Vi 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!
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
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
A 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.
Inspiring people to make a positive impact on the world around them.
While you decide who will win the tourney, for the 6th year I’m doing the HWCI NCAA First Four for Charity, where I will donate $2 per entry to a charity, this year to Star Wars: Force for Change, which is inspiring people to make a positive impact on the world around them. 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: Vandy by 3, FGCU by 6, Tulsa by 1, and Holy Cross by 15. The four games are Vanderbilt vs Wichita St, Florida Gulf Coast vs Fair. Dickinson, Michigan vs Tulsa, and Holy Cross vs Southern. Get your entry by 3:40 pm PDT Tuesday. As a bonus, in the end, if we top 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.
Final Standings
#16aS-North Florida started off strong but eventually, like in their conference final, #16bS-Robert Morris chipped away and pulled off a 4-point win, 81-77. That meant Wendy B and Kevin T were tied at 2-1 with Kevin holding a 2-point lead in the point differential tiebreaker (18 to 20). Home-team-wearing-road-uniforms #11Eb-Dayton took the lead, trailed late, and eventually came back to pull off a 1-point win, 56-55, thanks to a no-call-that-is-usually-called on a buzzer-beating 3-point attempt by #11Ea-Boise St. That margin gave Kevin T the HWCI NCAA First Four for Charity title, holding off Wendy B by 3 points (3-1, 22 to 25 differential). The Flyers win also meant Scott T (10th) and Eric C (last) didn’t go 0-4. Elizabeth W, despite being 50 points off in her picks, finished 8th. North Florida will be a footnote in our pool as only teams who make the 64 are counted in our pool. So only 4 new teams made it.
So thanks for playing but we’re not done yet. In addition to the $22 (11 x $2) I will be donating based on the entries to the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, I should be getting at least $15 from other generous people, and, since we look like we’re passing 138 entries (see below), I’ll be chipping in another $25. So at least $62.
As of 2:15 am, we have 133 entries (from 91 people, 18 who are brand new!), well on our way of breaking the 138 we had last year (I still have 2 entries and we have 2 mail-in entries (yes, mail-in!)). We had a record-breaking 72 entries on Wednesday, shattering the old record of 63 in 2013 and ended with 123 which blitzed by the old record of 110 set last year. We have also set a record of 32 people entering more than one entry (we had 26 in 2012 and 25 last year) which may reflect the balancing point of picking Kentucky and not picking Kentucky.
We had 11 brave souls enter picks in our 5th HWCI NCAA First Four for Charity (the others must be really trying to figure out who can beat Kentucky). So that’s at least $22 going to the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation but with other commitments, I hope to write a much bigger check! But on to the standings… below .500 Hampton rolled over Manhattan winning by 10 while a year a few years after BYU staged a 25-point comeback in the First Four, Ole Miss staged their own 17-point comeback against… BYU. Hampton was only picked by Kevin T while Ole Miss’s 4 point win was picked by just 3. As a result, there is a 4-way tie for 1st with Kevin T holding the Points Differential tiebreaker at 15. Boy, this doesn’t bode well for a lot of us, going 0-2 already.
37 hours after the bracket was announced, at midnight we have received 51 entries (from 39 people – 8 who are brand new to our pool), which is the 2nd most at this point in time (60 in ’14). Still lots of time to get your entries in.
While you decide who will win the tourney, for the 5th year I’m doing the HWCI NCAA First Four for Charity, where I will donate $2 per entry to a charity, this year the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation for breast cancer research which rates high on spending donations responsibly. This First Four for Charity is free and you just have to submit (you can comment on this post to enter) who the four First Four winners will be and by what point margin. For example: Hampton by 3, BYU by 6, North Florida by 1, and Dayton by 15. The four games are Hampton vs Manhattan, Ole Miss vs BYU, North Florida vs Robert Morris, and Boise St vs Dayton. Get your entry by 3:40 pm PDT Tuesday. As a bonus, Continue reading
Archive ( ***HAPPY BIRTHDAY BELUCKY2!***)
| The Final Four @ North Texas (Arlington) (AT&T Stadium) | ||||
 (36-2) #1-South (Memphis, TN) |
 (30-8) #7-East (New York, NY) |
 (30-7) #2-West (Anaheim, CA) |
 (28-10) #8-Midwest (Indianapolis, IN) |
|
FLORIDA, UCONN, KENTUCKY - BUT THIS YEAR?
CERRITOS, CA (smt)- Well, we were denied the first 40-0 team but we do have a team on a 30-game win streak that went undefeated in the SEC (1st team to do so) in Florida. They are joined by their SEC brethren Kentucky, who matured over the tournament in winning four straight close games by a combined 17 points and beating 3 teams from last year’s Final Four. Could they meet in the final?
Well, the last team to beat Florida was Continue reading
So this is interesting. We got a record 42 entries on Tuesday, shattering the previous record of 25 (2011). Maybe the java issues prompted people to enter earlier than usual. We now have 60 entries, which considering we typically get just 30% of our final total by this time, that would mean we’d have 200 entries. We won’t get close to that, but we have a pretty good shot of surpassing 2012’s record total of 134. So keep spreading the word.
Yes, two games were played today (I’m so tired I thought all 4 were being played today). 8 correctly picked NC State and Continue reading
I think I’ve captured all the email, Facebook chat, Facebook comment, SMS, and Blog comments for the 4th HWCI Final Four For Charity. We have 22 entries, which is two more than last year (our high was in ’11 with 30). So that’s $44 I will donate to Friends of Renee. But there’s at least $15 donated by others in the pool so the total is at least $59. Thank you.
No one picked all the lower seeded teams (designated away team) and just two picked all the higher seeded teams (designated home team). Four picked Albany/Xavier/Cal Poly SLO/Iowa. No one had a larger point margin than 16 in their picks. 15 picked Albany, 14 picked Xavier, 12 picked Cal Poly SLO (they are 13-19), and 12 picked Tennessee.
Below is everyone’s picks followed by the current standing (3-way tie for first) after Continue reading
For the 4th straight year, we’ll be using the First Four games as a little friendly competition for charity. For every entry (1 per person but it’s free so invite your significant other or friends and family), I’ll personally donate $2 to a charity. This year, we’ll be helping a fellow participant (Eric F) raise money to cover his friend’s enormous medical costs due to the effects of chronic Lyme disease, which if you don’t know you have it, is hard to detect and treat early. The Friends of Renee committee (mission statement below) helps bring awareness of Lyme disease, which is the fastest growing infectious disease in the United States. I remember going on a hike in Sequoia National Park and my wife’s sister was warning us about ticks. I thought it’s just a bug bite, but she pointed out they carry diseases such as Lyme disease and I never thought of hiking in forests the same way again.
Last year, $103 was donated (odd number due to additional donations by generous people) to MathCounts. In 2012, $83 was donated to the American Cancer Society. In 2011, $100 was donated to the American Red Cross for the tsunami and earthquake relief. It’s easy to enter. Just comment to this post or send an email to scott(at)hwci.com with the 4 First Four winners and the winning margin. Example: Albany wins by 4 points, Texas Southern by 15 pts, Xavier by 1 pt, and Iowa by 8 pts. Simple. Here are the First Four matchups (deadline 3:40 pm PDT Tuesday):
#16S Albany vs Mt. St. Mary's
#16MW Cal Poly SLO vs Texas Southern
#12MW NC State vs Xavier
#11MW Iowa vs Tennessee Continue reading
Cliff T and Tom J both got all four games correct but Cliff’s 1-pt margin in both games sealed the tiebreaker with a point differential of just 16 vs. 28 for Tom. 17 of 20 picked James Madison U. while 8 picked La Salle (yesterday, 15 picked NC A&T and 11 picked St. Mary’s (CA). Vi N and Wendy B both went just 1-3 but Vi took last with a point differential of 55! Cliff joins ’11 winner David A (only person to go 4-0 (+ 30)) and ’12 winner Michael C (1 of 2 to go 4-0 (+15)). Right now, the current donation total is $56 (thanks Tom J!) to MathCounts!
| # | FIRST | LI | Wins | Pts Diff |
| 1 | Cliff | T | 4 | 16 |
| 1 | Tom | J | 4 | 28 |
| 3 | Eric | F | 3 | 21 |
| 3 | Kevin | T | 3 | 26 |
| 5 | Roy | W | 3 | 34 |
| 6 | Neil | P | 3 | 35 |
| 7 | Justin | P | 3 | 36 |
| 8 | Charles | D | 3 | 40 |
| 8 | Deven | K | 3 | 41 |
| 10 | Sam | S | 3 | 44 |
| 10 | Ron | E | 3 | 45 |
| 10 | Albert | H | 2 | 36 |
| 13 | Ken | B | 2 | 36 |
| 14 | David | A | 2 | 40 |
| 15 | Keith | J | 2 | 42 |
| 16 | Eric | C | 2 | 52 |
| 17 | Scott | T | 2 | 54 |
| 18 | John | C | 2 | 55 |
| 19 | Wendy | B | 1 | 38 |
| 20 | Vi | N | 1 | 55 |
Or view full update.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013 Issue # 2.0.2 "Let's Do the Math (That) Counts" [ Home | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Updates ]
As stated earlier, 20 people are in our 3rd annual HWCI NCAA First Four for Charity. After 2 games, 7 are 2-0 with Cliff T. and Tom J. lead with a point differential of 14. Wendy B. was the only one to go 0-2. Here are the current standings which is followed by everyone’s picks:
| # | FIRST | LI | Wins | Pts Diff |
| 1 | Cliff | T | 2 | 14 |
| 1 | Tom | J | 2 | 14 |
| 3 | Deven | K | 2 | 15 |
| 3 | Neil | P | 2 | 15 |
| 5 | Charles | D | 2 | 16 |
| 6 | Sam | S | 2 | 18 |
| 7 | Ron | E | 2 | 20 |
| 8 | Eric | F | 1 | 10 |
| 8 | Keith | J | 1 | 10 |
| 10 | Albert | H | 1 | 14 |
| 10 | Ken | B | 1 | 14 |
| 10 | Roy | W | 1 | 14 |
| 13 | Kevin | T | 1 | 15 |
| 14 | David | A | 1 | 20 |
| 15 | Vi | N | 1 | 23 |
| 16 | John | C | 1 | 27 |
| 17 | Justin | P | 1 | 29 |
| 18 | Scott | T | 1 | 31 |
| 19 | Eric | C | 1 | 32 |
| 20 | Wendy | B | 0 | 16 |
Everyone’s picks below: Continue reading
Just a quick note that our Web Entry is now live! Click on the Web Entry menu on the top. Thanks to David for getting it up pretty fast.
For the 3rd straight year, we’ll be using the First Four games as a little friendly competition for charity. For every entry (it’s free), I’ll personally donate $2 to a charity TBD (if anyone has any ideas, let me know). Last year, $83 (odd number due to additional donations by generous people) was donated to the American Cancer Society. In 2011, $100 was donated to the American Red Cross for the tsunami and earthquake relief. It’s easy to enter. Just comment to this post or send an email to scott(at)hwci.com with the 4 First Four winners and the winning margin. Example: NC A&T wins by 4 points, Middle Tenn by 15 pts, La Salle by 1 pt, and James Madison by 8 pts. Simple. Here are the First Four matchups (deadline 3:30 pm PDT Tuesday):
#16MW NC A&T vs Liberty
#11MW Middle Tenn vs St. Mary's (CA)
#16E LIU Brooklyn vs James Madison U.
#13W Boise St. vs La Salle