Congratulations Huskies

Congratulations to UConn on an impressive run to the title.
Can they double up tonight on the women's side?

It Is Over For All Of Us, But One...

And the winner is Andrew!!!
His years of persistence finally paid off.
He delivered an old fashioned beat down to the rest of us and may not be done.
If UConn wins on Monday, I would consider his win to be a total rout.
Congratulations, Andrew!

The only bracketeer who can score any more points is our champion, so the current standings are the final standings.

Congratulations, also, go out to Jason for 2nd place and Matt for 3rd place.

Payouts are as follows:

1. Andrew - $90.00
2. Jason - $37.50
3. Matt - $22.50

Thank you, everyone, for playing again this year.
It was fun and, hopefully, we will do it again next year.

It's Down to the Final Four, Baby!

I enjoyed my two days on top, but the "UConn Man" has taken over.

The teams picked as champions, by the remaining bracketeers who can still score points (those without an "*" by their names in the standings), are UConn, Florida and Wisconsin.

The following scenarios may take place:

• Andrew #2 - If UConn wins the championship, Andrew #2 wins. If UConn wins the semi-final game, but loses the championship game, Andrew #2 wins if Wisconsin isn't the champion.
• Mike - If Florida wins the championship, Mike wins. If Florida wins the semi-final game, but loses the championship game, Mike wins if Wisconsin isn't the champion.
• Meg - If Wisconsin wins the championship, Meg wins.

Based upon the current standings, the only bracketeers with a chance to win any money are Andrew #1, Andrew #2, Meg, Marc, Matt, Jason, Mike and Pam.

I am going to audit the scores this week, but would appreciate it if you, also, checked your own.

Good luck to everyone who might still win some money. 

The Elite Eight Is Next

Standings are updated.
I will audit all of the brackets for errors and post the different scenarios that may occur.
Good luck to everyone still in contention.

Updated Standings

Lots of changes after the Sweet Sixteen games were played.
There will be bigger movement in the standings after the next round because many of the bracketeers have lost their Championship, Final Four and Elite Eight teams.
Stay tuned.

Standings Are Posted

The first set of standings have been posted...and as usual, I have some observations.

• Andrew #2 - Our current leader got 3 of the 4 First Round games correct. In the Second Round games, he got the South and East Regions correct and two wrong in each of the Midwest and West Regions. Good job.
• Andrew #1 - He did a nice job with this bracket. Has UConn to win it all. I think every year one of his brackets has UConn to win it all. In fact, he would probably pick UConn to win the NCAA championship, even if they were in the NIT.
• Jeff - Got the entire East Region correct in the Second Round and correctly picked Tennessee in both the First and Second Rounds.
• Lynn - Got the entire East Region correct in The Second Round, but, unfortunately for her, had Duke winning it all. The rest of us thank you for your $10 contribution.
• Elaine - The only bracketeer to correctly pick the four winners in the First Round.
• Pam - To answer the question that I am asked every year, no she doesn't get any special consideration - not that she hasn't tried.
• Karen - New to the bracket this year. Our neighbor across the street. We think she should be nominated for sainthood for having to put up with Dale. Got the entire East Region correct in the Second Round.
• Mike - Nothing special in this bracket.
• Betty - Seems to think she should win because of her relationship with a certain individual - HA!!!. No way, Mom.
• Marc - Got the entire South Region correct in the Second Round.
• Matt - It will be an uphill climb, but a good looking bracket - at least on paper. Unfortunately, they have to play the games.
• Meg - New to the bracket this year. She comes to it by way of Matt. Seems that they have been hanging out together. Like Matt, an uphill climb, but will probably win it all if she has correctly picked the champion because she is the only bracketeer with that team.
• Phaon - Like Lynn, picked Duke to win it all. Won with them one year, but not this year. Thanks for the ten bucks.
• Dale - New to the bracket this year. Our neighbor across the street. All that I can say is, I feel sorry for Karen. Actually, he's a good neighbor. He should check with Karen the next time he has to make any picks.
• Jason - Rough First and Second Rounds, but still has a shot at some money.

Feel free to make any comments.
I believe that you have to register to do that.
Good luck in the Sweet Sixteen Round.

March Madness 2014 - Rules

The basketball tournament is just around the corner. The rules are as follows:

• The entry fee is $10 per bracket. You may play as many brackets as you wish. Each will cost $10. Mail the fee(s) with your completed bracket(s) or, if you e-mail your bracket, I must have the money by the end of the day March 27, 2012. (You will be dropped from the tournament if I don't have the money by this date.)
• Pick all of your projected winners for the entire tournament.
• The brackets have to be e-mailed to me or postmarked prior to the start of the First Round games on Tuesday, March 18, 2012.
• This year, you will have to pick the winners of the First Four/First Round games on March 18-19 for the 61st-64th seeds.
• Write on your bracket or in your e-mail the total number of points that will be scored in the championship game. This is the tiebreaker. In case of a tie, whoever is closer, over or under, wins.
• Matt told me that msnbc.com has a bracket that allows you to click on each winner and it will automatically move that team to the next round. I will provide a link.
• Brackets should be e-mailed to mcwpaw@msn.com

Scoring by round:

First round (First Four) - 1 point for each winner
Second round (Round of 64) - 1 point for each winner
Third round (Round of 32) - 2 points for each winner
Regional semi-finals (Sweet Sixteen) - 5 points for each winner
Regional finals (Elite Eight) - 10 points for each winner
National semi-finals (Final Four) - 25 points for each winner
National championship (Championship Game) - 50 points for the winner
Tie breaker - Total score of the two teams in the final - whoever is closer.
Tie breaker tie breaker - Coin toss by Pam.
Payouts:
First place - 60% of the total pot
Second place - 25% of the total pot
Third place - 15% of the total pot
I will try to keep scores as up to date as possible. Any questions - call or e-mail.
Keep track of your own scores. Mistakes happen.

I will probably post comments about how everyone is doing - good and not so good comments. If you don't want your name mentioned, e-mail me at mcwpaw@msn.com and I will keep you out of it.