Tag Archives: Baylor

Issue # 4.2.1 “UNC Unchokes Itself” (3/19)

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AN ELBOW NEARLY DOOMED UNC
Tarheel Blue Balls goes 6-2 to lead by 2

Manek Elbow

DISAPPOINTED SELLOUT CROWD FOR LAvORL AT DIGNITY HEALTH SPORTS PARK, CA (smt) – Where to even start?  #8E-UNC was cruising with a 25-point lead (67-42) when with 10:08 left, UNC’s Brady Manek’s (26 pts) elbow landed on a #1E-Baylor player’s face and the refs decided to call a flagrant-2 and eject him from the match giving Baylor, at the time, a couple of meaningless free throws.  The Bears made 1 of 2 but that turned into a quick 11-0 run and eventually outscored UNC 38-13 in ten minutes to tie the game at 80 with 15.8 seconds left (a head scratcher long 3-pt attempt by UNC on the last play exemplified all that went wrong for UNC).  Ten turnovers, three late missed free throws, taking just ten shots (the did make 4 of them), another technical foul, and seemingly always dribbling into a corner against Baylor’s press was ten minutes UNC wanted to forget.  Luckily, in overtime, they were like goldfish and outscored the Bears 13-6 to win 93-86 to advance to their 30th Sweet 16.  Baylor exploited inconsistent refs with their aggressive press which caused UNC fits (plus poor decision making).  In overtime, UNC got the benefit of calls as Baylor just ran out of gas while having 3 players foul out.

#1MW-Kansas scored the last 6 points in holding off #9MW-Creighton by 7.  #11S-Michigan, who some thought should have been in the First Four went on a 14-4 run late to overcome a 6-point deficit to #3S-Tennessee to win by 8.  #4MW-Providence, who most thought was over-seeded, walloped #12MW-Richmond by 28 to make its first Sweet 16 since ’97.  #4E-UCLA broke open the game after #5E-St. Mary’s got within one five minutes into the second half to make its 5th Sweet 16 in 9 years.  A collision course with Gonzaga looms but first two of the biggest programs will face off as 11-time champion UCLA will face 6-time champion UNC.

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Issue # 1.0.1 “Back to Normal?” (3/13)

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International Rescue Committee - Crisis in Ukraine

Sunday, March 13, 2022  **HELP support Ukrainian refugees via International Rescue Committee (deadline Tue 4:00 pm PDT **)

BLUE BLOODS BACK, ZAGS #1 OVERALL AGAIN
Our 27th pool is as normal as it gets – same fee, same rules, same heartbreak

NO SCHOOL MASK MANDATE AS OF MARCH 12, CA (smt) – After a year where we didn’t see any blue bloods in the top 8 seeds (with  Duke, Indiana, and Kentucky not even qualifying and only Kansas seeded 7 or better) with the likes of Illinois, Baylor, Houston, Alabama, and Iowa breaking through, this year the blue bloods are out for vengeance with #2W-Duke, #1MW-Kansas, and #2E-Kentucky among the favorites to win it all with #4E-UCLA, #8E-UNC, and #12bE-Indiana also joining the fun.  No longer confined to a single city and partial crowds, the NCAA returns to normal with full capacity crowds across 14 cities and optional masking (though testing before travel is still required).  Just one game (VCU had to forfeit against Oregon) was a no-contest and produced a first-time winner in Baylor.

#1W-Gonzaga repeated as the #1 overall seed (5th time as a 1 seed, third straight (would’ve been 4 if ’20 wasn’t cancelled)) with S-Arizona (who was ineligible last year due to a self-ban), Kansas, and E-Baylor also netting #1 seeds.  This was only the 2nd time two #1 seeds heralded from the Western USA (’00 with Zona and Stanford) and all four are not in the Eastern Time Zone (btw, Happy Daylight Savings).  The Big 12 got two #1 seeds for the first time since ’03 (OK and TX).  The three local teams were spread across regions with #7-USC in the Midwest and #15-Cal State Fullerton in the West.

Bubble team #11E-Virginia Tech not only played spoiler denying Coach K a 16th ACC title in his final year but also likely knocked Oklahoma to last out, by winning 13 of its last 15 games, including 4 in 4 days in the ACC tourney.  #12MW-Richmond’s upset of #10W-Davidson today knocked Dayton out of the tourney (who could have played on their home floor in the First Four).  But somehow #11S-Michigan not only snuck in but avoided the First Four.

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Issue # 14.5.3 “Offense and Offensive Rebounds” (4/5)

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Star Wars: The Bad Batch premiers May the Fourth!
2021 NCAA Champions
Baylor Bears 2021 Champions#1- South Regional Champions

Baylor University Bears (28-2)
1st Title
2021 Winningest Conference
Pac 12 ConferenceThe Pac 12 Conference
(13-5)

1st Time

BAYLOR OUT-MUSCLES ZAGS FOR FIRST TITLE
MizzouTgr11 2 wins pool in his 6th year, Wuk#3 wins 3-way tie for 7th

Mark Vital Bear Hug

EL SEGUNDO/CYPRESS, CA (smt) – #1S-Baylor jumped out to a 9-0 and 29-10 lead en route to a 86-70 drubbing of previously unbeaten #1W-Gonzaga for their first national title.  The Zags still did what they do in the first half, shooting 54.5%, but the Bears had 16 more shots thanks to 9 offensive rebounds and forcing 8 turnovers in taking a 10-point lead into the half.  There was no 2nd half momentum as Baylor poured it on again and when the deficit got cut to 9, Baylor ran off 7 straight points.  Baylor dominated in the tournament, only trailing once (by 2) in the 2nd half of all six games.  The Bulldogs’ hangover from their dramatic overtime win did them in, as the 19-point early deficit was too much to overcome.  At one point, Baylor made 10 threes to Gonzaga’s one.  At one point when they were threatening, Gonzaga missed four of five free throws (including the front end of a 1-and-1, a loss of 5 crucial points).

To me, the MVP was Baylor’s Mark Vital, who had 8 offensive rebounds (3 more the whole Zags team), 2 steals, 6 pts, and a great “bear” hug of his coach.  How nice one of the mascots “Joy” gets etched into the championship logo.  Gonzaga finishes 31-1 and their lowest point total of the season.  More impressively, all the sacrifices of the players, coaches, and staff to live in the Indy bubble gave us a great tournament (except poor VCU) with all the highs and lows we missed last year and maybe, just maybe, the Pac 12 will be respected (UCLA #1?) once again. 

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Gonzaga vs Baylor Live!

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1:00 pm – I’ll be taking my son to Boy Scouts tonight so we’ll see how the WordPress app works with updating. Pac Attack wins the pool if the Zags win, MizzouTgr11 2 wins if the Bears win (see Final Possibilities). Total points in Final tiebreaker will come into play (note over/under is now 159, down a point) if Gonzaga wins with Hawkeye 3 getting 5th if total pts <=147 and Gonzagafinallywinsit gets 5th if total pts >=148. If Baylor wins, with The Fabone Marathon wins 4th if <=144 and Mr Wizard wins 4th if >=145.

If Baylor wins, 7th is a 3-way tie meaning at least one will go home empty handed.

  • Carseroni wins 7th if <=120,
  • Carseroni and Mrs Meghan&Mr Meghan split $60 if 121,
  • Mrs Meghan&Mr Meghan wins 7th if pts are 122 to 140,
  • Mrs Meghan&Mr Meghan and Wuk#3 split $60 if 141, and
  • Wuk#3 wins 7th if >=142.

For the $40 Bonus, 51 are tied if Gonzaga wins and 49 are tied if Baylor wins. If total points is <=103, then Thai Spice wins and if total points is >=169 then Bigtenfan wins. The rest are in the middle (see Bonus possibilities).

3:50 pm – Ok, done with short trip to El Segundo. Now dealing with an hour of traffic. Oh, UNC has a coach now.

15:30 – 11-1 Baylor. In the car on way to Cypress Boys & Gils Club.

11:42 – 23-8 Baylor. Zags in trouble.

10:00 – 29-10. (Projected total – 156)

7:50 – 31-14. Baylor has twice as many shot attempts (24-12).

Half – Zags score last 5 to cut deficit to 10 (47-37). Projected total points 168 (Bonus projected for Mauihammy&Jay Bilas regardless who wins). Down by as many as 19, Zags still shot 54.5% (12/22). 8 turnovers and allowing 9 offensive rebounds allowed Baylor to shoot 16 more times (19/38). After missing first free throw, Zags made last 12. Baylor just 2 free throws (2/2).

15:51 – 56-45. Driving home now.

11:45 – 67-53. Zags had it down to 9 but Baylor’s 3s are killing them. Projected 168.

10:20: 20 pts! 73-53

8:27 – 2 missed free throws. Nothing going right. 75-59. Still 168 projected.

5:00 – Baylor 80-63, projected 163. Zags missed 4 of last 5 free throws including front end of a 1-and-1. Two more points will give Mr Wizard 4th. Wuk#3 already clinched 7th. 163 would give Dr Fun Bonus (missing out on 4th since Zags will lose).

3:15 – Baylor 82-65, projected 160 (would give Bonus to ZarinC).

End – Baylor ran out the clock and thus, 86-70 win produced 156 points. That gives ATI3.0 the Bonus! Perfect season ruined as Zags 35-game win streak comes to an end. Sheesh, Zags still shot 51% but just 5/17 on threes. Baylor 18 more shots with 16 offensive rebounds and forcing 14 turnovers. Baylor was 10/23 on threes and made 16/18 free throws.

Issue # 13.5.2 “Pool is a Marathon, Not a Sprint” (4/4)

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2021 NCAA FINAL FOUR @ Indianapolis, Indiana
Hosted by Indiana U.-Purdue U. Indianapolis (IUPUI) (Horizon League)
The Final at Lucas Oil Stadium – Unity & Equality Floor
#1-Southvs. #1-West




Baylor University Bears (27-2)Gonzaga University Bulldogs (31-0)
Big 12 Conference – Regular Season Champs
Waco, Texas
2nd Final (’48)
def #16 Hartford 79-55
#9 Wisconsin 76-63
#5 Villanova 62-51
#3 Arkansas 81-72
#2MW Houston 78-59		West Coast Conference – Regular Season and Tourney Champs
Spokane, Washington
2nd Final (’17)
def #16a Norfolk St 98-55
#8 Oklahoma 87-71
#5 Creighton 83-65
#6 USC 85-66
#11E UCLA 93-90 (OT)



THE GAME WE WAITED FOR SINCE DECEMBER
Long droughts and deja vu as 10 battle for final four spots

Our 3rd HWCI EURO Pool begins in May...

HAPPY EASTER & HAPPY 81st BIRTHDAY DAD, CA (smt) – Both #1W-Gonzaga and #1S-Baylor are making just their second final and seeking their first NCAA title.  Baylor has not trailed in the second half except for a brief 2-point deficit midway through the 2nd half vs #5S-Villanova and demolished #2MW-Houston while, until the Final Four, Gonzaga had not trailed since early in the first half vs #8W-Oklahoma.  But, oh, that game vs #11E-UCLA.  The Zags, having had won 27 straight by double-digits, could have choked or played tentative when it was close late but persevered against a well-coached Bruin team (for once) and needed a denial of an easy UCLA dunk, a gutsy charge call, and buzzer beater bank shot to prevail in overtime.  Despite the close call, Gonzaga is still favored by five with a very high over/under of 160.

While Baylor slipped to #3 after a loss in the Big 12 tournament, the past two years and this tournament has shown these have been consistently the best two teams in the country (both were #1-2 in the NET rankings though).  The highly anticipated Dec 5th matchup was cancelled due to COVID so now we get to finally see these teams play each other.  However, people still picked Illinois more than Baylor (29 vs 19, 72 vs 49 to make final) as Baylor did have a tougher region to start.  The only times the top 2 teams were picked to make the Final were in ’07 (42 Ohio St, 36 Florida), ’05 (45 Illinois, 36 UNC), and ’99 (32 Duke, 15 UConn).

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Issue # 12.5.1 “Buzzer Beater Bank” (4/3)

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TOP TWO TEAMS WIN; ONE EASILY AND ONE IN OT
Pac Attack or MizzouTgr11 2 will win the pool; 10 fighting for last 4 spots

Zags buzzer beater bank

FAMILY PICNIC, CA (smt) – Having just played double-digit seeds, #2MW-Houston ran into a buzz saw in #1S-Baylor and saw their 8-6 lead quickly disappear as the Bears had 10-0 and 11-0 runs in the first half.  Baylor ended the half up 45-20 and never let the Cougars get closer than 16 in a 78-59 rout for their first final appearance in 73 yeas (’48). 

In the nightcap, #11E-UCLA played nearly flawless but #1W-Gonzaga pulled out the victory on a long buzzer beater bank three in overtime, winning their 35th straight game, 93-90.  In the instant classic, UCLA shot 57.6% and Gonzaga 58.7% and committed just 10 turnovers each in the 183 point epic battle that essentially was a one score game the whole second half and overtime (Zags briefly by 7 in 2nd half and 5 in OT) and featured 15 ties and 19 lead changes.  UCLA played out the end of the 2nd half (no timeout) and got a whistle with one second left but it was a charge, not a block… it would’ve been more unlucky had the basket went in (nullifying a buzzer beater) or had it been UCLA’s 7th foul (it was their 6th) that would’ve sent the Zags to the line for the win.  So to overtime, UCLA’s third of the tourney.  If there was one thing to fault UCLA for, it was missing the front end of a one-and-one down by 4 two minutes into OT.  Ouch.  UCLA once again played out the end and this time Johnny Juzang (29 pts) put in his own miss with 3.3 seconds left to tie it at 90 after being down by 5.  Taking UCLA’s playbook, the Bulldogs also played out (no timeout) and saw three dribbles and a 42-foot running jump shot by Jalen Suggs magically banked in at the buzzer.

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Issue # 11.4.3 “Our Pool Has an Efficacy of 66.4%” (4/1)

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Center for Disaster Philantrophy - COVID-19 Response Fund
2021 NCAA FINAL FOUR @ Indianapolis, Indiana
8th Final Four (’80 (Market Square Arena); ’91, ’97, ’00, ’06 (RCA Dome); ’10, ’15 (Lucas Oil Stadium))
Hosted by Indiana U.-Purdue U. Indianapolis (IUPUI) (Horizon League)
Lucas Oil Stadium – Unity & Equality Floor
First SemifinalSecond Semifinal
#1-South
Hinkle Fieldhouse
Bankers Fieldhouse
Lucas Oil Sta (South)		#2-Midwest
Bankers Fieldhouse
Hinkle Fieldhouse
Lucas Oil Sta (North)		#1-West
Hinkle Fieldhouse
Bankers Fieldhouse
Lucas Oil Sta (North)		#11-East
Bankers Fieldhouse
Hinkle Fieldhouse
Lucas Oil Sta (South)
Baylor BearsHouston CougarsGonzaga BulldogsUCLA Bruins
Baylor University Bears (26-2)University of Houston Cougars (28-3)Gonzaga University Bulldogs (30-0)University of California, Los Angeles Bruins (22-9)
Big 12 Conference – Regular Season Champs
Waco, Texas
3rd Final Four (’48, ’50)
def #16 Hartford 79-55
#9 Wisconsin 76-63
#5 Villanova 62-51
#3 Arkansas 81-72		American Athletic Conference (2nd Place) – Tourney Champs
Houston, Texas
6th Final Four (’67, ’68, ’82, ’83, ’84)
def #15 Cleveland St 87-56
#10 Rutgers 63-60
#11 Syracuse 62-46
#12 Oregon St 67-61		West Coast Conference – Regular Season and Tourney Champs
Spokane, Washington
2nd Final Four (’17)
def #16a Norfolk St 98-55
#8 Oklahoma 87-71
#5 Creighton 83-65
#6 USC 85-66		Pac 12 (4th Place)
Los Angeles, California
19th Final Four (’62, ’64, ’65, ’67, ’68, ’69, ’70, ’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76, ’80, ’95, ’06, ’07, ’08)
def #11a Michigan St 86-80 (OT)
#6 BYU 73-62
#14 Abilene Christian 67-47
#2 Alabama 88-78 (OT)
#1 Michigan 51-49

11-TIME CHAMP WITH 3 SEEKING THEIR FIRST TITLE
At least $248 will be donated to CDP; over $1,731 donated over 11 years

Largest bracket on the JW Marriott in downtown Indy

DIGNITY HEALTH SPORTS PARK, CARSON, CA (smt) – If you saw the largest bracket on the JW Marriott in downtown Indy, you would not see a lot of familiar names.  The tournament didn’t feature Blue Bloods such as Duke, Kentucky, and Indiana with UNC making it as an #8 seed and Kansas joining after having to quit their Big 12 tournament due to COVID-19 after struggling the first half of the year.  UNC lost in the first round and Kansas in the second.  That left UCLA.  The 11-time national champions lost their last four games and squeaked into the First Four game against a wanna-be Blue Blood, Michigan St.  The Bruins rallied from five down with 90 seconds left to force overtime to beat the Spartans, allowed a 3-pointer with less than a second left to Alabama and then routing them in overtime 23-13, and then survived three open three attempts by another Michigan team to hold on to defeat the Wolverines in the Elite 8.

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Issue # 9.4.1 “Beauty and the Beast” (3/29)

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HOUSTON SURVIVES RALLY, BAYLOR WINS SHOOTOUT
Pac Attack is now in the lead; just 7 can win the pool

Baylor 38-25 13 minutes in
Baylor 38, Arkansas 25

CYPRESS BOY SCOUTS, CA (smt) – #2MW-Houston blew a 17-point lead but then held #12MW-Oregon St. without a field goal until the final seconds to reach their first Final Four since ’84, 67-61.  Houston led 34-17 at the half despite shooting 29% thanks to their defense and offensive rebounding.  They held the Beavers without a field goal (or a point) in the last 4:49 of the first half as well as no field goals for more than 3 minutes after the Beavers incredibly tied it at 55.  Houston missed 42 shots (Oregon St only took 47 shots) but got 19 offensive rebounds and made 11 threes.

Whereas the first match were clanks everywhere in the first half, the second match was beauty.  The score was already 38-25 just 13 minutes into the game (projected 194 total at end of game) with both teams shooting better than 59%.  Unfortunately, #3S-Arkansas lost their shooting touch late, going more than 8:10 without a field goal (0/12) to allow #1S-Baylor take a 62-58 lead to 74-64 with 1:20 left.  The Bears made their first Final Four since 1950 with the 81-72 victory.

In the pool, 22 got both teams correct sending Pac Attack to the lead with 105 pts.  Suznana (101), Mr. & Mrs. Dreamboat (100), The Fabone Marathon (99), and Matsuz (98) take up spots 3-6.  License to ILL fell a spot to 2nd (102) but can’t finish higher than 5th.  53 went 0-2 sending Big Luther and Flamingo22 into a tie for last (58).

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