Whatdude won? I Don't Know, What Dude Won?

 

    The UConn huskies are once again the national champs. As much as I enjoyed watching the physical curiosity that is Zach Edey, UConn was clearly the better team. It's a bummer that the game out of hand so early, but at least Cameron Heide of Purdue gave us this insane dunk. That was so ferocious that Bill Belichick called his old employer to check the kid's NFL draft status. 

    While Edey lead the Boilermakers with 37 in the championship game, UConn's Tristen Newton chipped in 20 point to lead the Huskies. The only reason I mention this is because Newton's brother, Jawaun, was one of my favorite players at Evansville and he played in the game where Evansville beat number one ranked Kentucky and I will bring that up whenever I can. Tough month to be a Cats fan. 

     While the Huskies are the National Champs, our champion is whatdude1. whatdude1 set a record of of 851 points, surpassing Katie Harrison's 2016 record of 808 points. Their 851 points is 81% of what the max of 1,049 points, which is a new record max by nearly 100 points. A 2015 entry holds the record for max percentage at 90%! whatdude1 got it done with 6/16 Elite 8 players and 3/4 Final Four players. 

    In second was former champion biake, who ended with 842 points. biake is probably most mad with Pop Isaacs from Texas Tech scoring a mere 12 points out of the 6 seed. 

    In third was Better Late than Never who ended up with 828 point. DJ Horne and some early success carried their entry into the money, but only having 5 players left in the sweet 16 doomed them. 

     We ended with 51 entries paid for a total pot of 510. With entry fees being sent back to our Round 1 and 2 leaders, that leaves $490 to be split up. Our champ gets $343.00, our runner-up receives $98.00, and our last entry on the podium will have $49 dropped into their account. 

    The All Player Pick Em Team:

1. Zach Edey, Purdue. This highest scorer doesn't always end up as the most value, but his177 points was 90 points more than Tristen Netwon's 87. 21 entries nailed this pick. 
2. Mark Sears, Alabama. Sears has 121 points, the second most in our entries, as a 4 seed The next highest 4 seeds were Aaron Estrada (Bama) with 63 and Jeremy Roach (56) of Duke. 14 entries selected Sears. 
3. Dalton Knecht, Tennessee. Knecht's 104 points as a 2 seed eclipsed Kam Jones of Marquette's 66. 15 entries when with Knecht. 
4. Trey Townsend, Oakland. Towsend's 47 points asa  14 seed where 20 higher than Riley Minix of Morehead St. 8 entries got this one right.
5. Tyson Grant-Foster, Grand Canyon. Grant-Foster's 51 from the 12 seed was 24 more points higher than James Madison's Terrence Edwards. 14 entries hit on Grant-Foster. 

    The Mistakes Were Made Pick Em Team:

1.  Antonio Reeves, Kentucky. Only 27 points out of a 2 seed for 12 entries. 
2. AJ Storr, Wisconsin. When will we learn our lesson on Wisconsin? His 13 points from the 5 seed were brutal for the 10 entries who took him.
3. Jaylin Williams, Auburn. Williams scored only 13 points out of the 4 seed, disappointing the one entry who selected him. 
4.  Pop Isaacs, Texas Tech. He dropped 12 points, 4.5 less than his season average, on his way to ruining 15 entries. 
5. Don McHenry, Western Kentucky. You don't expect a lot from a 15 seed, but you should expect more than 7 points. 17 entries did at least. 

    Thanks again for participating! This is always a fun thing to do and has completely taken over from me filling out an actual bracket. Catch you all next season!

 

Real Geniuses of NCAA Pick Em

I Ned Stark, son of Rickard Stark, Lord of Winterfell, select
players from Houston, Iowa State, Kentucky, and Auburn. 

     Just two weeks ago we were all confidently devising strategies while huddled around our computers or a copy of a bracket printed on the corporate computers. This year was the year we figured it out. Last year we went too much on data from sports nerds. The year before that, we followed our hearts too much. But this year, we had the right balance. 

Real-Life Situations That Is

    

Sliced Up
Wham Wham
Now who else wants to mess with the Player Pick Em Pool?

"One moment, you frequent the booty clubs, and the next four years, you and somebody's daughter raisin' y'all own young'n. 

Now, that's a beautiful thang.

That's if you're on top of your game and man enough to handle real-life situations, that is."

A Stoppable Force and a Movable Object

Hey, bub. Adamantium can pierce anything, but it looks like I'm 

tickling you. This is a paradox. 

    The earliest known reference to the paradox "What happens when an unstoppable force meets an unmovable object" originated in Eastern philosophy around the 3rd century. Originally, the objects were thought to be a spear that could pierce any object vs a n unpierceable shield. This paradox is debated throughout the centuries before the debate peaked in 1982 when Knight Rider featured and episode where K.I.T.T. faced off against K.A.R.R. 

Don't Panic Meow

  

    Want to skip the commentary? Check out the spreadsheet! The scores should be updated and my Excel Army has added a PPG feature for your viewing pleasure. 

     

    Sorry Kentucky fans and to the 13 entries who selected a Kentucky player. Actually, like Sir-Mix-a-Lot, I cannot lie. Unlike his affinity for rounds things in his face, I will admit to enjoying the suffering of Big Blue Nation. For the entries that did go with UK, Antonio Reeves was kinds enough to donate 27 points to your cause on his way out. Huzzah to the 9 entries who chose an Oakland Grizzly. 

NCAA Player Pick Em Pool is Back

 

 The Year of the Name

    Friends, family, and enemies. I have missed you over the past 11 months. Instead of scrambling around to copy/paste the stats of basketball players who are legally adults (though we all refer to them as kids), I have spent the past 11 months doing stuff like working, parenting, and taking continuing education classes so I could continue to work. My life has been less without you all here. 

I'd choose this BJ to have a meal at Outback Steakhouse with. G'day. 

     Before I continue into the how to play portion of this post, I wanted to point out there are some AMAZING names out there this year. Will you say "I do" to picking James Aidoo? What about playing an EDM show  (NSFW lyrics) with a pair of DJ's at NC State? I don't know enough to make a Lithuanian-based joke, but we should all respect the OG Lithuania jerseys along with the name of Augustas Marčiulionis.Good luck choosing between Meechie, Pop, and BJ for your 6th pick. You want me to choose between Vladislav Goldin and Great Osobor? An impossible choice. Is someone booing your nine seed pick? No! They're chanting for Boo Biue. Maybe you'll pick to spend some time in the rain with Yaxel Lendeborg? And finally, Don't get caught sleeping on Walyn Napper. 

     If you've never played before, the game is simple. You select 16 players from the tournament teams. You can only select one player from each seed number. You cannot switch out for a lower seed. At the end of the tournament, the entry with the most points from those players wins. 

Will he ever get to the point?

THE RULES!

    1. Each entry is $10. The pool will be split 70-20-10 with a minimum of 10 entries. Less than 10 entries and winner receives entire pool. Your moderator receives nothing in return because he is a hero. If we hit 60 or more entries, the the split will then be 67.5-17.5-10-5. If we hit 70, the split will be 65-17.5-10-5-2.5.

    2. Maximum of 2 entries. 

    3. The high scorer from the round of 64 and the high scorer from round of 32 will get their buy-in returned. 

    3. You must use the Google Form below.

    4.  Money can be sent to my paypal: paypal.me/smsetnor or venmo: shanemsetnor. It must be sent tip-off on Friday, March 22. Please leave a note that states which entry yours is. That's important.

    5. I have not skimmed the list for injuries or suspensions. You are on your own there. Sometimes you just have to do something yourself (NSFW language). 

    6. If you are choosing a "Write In", fill in the short answer with that write-in name. You may write in as many as you wish. Please use the format: PLAYER NAME, SCHOOL, PPG . Example: "1, Geoff Setnor, Evansville, 27.2". If you need to write in more than what I allowed for, please feel free to double up. 

    7. The play-in game stats do not count. If you need to change from a player that you selected from the play in list because that player lost, you must email me at smsetnor@gmail.com before tipoff on 3/22 with a replacement player. Don't FB message me, text me, or Myspace message me with the change. It has to go to my smsetnor@gmail.com email. 

    8. I will update the scores when I can. I coach three baseball teams despite only having two kids. Also, I still seem to have a job. Sometimes I get a bit bogged down, but I will get to updating the scores. Hopefully we can keep providing updates and analysis as well. 

    9. If you see an error in the spreadsheet or in the entry form, stop and tell me right away. 

    10. I might be a bit later with the overall spreadsheet this year. I appreciate your patience!

    If you see any errors, please let me know ASAP! Good luck, everyone!