still have their Final Four intact (JJ, Buckeye23, and Mikes Bracket (33rd-T, 99)) while 24 will go 0-for-the-Final-Four… The Resistance is 28-2 on the first day of each round and 16-12 on the second day…

——–
Watch my fall, so slowly… sigh…
Scott

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HWCI circa 1990

Issue # 9.3.2 “Chalk 2!”

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Friday, March 25, 2016

TOP SEEDS ADVNACE, ACC FOUR-FOR-FOUR
The Resistance continues to hold 2-pt lead; 64  still alive

CERRITOS, CA (smt)- The same story as yesterday.  The top seeds builds a big lead, the lower seeds fights back, then the top seed goes on a run and wins in a landslide.  #1MW-Virginia and #1E-UNC won easily meaning all four #1 seeds are in the Elite 8 for the first time since 2009.   Their #2 counterparts did not make the Sweet 16 setting up interesting 7v6 and 10v11 matchups. Both games featured epic collapses, which seems to be a trend at this tournament.  #7E-Wisconsin hit a three to go up 61-58 with 26 seconds left but #6E-Notre Dame’s Demetris Jackson had a couple of steals as the Irish scored the last 8 points for a 61-56 win.  #11MW-Gonzaga had a 57-48 lead with 6:20 left but couldn’t hit a field goal the rest of the way while committing five turnovers and allowing 6 offensive rebounds to give #10MW-Syracuse a 63-60 win.  So all eight better seeded teams won in the Sweet 16.

In the pool, The Resistance could only get two wins and got them both to hold onto his 2-point lead (110 pts) over Continue reading »

Issue # 8.3.1 “Chalk!”

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Thursday, March 24, 2016

TOP SEEDS ROMP, ACC DOWN TO FOUR
The Resistance one of 45 to go 4-0 and is alone in 1st; First Four for Charity results

CERRITOS, CA (smt)- The same story.  The top seeds builds a big lead, the lower seeds fights back, then the top seed goes on a run and wins in a landslide.  #2S-Villanova, #2W-Oklahoma, #1S-Kansas, and #1W-Oregon won easily to setup a pair of 1 vs 2s in the Elite 8.  Not much else to say.

To make up the short summary, here is the round-up for the 6th HWCI NCAA First Four for Charity.  Vi P was one of six to go 4-0 and sneaked out the title by a single point over Tom J and Neil O.  The blowouts caused her point difference of 45 to be the highest of the six contests.  Scott T finished last in 21st place going 1-3 with a point differential of 81.  But the important part is that money is being raised for charity.  This year, at least $82 has been raised to support Star Wars: Force for Change.  I will round up to $100 if there are no more donations that come in.  In the six years, I have donated $299 to six different charities.  The best part is that HWCI NCAA patrons have contributed an additional Continue reading »

Issue # 7.2.3 “Your Comeback for the Ages?”

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Hydrogen Child - Listen to "Sirens"

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

SECOND LARGEST POT TO BE SPLIT SEVEN WAYS
Bonus Prize keeps 15 eliminated entries alive for $40

CERRITOS/EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt)- It’s been one of the wildest weekends featuring three buzzer beaters, a couple of double overtime games, one of the biggest upsets, and one of the biggest comebacks (while you take a breather, take a listen to one of the unsigned bands Poolrider helps promote, Hydrogen Child).  Our 22nd year features the 2nd highest total for entries (149) and 2nd most people (110).  For the sixth straight year, we will have six money spots as we have $1,490 to divvy out.  The top prize will be $595. The prize distribution is listed below and as always, all fee money goes into prizes. So we have those top six spots plus the Bonus.  What’s the Bonus?  Read on…

As it has been for the past 12 years, the Conference Wins is the Bonus Prize (as detailed below) (aka, Bonus1). However, if no one wins it, the Bonus2 takes effect and the entry who is closest to the Total Points in Final tiebreaker gets the Bonus Prize. We have used this Bonus to give hope to those who get eliminated early as only those who do not finish in the top 6 will be eligible to win. Rules follow below…

Bonus1 – Winningest Conference

When you completed your online entry and saw your picks (to print out), some of you might have been wondering Continue reading »

Issue # 6.2.2 “Comeback of the Ages”

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Sunday, March 20, 2016

TEXAS A&M TRIES TO LOSE, BUT CAN’T
Bwakewey 1 joins The Resistance on top; Just 31 entries eliminated

Texas A&M v Northern Iowa - Last 44 secondsCERRITOS, CA (smt)- A whole paragraph for this game!  #3W-Texas A&M seemed defeated and #11W-Northern Iowa was hitting their free throws, the last two building the lead to 12 with 44.3 seconds left.  Crazy comebacks usually happen because:  1) opponent misses free throws (not true here since UNI didn’t even take a free throw in the final 44 seconds), 2) comeback team reigns in threes (not true here since TAM only hit one 3-pointer – amazingly, they only attempted two 3-pointers in the final 44 seconds and the first one was a miss before the 14-2 run), or 3) lots of turnovers.  Yup, that was it.  Four turnovers leading to 9 points.  TAM scored 9 points in 14.4 seconds.  There were two intangibles in play:  1) No timeouts (they called their last one before their first turnover) and 2) like a reliable placeholder in football, UNI’s inbound guy Matt Bohannon injured his left leg and was on the bench just before the collapse, and by the two inbound turnovers and two inbound passes that put guys in a tough corner, they needed him.

Poor Paul Jesperson, the half-court buzzer-beating hero in the last game.  He did not challenge two layups (foul trouble?), challenged one weakly and was called for a foul (3-point play), got the ball in the corner and proceeded to Continue reading »

Issue # 4.1.2 “The Return of the Buzzer Beater”

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**Note this is a recap of Friday’s games, just now posted today

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Friday, March 18, 2016  [Posted 3/21]

DOUBLE-DIGITS SEEDS EXCEL; LAST SHOTS DECIDE GAMES
Buccos 1 one of 3 to go 13-3 to take the lead

St Josephs v Cincy - No buzzer beater (NBC Sports)SALT LAKE CITY, UT (smt)- Six double-digit seeds joined the four yesterday in a wild and crazy day.  In calmness, #10MW-Syracuse, #2S-Villanova, #10W-VCU, #13S-Hawaii, #2W-Oklahoma, #14E-Stephen F. Austin, #3W-Texas A&M, #1W-Oregon, and #2E-Xavier reached the 2nd Round.  In the biggest upset, especially considering most thought this was a #1 seed, #15MW-Middle Tennessee withstood a couple of #2MW-Michigan St. runs to become just the eighth #15 seed to win.  Middle Tennessee were 16 1/2 point underdogs, which doesn’t seem that large considering MSU was #2 in the AP poll.  #7S-Iowa made a critical mistake of missing a free throw and then fouling on a 3-point attempt with 2 seconds left allowing #10S-Temple to tie and force overtime.  Iowa had the last possession in OT and with the game tied and a put back off an airball at the buzzer gave the Hawkeyes the win.  #6W-Texas just tied the game with #11W-Northern Iowa so UNI tried a half court shot at the buzzer that banked in.  Then the last game of the night,, #9W-Cincinnati had the ball and a pass under the basket resulted in a dunk at the buzzer for the win… but although the ball was above the basket, the hand was still on the ball and it didn’t count.  #5S-Maryland, #7E-Wisconsin, and #6E-Notre Dame held off upset attempts.

Three went 13-3 today including Buccos 1 who now leads the pool with 54 pts.  The Resistance (3rd-Tied, 50) lost Continue reading »

Are you alive?

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The possibilities have been posted (also look in the menu above) and there are 118 entries that can still finish in the top 6 and there are 63 entries that can win the pool!  Michigan St did do a lot of damage but there are still quite a few who had them winning it all with a chance to win the pool.  And for the 31 entries who can’t finish in the top 6, we will see later this week how many can still win the $40 bonus.  Good luck!

Issue # 5.2.1 “Comebacks Fall Short”

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Saturday, March 19, 2016

TEAMS FALL BEHIND, RALLY, BUT STILL LOSE
The Resistance bounces back into 1st

SALT LAKE CITY, UT (smt)- #3S-Miami, #4w-Duke, #1MW-Virginia, and #1S-Kansas took big leads and then held on to win easily in the end.  #11S-Wichita St erased a 21-point deficit to Miami and #12W-Yale erased 22 of a 27-point deficit but both ran out of gas.  In the battle of teams who won’t face each other anymore, #5E-Indiana shut down #4E-Kentucky (and coach John Calipari’s mouth).  In the biggest upset, #11MW-Gonzaga easily handled #3MW-Utah (leaving #1W-Oregon as the lone Pac 12 team left) and makes the Sweet 16 for the 4th time as a double-digit seed.   #4MW-Iowa St and #1E-UNC won with ease.  The ACC is 10-1 with three more teams playing tomorrow.    A pretty good tournament as several teams shot well over 50% (Miami 55, Iowa St 57, Virginia 56, Gonzaga 56).

In the pool, eight entries went 7-1 including The Resistance who re-took the top spot (71 pts) and WatchMeDab who moved from Continue reading »

Issue # 3.1.1 “We Missed You 12, Not So Much the Pac 12”

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Thursday, March 17, 2016  **LUCK OF THE IRISH**

UNDERDOGS COME OUT IN FORCE; PAC 12 STRUGGLES
The Resistance is 6th person to go 16-0 on Day 1; Unofficially, 149 entries

CERRITOS/LOS ALAMITOS, CA (smt)- The 12 seed is a favorite upset pick but last year, in a rarity, all four #12 seeds lost.  This year, they are 2-for-3 as #12MW-Little Rock came back from 13 down with 3:19 left to win in 2 overtimes and #12W-Yale beat a top 25 team for the first time since 1952.  Plus the Bulldogs did us a favor so we didn’t have to see those awful neon #5W-Baylor uniforms.  I thought my daughter marked our TV with a highlighter.  The 12s weren’t the only ones to come back with vengeance as the #9 seeds were shut out last year and are now 3-for-3 with #9MW-Butler, #9S-UConn, and #9E-Providence winning.  The latter  benefited from #8E-USC missing two front ends of a 1-and-1 and inexplicably allowing an open man under the basket with 3 seconds left for the game-winning shot.  While #1E-UNC had only a one point lead at halftime, they pulled away in the second half and fellow 1 seeds MW-Virginia and S-Kansas (105 pts) had easy victories.  #4W-Duke, #4MW-Iowa St, #3S-Miami, #5E-Indiana, #3MW-Utah, #11S-Wichita St (another First Four team who wins a 2nd game, 6th straight year), #11MW-Gonzaga, and #4E-Kentucky were challenged but pulled away.

The Pac 12 imploded going 1-3 with only Utah winning (all 7 teams are top 8 seeds) while the ACC went 3-0.  There were untimely technicals, airballed free throws, final drives where the driver lost the ball, and clutch shots.   The Zags won for the eighth straight 1st round game despite not always getting a high seed.  And we’ll get the rivalry game back, Indiana v Kentucky.

Day 1 Most winsIn the pool, 66 started 4-0, 4 started 8-0, two were 12-0 but only The Resistance (32 pts) managed to go a perfect 16-0, just the sixth person to do so.  With 7 upsets, Continue reading »

Busy Day

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We fell short of last year’s record (161) but we have at least 149 entries which is our 2nd highest total ever.  I’ll start posting mini-updates during the day through twitter (#hwciNCAA).  With two 9 seeds winning for the first time in a while and two  12 seeds advancing after last year’s 0-fer, I’ll be posting standings highlights in groups of four.  At the end of each night (sometimes after midnight), the standings will be updated by Dave.

Unofficially, you can check your bracket (and others) here:

http://www.hwci.com/ncaa/2016/picks.asp

Congrats to Vi P

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n2016_ff-day2Vi P edged Tom J and Neil O by a point to take the 6th HWCI NCAA First Four for Charity contest.  Six picked all four First Four games correctly but Vi had the lowest point differential.  On the flip side, Scott T finished dead last as one of three to go 1-3 and had a huge 81 point differential.

At midnight, we had 112 entries which is two more than 2014 but 11 less than 2015 at this same time.  Hopefully, we’ll get a flood of entries as the 9 am deadline nears!

Issue # 2.0.2 “Be a Force For Change!”

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Wednesday, March 16, 2016

TWO BLOWOUTS TO START, HOW WILL IT END?
18 hours to go — Deadline is 9 am PDT tomorrow

EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt)- I hope the first two games of the tournament are no indication of what’s to come as #16Ea-FGCU trounced #16Eb-Fairleigh Dickinson by 30 and #11Sb-Wichita St knocked off #11Sa-Vandy by 20.  Hope for some close matches and some good upsets.  It’s amazing there are multiple ways to watch the game but in a car, it’s not on the radio.  Thank goodness for TuneIn radio so was able to hear the blowouts on my long drive home.

So there was apparently a leak of the bracket thirty or so minutes into a 2-hour long debacle of a Selection Show.  It’s one of many things I’ve been oblivious of the past several months (there was a terrorist attack nearby in San Bernardino?   Star Wars TV spots were airing maybe spoiling the film a little bit?) as work and family schedules ramped up.  But this pool is fun and worth all the work that goes into it.

With 69 entries with 18 hours to go (on graph, Hour 66), we are just slightly off 2014’s (72) and 2015’s (73) paces.  If you look at the historical trends since we’ve been doing this entry form since 2002, you can see the majority of the entries come tonight (you can see that last year, from 3 pm to midnight we got 50 entries (from 73 to 123) — that seems like it will be very hard to duplicate).  And remember, Continue reading »

First Four Blowouts

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ff_day1A yawner to begin the tournament as #16Ea-FGCU trounced #16Eb-Fairleigh Dickinson by 30 31 and #11Sb-Wichita St knocked off #11Sa-Vandy by 20.  But the good news is that 21 people entered the HWCI NCAA First Four for Charity meaning that at least $42 will go to Star Wars Force For Change (currently: $46).  BTW, have you checked on the SW:FFC activations, which is the UNICEF Kid Power program where you can buy your kid a fitness device that will help unlock food packets to kids in Africa.  I saw a presentation on this at the IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference last year in Seattle and it’s an interesting concept.

Fifteen got both games correct (16 picked FGCU, 18 WSU) but with the blowouts, Mike M leads with a large 34 point differential.  Two went 0-2 with Sam S in the rear with a 58 point differential.  Today, 12 are rooting for Holy Cross and 17 for Michigan.

Issue # 1.0.1 “Catch 22!”

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[Scott's Pool Updates]

LOSSES DON’T MATTER; PAC 12 REPRESENTS
Our HWCI Pool is in its 22nd year and keeps on ticking

CERRITOS, CA (smt)- There is no undefeated team like Kentucky last year and in fact, losses are a plenty as the top #1 seed S-Kansas has four losses while MW-Virginia has 7 losses.  With E-North Carolina and W-Oregon with six losses each, the #1 seeds have a combined 23 losses, three more than any previous quartet.  No team in the tourney has less than 4 losses.  Other oddities exist with one particular team, with the 6th-best team odds makers like to win it all, E-Kentucky, getting a 4 seed, Kentucky beating 3W-Texas A&M in SEC final but getting ranked worse, and getting set-up for a possible 2nd round matchup with 5E-Indiana, who they refuse to play in the regular season.  A lot of regular season mid-major champions lost in their tournament leaving some strong contenders such as Monmouth, San Diego St., and St. Mary’s getting skipped over while 11bS-Wichita St and 10S-Temple getting in.  Four conferences (Pac-12, Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC) got 7 teams in while the Big East (5), ACC (4), SEC (3), and MVC (2) also got multiple bids.

Locally, 8E-USC made the tourney for the first time in five years while a little further away, 15W-CSU Bakersfield made the tourney for the first time, and a little more further away but connected by an ocean (granted, a big one), 13S-Hawai’i made the tourney for the first time since 2002.  And what happened to UCLA?  Getting beat three times by rival USC?  There’s always next year, hopefully with a different coach.

Our HWCI NCAA Pool is our 22nd, which means our pool is a Continue reading »