Wednesday, March 28, 2018

What's The Scenario?

OK, so we've run the 8 different final four scenarios through our highly efficient simulator, xCro, to deliver the outcomes for each.  You'll be finding yourself rooting for Loyola-Chicago all the way if you aren't already.

You'll most certainly be rooting against a Kansas championship as the top 3 are repulsive.

Another interesting fact is that if anyone but Kansas wins, we'll have a brand new ABC Champion.  The basketball gods have shined upon us and kept a Cutter or Fusco off the Wall of Fame.  I would assume this has something to do with the fact that these 4 brackets still remain unpaid.



Also, if you haven't remitted payment to the commissioner yet, please try to do so as soon as possible.  PayPay and Venmo are both accepted.

PayPal - matt.atallian@gmail.com (also that yellow Add to Cart button literally inches away)
Venmo - @Matt-Atallian

With 25 brackets this year, payouts will be as follows:

First Place : $200
Second Place : $40
Third Place : $10

Here are your Final Four scenarios and resulting podium finishers:

Villanova wins National Championship
1) Vince Cortese
2) EEB
3) D-Weenis (somehow)

Loyola-Chicago beats Villanova
1) Claire Brooking (she's 2)
2) Tom Moffa
3) Vince Cortese / Kung-Fu Kenny tiebreaker

Loyola-Chicago beats Kansas
1) Claire Brooking (still 2)
2) Kung-Fu Kenny
3) Nico Tennant

Michigan beats Villanova
1) Tom Moffa
2) Chris Fusco
3) Vince Cortese / Kung-Fu Kenny tiebreaker

Michigan beats Kansas
1) Kung Fu Kenny
2) Chris Fusco
3) Nico Tennant

Kansas wins National Championship
1) Nico Tennant
2) Winner of UJ / Meech tiebreaker
3) Loser of UJ / Meech tiebreaker

Enjoy the games and have a safe holiday weekend!

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Standings After Elite 8

Started from the bottom
After another wild weekend that saw Loyola-Chicago play K-State for a Final Four berth, we finally have updated standings.  With wins from Kansas, Michigan, and of course Loyola-Chicago, we see perennial bottom feeders Uncle Kenny and Tom Moffa rise to the top of the pack.

Uncle Kenny with a very impressive right side of the bracket has taken a 1 point lead over our resident bowler Tom Moffa.

Tom propelled himself upward by being the only entry with 3 Final Four teams correct.  Kansas and Nova were gimmes.  Everyone slept on Michigan.  Most brackets went with UNC coming out of the West.  We all should have known better!!

Here are the standings ... If you're red, you're out of points.  Feels good to not have a Cutter in contention this year.  What a breath of fresh air.

Name        Total
Uncle Kenny 80
Tom Moffa 79
Chris Fusco 76
Nico Tennant 75
UJ 70
Meech 70
Vince Cortese 65
Claire Brooking 65
BG 63
EEB 63
KC Bomber 63
Boy Pierce 63
D-Weenis 62
Rebecca Cutter 61
Billz Moss 81 60
Joe Fadule 60
Chris Woody 59
Rachael 58
Cate Brooking 58
Cro 55
Pat Shields 50
Michelle Liller 49
Deege Larrimore 47
Ben Lobitz 45
Carter Fusco 37

I'll be back tomorrow with updated scenarios so we know exactly how this will play out over the weekend.

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Standings After Ridiculous Opening Weekend

Never before has the yellow highlighter been so neglected.  When grading Sunday's games, there were certain entries that totally refrained from the bright yellow streak.

For the first time in tournament history, a region did not send a 1, 2, 3, or 4 seed to to the Sweet 16.  The upper left hand corner of everyone's bracket is a total abomination.  As it would turn out, only 2 of our 25 brackets have an eligible final four team left coming from that region.  If you guessed Claire and Cate Brooking, well dammit you'd be correct.

Cate is still alive a kicking with an all wildcat final in Villanova and Kentucky.  Claire went totally off the cuff and has Loyola-Chicago riding the 11 seed all the way the title by defeating Purdue.  They are not of this tournament by any means.

On Wednesday March 14th at approximately 10:32 PM, I received the following text from Meech.

True or False.  EEB's daughters finish higher than Cro.

The answer was an obvious yes.  The below standings do not lie.  They are both in prime position to defeat Cro.  Remember, Sweet 16 starts Thursday.  Thursday and Friday games will be worth 5 points.  Saturday and Sunday get bumped up to 10.  If you haven't paid, please try to do so in the near future.  Despite the standings, no money will be going to the Cutters this year.

Name        Total
Rebecca Cutter 41
Billz Moss 81 40
Pat Shields 40
UJ 40
Nico Tennant 40
Uncle Kenny 40
Chris Woody 39
Michelle Liller 39
Rachael 38
BG 38
EEB 38
KC Bomber 38
Deege Larrimore 37
Chris Fusco 36
Ben Lobitz 35
Meech 35
Joe Fadule 35
Vince Cortese 35
Boy Pierce 33
Carter Fusco 32
Cro 30
Claire Brooking 30
Tom Moffa 29
Cate Brooking 28
D-Weenis 27

Sunday, March 18, 2018

Stadings Jam After Saturday March 17th

Current Leader
We've got a bit of a log jam here as people start to feel the effects of losing Virgina, Arizona, and other teams they had making a deeper run into the tournament.  Big winners yesterday we're Rachael Riff and Rebecca Cutter who each ended the day with a 14 point haul.  Only miss was Loyola-Chicago beating Tennessee at the death.

We also still have 3 brackets with the final four intact.  It would be wise for everyone to root for Nevada to beat Cincinnati today.  Especially if you have UVA or Arizona.  Need Cincy out ASAP to stop the bleeding!!

Also big shout out to Claire and Cate Brooking for correctly picking UMBC over UVA and Loyola-Chicago to the Sweet 16.  That sort of foresight is exactly what's needed to make sure Cro remains beltless for generations to come.

Here's the standings through yesterday.  Remember, 2 points per game today.

Name        Total
Billz Moss 81 36
Pat Shields 36
Rachael 36
UJ 36
Chris Woody 35
Rebecca Cutter 35
BG 34
Chris Fusco 34
EEB 34
Nico Tennant 34
Uncle Kenny 34
Ben Lobitz 33
Deege Larrimore 33
Meech 33
Michelle Liller 33
KC Bomber 32
Joe Fadule 31
Vince Cortese 31
Carter Fusco 30
Boy Pierce 29
Tom Moffa 29
Cro 28
Cate Brooking 24
Claire Brooking 24
D-Weenis 23

Saturday, March 17, 2018

Standings After Shocking Conclusion To Round 1



Name        Total
UJ 26
Deege Larrimore 25
Billz Moss 81 24
Chris Fusco 24
EEB 24
Pat Shields 24
Uncle Kenny 24
Ben Lobitz 23
Chris Woody 23
Joe Fadule 23
BG 22
Nico Tennant 22
Rachael 22
Meech 21
Michelle Liller 21
Rebecca Cutter 21
Vince Cortese 21
Carter Fusco 20
Cro 20
KC Bomber 20
Boy Pierce 19
Tom Moffa 19
Claire Brooking 18
Cate Brooking 16
D-Weenis 15

Friday, March 16, 2018

Standings After Thursday March 15th


Well that escalated quickly!! After a routine afternoon of chalky pics and no surprises, the Buffalo Bulls pulled off the biggest upset of the day.  And it wasn't even close!  The thorough beating sent Cro into a 20 minute curse laden rant, as his national runner-up was sent home.  It never ceases to amaze how quickly Cro excuses himself from the invitational year after year.

Ben Lobitz and Chris Woody lost their national champion.  Just an absolutely remarkable loss.  Brackets with Virginia winning that region just got a massive boost as well.  There is almost no competition in South Region.  Who's going to beat UVA now?  Kentucky?  Cincinnati?  I just don't see it happening!

Here's a fun fact before your standings:

St. Bonaventure eliminated UCLA.
Syracuse eliminated Arizona State.
Buffalo eliminated Arizona.

The big, bad Pac 12 was just schooled by New York State.

Name        Total
Billz Moss 81 14
Chris Woody 14
UJ 14
Pat Shields 14
Deege Larrimore 13
EEB 13
Uncle Kenny 13
Chris Fusco 13
Joe Fadule 12
Rachael 12
Vince Cortese 12
Ben Lobitz 11
BG 11
Meech 11
Michelle Liller 11
Rebecca Cutter 11
Nico Tennant 11
Boy Pierce 10
Cate Brooking 10
Cro 10
Carter Fusco 10
KC Bomber 10
Tom Moffa 10
Claire Brooking 9
D-Weenis 8