Smarter Than the Average NCAA Tournament Bracket Contest, Boo Boo
by KJ@theonlycolors on Mar 16, 2010 5:55 PM CDT
in Michigan State Spartans Basketball
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PrintOther contests:
- The BTT Bracket contest ended in a tie between KarkoviceIsHawt, spartyboy40, and SpartanDan. All three entrants had Ohio State winning the tournament, Illinois and Purdue in the semifinals, and 2 of the 3 first-day winners correct. And they were each one possession off on the tie-breaker. That means we go to a random draw for the prize. The accounting firm of My Five-Year Old Son Rolling a Die conducted the draw. The winner of one copy of When March Went Mad is [drumroll] spartyboy40. Send me me your name and mailing address, sir (or madam), and we'll get the book right out to you. Kudos to all three first-place finishers.
- Pete's more traditional NCAA Tournament contest is here. (He's so old-fashioned. But his version does have automated scoring.)
The Smarter-than-Average Contest
Any schmuck can fill out a bracket by picking the higher seed in almost every game. This blog’s readers deserve a more intellectually-demanding competition. Hence the contest I've run the last three years (and by "run," I mean "post the rules for and hope that SpartanDan graciously takes care of actually keeping tracks of the scores again").
Here are the rules (same as last year):
- Each entrant picks a list of 16 teams from the 65-team NCAA bracket.
- For each game a team on your list wins, you receive points equal to the team’s seed. Example: If you pick an 8 seed and they win 2 games before losing in the third round, you get 16 points. This creates an incentive to look for lower-seeded teams likely to pull upsets.
- There are bonuses of (a) 1 point for making the Final Four, (b) 3 points for making the championship game, and (c) 5 points for winning the national championship. So picking a 1 seed who wins the national championship would be worth 15 points (6 points for their 6 wins plus 9 points for the three bonuses). This keeps the top seeds in play as potential picks.
Entries must be posted in the comments section of this blog post by noon on Thursday. Just list your 16 teams in any order. The tie-breaker is the number of possessions in the championship game (as determined by StatSheet).
Here’s the official bracket. Get those mental gears turning. Winner gets a book (the same one).
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Ha, you're not getting me this time.
I’m convinced that I am not intelligent enough to read, comprehend, and execute this game. Yes, I understand that the basic idea is merely to pick 16 teams who made the tournament but I’m likely to pick someone who didn’t make it or pick some team who did twice. Enjoy your game, KJ.
Did I send you the spreadsheet I use?
It actually makes it really easy to do the scoring. Setting it up takes time – you have to enter everyone’s picks manually – but once the picks are in, updating for game results takes five minutes tops.
For those new to the contest, my advice (take it with a grain of salt, I haven’t won one of these yet): Don’t assume that you should take one from each pod. It may be worth your while, especially if you have chalk in the bottom half of a region, to load up elsewhere. (If the chalk holds in the bottom half, unless you have the 2 seed upsetting #1 to get to the Final Four, the most you can get from anyone in the bottom half of a region is 7 points. There are often opportunities to score more elsewhere.) For instance, I have five picks each from the West and South and just two from the Midwest. And my Final Four team from the West isn’t one of the five. It’s only possible for me to have 7 of the Elite Eight and 12 of the Sweet 16, but the hope is that the upset picks will score more in winning one game than picking a 3 seed who bows out after two rounds.
(Basically: If I’m right about most of the upsets, I’m going to run up a ridiculous score. If I’m wrong, I’m going to finish dead last.)
My picks, by region:
Midwest: Kansas (1) and Michigan State (5)
West: Gonzaga (8), UTEP (12), Murray State (13), Xavier (6), BYU (7)
East: Wisconsin (4), Marquette (6), Montana (14), West Virginia (2)
South: Utah State (12), Siena (13), Old Dominion (11), Baylor (3), St. Mary’s (10)
Spreadsheet is probably somewhere in my e-mail archives
Fight for The Only Colors: Green and White!
by KJ@theonlycolors on Mar 16, 2010 7:34 PM CDT up reply actions
This could be fun
Just started posting on this blog, but this is pretty interesting. Don’t mind if I do.
By Region
Midwest: Kansas, San Diego State, Georgia Tech, Michigan State
West: BYU, Minnesota, Butler, Murray State
East: Marquette, West Virginia, Wisconsin
South: Utah State, Baylor, Louisville, Siena, Purdue
Welcome
The more, the merrier.
Fight for The Only Colors: Green and White!
by KJ@theonlycolors on Mar 16, 2010 10:31 PM CDT up reply actions
oops forgot number of possessions
lets go with 72
I'll give it a try
I picked my teams before I read Spartan Dan’s guidelines, and I don’t feel like going back to pick new ones, so here they are:
Midwest: Kansas, MSU, San Diego State, Ohio State
West: Gonzaga, UTEP, Murray State, BYU, Kansas State
East: Texas (don’t laugh, please), Wisconsin, Washington, West Virginia
South: Siena, Baylor, Richmond
TP: 69
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
Siena
UTEP
Kansas
West Virginia
Murray St.
Baylor
Xavier
Wisconsin
Marquette
Utah St.
Georgia Tech
Northern Iowa
Kansas St.
BYU
Tennessee
68 Possessions
Forgot Louisville
Siena
UTEP
Kansas
West Virginia
Murray St.
Baylor
Xavier
Wisconsin
Marquette
Utah St.
Georgia Tech
Northern Iowa
Kansas St.
BYU
Tennessee
Louisville
68 Possessions
Tourney Challenge
SDSU
Minnesota
Murray St
UTEP
Washington
Utah St
Siena
Kansas
WVU
Kansas St
Baylor
ODU
BYU
Georgetown
Maryland
Temple
Possesions 70
FTR, I want credit for calling the Vermont upset
1 Kansas
10 Missouri
6 Xavier
11 San Diego State
12 Cornell
6 Marquette
13 Siena St.
16 Vermont
7 BYU
10 Georgia Tech
11 Old Dominion
3 Baylor
2 Kansas State
7 Richmond
5 Butler
2 WVU
Light a man a fire, he'll stay warm for a day.
Light a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
New Guy's picks
Murray State
Utah State
Temple
Baylor
Kansas
Richmond
Siena
Xavier
Old Dominion
Missouri
Northern Iowa
Kansas State
New Mexico
Louisville
Gonzaga
and last but not least, Michigan State
My entry
Kansas
Maryland
Georgetown
Georgia Tech
Gonzaga
Butler
Xavier
Kansas State
Texas
Temple
Washington
West Virginia
Utah State
Siena
Baylor
St. Mary’s
Tie-Breaker: 73 possessions
Man, am I down on the Big Ten—not a single Big Ten team on my list. In my traditional bracket, I’ve got Minnesota and Purdue losing in the first round and the other 3 teams losing in the second round. (I always pick MSU to lose one round before what I really think to avoid any jinxing.)
That’s what I get for going to the BTT and watching everyone beat each other up in the third meeting of the year.
Fight for The Only Colors: Green and White!
by KJ@theonlycolors on Mar 17, 2010 4:23 PM CDT reply actions
With a British twist
Michigan State
Tennessee
Minnesota
Texas
Wofford
Cornell
Texas A&M
Baylor
Richmond
UTEP
Kansas
Georgetown
New Mexico
Oklahoma State
Gonzaga
California
Add a tie-breaker of 67 possessions, and Bob’s your brother!
My entry....
1 Kansas
11 San Diego State
3 Georgetown
10 Georgia Tech
6 Xavier
7 BYU
2 Kansas State
5 Butler
5 Temple
11 Washington
2 West Virginia
1 Kentucky
11 Old Dominion
3 Baylor
1 Duke
and of course…..5 Michigan State
66 possessions.
PP-TPW
66 Possessions in the final
My entry
Kansas
Georgetown
Oklahoma St
San Diego St
Butler
BYU
Gonzaga
Pitt
Wisconsin
Marquette
WVU
Cornell
Baylor
Siena
Utah St
Richmond
72 possessions in final
BYU
Washington
UTEP
St. Mary’s
Georgia Tech
Florida St.
Old Dominion
Utah St.
Texas
Missouri
Minnesota
Wisconsin
San Diego St.
Temple
Maryland
Kansas
71 poss
by Richard Coletta on Mar 18, 2010 3:26 AM CDT reply actions
Wifeofaspartan
Missouri
St Mary’s
Gonzaga
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Ohio State
Michigan State
Butler
Pittsburgh
Temple
West Virginia
Baylor
Georgetown
Kansas
Marquette
New Mexico
68 possessions (mispelled)
let's hope
Kansas
Maryland
Georgetown
Ohio state
Syracuse
UTEP
Xavier
Kansas State
Kentucky
Temple
West Virginia
Duke
Richmond
team ramrod
Kansas
Ohio State
Michigan State
Georgetown
Syracuse
UTEP
Pittsburgh
Kansas St
Kentucky
Wisconsin
West Virginia
New Mexico
Baylor
Louisville
Siena
St. Mary’s
Tie-breaker: 69
let's hope
continue
Marquette
Texas A.M.
Baylor
My picks
Midwest:
Kansas
Ohio State
Michigan State
Northern Iowa
West:
Kansas State
BYU
Xavier
Syracuse
East:
Texas
Wisconsin
Washington
West Virginia
South:
Duke
Utah State
Louisville
Villanova
70 possessions
Here goes nothing
Kansas
Houston
San Diego St.
Ohio St.
Florida St.
Murray St.
BYU
Texas
Wisconsin
Washington
Missouri
West Virginia
Utah St.
Old Dominion
Baylor
Saint Mary’s
Possessions: 69
Here we go again
MSU
Villanova
West Virginia
UTEP
Wisconsin
Georgetown
Kansas St
Syracuse
New Mexico
Murray St
Cornell
Purdue
Minnesota
Baylor
Ohio St
Kansas
Tie-Breaker : 67 possessions
Looks like I’m the only one so far to let my Big Ten Homerism shine through by selecting all five big-ten eligible teams. I almost took homerism to the new level and picked Illinois as well, but I figured I actually want that book so I’ll let it go.
Why not?
MSU
Kansas
Georgetown
Ohio State
Butler
Syracuse
Xavier
BYU
Kentucky
Wisconsin
Marquette
W. Virginia
Duke
Utah State
Baylor
Richmond
69 possessions
it is what it is
Midwest:
2 Ohio St.
5 Michigan St
10 Georgia Tech
11 San Diego St
West:
2 Kansas St
10 Florida
12 UTEP
13 Murray St
East:
2 West Virginia
4 Wisconsin
6 Marquette
12 Cornell
South:
2 Villanova
6 Notre Dame
9 Louisville
13 Sienna
Possesions: 71
Here we go
Kansas, MSU, Georgetown, Northern Iowa
Wisconsin, West Virginia, Texas
Murray St., Xavier, Gonzaga, UTEP
Villanova, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Baylor, Louisville
Barely in under the wire and without much thought
MIDWEST: Kansas (1), MSU (5), Georgia Tech (10)
EAST: W. Virginia (2), Wisconsin (4), Texas (8), Missouri (10)
SOUTH: Duke (1), Baylor (3), Texas A&M (5), Old Dominion (11), Siena (13)
WEST: BYU (7), Gonzaga (8), Minnesota (11), Murray St. (13)
Possessions: 71
by RobbingGormanThomas on Mar 18, 2010 10:25 AM CDT reply actions
What the hell......
Kansas
MSU
Georgetown
Ohio State
Syracuse
Vanderbilt
Pittsburgh
Kansas State
Wake Forest
Wisconsin
New Mexico
West Virginia
Duke
Siena
Baylor
Richmond
Tiebreaker – 70
Last minute entry....
Kansas
Duke
Kentucky
Syracuse
West Virginia
BYU
Minnesota
Old Dominion
San Diego State
UTEP
Utah State
Murray State
Clemson
St Mary’s
Temple
Michigan State
69 possessions
CONTEST CLOSED
Fight for The Only Colors: Green and White!
by KJ@theonlycolors on Mar 18, 2010 11:07 AM CDT reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
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