NCAA March Madness 2016

[Vanimal46]

"Even a blind acorn finds a squirrel every now and again." - Yogi Berra

My recollection of old fashioned cliches is equivalent to my knowledge of college basketball. But here we are, chasing that acorn again in our March Madness pools. I'm looking for a little crowd sourcing help as I don't know a single player on these teams...

Most likely 12 seed upset over a 5 seed?

13 seeds have been upsetting 4 seeds in recent years. Is it going to happen again?

I've typically placed Michigan State in at least the Elite 8 because of Tom Izzo. Any reason not to do it this year?

Your overall champion?

*For those that would like to keep this thread going while the tournament is going on, go for it. Once the games start, I wouldn't bring anything worthwhile to the discussion. 

[ashbury]

I likewise need a good upset in the 11-12 seed range - the pool I take part in is not a full bracket but one or two good upset specials would be paramount. My anecdotal evidence is that colleges with a city name in them sometimes get the job done.

[Mike Sixel]

I have watched zero basketball games this year, and will not be in a pool this year for the first time in decades. I do imagine I'll watch a few of the march madness games though.

 

Good luck to everyone in their pools!

[ashbury]

I have watched zero basketball games this year, and will not be in a pool this year

Never stops me!

 

I am just disappointed that the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople did not get a bid this year.

[Vanimal46]

There's nothing sweeter than finishing better than friends and acquaintances in the pool that take the time to analyze every team extensively. That one person who takes the bracket way too seriously and knows that University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople has a guy that shoots 3 pointers 37.8% of the time....

 

[biggentleben]

I would love South Dakota State to be the 12 over 5 winner just for fun...

[bluechipper]

An 11 over 6 upset possibility is Northern Iowa over Texas. Northern Iowa has been on a roll as of late, and they've already beaten North Carolina, Iowa State, and Wichita State twice this year.

[ashbury]

An 11 over 6 upset possibility is Northern Iowa over Texas. Northern Iowa has been on a roll as of late, and they've already beaten North Carolina, Iowa State, and Wichita State twice this year.

I have picked N Iowa too many times as my sleeper over the years, and they always burn me.

[Vanimal46]

If anyone wants to follow the lead of someone who doesn't watch basketball, I'm choosing Little Rock as my 12 seed upset, mainly because I like the name. I'm also choosing SF Austin as my 13 over 4 upset for no reason at all. 

[Vanimal46]

 

I have picked N Iowa too many times as my sleeper over the years, and they always burn me.

Yeah it was within the last couple of years I chose N Iowa to upset 2 or 3 teams in a row, and they lost in the 1st round. They're dead to me. 

[DaveW]

This will be the year that no 12 seeds win.

 

This will be the year that only one number one seed makes the final four (Kansas)

[Vanimal46]

Well that was fun while it lasted. Something called Middle Tennessee State ruined my bracket and probably 50% of all brackets out there

[biggentleben]

Michigan State was the selected winner of about 23% of all brackets on ESPN. The only team selected to win it all more was Kansas at 25%.

[twinsnorth49]

Well, about that Northern Iowa thing.........

[ashbury]

Well, about that Northern Iowa thing.........

I forgot to add that they burn me when I don't pick them.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Sorry for any Northern Iowa fans out here in TD territory. Devastating loss. That phantom blocking foul with 11 seconds I felt was the back breaker (lots of other chances blown, yeah, but that was the tough one).

[twinsnorth49]

Pretty mad tourney so far eh?

 

Crazy, I love it!

[ashbury]

Sorry for any Northern Iowa fans out here in TD territory. Devastating loss. That phantom blocking foul with 11 seconds I felt was the back breaker (lots of other chances blown, yeah, but that was the tough one).

And even when I don't pick them, they burn me AGAIN by losing: I very much needed A&M to depart the tournament lest they cost me more points.

[DaveW]

That was the biggest choke in the history of chokes.

 

My final four of KU, Oklahoma, Iowa State and UNC is still alive

[Vanimal46]

3 big 12 teams is pretty bold but so far you're still in the running Dave. 

Better than mine where I have already lost 2 final four teams in Michigan State and Kentucky. 

[twinsnorth49]

3 big 12 teams is pretty bold but so far you're still in the running Dave.

 

Better than mine where I have already lost 2 final four teams in Michigan State and Kentucky.

Sigh, me as well but I'm guessing at least 85% of participants also do too.

[DaveW]

3 big 12 teams is pretty bold but so far you're still in the running Dave.

 

Better than mine where I have already lost 2 final four teams in Michigan State and Kentucky.

Big 12 is by far the best conf this year.

 

The one who I worry the most about is Kansas, Villanova is playing lights out. If they meet in the elite 8 I think whoever wins that game wins it all

[TheLeviathan]

Sigh, me as well but I'm guessing at least 85% of participants also do too.

Hell, most us pretty much just put a giant X through the bottom right section.

[bluechipper]

 

Sorry for any Northern Iowa fans out here in TD territory. Devastating loss. That phantom blocking foul with 11 seconds I felt was the back breaker (lots of other chances blown, yeah, but that was the tough one).

That was such an awful call. I have no idea what the referee saw there. UNI needed one play to go differently to win that game.

[DaveW]

Buddy Hield is a good basketball player.

[Vanimal46]

Raise your hand if you had Syracuse going to the Final 4..... Nobody? That's what I figured. 

This may have been the worst NCAA bracket I've ever turned in.. All 4 Final Four teams eliminated. 

[ashbury]

Raise your hand if you had Syracuse going to the Final 4..

I did, several years back.

[DaveW]

 

Raise your hand if you had Syracuse going to the Final 4..... Nobody? That's what I figured. 

This may have been the worst NCAA bracket I've ever turned in.. All 4 Final Four teams eliminated. 

I still have OU and UNC alive.

Boomer Sooner!

[DaveW]

Syrcause in the final 4 really rubs me the wrong way, they never should have been in the tournament to begin with, and then got a cake walk of matchups up to the elite 8, beating Virginia is nice no doubt but that was more of a meltdown on the Cavaliers part then Syracuse winning.

With that said, as a Sooner fan (heading to Houston for the final four) I am hoping Syracuse wins so the Sooners can kick their asses in the championship

[biggentleben]

So, Nova shot the lights out as everyone was told throughout the game, but this I found incredible...

 

Villanova took a total of 68 shots between field goals and free throws. They only missed 19 times the entire game. 

 

Crazier still, they grabbed 7 offensive rebounds, so on over 1/3 of their misses (36.8% to be exact), they got the rebound and were able to put the ball up again!

 

Incredible shooting game by Villanova, really establishing that they deserved to be a #1 all along. I'm not a huge college basketball nut, but I've noted some of the more advanced ranking systems coming out now, one of which had Kansas, UNC, Nova, and Michigan State as their top 4 teams coming into the tourney, which surprised me to see two of those four as 2-seeds rather than 1-seeds.