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!