The NIT Final Four is set — Colorado, Alabama, Wichita State and Washington State — and four contestants are still alive to win the 7th annual Living Room Times NIT Pool: Mike Quinn, Jeff Morrison, Matt Thomsen and my 3-year-old daughter, “Loyette.” Quinn, a 2001 Illinois State alum, currently leads with 176 out of a possible 252 points. He got… Read more »
Ken Stern, a USC Trojan and long-time blog reader who lives in Thomaston, Maine, leads the 16th annual Living Room Times Men’s NCAA Pool after the opening weekend, with 193 out of a possible 252 points and a pool-best 12 of the Sweet 16 teams. Among those twelve is VCU, though Stern actually picked USC to beat the Rams in… Read more »
What a great opening four days. Yeah, "my" teams (USC, Gonzaga and Notre Dame) are all gone, but still, a lot to love so far, and a lot to look forward to. I’ll update the pools tomorrow. Must sleep now. Meanwhile, here’s my "As-You-Go" Giant Bracket (larger version here; webcam and explanation here):
I know I’ve been lax with pool updates so far this year, due partly to work and family obligations, and partly to my attendance at the Denver games Thursday and Saturday. But anyway, here is where things stand at the moment: Men’s pool: Through the first two Sunday games, Ben Sloniker leads with 176 out of a possible 210 points… Read more »
Six “below the Red Line” mid-majors — seven if you count Gonzaga — survived the first two days (or three days, in VCU’s case) of the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Here’s my #GiantBracket: Meanwhile, in the 16th annual Living Room Times pool, Greg Shtraks of Montclair, New Jersey leads the LRT men’s NCAA pool with 124 points out of a possible… Read more »
What a day at the Pepsi Center. Wow. More later. Must sleep. P.S. Here are the pool standings. Mark Jordon went 15-1 and leads the 16th annual Living Room Times men’s NCAA pool with 69 points out of a possible 76 (he earned 60 points yesterday, on top of his 9 from the First Four). David Mathues is second with… Read more »
The pools are, as always, free to enter. Winners will get a t-shirt*, and eternal glory. Complete rules here. Entry links below. Good luck! Men’s NCAA Tournament Pool: Current standings here. Scoring system: 3-4-7-10-16-24-33. Women’s NCAA Tournament Pool: Current standings here. Scoring system: 4-7-11-17-24-33. NIT Pool: Current standings here. Scoring system: 7-10-15-20-25. *As I’ve mentioned before, I’m two years behind… Read more »
If there’s one region on my bracket that’s giving me major headaches right now, it’s the Southeast. The region has some incredibly weak top seeds (#1 Pitt, which always seems to be a paper tiger come tournament time; #2 Florida, grossly overseeded for no discernible reason; and #3 BYU, struggling without Brandon Davies) and five of the strongest mid-majors in… Read more »
It’s become clear to me that most pool administrators are handling this newfangled “First Four” different than me, and concerns have been expressed about the Tuesday deadline, and the uncertainties created by those Tuesday & Wednesday games. As such, I’ve had a change of heart about the pool deadline and rules. I’ve decided to utilize the ingenious “Option 3” described… Read more »
WHEEE!!!! It’s College Basketball Christmas!! Here’s my annual Bubble Scoresheet, to be marked up and followed-along-with during the Selection Show, to give a clearer idea of how many bubble spots are left. I show 13 teams competing for 6 spots (although really, VCU, Missouri State and Harvard could just as easily be in the “very likely out” category — I’d… Read more »