Thursday, March 16, 2017
A record 6 entries are perfect as a record 178 entries vie for 2017 title
CERRITOS APT, CA (smt)- The day started off exciting with #12E-UNC Wilmington up by 15 and #12W-Princeton in a close game but in the end, #5E-Virginia woke up to win easily and the luck of the Irish was there a day early as the Tiger’s lined up for an open three at the buzzer that just went long to give #5W-Notre Dame the victory After that everything continued to either go chalk with the exception of the consensus upset pick #12S-Middle Tennessee and #11W-Xavier. There were struggles as #1E-Villanova (only led by a point at halftime) and #1W-Gonzaga didn’t get the routs they thought. #4S-Butler, #7W-St. Mary’s, #3W-Florida St., and #4W-West Virginia won close games while #4E-Florida, #4MW-Purdue, #8E-Wisconsin, #2W-Arizona, and #5MW-Iowa St. won in double-digits.
The most bizarre ending was after going up by 1, #9W-Vandy’s Matthew Fisher-Davis thought they were down 1 and intentionally fouled #8W-Northwestern giving them two free throws with 15 seconds left. Though a huge brain fart, that didn’t lose the game for them. Northwestern still had to make two free throws which they did and Vandy had 15 seconds left. A badly drawn three-pointer missed badly and Northwestern, who waited 78 years to play their first tournament game, is now 1-for-1. NW won the game like the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl. Atlanta made dumb mistakes but NE still had to go down the field twice and convert two two-point plays. Vandy had 15 seconds left and took a bad shot. That’s what lost the game.
The ho-hum day meant that we had a record six entries go a perfect 16-0. We only had six in the previous 22 pools. and only two of those ended up winning money. Air Fabone 23, Bobby Cee Racer, Hrosen2, Nwspring1, The Gambler, and The Swami go into the history books. Scott T has done it back-to-back years and is the first person to do it twice. Of course, last year, he finished 7th which was out of the money so a strong start is not indicative of success, money-wise. There 15 others right behind at 15-1. Fefe had a bad day, going 9-7.
We unofficially have a record 178 entries, topping 2015’s record by 17. By going Continue reading