March Madness 2010 NCAA Men's Basketball (HTF Pick'em Challenge, too) (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

If anyone's up for March Madness picks and seeing how you do against other HTFers, check out the pool link below. You may need to create a Yahoo account. Once you do that, then use:

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/group/103918

Group ID # 103918

Password = oar

Just for fun, I set the limit on brackets per person to 2, so if you can hedge your bets, so to speak.

Let me know if I've screwed up, or didn't turn on an option to allow others to create their own brackets in this group.

Please get your picks in by tip-off time on Thursday.

 

[Marty M]

I'll join in. I only like to do the brackets for fun. It adds a little more excitement for me. Since the Univ. of Illinois is not in the NCAA tournament this year, I need something to add some excitement to the tournament.

 

[Jason Charlton]

Let's see how the "Don't think about it, just pick it" strategy works out this year...

 

[Ockeghem]

I too enjoy doing the brackets each year. I don't usually do it online, however.

For my own part though, I don't understand the thought process behind this year's selection committee. Some of the regions are quite unbalanced -- more so than usual. For example, the Midwest region is incredibly stacked, while some teams (e.g., Duke) from a few of the other regions seem to have a cakewalk. Michigan State most likely has to get through both Kansas and Ohio State just to make the sweet sixteen.

I heard an interesting bit of speculation this morning on sports radio. One caller thought that the committee made a mess of it intentionally so that the expansion to 512 teams (I mean 96 ) would be justifiable. Another caller said that the regular season ought to be done away with, and that every team ought to be allowed into the tournament, which could instead start at the beginning of the season. Anyway, just some thoughts as we begin one of the most exciting times of the sports year.

 

[Patrick Sun]

True, the seedings were bordering on "WTF!" for some teams. Some of it is due to who's on the selection committee (how did Wake Forest get in? Oh, some with WF ties is on the committee).

 

[Bob McLaughlin]

I'm in! I went a little radical again this year...no fun going too conservative in a free bracket challenge!

 

[Raasean Asaad]

Well, I'm back in it again. Lets see how long my bracket lasts before I am tearing it up this year.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Geez, already a 4, 6, and 7 seed go down in the first round.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Seriously, WTF, Georgetown? The Big LEast is suffering big time today.

 

[Steve_Tk]

Seriously, Georgetown and Marquette have ruined my evening.

 

[Bob McLaughlin]

Georgetown did me some pain, but my bracket is somehow in first place! I don't think it's going to hold up in the long run, I made some whacked-out picks.

 

[Ockeghem]

Murray State. Wow. And what a first day of the tournament. I can't recall too many years where the first day had this much excitement, close games, and intensity. Some of those overtime games were real nail-biters, too. Two overtime games, and one double overtime game. Incredible. How did Texas -- a team I picked -- begin their overtime on an 8-0 run, and lose?

I went 10-6 yesterday. And thankfully, Kansas and Villanova (two of my final four picks) are still in it. I thought SDSU was going to pull it out.

I don't give Oakland much chance against Pittsburgh, but I'd love to see another close game. There are five Big Ten games today. This is usually where I do poorly. One of these years, I should just make my picks, and then reverse them.

I have Siena over Purdue. Purdue didn't look good at all against Minnesota last week. And although the Boilermakers rebound fairly well and play some solid defense, they really don't have anyone inside (as in a big man) that can play with teams that do, IMO.

 

[Ockeghem]

Cornell (12) is in the process of upsetting Temple (5). They currently lead by seventeen points with five minutes to go. I wasn't sure what to make of the Minnesota (11) - Xavier (6) game. I have the Golden Gophers in a slight upset. Minnesota is currently trailing by ten with a little over three minutes remaining. West Virginia (2) is having their way with Morgan St. (15). They've just defeated them 77-50.

Edit: Xavier defeated Minnesota 65-54. And Cornell defeated Temple 78-65.

 

[Walter C]

Originally Posted by Ockeghem

And Cornell defeated Temple 78-65.

And it actually happened. It seems like every time they are expected to go far, they get bounced pretty early in the tournament. As a Temple alum, I'm not too happy about this. Plus that has destroyed my brackets this year.

 

[Sumnernor]

Originally Posted by Walter C By the way did you know a teacher at Temple by the name of Archibald?

 

[Ockeghem]

Originally Posted by Walter C




And it actually happened. It seems like every time they are expected to go far, they get bounced pretty early in the tournament. As a Temple alum, I'm not too happy about this. Plus that has destroyed my brackets this year.

Walter,

It's the first Ivy win in the Tournament since '98 (according to ESPN). My brackets are still somewhat intact, but the lower seeds are taking somewhat of a beating.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

After coming in first or very near first last year, I'm bringing up the rear this time. I went too conservative. The only good news is that all my Elite Eight teams are still in the chase.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I'm also bring up the rear after the first round, but I have 14 of my sweet 16 intact, and all 8 of my Elite 8 still alive so far.

 

[ZacharyTait]

I'm bringing up the rear as well. Just like everyone else, I imagine Georgetown losing screwed up a lot of brackets.

I saw on ESPN last night that there are no perfect brackets left in the Tourney Challenge.

Pat, want to make a friendly wager on tomorrow's game between GT and OSU?

 

[Ockeghem]

Well, Georgia Tech and Wisconsin (Wofford???) gave me scares yesterday. I've lost some of my Sweet 16, but my Final Four is still intact. I see at least one, and maybe two (possibly Duke and Syracuse?) going down before then. The Cornell - Wisconsin game ought to be a really good one. I've got both Kansas and Kansas State reaching the Final Four, along with Kentucky and Villanova.

I lost Louisville yesterday -- I thought they were going to challenge Duke down the road. Now it looks like it's up to a few others to derail the Blue Demons. West Virginia looked really good yesterday, defeating perennial powerhouse Morgan State. And although I wanted Minnesota to win, Xavier looked solid down the stretch against the Golden Gophers. Their game against the Panthers could be another good one.

Probably the most intriguing matchup for me in the 2nd round is Georgia Tech vs. Ohio State. When I first worked through my bracket, I had the Buckeyes reaching the Elite Eight. Then I changed a few picks. And how about the Kentucky - Wake Forest matchup? There are a lot of great teams facing off in the second round. About the only thing I knew for certain yesterday was that the Aggies were going to win in the South -- it was probably the only sure bet.

Could Cal and Gonzaga surprise a lot of people tomorrow?