A new record

We unofficially have 114 entries, topping last year’s 101.  So there will be 5 prizes (1st-5th) plus the usual Bonus Prize.  Below is the choice distribution for those teams who were picked to win it all.  The full list will come tonight.

2009 Choice Distribution Report
(# entries=114) 03/19/09

Team # of players who chose team to Prizes
Win
it
All
Win
5
Games
Win
4
Games
Win
3
Games
Win
2
Games
Win
1
Game
Win
0
Games
Fin $$
N CAROLINA 36 19 21 27 10 1 0 1 TBA
LOUISVILLE 21 23 35 20 11 4 0 2 TBA
PITTSBURGH 18 15 36 26 15 4 0 3 TBA
MEMPHIS 14 16 28 28 19 7 2 4 TBA
U CONN 7 15 20 59 12 1 0 5 TBA
OKLAHOMA 6 1 17 47 31 12 0
DUKE 3 3 15 46 37 10 0
MICHIGAN ST 3 1 9 47 34 19 1
WKE FOREST 2 0 7 4 79 20 2
KANSAS 1 4 7 26 45 29 2
VILLANOVA 1 3 9 28 43 30 0
PURDUE 1 1 2 3 38 60 9
FLA ST 1 0 4 7 40 40 22

Something odd… is happening to 07

The entries are coming in at a slower pace than last year but something interesting is happening.  At least seven people (Brett M, Mike S, Linh C T, Bing F, Craig S, Steve N, and JD G) who played in 2007 and didn’t participate in our-record breaking year (101 entries) last year have submitted entries.  Also, of the 35 entries so far, just four people are new (so keep recruiting!).

Your Picks

If you want to edit your bracket, please re-submit your bracket and just put down as a nickname something like NICKNAME-REVISE, NICKNAME-UPDATE so we know you are updating and not submitting a new entry. If it’s a small or few changes (hey, change my champion to UConn instead of UNC), you can email us the changes.

Now, if you want to review your picks, you can go here. Or reprint it because you forgot to :-).

Remember the deadline is 9 am PDT Thursday! Submit early and then pray. Also, make sure you have let us know how you will get us your $10.

On the right light blue column, you will find the status of everyone’s picks (e.g., all paid up, in process of paying (e.g., eCheck), or we haven’t heard how you’ll pay. Also, it will tell you which brackets we have. So if you think you submitted a bracket (note the time listed, it’s updated every 4-6 hours) and you don’t see your nickname, email us.

Most unpredictable?

There doesn’t seem to be THE team that will win it all.  At least that’s what I’ve been hearing, not having watched college basketball this year until this past week.  We may have a great range of teams that we will pick to win it all. We had 14 different teams picked to win it all in 2004; will we have more this year?. In the spirit of this open tourney, I will be submitting the first bracket entry of 2009, almost an hour before the seeds are announced.

This means I don’t know which region which team will be in either. So, though, weighted random numbers using Excel, here is what the bracket will look like. Since we don’t know which region is which, it will go from top to bottom as it will be announced in an hour.  Full disclosure below:

1st Round
Region1: 1, 9, 5, 4, 3, 6, 7, 2
Region2: 1, 8, 5, 4, 3, 6, 7, 2
Region3: 1, 8, 5, 4, 3, 6, 10 ,2
Region4: 1, 9, 5, 4, 3, 11, 10, 2

2nd Round
Region1: 1, 5, 6, 2
Region2: 1, 4, 3, 2
Region3: 1, 5, 6, 2
Region4: 1, 5, 3, 2

3rd Round
Region1: 1, 6
Region2: 1, 2
Region3: 1, 2
Region4: 1, 3

4th Round
Region1: 1
Region2: 2
Region3: 1
Region4: 3

5th Round
Region1&2: Region 2 # 2
Region3&4: Region 3 # 1

Winner
Region 3 # 1

Disappointed there’s no #12 seed advancing, but oh well.  Ten bucks well spent?  Haven’t decided a nickname yet, but maybe PRE-SELECTION PICKS.