After a weekend of thrilling finishes and stunning upsets, I find myself in uncharted territory...First Place.
That's right, I've never won the JBorhood March Madness Extravganza. In fact, in the brief history of the J.M.M.E (maybe I should just call it 'The Jimmy') my best finish is fourth place. Two years ago, I watched my title hopes die when Adam Morrison cried like a sissy girl. Last year, I hooked my title aspirations to a Texas A&M team that got obliterated at the hands of eventual Tournament runner-up, Ohio State. But this year? This year is different. This year, I've finally put all the pieces together, made the right calls and figured out the secret to success in NCAA Tournament pools:
A sexy body.
(Sorry, only kidding. My sexy body has no effect on the quality of my picks.)
The real secret is...luck.
That's right, luck. While a few participants have shown us that it's possible to lose a tournament pool with your picks (perhaps, in retrospect, picking three number one seeds to lose their first round games is not such a good idea. Then again, perhaps, in retrospect, one should explain to their wife that the #1 by the team's name means they are the top ranked team in the region), the rest of field is seperated by one good pick (West Virginia over Duke), one bad pick (USC over anybody), two lucky bounces (Villanova over Clemson, Stanford over Marquette), two fouls that weren't called (Tennessee's goaltending on Butler's second to last possession, UCLA's hack on Texas A&M's final drive) and two absurd upsets (Sienna over Vanderbilt clearing the path for Villanova, San Diego over UConn preventing UConn from a clear path to the Sweet 16).
If you change the outcome of even one of those moments, the pool would have a new leader. But that's the beauty of the tournament. An entire season comes down to 40 mintues, 40 seconds or, sometimes, .40 seconds of basketball. Sometimes the ball bounces your way and, other times, you're left crying like an eight year old girl (or Adam Morrison).
For now, I'll enjoy my time to shine and take the opportunity to lord my prognostication supremacy over my older brother (ha ha ha). By the time the weekend's over, I'm sure I'll be languishing in the bottom half of the pool, cursing, not my picks, of course, but luck.
The opening round of the NCAA tournament provided great upsets, crushing defeats and bizarre picks. In order to recognize the great picks and the not-so-great picks, I want to recognize the Jimmy's first half award winners!
Most Improbable Championship Pick that somehow remained alive after the First Round: Jennifer (WINNAH!!!!) for her dream title matchup of Texas vs. Sienna.
Everyone but Jenn had either North Carolina or UCLA playing for a national title, but Jenn had the conviction to follow her heart and ride unheralded Sienna all the way to the national title game. Much to my chagrin, Sienna did the impossible and knocked off Vanderbilt in the first round to keep the hopes of a Sienna title game appeareance alive. Unfortunately, their dream (along with Jenn's) died in their second round loss to Villanova.
Most Improbable Final Four Pick that Somehow is Still Alive: Bob (East) for picking Michigan State in the Final Four
At first glance, Bob's brackets is quite normal. He has a title game of North Carolina versus UCLA, he picked three number one seeds to make it to the Final Four and he only picked three upset teams in the Sweet 16. But when you look at his Final Four, something jumps out at you.
Emerging from the South Bracket...Michigan State??!?!?!?!?
While the vast majority of people picked Pittsburgh to make it to the Sweet 16 and some even had Pitt in the Elite 8 or Final Four, Bob hitched his wagon to Tom Izzo and the Spartans. The best part? If they make the Final Four, Bob becomes the new favorite.
As go the Spartans, so goes Bob.
Luckiest Bracket: Me (The Almighty J)
So far, there have been eight games that came down to the final shot, eight games decided by a lucky bounce, eight games decided by one random moment, and I have been on the right side of five of them. Five out of eight? That's only slightly better then fifty percent. True, but here's where the luck really kicked in.
Only one of those two unlucky games actually damaged my bracket and the other two actually significantly aided me.
That's right. This year, even when I lose, I win.
I was on the right side of Villanova / Clemson, Duke / Belmont, UCLA / Texas A&M, Standford / Marquette, Tennessee / Butler and, while I was on the wrong end of Davidson / Georgetown, San Diego/UConn, and Western Kentucky over Drake, only the Drake loss hurt my bracket, since I had them in the Sweet 16. The UConn loss knocked UConn (who most people picked to get to the Sweet 16) out of an easy second round matchup with Western Kentucky and the Georgetown loss destroyed over half the brackets in the pool, while providing a much easier road for my Elite 8 pick, Wisconsin.
Best Outside Chance to Make a Miraculous Comeback and Win: Shaun (WWTCD -- What Would Timmy Chang Do?, for those of you who don't know)
Right now, Shaun is in 15th place. He's ahead of only four people, two of whom picked multiple number one seeds to lose on the first day, while the other two failed to even submit their picks. In fact, barring a concerted effort to make bad picks, it would be hard to make worse selections then Shuan did up until now.
But don't cry for him, Argentina. Shaun's hopes for a title hinge on one thing and one thing only: Kansas winning the title.
If Kansas wins, Shaun wins. It's that simple.
So laugh while you can, but if the Jayhawks cut down the nets, it's Shaun who'll be having the last laugh.
Best Upset Pick: Jenn (WINNAH) for picking Sienna (who???) to knock off Vanderbilt.
It appears that Jenn saw something in Sienna that no one else did. In fact, she picked them to make it to the National Title game. While that gutsy pick fell a tad short of realization, Sienna did keep those hopes and dreams alive after the first day.
Nice work, Jenn. May we all have such faith in our convictions.
Best "Almost" Upset Pick: Tori (TrickPix) for her gutsy upset pick of Belmont over Duke.
Technically, this might not count as an upset pick, since she didn't realize that the "2" by Duke's name indicated that they were the second seeded team in the West Region (oops), and since she also picked three number one seeds to lose on the first day it was more of an upset pick via "shotgun" then anything else, but almost making a historical upset pick still deserves credit.
Worst Trendy Upset Pick: USC to the Sweet 16
Six of the 15 submitted entries had USC in the Sweet 16, two of them had USC in the Final Four and one person had USC in the championship games. Rarely do tournament dreams die so hard, so fast. Unfortuantely, USC forgot to get the memo, effectively crushing two brackets on the second day of the tournament and rendering a majority of others cursing the name, O.J. Mayo.
Most Crushing Defeat: Georgetown falling to Davidson
The loss heard round the world.
As would be expected in a primarily family driven NCAA tournament pool where one family member attends Georgetown, A LOT of people had Georgetown making a deep run into the tournament. In fact, outside of UCLA and North Carolina, more people had Georgetown in the Final Four then any other team. Nine brackets had GTown in the Elite 8, six had the Hoyas making a run to the final four and two people picked the house that Ewing built to cut down the championship nets.
All in all, this loss completely killed the title hopes of two people and put the brackets of at least six other people on life support. Something tells me we're going to have a lot of people rooting for Davidson to make a run to the Final Four and completely destroy everyone else's brackets. Which leads me to...
Everyone's New Favorite Team: North Carolina, Davidson (tie)
As mentioned above, if Davidson can somehow continue their ridiculous run through the tournament, they can screw up the brackets of everyone else in the pool and level the playing field. Likewise, if North Carolina can continue to steamroll their way to the Final Four, it will open the door for everyone else to knock my bracket out of the top spot.
Suffice to say, I'm cheering for Washington State and Wisconsin this weekend. Who's with me? No one? Really?
Dr. Jecky / Mr. Hyde Award for Most Volatile Bracket: Trenton (UCLA! Fight! Fight! Fight!)
It looks like Trenton took his time, did some research and filled out half his bracket then went out, drank a 12 pack and took 14 Jager shots before filling out the second half. In the East and South Region, Trenton correctly identified all eight, Sweet 16 teams. In fact, he only missed two games in both regions. COMBINED.
Unfortunately for him, those Jager shots came back to bite him in the Midwest and the West. (Maybe it's a geography thing. He does live in New York...) In those regions, he only picked two of the eight, Sweet 16 teams and incorrectly picked a whopping 14 of 24 total games.
Next year Trenton, for your sake, may I suggest picks first, Jager second?
Most Important Remaining Game: North Carolina vs. Tennessee
I know, I know. Don't your chickens before they're hatched. By the time Sunday rolls around, we could be looking at a match up between Washington State and Louisville. But, you know what? It doesn't matter. What really matters is whether North Carolina or Tennessee get to the Final Four. If Tennessee gets to the Final Four, the pool is, for all intents and purposes, over. It would eliminate everyone except for me (The Almighty J) and Shaun (WWTCD) from contention for the title. On the other hand, if North Carolina makes it to the Final Four, all bets are off. Almost half of the pool would still have a chance to win. So cheer for Davidson. Root for Texas. Rally around UCLA.
Best Chance to Cause Irreparable Harm to the Future of the Jimmy: Sandy (ArtStar) or Juan (Juan's Bracket) winning the title
Between the two of them, Sandy and Juan picked two (that's right, two) seeds lower then a four to make it the Sweet 16. If one of them wins, it might lead to a future of copy cats foregoing chance and upsets and playing pick by numbers. Anyone can pick the top seeds to make it through the tournament, but that takes all the magic out of March. Come on, underdogs.
Win for God!
Win for country!
Win for the JBorhood!
YES WE CAN!
Good luck in the second half, everyone!
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