Issue # 25.4 “25 Years: The Charities”

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Thursday, April 16, 2020  ***HAPPY BIRTHDAY SON!!!***
[ 1-Entries | 2-Teams  | 3-Confs ]

25 YEARS:  10 DIVERSE CHARITIES
A total of $325 this year donated to Direct Relief – COVID-19 Fund

SAFER-AT-HOME, CA (smt)- Well, they cancelled the tournament.  But they can’t cancel our good will.  For the 10th straight year, the HWCI NCAA First Four for Charity asked pool friends to reply back with quick answers to enter this free contest where I would donate $2 per entry to a worthy charity or cause.  This year, due to the extreme times we live in, was coronavirus-related and picked Direct Relief since they had a dedicated COVID-19 fund to donate directly to.  Direct Relief is coordinating with public health authorities, nonprofit organizations and businesses in the U.S. and globally to provide personal protective equipment and essential medical items to health workers responding to coronavirus.

1st First Four for Charity Email

Because there was no tournament, this year the question was “Who would you have picked to win the tournament?” instead of the usual First Four winners and margin of victory.  We did get 20 responses back and although we didn’t hit my stated target goal of 25 entries, I still will add in $25 for a total of $65.  Michael W and a very kind-hearted friend (who wishes to remain anonymous) will separately donate (since there is no pool, no sense for me to be the middle-man to collect funds) and add a combined $260 for a grand total of $325, our second highest donation-ever, after last year’s $460 to the Boys and Girls Club of America.  How did we get here?  Here is another 25 Year retrospective, this time on our HWCI NCAA First Four for Charity contest.

Curse the NCAA and their greed!  In ’11, there were going to be 68 teams (instead of 65) but instead of the worst 8 conferences playing for the four games, it would be just four, and the other four would be the last four at-large berths.  This meant that we went from a “don’t care” for Tuesday (didn’t matter who won #64/#65 Opening Round, every sane person would pick them to lose) to how do we deal with the 2 games featuring at-large teams on Tuesday/Wednesday?  Surely, #11-#13 teams have won before and people could pick them depending which team won.  Do we make them pick these First Four games by Tuesday?  No, not feasible.  We would just allow people to change their picks if they wanted after the First Four games.  Luckily, not many people did so it wasn’t a big logistical nightmare we thought (100 people suddenly changing their picks Wed night/Thu morning).

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Issue # 25.3 “25 Years: The Conferences”

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Tuesday, April 7, 2020 [ 1-Entries | 2-Teams ]

25 YEARS:  38 CONFERENCES HAVE EXISTED IN OUR POOLS
30-32 automatic bids each year, 9 conf never getting more than 1 bid

Teams and Titles by Conference

EL SEGUNDO/HOME, CA (smt)- Would the Big Ten (B10) have gotten a record 12 (of 14) teams into the tournament?  More likely 10 which would’ve been the second-highest ever (Big East (BE) 11 in ’11).  Would the Big Ten top the record 19 wins by the Atlantic Coast (ACC) in ’16?  But we’ll never know.  So without a tournament, here is another 25 Year retrospective, this time focusing on the conferences who have made the tournament (the proper 64 that is).

What we do know is that for the past 25 years, 38 conferences have existed with only the American West (AW) (’95-’96) and Great West (GW) (’10-’13) not putting any teams in (no automatic bid due to not enough teams in conference those years).  Currently, all 32 Division I conferences get an automatic bid (though again, four of the worst conference tournament winners will vie in First Four).  Nine conferences have never gotten an at-large bid.  From ’01-’10 the two lowest auto bid tournament champions (team #64 and #65) played in the Opening Round game.  From ’11 to present, the four lowest auto bid champions play in the First Four.  13 conferences have put their auto bid team in the Opening Round/First Four with the Southwestern Athletic (SWA) doing it 11 of 19 years.  Because they have lost 9 of those Opening Round/First Four games, the SWA have only placed a team in the proper 64 bracket 16 of 25 years.

The Atlantic 10 (A10) is a perfect 3-0 in the First Four with five others 2-0 (America East (AE) – keeping a streak of all 25 years with just one team in proper 64, Big West (BW), Colonial Athletic (CAA), Ohio Valley (OVC), and Summit (SUM)).  The Pac-12 (P12) is 3-4 (including losing both in ’18, the only conference to ever have 2 teams in First Four) while the Big 12 (B12) has appeared just once (won in ’17).  The Northeast (NEC) has appeared in 7 straight First Four games (’13 to present) going 3-4 (4-5 overall).  The Mid-Eastern Athletic (MEA) has lost 3 straight First Four games (’17 to present) (3-6 overall).  Despite this, the MEA actually has 3 wins in the tournament (#15 Coppin St ’97, #15 Hampton ’01, and #15 Norfolk St in ’12).

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Issue # 25.2 “25 Years: The Teams”

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Tuesday, March 24, 2020
25 YEARS:  281 TEAMS HAVE MADE PROPER 64 IN OUR POOLS
Ignoring Opening Round and First Four losers, we have seen at least one new team each year

EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt)- In the final AP pool, teams 2 through 7 are not your usual suspects with only Florida St (ACC), Baylor (Big 12), and Creighton (Big East) coming from the Power 5 conferences.  Gonzaga (WCC), Dayton (Atlantic 10), and San Diego St (Mountain West) would have provided some much needed parity.  But alas, none of those teams will count.  So without a tournament, here is another 25 Year retrospective, this time focusing on the teams who have made the tournament (the proper 64 that is). 

Top Seed in NCAA Tournament
Top Ranked Team to Win it All

So when the NCAA tried to mess up brackets by adding a 65th team (Opening Round 64v65) in 2001 due to the new Mountain West Conference taking away an at-large bid or when they added three more at-large teams to create the First Four (well, the First Round until 2016) in 2011, we ignored them.  The proper 64 bracket that starts Thursday at 9:15 am is what matters in this pool.  If you pick your bracket early you’ll just select “Team A/Team B” to advance and as always, you can change your picks up until the deadline.

Duke has been the top seed (#1 overall) 6 times including four in a row from ’99-’02  with Kentucky (4) and Kansas (3) right behind as shown in the table on the left.  From ’95-’03 the top seed was determined by the final AP pool before the tournament and from ’04-present the top seed is announced as part the NCAA’s ranked seeds listing.  UMass (’96) is probably the oddest top seed and local favorite UCLA was only the top seed in our first pool in ’95.  Five top seeds went on to win the tournament (’95 UCLA, ’01 Duke, ’07 Florida, ’12 Kentucky, ’13 Louisville).  Only twice did the top 2 seeds make the final (’99 Duke v UConn, ’05 Illinois v UNC) and twice did none of the top 4 seeds make the Final Four (’06, ’11).   UConn, however, has won the most titles (4) with Duke, UNC, and Kentucky winning 3 each in the past 25 years.  A #1 seed has won the title 17 times with UConn (#7E) the worst seed to win the title. 

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Issue # 25.1 “25 Years: The Entries”

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Wednesday, March 18, 2020  **HELP support Direct Relief’s COVID-19 Response Fund (deadline Thu 9:15 am PDT) **

25 YEARS:  365 PEOPLE HAVE PLAYED IN OUR POOLS
As deadline nears, we can predict how many entries we might get

EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt)- Could a non-power 5 school such as Dayton, Gonzaga, or San Diego St have won it all?  We’ll never know.  Well, Sportsline ran a simulation and Dayton won (yay, Flyers).  This is the start of a series of updates reflecting on the 25 years of our HWCI NCAA pool and a peak behind the curtain of how the pool is run.  Kind of a nice number to do so, so thanks NCAA for cancelling this year’s tournament due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) concerns.  Whereas pro athletes can wait this out and as leagues have previously self-inflicted on their seasons voluntarily (NBA lockout 8 months in 2011-12 (82->66 game season), NHL lockout 1994-95 (84->48 game season), NHL lockout 2004-05 (cancelling entire season and Stanley Cup), MLB strike in 1994 (cancelling the World Series!), NFL strike 7 weeks in 1982 (16->9 game season)), these amateur athletes have worked hard for years for an opportunity to play in March Madness and will move on to their next phase in life (attempt to go pro, graduate school, the working world).

When CBS (or that awful year it was on TBS) finally gets through announcing the bracket on Selection Sunday, where feasible, David and myself are busy reading up the homepage (http://www.hwci.com/ncaa) for people to enter their picks.  Sometimes, this is very late Sunday (or very early Monday) and sometimes, like in 2006 where a hard drive crash kept the online entry disabled until 1 pm Monday or in 2014 where java security errors kept the updated form down until 2 am Tuesday, we experience anti-technology days that wreak havoc on our sanity!

Table of entries since 1999
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10th HWCI NCAA First Four for Charity

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Direct Relief
COVID-19 Response Fund

Wow, in a span of a couple days, dominos fell and hit every corner of the sport world, with the NCAA cancelling March Madness on March 12.  Today was supposed to be Selection Sunday and the kickoff for our 26th HWCI NCAA Pool.  So the 26th will have to wait until March 18, 2021.  BUT, I have decided to continue with the free 10th HWCI NCAA First Four for Charity where we have raised $1,158.08 to 9 different charities including a record-breaking $460 last year to the Boys & Girls Club of America.  

So I want every one of you to reply (Comment, Email,
post to Facebook, tweet @HWCI_Pools) with the TEAM you were going to pick to win the tournament (Kansas #1 AP, Gonzaga #1 NET, Dayton the darling fav).  Deadline will be the 9 am PDT Thursday.  Goal is 25+ replies!

For every reply back (anyone can reply, friends, family, etc), I will donate $2 to Direct Relief’s COVID-19 campaign where they are coordinating with public health authorities, nonprofit organizations and businesses in the U.S., China and globally to provide personal protective equipment and essential medical items to health workers responding to coronavirus (COVID-19). This is one of the highest rated charities that has a way to direct the donation directly to the response to the coronovirus.

Also, I don’t want to be the middle man with no pool, so if you donate to Direct Relief yourself, please email me the amount (up to $10) and I will include the numbers in the final total.

As a bonus, in the end, if we top 25 replies this year, I’ll donate an additional $25.  Also, invite your friends and people can enter (since it’s free) this charity contest but not our main pool. Last year, we not only set a record of $230 in donations from myself and fellow pool players, my company was able to match (such a painful process and never did see the final confirmation) making the donation total $460!

#NotMe! See you in 2021!

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Less than a day after announcing going ahead with the tournament without fans, the NCAA decided to pull the plug and cancelled March Madness. After the NBA had suspended play due to a Utah player testing positive for the coronavirus, Duke and Kansas strongly hinting they wouldn’t travel for the NCAA tournament, and after major leagues such as MLS and NHL paused their regular seasons (even minor ones like XFL), it was only a matter of time before everyone else followed suit. No one wants to be the “one” league that was defiant and then had an incident where players, coaches, and fans were exposed to the coronavirus. Better to be safe than sorry. Whether you agree or disagree, having a united front makes these decisions easier and will help slow the spread of the coronavirus. For some reason the USA cases went down 44 to 1,268 now (was 1,312). The USA only has 0.9% of all confirmed cases but that is likely to go up as more people get tested.

Despite California Governor’s call for no mass gatherings, after filling up gas I walked into Costco in Hawthorne, and they are definitely not following the rules! More than 150+ people packed like sardines, most standing in line all the way to the back of the store, everyone less than 6 feet from each other!

I am impressed with both the NCAA (all sport tournaments in Winter/Spring were cancelled as well) cancelling their big moneymaker (though the cynical side says it would have cost them more headaches and money holding games in empty arenas) and the lowly XFL which says they will still pay players and allow them to sign early with the NFL. Very classy.

Of course, thousands of athlete’s dreams (especially those who weren’t going to go pro) were crushed (#1 Kansas might get the title?), lots of Average Joes/Janes are now out of a job, and coaches may not get their postseason bonus money. Okay, that last one I don’t feel too sorry for.

As for our 26th HWCI NCAA Pool, the 26th will now be in 2021. At least the cancellation came before Selection Sunday so I don’t have to refund payments. Turning lemons into lemonade, this will give me a stress-free opportunity to reflect on the 25 years of the pool and will post periodically throughout March.

Also, while there is no First Four, there will still be the 10th HWCI NCAA First Four For Charity and an email will go out on no-longer-Selection Sunday on details on the charity and how I/you could donate to it.

Oh, Hi, Oh, Sorry, No Fans Allowed

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Active COVID-19 Cases in USA

Coming off the heels of the Ohio Governor banning large gatherings in the state (affecting Dayton’s First Four and Cleveland’s 1st/2nd Round games), the NCAA followed suit announcing (3/11/20) all March Madness games will be played without fans (in addition to all other NCAA sport tournaments such as the Frozen Four). This extreme precaution is an effort to not inadvertently contribute to mass community transmission of the coronavirus (aka, COVID-19) which has more than 126,000 confirmed cases and killed 4,638 people around the world (about 2/3rds from China). The USA has seen steady growth of daily cases and are now up to 1,312 (42 deaths, about 70% from Washington). Other sporting events have been affected as well.

Now big schools like Duke and Kansas will know what it feels like to be the Florida Marlins, Jacksonville Jaguars, or Ottawa Senators playing in front of sparse crowds with just essential staff, select media, and limited family members attending the games. The NCAA still sees incredible value for the athletes and teams who have worked hard for 1-4 years to make the big dance that, for now, the games will go on (unlike the Ivy League which just awarded Yale their entry, cancelling their conference tournament – sorry Harvard, Princeton, and Brown players). This offers the best chance at completing the tournament even if panic and chaos surrounds them in the next few weeks.

So how will this affect our 26th HWCI NCAA Pool? Nothing changes (for now) unless it is shown the virus can be transmitted via internet web entry submissions. However, possible clarifications will be:

  • For a given game, if one team forfeits (e.g., a team doesn’t want to travel), it counts as a loss just like any other outcome and their opponent will be the “winner”.
  • For a given game, if both teams forfeit, whatever method the NCAA uses to advance one of the teams to the next round (e.g., better seed advances, coin toss, coolest mascot) will be the “winner”.
  • If the tournament is postponed or paused, we will monitor and make a determination (e.g., if NCAA postpones Regional Finals/Final Four by a week or two to move into smaller arenas, we will just wait a week or two; if NCAA postpones until start of fall season (November), then we will probably refund).
  • If the tournament is cancelled, I have to go through the painful process of issuing refunds to everyone 🙂

Let’s hope and pray the coronavirus can be mitigated long enough (and hope it’s like the flu and is seasonal) for a possible vaccine next year. In the meantime, take precautions yourself and read about the latest at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention website.

IEEE & Rutgers

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IEEE, the largest professional engineering society in the world with more than 400,000 members, is headquartered in Piscataway, New Jersey. So at times, when we have IEEE-related meetings, in order for as many staff to help us, we stay in New Brunswick, New Jersey several miles away. Here, is the home of Rutgers University within walking distance from the Hyatt Hotel we have our meetings at. It’s a pretty campus with old classic buildings.

Well, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights may have just secured their first tourney appearance since 1991 guaranteeing that every year of our pool has seen at least one new team. Rutgers’ overtime road win over fellow bubble team Purdue gave them a key 2nd road victory (yes, just 2), a better than .500 Big Ten record (11-9), and their first 20-win season since 1983 to go along with their top 35 NET. Their at-large bid moved from probable First In/Out to just “In”.

Meanwhile, a pair of late 3s provided drama as Utah St secured a berth by beating #5 San Diego St. and USC stunned UCLA by two in their rivalry game. SDSU won their first 26 games before ending the season 4-2. Utah St was likely out but are now in the tourney, meaning one less at-large berth available (since SDSU will get one). UCLA had a chance for the share of the Pac-12 title but fell short, and with their 70s NET and some really bad losses, will need a good showing in the conf tourney to solidify their spot in the First Four In rather than First Four Out. USC is likely in with the win.

Our 26th HWCI NCAA Pool begins next Sunday (yikes, just lost an hour right now… it’s 3 am)!

Record Donation!

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Thanks to the generosity of some winners of this year’s 2019 HWCI NCAA Pool, a record $230.00 was made to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America last month (April 27). While I donated $50 thanks to 25 entries in our 9th HWCI First Four for Charity, Charles D, John S, Robert S, Andy F, Vi P, and Carl S contributed another $180! And if I can get through the paperwork, I am hoping that my company will match this amount. I’ll keep you up to date if that gets approved.

That means in the 9 years of doing the First Four for Charity, $928.08 have been donated to nine different charities. Thank you for your support and we’ll do it again next year! If you have an idea for a charity next year, let me know!

Issue # 14.6.1 “Wahoowa!”

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Watch the best reality show, The Amazing Race 31, the Reality Show Edition
2019 NCAA Champions
#1-South Regional Champions

University of Virginia Cavaliers (34-3)
1st Title
2019 Winningest Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference
(15-6)

7th Time: ’04, ’05 (Tied with Big10), ’10 (Tied with Big10, Big12), ’15, ’16,  ’17 (Tied with SEC)

Monday, April 8, 2019 

VIRGINIA GETS 1ST TITLE IN OVERTIME IN SURPRISING HIGH SCORING GAME
Kds911 wins tiebreaker over The Gambler 2 to win the pool

'Hoo Crew!

SANTA BARBARA, CA (smt)- More than five minutes into the game, the score was 3-2.  Seriously.  Five points with #3W-Texas Tech’s three points on free throws.  The Red Raiders didn’t hit their first field goal until 12:38 left in the first half.  7 minutes in it was 7-3 #1S-Virginia and the projected total points was just 57.  It was what expected with 2 of the top 3 defenses this year.  But the last 13 minutes saw 51 points and the second half had a lot of clutch shooting as Virginia blew another second half lead as Texas Tech tied it at 59.  Down by three, Virginia’s De’Andre Hunter hit a three to tie it at 68 with 12.9 seconds left.  That’s 136 points and the over/under for the game was 118.  On to overtime.  Virginia actually had an 11-0 run and hit all 12 free throws to win their first championship, 85-77.  Hunter and Kyle Guy combined for 51 points.  The Cavaliers won the championship a year after becoming the first #1 seed to lose to a #16 with the difference being that Hunter was healthy this tournament. 

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Virginia v Texas Tech Live!

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Will try to keep up to date on how our entries are doing as the game progresses!

End of game: Virginia wins 85-77 and goes from worst (losing to #16 seed) to first! Virginia hits 12 straight free throws. Wow, 163 points, remember when we were projecting 48? So, final standings:

  • 1st: Kds911 (Tom J) (wins tiebreaker)
  • 2nd: The Gambler 2 (Carl S)
  • 3rd: FortressHoops3 (Eric F) (wins tiebreaker)
  • 4th: WhereUGoneSteveFisher (Rob C)
  • 5th: Samurai Jack (Robinson C)
  • 6th: Agnes Schweitzhoffer (Andy F) (wins tiebreaker)
  • Bonus: Kai Pomeroy (Vi P) (wins tiebreaker)

17.0: Virginia 81-75 (Virginia had an 11-0 run). 156 points was improbable 2 hours ago. All tiebreakers won now when Virginia wins.

31.2: Virginia ball! They lead 77-73 (150). With free throws, 79-73 (152).

1:06: Geez, if it’s that close, keep the call on the court. Virginia 75-73 (148). Oy, they overturned the call, now Virginia ball.

2:45 left OT: Texas Tech leads 73-72. Projection 154.

End of regulation: 68-68, 136 points. Boy that last second took forever. Texas Tech shot was blocked. With projection of 153 points, if Texas Tech wins, Kds911 (>=138) would win 2nd and FortressHoops3 (>=148) would win 5th and TJ (150-153, ties 154) would win Bonus. If Virginia wins, Kds911 (>=138) would win 1st and FortressHoops3 (>=148) would win 3rd, Agnes Schweitzhoffer (>=135) would win 6th and Kai Pomeroy would win Bonus (>=151, Ties 150). This is the 8th OT final (first since ’08).

12.9: A 3 up, we’re tied! 68 all. That’s 136 points. At least one more point needs to be scored for 137. Or we go to overtime!

22.5: Texas Tech up 3 68-65.

35.1: Timeout! Texas Tech up 66-65! That’s 131 points. 4 more and a Virginia win gives Agnes Schweitzhoffer 6th and MistressNine would be in line for the Bonus (135-139).

1:31: Timeout! Virginia 65-64. 129 points now! 134 projected! One more point and Philly Eagles Again would get 6th (tied 129, 130-134) if Virginia holds on.

2:38: 61 all. Virginia is only the second team to score 60 or more points against Texas Tech in tournament. Projected 131.

3:28: And we’re tied at 59! 129 projected points. If Texas Tech wins, this is Netflower’s limit, if it goes to 130 then Fire Bill Self is poised to win Bonus (130-136, ties at 137).

4:47: 1st forced timeout called by Virginia leading 59-53. Projected 127, giving BamaG consternation (needs <=128 to win 6th, 129 would cause a tie) if Virginia ends up winning .

7:23: Virginia 55-47. Projected 125. Can The Gambler 2 smell first place (easily winning tiebreaker now by 12)? Samurai Jack would get 5th. BamaG would barely win the tiebreaker for 6th. Agnes Schweitzhoffer would win the Bonus (winning tiebreaker now by 9).

10:20: 10 point Virginia lead 53-43. Projected 129.

11:24: Virginia 50-41. No fast break points so neither team has needed to call a timeout to stall a run. Projected still 127. Virginia hitting 49% of their shots.

13:00: 3 straight 3’s combined by both teams. 45-41 Virginia. 127 projected points.

15:15 left (2nd half): Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver finally hits a field goal (1/9). Virginia 42-33. 121 projected points.

Half: The teams did combine for 51 points in the last 13 minutes, which would project to 157 so maybe second half will be exciting.

Half: Virginia 32-29. Projected 122 points. Virginia has won last 61 games when leading at the half. Incredible.

3:57: Virginia 25-24. Projected 123. Who will win their first title? Oh, besides the pool, which team will win their first title?

6:00: 21-21. Going up, now 120 pts projected.

7:55: Picking up now. Virginia 19-16. Virginia had a 10 point lead. Now projected 116 pts.

12:38: Texas Tech just hit their 1st field goal. Virginia 9-6. Projected 82 pts now.

13:00: Just 7-3 Virginia. That’s just 57 points combined. Those who are rooting for low scoring are The Gambler 2 (<=137) and WhereUGoneSteveFisher (<=147) if Texas Tech wins and The Gambler 2 (<=137), WhereUGoneSteveFisher (<=147), and BamaG (<=128) if Virginia wins. For the Bonus, Netflower (<=129) if Texas Tech wins and Agnes Schweitzhoffer (<=134) if Virginia wins.

15:51 left (1st Half): Oy, vey, just 5 points (Texas Tech 3-2 on three free throws). That’s only about 48 points total combined at end of the game.

Issue # 13.5.2 “25th Anniversary” (History of Pool)

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Our HWCI Women's World Cup Pool begins in May...
Our 2nd HWCI Women’s World Cup Pool Begins in May!
2019 NCAA FINAL FOUR @ Minneapolis, MN
Hosted by U. of Minnesota (Big Ten)
The Final at U.S. Bank Stadium
#3-Westvs.#1-South
Texas Tech University Red Raiders (31-6)University of Virginia Cavaliers (34-3)
Big 12 Conference – Regular Season Co-Champs
Lubbock, Texas
1st Final
def #14 Northern Kentucky 72-57
#6 Buffalo 78-58
#2 Michigan 63-44
#1 Gonzaga 75-69
#2E-Michigan St 61-51		Atlantic Coast Conference – Regular Season Co-Champs
Charlottesville, Virginia
1st Final
def #16 Gardiner-Webb 71-56
#9 Oklahoma 63-51
#12 Oregon 53-49
#3 Purdue 80-75 (OT)
#5MW-Auburn 63-62

Sunday, April 7, 2019

A TOUGH DEFENSE VERSUS A SLOW OFFENSE
Six battling for final 2 money spots as 4 have clinched; 15 vying for Bonus

BANC OF CALIFORNIA STADIUM, LOS ANGELES/SANTA BARBARA, CA (smt)- Will this be a Butler-UConn type championship when just 94 points were scored?  Texas Tech has held the two Michigans to 44 and 51 points and 6th-best offense in Buffalo to 58 points while Virginia held high scoring Oklahoma and Oregon to 51 and 49 points.  Including the tournament, Virginia is #1 in scoring defense (allowing 55.5 pts/game) and Texas Tech is #3 (58.8).  Virginia is 7th in 3-point percentage (39.4%) though they take their time taking their shots. Or maybe we’ll be surprised and Texas Tech will score something like 78 or 75 like they did vs Buffalo and Gonzaga or Virginia will score 80 like they did against Purdue.  Virginia has needed luck at the buzzer twice, scoring a game-tying buzzer beater off a missed free throw against Purdue and a missed double-dribble call and foul on a buzzer-beating 3-point shot against Auburn.  Texas Tech has won each game by at least six points with four in double-digits.  With all that, Virginia is just a one-point favorite to try to complete the worst-to-first (losing to #16 seed to winning the title) and the over/under is an all-time low of 118 pts.  With so many tiebreakers in play for the top 6 and the Bonus, this low over/under is at least 10 points less than the tiebreak point giving those entries who guessed lowest a little buffer.

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Issue # 12.5.1 “Streaky Endings”

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Disneyland's Star Wars Galaxy Edge opens May 31

Saturday, April 6, 2019 

TIGERS SHOCKED BY VIRIGNIA, TEXAS TECH CLOSES STRONG
ChuckPersonCellBlock leads by one but The Gambler 2 or Kds911 can still win the pool

Auburn foul on Virginia's Guy

HOME/GARDENA, CA (smt)- Wow.  #1S-Virginia led 57-47 with 5:24 to go before #5MW-Auburn went on a 14-0 run to lead 61-57 with 17 seconds left.  Then the Cavaliers ended the game on a 6-1 run to win 63-62 to advance to their 1st Finals.  But how we got there was crazy.  During the 14-0 run Auburn hit 3 threes and Virginia was 0-for-2 on free throws and took an awfully long time to get a shot off when they were down by 2 taking more than 25 off the shot clock on two consecutive possessions when time isn’t on your side.  Like Duke in the last round, Virginia then needed to foul 3 times to get Auburn to shoot free throws but was able to do it in 3.3 seconds after figuring it out with 20.9 seconds left (Auburn initially rebounded with 30.1 seconds left).  Auburn has been horrible at the free throw line but made both to up by 4 before Kyle Guy hit a 3 to pull Virginia within one with 6.5 seconds left (again taking an awfully long 13 seconds to get the shot off).  A foul before the inbounds not only took no time off the clock, the refs put back 0.9 seconds (so, why doesn’t every team foul before the inbounds?).  The Tigers’ Jared Harper, who hit all 11 free throws against Kentucky, hit the key front end of the one-and-one but missed the second.  Auburn with two fouls to give, fouled with 5.4 seconds left. 

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The Year Was 1995

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Our humble first pool.

1995. Before Javascript which helped run the online web entry from 1999-2013. Before finalfour.net debuted in 1996. Before DVDs. Before the Spice Girls. Before the Star Wars Special Editions. Our first pool was run by telephone by the HW-UCLA folks (including co-admin David (The Mighty Mobelfakta) and coercing unsuspecting victims like myself (Silver Fabone) to pony up $10 for a sport I didn’t watch. We got 12 entries that first year. And they assigned nicknames which was sometimes unflattering :-).

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Issue # 11.4.3 “Certified Fresh*” *-Once we deleted all the negative comments

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To enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.
2019 NCAA FINAL FOUR @ Minneapolis, MN
4th Final Four (’51 (Williams Arena), ’92 & ’01 (Metrodome))
Hosted by U. of Minnesota (Big Ten)U.S. Bank Stadium
Second SemifinalFirst Semifinal
#2-East
Washington, DC
Hosted by Georgetown U. (Big East)
Capital One Arena		#3-West
Anaheim, CA
Hosted by Big West Conference
Honda Center		#1-South
Louisville, KY
Hosted by U. of Louisville (ACC)
KFC Yum! Center		#5-Midwest
Kansas City, MO
Hosted by Missouri Valley Conference
Sprint Center
Michigan State University Spartans (32-6)Texas Tech University Red Raiders (30-6)University of Virginia Cavaliers (33-3)Auburn University Tigers 
(30-9)
Big Ten Conference – Reg. Season Co-Champs & Tourney Champs
East Lansing, Michigan
10th Final Four (’57, ’79, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’05, ’09, ’10, ’15)
2-time champions
def #15 Bradford 76-65
#10 Minnesota 70-50
#3 LSU 80-63
#1 Duke 68-67		Big 12 Conference – Regular Season Co-Champs
Lubbock, Texas
1st Final Four
def #14 Northern Kentucky 72-57
#6 Buffalo 78-58
#2 Michigan 63-44
#1 Gonzaga 75-69

Atlantic Coast Conference – Regular Season Co-Champs
Charlottesville, Virginia
3rd Final Four (’81, ’84)
def #16 Gardiner-Webb 71-56
#9 Oklahoma 63-51
#12 Oregon 53-49
#3 Purdue 80-75 (OT)

Southeastern Conference – Tournament Champs
Auburn, Alabama
1st Final Four
def #12 New Mexico St 78-77
#4 Kansas 89-75
#1 North Carolina 97-80
#2 Kentucky 77-71 (OT)

Thursday, April 4, 2019  

TWO NEWBIES AND VIRGINIA JOIN MICHIGAN ST IN FINAL FOUR
At least $85 will be donated to Boys & Girls Clubs of America; over $783 donated in 9 years

SANTA BARBARA, CA (smt)- It is so nice that if you don’t like how something is being viewed, you canjust force a company like Rotten Tomatoes to change their scoring methods or delete a bunch of data until it comes out positive.  Luckily, the HWCI NCAA Pool will not bow to trolls and will continue to press on, year after year, this being our 25th silver anniversary.  Considering we have had at least 125 entries the past 9 years with 89.5% of the entries returning players this year, I say we are Certified Fresh! 

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