Three more tickets punched -- North Dakota State, Western Kentucky and Cleveland Freaking State are going dancing. Also, things got started in the Big East, which is the conference that my blog was about before it was hijacked by this all-conference insanity. Maybe for that reason we'll spend a little extra time on the Big East in these updates. You know. For the fans.
At this writing, we are still inexplicably waiting for Jon to pick the tournaments that begin today. But we push on anyway, because why should those who are timely with their picks be punished because one person is so consistently right up against his deadlines?
Eight tournaments played Tuesday, including three that crowned champions and four that were just getting started. Three of those eight play today, as do eight others. Two more champions will be crowned. Seven tournaments play their first rounds today. Without further ado, here's your tourney-by-tourney rundown.
HORIZON
This was it. This was Dan's dollar. He may be bringing up the rear overall, but doggone it, his Horizon bracket was PERFECT through the semifinals. All he needed was a win by top-seeded and host Butler in the final, and he was getting this dollar.
But Cleveland State won. And Sal Sabatino, the only one who picked Cleveland State to win the Horizon, won the dollar with a score of 17 out of a possible 18 points. Dan drifted off into an angry sleep. The only good thing about this game was that they showed the highlight of Cleveland State's three-quarter-court buzzer beater against Syracuse from earlier in the year. And that's a thing you just can't see enough.
SUN BELT
Top-seeded Western Kentucky held off a furious second-half run and defeated South Alabama to win the Sun Belt title and secure an NCAA berth. Eight people picked Western Kentucky to win this tournament (including Jim, for whom it was his first champion picked correctly), but Yohan Sengamalay had the best overall bracket with 20 out of a possible 23 Sun Belt points. A dollar for Yohan.
NORTHEAST
After two days off, the NEC will play its final tonight. Top-seeded Robert Morris faces second-seeded Mount St. Mary's in a game that will determine the league's bid and our pool's dollar. Jim and Greg both have perfect NEC brackets so far, and both picked Mount St. Mary's to win. So if the Mount wins, Jim and Greg split the buck. But if Robert Morris wins, Steve will win the buck all by himself.
BIG SKY
This one's a real mess. Montana State continues to rampage through the Big Sky bracket, knocking off top seed Weber State and setting up a finals matchup against second-seeded Portland State. Everybody in our pool had either Montana or Weber State winning, and now that both have lost to Montana State, this one is over. Sal, Steve, Nino, Rob, Ed and Yohan all have scored 3 of a possible 9 points in the Big Sky bracket and will split the $1 prize six ways. Each will receive 16 cents. That leaves four cents left over, which will be applied toward postage for the purpose of mailing out a bunch of $2 and $3 checks.
SUMMIT
North Dakota State wins a thriller of a final over Oakland, earning its first trip to the NCAA tournament (in its first year of eligibility). Dan, Sal, Chris, Steve, Rob and Ed all picked ND State (Dan's first correct champion!), but Steve and Ed had the best brackets, with scores of 10 out of a possible 11 points. So Steve and Ed split this dollar. Just two ways.
MEAC
There were two first-round MEAC games Tuesday. Florida A&M beat Howard, and Hampton beat Delaware State. Dan, Steve, Rob and Jon all picked both of those games correctly, though the second result may be largest for Steve, who has Hampton winning this tournament. The MEAC continues today with a first-round game between Bethune-Cookman and Maryland-Eastern Shore as well as two second-round games: FAMU/Morgan State and Hampton/South Carolina State. The other two second-round games are tomorrow. Strange tournament. Anyway, eight of us have Morgan State winning this. Ed and Jon picked South Carolina State. Jim has Norfolk State, and Steve, as mentioned, has Hampton.
BIG EAST
So DePaul goes 0-18 in the regular season, even suffering the ignominy of a loss to Georgetown to close it out Saturday, then shows up at the Garden for the first day of the tournament and beats Cincinnati. Kind of handily. Guess this is what they were saving it for.
Nobody picked that game correctly, and only two people had the foresight to predict St. John's's second victory in a week over the nation's most disappointing team. So the Big East brackets aren't too super so far. Steve and Mark each picked three of the four first-round games correctly. Eight others picked two, Ed got one and Jim went an impressive 0-for-4. But he can make up ground if Providence makes a run.
Pitt is the most popular pick to win this, as five people picked them. Four picked Connecticut. Sal picked Louisville, Steve picked Villanova and Feinsand picked....I can't even say it.
Big East second round games are today, with Marquette, Syracuse, Providence and West Virginia joining the field.
WAC
Just the play-in game yesterday, with Fresno State taking out Hawaii. Sal, Nino, Jim, Steve and Jon all nailed that one. For the overall WAC champ, seven people have Utah State and five have Nevada. I'll let you know if/when this one gets interesting. WAC second round game isn't until tomorrow.
MAC
Couple of first-round thrillers in the MAC. Akron, which is Yohan's pick to win it all, needed a buzzer-beating three by Anthony "Humpty" Hitchens to send the game into overtime and then another buzzer-beater at the end of OT to win by a point. And Kent State, which is Dan, Mark, Nino and Jim's pick to win it all, came from way back in the second half to beat Northern Illinois. Dan, Greg, Nino, Yohan, Ed, Steve and Rob all went 4-for-4 in the MAC first round, but it wasn't easy. Four people have Bowling Green winning this one. Four have Kent State, as previously mentioned. Chris and Steve picked Buffalo. Yohan has Akron, and Rob picked Miami, Oh. The MAC also takes a day off and picks up with its quarterfinals tomorrow.
The Atlantic 10, Mountain West, Big 12, Conference USA, SWAC, Pac-10 and Big West tournaments all begin today. I'd give previews, but again...Jon is slacking. So I can't say who everybody picked. We'll go over this tomorrow in what's sure to be the most lengthy post yet.
Meantime, some standings:
TOTAL POINTS THROUGH GAMES OF MARCH 10
Ed Price: 152
Yohan Sengamalay: 142
Steve Politi: 142
Rob Biro: 141
Greg Lester: 139
Chris Sabatino: 139
Sal Sabatino: 139
Paul "Nino" Canino: 136
Jon Graziano: 133
Mark Feinsand: 125
Jim Graziano: 121
Dan Graziano: 117
CHAMPIONS PICKED CORRECTLY (of a possible 11)
Ed Price: 6
Sal Sabatino: 6
Greg Lester: 5
Chris Sabatino: 5
Jon Graziano: 4
Steve Politi: 4
Yohan Sengamalay: 3
Rob Biro: 3
Paul "Nino" Canino: 3
Mark Feinsand: 2
Dan Graziano: 1
Jim Graziano: 1
PRIZE MONEY
Ed Price: $2.66
Yohan Sengamalay: $2.16
Sal Sabatino: $1.66
Paul "Nino" Canino: $1.66
Steve Politi: $1.66
Mark Feinsand: $1.00
Greg Lester: $0.50
Chris Sabatino: $0.50
Rob Biro: $0.16
Okay. Time to go watch the Hoyas........No. No, it's not.....
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
The Conference Tournament Pool -- Monday Recap, Tuesday Preview
Four more dancers got their tickets Monday night, gentlemen. Chattanooga, VCU, Siena and Gonzaga all are going to the NCAA Tournament. Ed Price, Yohan Sengamalay, Paul Canino and Greg Lester are making very small amounts of money because of it.
Six tournaments saw action Monday. Eight will play Tuesday, including three title games and four sets of first-round games. Ed Price is currently leading everything -- total points, most champs and total prize money -- but there's a loooong way to go. Only eight of the 30 champs have been crowned, and 15 of the 30 tournaments have yet to tip off.
Let's get right to the rundown:
HORIZON
After two days off, the Horizon League plays its final Tuesday night, with top-seeded Butler hosting third-seeded Cleveland State. Dan Graziano, who is so far 0-for-8 picking champions in this pool (making it feel like the college bowl pool all over again), has a perfect score of 14 points so far in the Horizon bracket. If Butler wins, that'll give Dan a perfect score of 18 and the $1 prize. However, should Cleveland State win, Sal Sabatino would get the $1 with a score of 17, since he is the only one who picked Cleveland State to win this tournament.
SUN BELT
Western Kentucky took out North Texas and South Alabama upset Arkansas-Little Rock to set up Tuesday night's final between the top seed and the No. 6. Steve Politi and Yohan Sengamalay each have scored 16 out of a possible 19 points so far. (Yohan just caught Steve by picking the South Alabama upset of UALR.) Yohan is one of eight people who have Western Kentucky winning this tournament. Steve was one of two who picked Little Rock. So, if Western Kentucky wins the final, Yohan will get four more points and Steve will not, and Yohan will get the $1 Sun Belt prize. If South Alabama wins the final, nobody will get any points, and Steve and Yohan will split the $1 prize.
COLONIAL
VCU wallops George Mason in the final. Nino, Ed and Greg all picked VCU to win the tournament. But thanks to Georgia State's victory over Delaware in the first round, Nino scored 19 out of a possible 22 points while Ed and Greg scored only 18. Thus, Nino wins a picture of George Washington. Good on ya, Nino.
MAAC
The instant-classic double-overtime semifinal victory over Rider appeared to catch up with the gutty Purple Eagles of Niagara, who ran out of gas and lost to host Siena in the MAAC final Monday night. Sal, Chris, Ed, Yohan and Greg all had Siena winning the tournament, but Yohan had the best overall bracket with 18 points to Ed's 17. Fairfield's quarterfinal victory over Manhattan was the difference. Yohan gets $1.
SOUTHERN
Chattanooga is dancing, having beaten Charleston in the suprisingly Davidson-free Southern Conference final. Ed Price was the only one to pick Chattanooga to win this tournament, and he will be rewarded with a shiny new dollar, having scored 13 out of 22 points in a bracket where nobody really distinguished himself. Especially Stehpen Curry.
WEST COAST
Boooooo-ring. Gonzaga wins again. Patty Mills played one-handed and had no chance. Ten people picked Gonzaga to win, but only Greg Lester and Paul "Nino" Canino had perfect WCC brackets, correctly picking all seven games for a perfect score of 16. Greg and Nino each get 50 cents for their outstanding efforts on this front.
BIG SKY
Yeah, you may have forgotten about the Big Sky, which kicked off in the middle of the night Saturday and then took two days off. It resumes Tuesday night with semifinal matchups between (1) Weber State/(4) Idaho State and (2) Portland State/(6) Montana State. Nine people have Weber State winning this. Yohan has Portland State. Chris and Greg had Montana, which lost in the first round. There remains a chance of a five-way split of the Big Sky prize money -- if Weber State and Portland State win in the semis, and Weber wins the title, Sal, Steve, Nino, Rob and Ed would each get 20 cents. You have to be rooting for that, right? I mean, unless you're Yohan, who gets the whole buck if Idaho State beats Weber in the semis or if Portland State wins the whole thing.
SUMMIT
North Dakota State and Oakland coasted into the Summit League final Monday night and will face off Tuesday for the league's automatic bid. If North Dakota State wins, Ed and Steve split the money. If Oakland wins, Mark and Greg split it. If Oral Roberts can somehow convince God to award the title to his team even though it lost to South Dakota State in the first round, I think Yohan gets the money. But if that happens, we've all got bigger problems.
MEAC
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference begins its tournament Tuesday with two of its three first-round games -- Hampton/Delaware State and Howard/Florida A&M. The other first-round game will be held Wednesday, which is also the day the quarterfinals start. No idea why that makes any sense. Anyway, still awaiting picks from Rob and Jon for this tournament at this writing, so I'm not saying who everybody picked, but it suffices to say that top-seeded Morgan State is well regarded.
WAC
Hawaii and Fresno State face off in the play-in game of the Western Athletic Conference tournament Tuesday. The winner gets to play top-seeded Utah State when the quarterfinals begin Thursday. Again, still awaiting two sets of picks here.
MAC
Four first-round games Tuesday in the Mid-American Conference tournament: (5)Akron/(12)Toledo, (6)Kent State/(7)Northern Illinois, (7)Central Michigan/(10)Eastern Michigan (directional rivalries rule!) and (8)Western Michigan/(9)Ohio. Winners join the top four seeds in Thursday's quarterfinals.
BIG EAST
The granddaddy of them all, baby. A 16-team steel cage match tips off this afternoon with four first-round games. Remember, the teams playing today at Madison Square Garden, if they are to win this tournament, must win five games in a five-day span. Good luck, suckers. Sure am glad I didn't go to one of those schools. Oh wait...
(9) Cincinnati vs. (16) DePaul
(10) Notre Dame vs. (15) Rutgers
(11) Seton Hall vs. (14) South Florida
(12) Georgetown vs. (13) St. John's
Still can't say who picked whom to win, with Rob and Jon still delinquent, but know that of the 10 brackets I've received so far, there are five different predicted champions. Nothing like the Big East, fellas.
OVERALL POINTS STANDINGS THROUGH GAMES OF MARCH 9
Ed Price: 141
Yohan Sengamalay: 129
Greg Lester: 128
Steve Politi: 127
Chris Sabatino: 127
Rob Biro: 124
Paul "Nino" Canino: 122
Jon Graziano: 121
Sal Sabatino: 119
Mark Feinsand: 118
Jim Graziano: 113
Dan Graziano: 106
CHAMPIONS PICKED CORRECTLY (of a possible 8 so far)
Ed Price: 5
Greg Lester: 4
Jon Graziano: 3
Chris Sabatino: 3
Sal Sabatino: 3
Steve Politi: 3
Mark Feinsand: 2
Yohan Sengamalay: 2
Paul "Nino" Canino: 2
Rob Biro: 1
Jim Graziano: 0
Dan Graziano: 0
PRIZE MONEY SO FAR
Ed Price: $2
Paul "Nino" Canino: $1.50
Mark Feinsand: $1
Steve Politi: $1
Yohan Sengamalay: $1
Greg Lester: $0.50
Chris Sabatino: $0.50
Sal Sabatino: $0.50
Happy Holidays, y'all. If I can get through this day without slipping into a coma, we should be okay. Of course, SEVEN tournaments tip Wednesday, so no promises.
Six tournaments saw action Monday. Eight will play Tuesday, including three title games and four sets of first-round games. Ed Price is currently leading everything -- total points, most champs and total prize money -- but there's a loooong way to go. Only eight of the 30 champs have been crowned, and 15 of the 30 tournaments have yet to tip off.
Let's get right to the rundown:
HORIZON
After two days off, the Horizon League plays its final Tuesday night, with top-seeded Butler hosting third-seeded Cleveland State. Dan Graziano, who is so far 0-for-8 picking champions in this pool (making it feel like the college bowl pool all over again), has a perfect score of 14 points so far in the Horizon bracket. If Butler wins, that'll give Dan a perfect score of 18 and the $1 prize. However, should Cleveland State win, Sal Sabatino would get the $1 with a score of 17, since he is the only one who picked Cleveland State to win this tournament.
SUN BELT
Western Kentucky took out North Texas and South Alabama upset Arkansas-Little Rock to set up Tuesday night's final between the top seed and the No. 6. Steve Politi and Yohan Sengamalay each have scored 16 out of a possible 19 points so far. (Yohan just caught Steve by picking the South Alabama upset of UALR.) Yohan is one of eight people who have Western Kentucky winning this tournament. Steve was one of two who picked Little Rock. So, if Western Kentucky wins the final, Yohan will get four more points and Steve will not, and Yohan will get the $1 Sun Belt prize. If South Alabama wins the final, nobody will get any points, and Steve and Yohan will split the $1 prize.
COLONIAL
VCU wallops George Mason in the final. Nino, Ed and Greg all picked VCU to win the tournament. But thanks to Georgia State's victory over Delaware in the first round, Nino scored 19 out of a possible 22 points while Ed and Greg scored only 18. Thus, Nino wins a picture of George Washington. Good on ya, Nino.
MAAC
The instant-classic double-overtime semifinal victory over Rider appeared to catch up with the gutty Purple Eagles of Niagara, who ran out of gas and lost to host Siena in the MAAC final Monday night. Sal, Chris, Ed, Yohan and Greg all had Siena winning the tournament, but Yohan had the best overall bracket with 18 points to Ed's 17. Fairfield's quarterfinal victory over Manhattan was the difference. Yohan gets $1.
SOUTHERN
Chattanooga is dancing, having beaten Charleston in the suprisingly Davidson-free Southern Conference final. Ed Price was the only one to pick Chattanooga to win this tournament, and he will be rewarded with a shiny new dollar, having scored 13 out of 22 points in a bracket where nobody really distinguished himself. Especially Stehpen Curry.
WEST COAST
Boooooo-ring. Gonzaga wins again. Patty Mills played one-handed and had no chance. Ten people picked Gonzaga to win, but only Greg Lester and Paul "Nino" Canino had perfect WCC brackets, correctly picking all seven games for a perfect score of 16. Greg and Nino each get 50 cents for their outstanding efforts on this front.
BIG SKY
Yeah, you may have forgotten about the Big Sky, which kicked off in the middle of the night Saturday and then took two days off. It resumes Tuesday night with semifinal matchups between (1) Weber State/(4) Idaho State and (2) Portland State/(6) Montana State. Nine people have Weber State winning this. Yohan has Portland State. Chris and Greg had Montana, which lost in the first round. There remains a chance of a five-way split of the Big Sky prize money -- if Weber State and Portland State win in the semis, and Weber wins the title, Sal, Steve, Nino, Rob and Ed would each get 20 cents. You have to be rooting for that, right? I mean, unless you're Yohan, who gets the whole buck if Idaho State beats Weber in the semis or if Portland State wins the whole thing.
SUMMIT
North Dakota State and Oakland coasted into the Summit League final Monday night and will face off Tuesday for the league's automatic bid. If North Dakota State wins, Ed and Steve split the money. If Oakland wins, Mark and Greg split it. If Oral Roberts can somehow convince God to award the title to his team even though it lost to South Dakota State in the first round, I think Yohan gets the money. But if that happens, we've all got bigger problems.
MEAC
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference begins its tournament Tuesday with two of its three first-round games -- Hampton/Delaware State and Howard/Florida A&M. The other first-round game will be held Wednesday, which is also the day the quarterfinals start. No idea why that makes any sense. Anyway, still awaiting picks from Rob and Jon for this tournament at this writing, so I'm not saying who everybody picked, but it suffices to say that top-seeded Morgan State is well regarded.
WAC
Hawaii and Fresno State face off in the play-in game of the Western Athletic Conference tournament Tuesday. The winner gets to play top-seeded Utah State when the quarterfinals begin Thursday. Again, still awaiting two sets of picks here.
MAC
Four first-round games Tuesday in the Mid-American Conference tournament: (5)Akron/(12)Toledo, (6)Kent State/(7)Northern Illinois, (7)Central Michigan/(10)Eastern Michigan (directional rivalries rule!) and (8)Western Michigan/(9)Ohio. Winners join the top four seeds in Thursday's quarterfinals.
BIG EAST
The granddaddy of them all, baby. A 16-team steel cage match tips off this afternoon with four first-round games. Remember, the teams playing today at Madison Square Garden, if they are to win this tournament, must win five games in a five-day span. Good luck, suckers. Sure am glad I didn't go to one of those schools. Oh wait...
(9) Cincinnati vs. (16) DePaul
(10) Notre Dame vs. (15) Rutgers
(11) Seton Hall vs. (14) South Florida
(12) Georgetown vs. (13) St. John's
Still can't say who picked whom to win, with Rob and Jon still delinquent, but know that of the 10 brackets I've received so far, there are five different predicted champions. Nothing like the Big East, fellas.
OVERALL POINTS STANDINGS THROUGH GAMES OF MARCH 9
Ed Price: 141
Yohan Sengamalay: 129
Greg Lester: 128
Steve Politi: 127
Chris Sabatino: 127
Rob Biro: 124
Paul "Nino" Canino: 122
Jon Graziano: 121
Sal Sabatino: 119
Mark Feinsand: 118
Jim Graziano: 113
Dan Graziano: 106
CHAMPIONS PICKED CORRECTLY (of a possible 8 so far)
Ed Price: 5
Greg Lester: 4
Jon Graziano: 3
Chris Sabatino: 3
Sal Sabatino: 3
Steve Politi: 3
Mark Feinsand: 2
Yohan Sengamalay: 2
Paul "Nino" Canino: 2
Rob Biro: 1
Jim Graziano: 0
Dan Graziano: 0
PRIZE MONEY SO FAR
Ed Price: $2
Paul "Nino" Canino: $1.50
Mark Feinsand: $1
Steve Politi: $1
Yohan Sengamalay: $1
Greg Lester: $0.50
Chris Sabatino: $0.50
Sal Sabatino: $0.50
Happy Holidays, y'all. If I can get through this day without slipping into a coma, we should be okay. Of course, SEVEN tournaments tip Wednesday, so no promises.
Monday, March 9, 2009
The Conference Tournament Pool -- Sunday Recap and Monday Preview
We had overtime to decide the MVC champ. We had double overtime in a pivotal MAAC semifinal. The most popular pick in the whole pool so far went down in a semifinal upset in the Southern Conference. And people, we're not even halfway through with this pool.
Madness, they say. Madness.
Ten tournaments saw action Sunday, and six of those will play again Monday, when four will crown their champions. Let's get right to the recaps.
PATRIOT
The top two seeds advance to the title game. No. 1 American barely got by Army 61-60, and Holy Cross took out Colgate with no trouble. The Patriot League final, which won't be held until Friday, will determine who gets the $1 prize in our pool. If American wins, Mark Feinsand and Steve Politi will each have scored 10 out of a possible 11 points and will each get 50 cents. If Holy Cross wins, Jon Graziano will have 10 out of 11 and will get the whole dollar. I'll remind you all of this Thursday night/Friday morning, as I'm sure you'll have forgotten by then.
SUN BELT
Just one upset in the Sun Belt, but it was a big one, with No. 6 South Alabama knocking off No. 3 Troy 78-75 to advance to the semifinals. Nine people had Troy winning this game, seven had Troy advancing to the final and Dan and Mark both picked the Trojans to cut down the nets in Hot Springs. Instead, it'll be South Alabama taking on second-seeded Arkansas-Little Rock in one semifinal Monday while top-seeded Western Kentucky faces North Texas in the other. Eight people have Western Kentucky to win this tournament. Steve and Ed have Little Rock. It's up for grabs, but so far Steve has a perfect 13 points out of a possible 13, having picked all nine Sun Belt games correctly. There's something for Bracket Boy to crow about in his first column.
MISSOURI VALLEY
All anybody really noticed about this final was that it went into overtime, which delayed CBS' ability to show Duke-North Carolina to a country that really wanted to see it. Northern Iowa beat Illinois State 60-57 in OT to claim the MVC's automatic bid to the Big Dance. Ed, Jon and Greg all picked Northern Iowa to win this tournament, but Ed Price wins the $1 thanks to a bracket that scored 19 out of a possible 20 points. Indiana State's first-round win over Drake was the only thing that kept AOL Sports' new baseball writer from perfect.
NORTHEAST
Chalk here, as top-seeded Robert Morris handled Quinnipiac 75-48 in one semifinal and No. 2 Mount St. Mary's took out Sacred Heart, 68-63, in the other. Yohan had Quinnipiac winning it all, and Dan, Ed, Mark and Nino had Sacred Heart, so they're all in trouble. The championship game will be played Wednesday. If Robert Morris wins it, Steve Politi will pocket $1 with a score of 10 out of a possible 11. If Mount St. Mary's wins it, Jim Graziano and Greg Lester will each have a perfect 11-point bracket and will split the $1.
AMERICA EAST
Sixth-seeded UMBC took out Albany in Albany and will face top-seeded Binghamton in an America East final that won't take place until Saturday. This bracket is a mess, as only two people had Binghamton winning and nobody picked UMBC. Jim Graziano leads with 10 out of a possible 15 points so far, and if UMBC pulls the upset Saturday, Jim will pocket the $1. But if Binghamton wins, Steve Politi will win this one too, with a score of 11 out of a possible 19.
COLONIAL
Top seed VCU takes out Old Dominion, and second-seeded George Mason ends Towson's Cinderella run, so the top two seeds in the CAA will play for the title and the bid. Chris Sabatino and Rob Biro each had 15 out of a possible 18 points in this bracket so far, and each picked George Mason. So if Mason wins Monday's final, Chris and Rob will split the $1. But if VCU wins, those two and everybody else will be passed by Paul "Nino" Canino, who would pocket the whole dollar himself.
MAAC
Can I tell you guys how psyched I am that the Rider-Niagara semifinal was on one of the local MSG channels here? What a game. Niagara banks in a three-pointer with 1.7 seconds left to force overtime. They miss five free throws and blow a six-point lead in the final minutes of the first overtime. Then, with 1.7 seconds left in double-overtime, a guy named Bilal Benn, who had 21 points and 19 rebounds (11 offensive!) in the game steals the ball from Rider's Ryan Thompson and seals the win with a couple of free throws at the other end. Fantastic game, and very important to our pool. Everybody correctly forecast Siena's semifinal win over Fairfield, but this Rider-Niagara matchup saw a big split. Five had Niagara winning it and seven had Rider. Of those seven, five also had Rider beating Siena in Monday's final. Dan Graziano and Mark Feinsand have Niagara beating Siena in Monday's final, and if that happens, Dan will pocket the $1 first prize from this tournament with a score of 17 out of a possible 20. If Siena wins, Yohan Sengamalay will win the $1 with a score of 18 out of 20. Final is at 9 pm on ESPN2.
SOUTHERN
Yeah, Charleston took out Davidson in a 59-52 barnburner, which turned a lot of things red on the Southern Conference bracket, as 10 of the 12 of us had Davidson winning this tournament. Ed Price picked Chattanooga to win this tournament, and they could, as they beat Samford and will play Charleston in Monday's final. (Nobody had Charleston winning.) Yohan is the current leader here with 12 out of a possible 18 points so far, and if Charleston wins the tournament, Yohan gets $1. But if Chattanooga wins, Ed will have 13 points and pass Yohan to win the prize.
WEST COAST
The top two seeds also advanced to the final in the WCC, as Gonzaga whipped Santa Clara and St. Mary's pulled away from Portland late. To this point, Greg Lester and Paul "Nino" Canino each have picked all six WCC games correctly for a perfect score of 12 out of 12. Each also has Gonzaga winning Monday night's final, which means if that happens, Greg and Nino will split the buck. But if St. Mary's wins tonight's game, Dan Graziano will collect the buck with a score of 13 out of a possible 16, because he is one of two people who picked St. Mary's to win this tournament. And because, frankly, he could use a break on this stuff right about now.
SUMMIT
The Summit League completed its first round with a pair of games Southern Utah took out IUPUI and Oakland knocked off IPFW, making it a bad all-around day for initials. Steve, Ed and Yohan each have three out of a possible four points so far, and nine of the 12 of us still have our champions in it. Monday's semifinals pit top-seeded North Dakota State against Southern Utah and fourth-seeded South Dakota State against Oakland. Six people have ND State winning this thing, three have Oakland, and three had Oral Roberts, which lost is first-round game Saturday to SD State.
TOTAL POINTS STANDINGS THROUGH GAMES OF MARCH 8
Ed Price: 118
Steve Politi: 116
Greg Lester: 113
Rob Biro: 113
Yohan Sengamalay: 113
Jon Graziano: 112
Chris Sabatino: 112
Jim Graziano: 110
Paul "Nino" Canino: 109
Mark Feinsand: 107
Sal Sabatino: 104
Dan Graziano: 99
CHAMPIONS PICKED CORRECTLY SO FAR (out of a possible four)
Steve Politi: 2 (Radford, East Tennessee State)
Jon Graziano: 2 (East Tennessee State, Northern Iowa)
Mark Feinsand: 1 (Radford)
Ed Price: 1 (Northern Iowa)
Greg Lester: 1 (Northern Iowa)
Chris Sabatino: 1 (Radford)
Sal Sabatino: 1 (East Tennesse State)
PRIZE MONEY
Steve Politi: $1
Mark Feinsand: $1
Ed Price: $1
Chris Sabatino: $0.50
Sal Sabatino: $0.50
Enjoy the games tonight, and please remember to send in your Big East, MAC, WAC and MEAC picks by NOON EST on Tuesday.
Thanks y'all.
Madness, they say. Madness.
Ten tournaments saw action Sunday, and six of those will play again Monday, when four will crown their champions. Let's get right to the recaps.
PATRIOT
The top two seeds advance to the title game. No. 1 American barely got by Army 61-60, and Holy Cross took out Colgate with no trouble. The Patriot League final, which won't be held until Friday, will determine who gets the $1 prize in our pool. If American wins, Mark Feinsand and Steve Politi will each have scored 10 out of a possible 11 points and will each get 50 cents. If Holy Cross wins, Jon Graziano will have 10 out of 11 and will get the whole dollar. I'll remind you all of this Thursday night/Friday morning, as I'm sure you'll have forgotten by then.
SUN BELT
Just one upset in the Sun Belt, but it was a big one, with No. 6 South Alabama knocking off No. 3 Troy 78-75 to advance to the semifinals. Nine people had Troy winning this game, seven had Troy advancing to the final and Dan and Mark both picked the Trojans to cut down the nets in Hot Springs. Instead, it'll be South Alabama taking on second-seeded Arkansas-Little Rock in one semifinal Monday while top-seeded Western Kentucky faces North Texas in the other. Eight people have Western Kentucky to win this tournament. Steve and Ed have Little Rock. It's up for grabs, but so far Steve has a perfect 13 points out of a possible 13, having picked all nine Sun Belt games correctly. There's something for Bracket Boy to crow about in his first column.
MISSOURI VALLEY
All anybody really noticed about this final was that it went into overtime, which delayed CBS' ability to show Duke-North Carolina to a country that really wanted to see it. Northern Iowa beat Illinois State 60-57 in OT to claim the MVC's automatic bid to the Big Dance. Ed, Jon and Greg all picked Northern Iowa to win this tournament, but Ed Price wins the $1 thanks to a bracket that scored 19 out of a possible 20 points. Indiana State's first-round win over Drake was the only thing that kept AOL Sports' new baseball writer from perfect.
NORTHEAST
Chalk here, as top-seeded Robert Morris handled Quinnipiac 75-48 in one semifinal and No. 2 Mount St. Mary's took out Sacred Heart, 68-63, in the other. Yohan had Quinnipiac winning it all, and Dan, Ed, Mark and Nino had Sacred Heart, so they're all in trouble. The championship game will be played Wednesday. If Robert Morris wins it, Steve Politi will pocket $1 with a score of 10 out of a possible 11. If Mount St. Mary's wins it, Jim Graziano and Greg Lester will each have a perfect 11-point bracket and will split the $1.
AMERICA EAST
Sixth-seeded UMBC took out Albany in Albany and will face top-seeded Binghamton in an America East final that won't take place until Saturday. This bracket is a mess, as only two people had Binghamton winning and nobody picked UMBC. Jim Graziano leads with 10 out of a possible 15 points so far, and if UMBC pulls the upset Saturday, Jim will pocket the $1. But if Binghamton wins, Steve Politi will win this one too, with a score of 11 out of a possible 19.
COLONIAL
Top seed VCU takes out Old Dominion, and second-seeded George Mason ends Towson's Cinderella run, so the top two seeds in the CAA will play for the title and the bid. Chris Sabatino and Rob Biro each had 15 out of a possible 18 points in this bracket so far, and each picked George Mason. So if Mason wins Monday's final, Chris and Rob will split the $1. But if VCU wins, those two and everybody else will be passed by Paul "Nino" Canino, who would pocket the whole dollar himself.
MAAC
Can I tell you guys how psyched I am that the Rider-Niagara semifinal was on one of the local MSG channels here? What a game. Niagara banks in a three-pointer with 1.7 seconds left to force overtime. They miss five free throws and blow a six-point lead in the final minutes of the first overtime. Then, with 1.7 seconds left in double-overtime, a guy named Bilal Benn, who had 21 points and 19 rebounds (11 offensive!) in the game steals the ball from Rider's Ryan Thompson and seals the win with a couple of free throws at the other end. Fantastic game, and very important to our pool. Everybody correctly forecast Siena's semifinal win over Fairfield, but this Rider-Niagara matchup saw a big split. Five had Niagara winning it and seven had Rider. Of those seven, five also had Rider beating Siena in Monday's final. Dan Graziano and Mark Feinsand have Niagara beating Siena in Monday's final, and if that happens, Dan will pocket the $1 first prize from this tournament with a score of 17 out of a possible 20. If Siena wins, Yohan Sengamalay will win the $1 with a score of 18 out of 20. Final is at 9 pm on ESPN2.
SOUTHERN
Yeah, Charleston took out Davidson in a 59-52 barnburner, which turned a lot of things red on the Southern Conference bracket, as 10 of the 12 of us had Davidson winning this tournament. Ed Price picked Chattanooga to win this tournament, and they could, as they beat Samford and will play Charleston in Monday's final. (Nobody had Charleston winning.) Yohan is the current leader here with 12 out of a possible 18 points so far, and if Charleston wins the tournament, Yohan gets $1. But if Chattanooga wins, Ed will have 13 points and pass Yohan to win the prize.
WEST COAST
The top two seeds also advanced to the final in the WCC, as Gonzaga whipped Santa Clara and St. Mary's pulled away from Portland late. To this point, Greg Lester and Paul "Nino" Canino each have picked all six WCC games correctly for a perfect score of 12 out of 12. Each also has Gonzaga winning Monday night's final, which means if that happens, Greg and Nino will split the buck. But if St. Mary's wins tonight's game, Dan Graziano will collect the buck with a score of 13 out of a possible 16, because he is one of two people who picked St. Mary's to win this tournament. And because, frankly, he could use a break on this stuff right about now.
SUMMIT
The Summit League completed its first round with a pair of games Southern Utah took out IUPUI and Oakland knocked off IPFW, making it a bad all-around day for initials. Steve, Ed and Yohan each have three out of a possible four points so far, and nine of the 12 of us still have our champions in it. Monday's semifinals pit top-seeded North Dakota State against Southern Utah and fourth-seeded South Dakota State against Oakland. Six people have ND State winning this thing, three have Oakland, and three had Oral Roberts, which lost is first-round game Saturday to SD State.
TOTAL POINTS STANDINGS THROUGH GAMES OF MARCH 8
Ed Price: 118
Steve Politi: 116
Greg Lester: 113
Rob Biro: 113
Yohan Sengamalay: 113
Jon Graziano: 112
Chris Sabatino: 112
Jim Graziano: 110
Paul "Nino" Canino: 109
Mark Feinsand: 107
Sal Sabatino: 104
Dan Graziano: 99
CHAMPIONS PICKED CORRECTLY SO FAR (out of a possible four)
Steve Politi: 2 (Radford, East Tennessee State)
Jon Graziano: 2 (East Tennessee State, Northern Iowa)
Mark Feinsand: 1 (Radford)
Ed Price: 1 (Northern Iowa)
Greg Lester: 1 (Northern Iowa)
Chris Sabatino: 1 (Radford)
Sal Sabatino: 1 (East Tennesse State)
PRIZE MONEY
Steve Politi: $1
Mark Feinsand: $1
Ed Price: $1
Chris Sabatino: $0.50
Sal Sabatino: $0.50
Enjoy the games tonight, and please remember to send in your Big East, MAC, WAC and MEAC picks by NOON EST on Tuesday.
Thanks y'all.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
The Conference Tournament Pool -- Saturday Recap and Sunday Preview
Sorry if this is a little late, but like most of you, I was up watching the incredible double-overtime final in the OVC, then flipped over to catch the end of Louisville-West Virginia, then over to a very entertaining Horizon semifinal between Cleveland State and Green Bay, then to the last 10 minutes of the Rider-St. Peter's MAAC quarterfinal game. Big day. Real nice Saturday, actually. Going to go to Home Depot. And then, if there's time, maybe Bed Bath and Beyond...oh wait. Sorry.
There were 12 tournaments in action Saturday, three of which crowned their champions. (Congratulations, Radford, Morehead State and East Tennessee State!!!!)
Seven of those 12, along with three others that didn't play Saturday, have games scheduled today. There will be one more NCAA bid awarded today, and we may give away some more prize money.
Here follows a conference-by-conference recap of all tournaments that played/play Saturday and/or Sunday. At the bottom of the recap, you'll find updated points and other standings. Enjoy.
BIG SOUTH
Radford played it at VMI's pace and whipped 'em anyway, taking the Big South title 108-94 and earning the conference's automatic bid. Radford's title was correctly forecast by Chris Sabatino, Mark Feinsand and Steve Politi, though Feinsand's overall bracket wasn't as strong as the other two. Chris and Steve each scored 10 out of a possible 11 points in the Big South bracket, and since they picked the same champion, they will split the $1 prize and each take home a pair of quarters for their efforts. Mark's pick of Radford does help him in the race for Most Champions Picked Correctly, which carries a $10 prize.
HORIZON
Top-seeded Butler knocked off Wright State, and Cleveland State came back in the second half to beat second-seeded Green Bay, setting up a Butler/Cleveland State final that for some reason doesn't happen until Tuesday. Thus far, your humble commissioner has picked all eight Horizon League games correctly for a perfect score of 14 out of 14 so far. I also picked Butler to win the tournament, so if they do, I'll get the $1 for this tournament. (Which is cool, since a look at the standings indicates this is the only tournament in which I've demonstrated a clue.) HOWEVER, Sal Sabatino is right behind with 13 points and is the only one who picked Cleveland State to win this tournament. So if the Vikings win, Sal will take home the $1 Horizon League prize. See you Tuesday on this one.
OHIO VALLEY
Just an absolute classic in the OVC final, with Morehead State beating Austin Peay in double-overtime. If you didn't see it, that's a shame. It's kind of what this pool is all about. Morehead State heads to the tournament and Mark Feinsand, who scored 7 out of a possible 11 points in the OVC bracket, takes home the $1. None of the 12 of us picked Morehead State as champion. Mark basically won this because he was the only one who picked them to make the finals. Good job, Mark. EMB.
ATLANTIC SUN
East Tennessee State whipped top-seeded Jacksonville 85-68 to take the A-Sun title and claim a spot in the NCAA Tournament. ETSU's title was correctly forecast by Steve Politi, Sal Sabatino and Jon Graziano. Steve and Sal each picked all six A-Sun games correctly for a total of 10 out of a possible 10 points. Jon missed only one game -- Campbell's first-round loss -- and therefore scored nine. So Steve and Sal, since they picked the same champion, split the $1 first prize and each win 50 cents.
PATRIOT
The Patriot League tournament resumes today after a three-day break with semifinals featuring (1)American vs. (4)Army and (2)Holy Cross vs. (6)Colgate. Pretty much everybody's still in this one except Dan (who had (3)Navy) and Sal (who had (5)Lehigh). So enjoy. Today's winners play in the final on Friday night. Yeah, that's right. Three days off between the first two rounds and four days off between the second and third. Not into the nonstop excitement, so much, in the Patriot League.
SUN BELT
The Sun Belt tournament also has had three days off, but it picks up in earnest today in Hot Springs with four quarterfinal games: (1)Western Kentucky/(9)FIU, (2)Arkansas-Little Rock/(7)Denver, (3)Troy/(6)South Alabama and (4)North Texas/(5)Middle Tennessee State. Everybody's champ is still alive here and everybody's still in it. This one's just getting started, but at least it plays its semifinals tomorrow and its final the day after that, like a real tournament. Freaking Patriot League...
MISSOURI VALLEY
Nine of the 12 of us had Creighton winning this tournament. Creighton lost to Illinois State by 24 points in Saturday's semifinals. Creighton will not be winning this tournament. Ed Price, who has missed only one MVC game so far and has 15 out of a possible 16 points, will win the MVC portion (and attendant $1 prize) of our pool. He has Northern Iowa winning the tournament, along with two other people. Nobody picked Illinois State. Ed and Jon Graziano were the only two to correctly forecast this final, but Jon is two points behind Ed because he missed on the second-round game between Creighton and Wichita State. So no matter who wins today's MVC final, Ed will have the most points. Nice job, Ed. EMB.
NORTHEAST
This one picks up after two days off with semifinal matchups: (1)Robert Morris/(5)Quinnipiac and (2)Mount St. Mary's/(3)Sacred Heart. Ed, Chris, Rob, Jim and Greg are all working on perfect NEC brackets, having picked all four quarterfinals correctly on Thursday. I'd tell you who everybody has winning it all, but Jon still hasn't made a pick. Come on, Jon. What the hell?
AMERICA EAST
Big overtime upsets by Albany (over Vermont) and UMBC (over Boston U) have thrown this bracket into chaos. Jim Graziano, who was one of three people to correctly pick Hartford in the play-in game and (more importantly) the only person to pick UMBC to win any games, is in the lead with seven points. But like seven others, Jim had Vermont winning the tournament, so he's just about maxed out. Jim, Steve, Ed and Jon can all still win this one. Today's semifinals pit (1) Binghamton against (4) New Hampshire and (6) UMBC against (7) Albany.
COLONIAL
Cinderella in the house, fellas! And no, that has nothing to do with Cinderfella Dana Dane, which is something totally different. We're talking about 11th-seeded Towson, which came into the CAA tournament with a 9-21 overall and a 5-13 mark in the conference but beat 6th-seeded Drexel in the first round and then, Saturday night, knocked off third-seeded Northeastern in the quarterfinals. They'll try to continue the run against second-seeded George Mason in today's semifinals, while Virginia Commonwealth and Old Dominion square off in the other. Steve, Chris, Nino and Rob each have scored 9 out of a possible 12 points so far. Steve's pulling for Old Dominion, Nino for VCU while Rob and Chris each picked George Mason to win. Jon picked Northeastern. Sorry, Jon. Looks like you get a straw hat while they get Kangols.
MAAC
Let's see...no real damage here so far, Jim and Greg each have 9 out of a possible 10 points, everybody's champ is alive, and there's some variety in the picks yet. Wide open, is the MAAC. Siena/Fairfield and Niagara/Rider today in the semis. The Niagara/Rider game will sort a few things out, I think.
SOUTHERN
Samford upsets Citadel in the quarters, which is kind of a big one since eight people had Citadel in the final and one (Nino!) had them winning it all. Remember, 10 of us had Davidson winning this thing, so it's not super-interesting. Ed Price has Chattanooga winning it all, so if that happens, obviously he'll take home a picture of George Washington. If Chattanooga beats Samford today and doesn't win the tournament, Yohan will win this pool. And if Samford wins today, Jim wins this pool. Don't ask. Just trust me. I'm spending a lot of time on this right now.
WEST COAST
Santa Clara beat San Diego and Portland killed Pepperdine in Saturday's second-round games. Steve, Nino, Ed and Greg all have perfect 6-point WCC brackets so far. But it all comes down to what happens now that Gonzaga and St. Mary's get in. Gonzaga plays Santa Clara and St. Mary's plays Portland in today's semis. If Portland wins today, Steve and Ed will split the WCC dollar. If St. Mary's wins the tournament, I will get the dollar. And if Gonzaga beats St. Mary's in the final, Nino and Greg split the dollar. I'm telling you, these spreadsheets...you should see them.
BIG SKY
I mean, ugly. Everybody had Montana winning the first-round game, and they lost to Montana State. Eight people had Idaho State winning the other game Saturday, and so they each picked up a point. But Montana, jeez. Six people had them making the final and Chris and Greg had them winning the whole thing. Letdown. Weber State faces Idaho State and Portland State takes on Montana State in the semis, which aren't until Tuesday. A quick look at my sheet makes me think either Yohan will win this thing (he picked PSU over ISU in the final) or it's going to be split about five ways (20 cents apiece!). We'll continue to monitor this and report back to you.
SUMMIT
Just two first-round games Saturday. Everybody was right on North Dakota State and everybody was wrong on Oral Roberts, which lost in OT to South Dakota State. A more painful loss for some than others, though, as Jim, Jon and Yohan all had Oral Roberts cutting down the nets in Sioux Falls. The other two first-round Summit games are today, with Oakland playing IPFW and IUPUI playing Southern Utah. Lots of initials today.
OVERALL POINTS STANDINGS THROUGH SATURDAY, MARCH 7
Steve Politi: 86
Jon Graziano: 83
Ed Price: 81
Rob Biro: 79
Yohan Sengamalay: 79
Chris Sabatino: 79
Jim Graziano: 78
Paul "Nino" Canino: 77
Sal Sabatino: 76
Greg Lester: 76
Mark Feinsand: 75
Dan Graziano, the world's most generous pool commissioner: 67
PRIZE MONEY TO DATE
Mark Feinsand: $1
Ed Price: $1
Steve Politi: $1
Chris Sabatino: $0.50
Sal Sabatino: $0.50
CHAMPIONS PICKED CORRECTLY (out of a possible 3)
Steve Politi: 2
Jon Graziano: 1
Mark Feinsand: 1
Chris Sabatino: 1
Sal Sabatino: 1
Enjoy the late sunset, everybody.
There were 12 tournaments in action Saturday, three of which crowned their champions. (Congratulations, Radford, Morehead State and East Tennessee State!!!!)
Seven of those 12, along with three others that didn't play Saturday, have games scheduled today. There will be one more NCAA bid awarded today, and we may give away some more prize money.
Here follows a conference-by-conference recap of all tournaments that played/play Saturday and/or Sunday. At the bottom of the recap, you'll find updated points and other standings. Enjoy.
BIG SOUTH
Radford played it at VMI's pace and whipped 'em anyway, taking the Big South title 108-94 and earning the conference's automatic bid. Radford's title was correctly forecast by Chris Sabatino, Mark Feinsand and Steve Politi, though Feinsand's overall bracket wasn't as strong as the other two. Chris and Steve each scored 10 out of a possible 11 points in the Big South bracket, and since they picked the same champion, they will split the $1 prize and each take home a pair of quarters for their efforts. Mark's pick of Radford does help him in the race for Most Champions Picked Correctly, which carries a $10 prize.
HORIZON
Top-seeded Butler knocked off Wright State, and Cleveland State came back in the second half to beat second-seeded Green Bay, setting up a Butler/Cleveland State final that for some reason doesn't happen until Tuesday. Thus far, your humble commissioner has picked all eight Horizon League games correctly for a perfect score of 14 out of 14 so far. I also picked Butler to win the tournament, so if they do, I'll get the $1 for this tournament. (Which is cool, since a look at the standings indicates this is the only tournament in which I've demonstrated a clue.) HOWEVER, Sal Sabatino is right behind with 13 points and is the only one who picked Cleveland State to win this tournament. So if the Vikings win, Sal will take home the $1 Horizon League prize. See you Tuesday on this one.
OHIO VALLEY
Just an absolute classic in the OVC final, with Morehead State beating Austin Peay in double-overtime. If you didn't see it, that's a shame. It's kind of what this pool is all about. Morehead State heads to the tournament and Mark Feinsand, who scored 7 out of a possible 11 points in the OVC bracket, takes home the $1. None of the 12 of us picked Morehead State as champion. Mark basically won this because he was the only one who picked them to make the finals. Good job, Mark. EMB.
ATLANTIC SUN
East Tennessee State whipped top-seeded Jacksonville 85-68 to take the A-Sun title and claim a spot in the NCAA Tournament. ETSU's title was correctly forecast by Steve Politi, Sal Sabatino and Jon Graziano. Steve and Sal each picked all six A-Sun games correctly for a total of 10 out of a possible 10 points. Jon missed only one game -- Campbell's first-round loss -- and therefore scored nine. So Steve and Sal, since they picked the same champion, split the $1 first prize and each win 50 cents.
PATRIOT
The Patriot League tournament resumes today after a three-day break with semifinals featuring (1)American vs. (4)Army and (2)Holy Cross vs. (6)Colgate. Pretty much everybody's still in this one except Dan (who had (3)Navy) and Sal (who had (5)Lehigh). So enjoy. Today's winners play in the final on Friday night. Yeah, that's right. Three days off between the first two rounds and four days off between the second and third. Not into the nonstop excitement, so much, in the Patriot League.
SUN BELT
The Sun Belt tournament also has had three days off, but it picks up in earnest today in Hot Springs with four quarterfinal games: (1)Western Kentucky/(9)FIU, (2)Arkansas-Little Rock/(7)Denver, (3)Troy/(6)South Alabama and (4)North Texas/(5)Middle Tennessee State. Everybody's champ is still alive here and everybody's still in it. This one's just getting started, but at least it plays its semifinals tomorrow and its final the day after that, like a real tournament. Freaking Patriot League...
MISSOURI VALLEY
Nine of the 12 of us had Creighton winning this tournament. Creighton lost to Illinois State by 24 points in Saturday's semifinals. Creighton will not be winning this tournament. Ed Price, who has missed only one MVC game so far and has 15 out of a possible 16 points, will win the MVC portion (and attendant $1 prize) of our pool. He has Northern Iowa winning the tournament, along with two other people. Nobody picked Illinois State. Ed and Jon Graziano were the only two to correctly forecast this final, but Jon is two points behind Ed because he missed on the second-round game between Creighton and Wichita State. So no matter who wins today's MVC final, Ed will have the most points. Nice job, Ed. EMB.
NORTHEAST
This one picks up after two days off with semifinal matchups: (1)Robert Morris/(5)Quinnipiac and (2)Mount St. Mary's/(3)Sacred Heart. Ed, Chris, Rob, Jim and Greg are all working on perfect NEC brackets, having picked all four quarterfinals correctly on Thursday. I'd tell you who everybody has winning it all, but Jon still hasn't made a pick. Come on, Jon. What the hell?
AMERICA EAST
Big overtime upsets by Albany (over Vermont) and UMBC (over Boston U) have thrown this bracket into chaos. Jim Graziano, who was one of three people to correctly pick Hartford in the play-in game and (more importantly) the only person to pick UMBC to win any games, is in the lead with seven points. But like seven others, Jim had Vermont winning the tournament, so he's just about maxed out. Jim, Steve, Ed and Jon can all still win this one. Today's semifinals pit (1) Binghamton against (4) New Hampshire and (6) UMBC against (7) Albany.
COLONIAL
Cinderella in the house, fellas! And no, that has nothing to do with Cinderfella Dana Dane, which is something totally different. We're talking about 11th-seeded Towson, which came into the CAA tournament with a 9-21 overall and a 5-13 mark in the conference but beat 6th-seeded Drexel in the first round and then, Saturday night, knocked off third-seeded Northeastern in the quarterfinals. They'll try to continue the run against second-seeded George Mason in today's semifinals, while Virginia Commonwealth and Old Dominion square off in the other. Steve, Chris, Nino and Rob each have scored 9 out of a possible 12 points so far. Steve's pulling for Old Dominion, Nino for VCU while Rob and Chris each picked George Mason to win. Jon picked Northeastern. Sorry, Jon. Looks like you get a straw hat while they get Kangols.
MAAC
Let's see...no real damage here so far, Jim and Greg each have 9 out of a possible 10 points, everybody's champ is alive, and there's some variety in the picks yet. Wide open, is the MAAC. Siena/Fairfield and Niagara/Rider today in the semis. The Niagara/Rider game will sort a few things out, I think.
SOUTHERN
Samford upsets Citadel in the quarters, which is kind of a big one since eight people had Citadel in the final and one (Nino!) had them winning it all. Remember, 10 of us had Davidson winning this thing, so it's not super-interesting. Ed Price has Chattanooga winning it all, so if that happens, obviously he'll take home a picture of George Washington. If Chattanooga beats Samford today and doesn't win the tournament, Yohan will win this pool. And if Samford wins today, Jim wins this pool. Don't ask. Just trust me. I'm spending a lot of time on this right now.
WEST COAST
Santa Clara beat San Diego and Portland killed Pepperdine in Saturday's second-round games. Steve, Nino, Ed and Greg all have perfect 6-point WCC brackets so far. But it all comes down to what happens now that Gonzaga and St. Mary's get in. Gonzaga plays Santa Clara and St. Mary's plays Portland in today's semis. If Portland wins today, Steve and Ed will split the WCC dollar. If St. Mary's wins the tournament, I will get the dollar. And if Gonzaga beats St. Mary's in the final, Nino and Greg split the dollar. I'm telling you, these spreadsheets...you should see them.
BIG SKY
I mean, ugly. Everybody had Montana winning the first-round game, and they lost to Montana State. Eight people had Idaho State winning the other game Saturday, and so they each picked up a point. But Montana, jeez. Six people had them making the final and Chris and Greg had them winning the whole thing. Letdown. Weber State faces Idaho State and Portland State takes on Montana State in the semis, which aren't until Tuesday. A quick look at my sheet makes me think either Yohan will win this thing (he picked PSU over ISU in the final) or it's going to be split about five ways (20 cents apiece!). We'll continue to monitor this and report back to you.
SUMMIT
Just two first-round games Saturday. Everybody was right on North Dakota State and everybody was wrong on Oral Roberts, which lost in OT to South Dakota State. A more painful loss for some than others, though, as Jim, Jon and Yohan all had Oral Roberts cutting down the nets in Sioux Falls. The other two first-round Summit games are today, with Oakland playing IPFW and IUPUI playing Southern Utah. Lots of initials today.
OVERALL POINTS STANDINGS THROUGH SATURDAY, MARCH 7
Steve Politi: 86
Jon Graziano: 83
Ed Price: 81
Rob Biro: 79
Yohan Sengamalay: 79
Chris Sabatino: 79
Jim Graziano: 78
Paul "Nino" Canino: 77
Sal Sabatino: 76
Greg Lester: 76
Mark Feinsand: 75
Dan Graziano, the world's most generous pool commissioner: 67
PRIZE MONEY TO DATE
Mark Feinsand: $1
Ed Price: $1
Steve Politi: $1
Chris Sabatino: $0.50
Sal Sabatino: $0.50
CHAMPIONS PICKED CORRECTLY (out of a possible 3)
Steve Politi: 2
Jon Graziano: 1
Mark Feinsand: 1
Chris Sabatino: 1
Sal Sabatino: 1
Enjoy the late sunset, everybody.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
The Conference Tournament Pool -- Friday Recap and Saturday Preview, All Rolled Into One Huge Post
Today is the first magic day, people. Of the 12 tournaments that see action today, three will crown champions. That means three teams -- one each from the Ohio Valley, Big South and Atlantic Sun Conferences -- will qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
(So far, the only team in is Cornell, which plays in the Ivy League, which does not have a conference tournament and is therefore dead to us.)
First, some housekeeping. We continue to await three sets of brackets for tournaments that tip off tonight -- the Big Sky and Summit League. Jim, Jon and Greg must submit these brackets by 8 pm EST tonight, or they will receive no points for these tournaments.
Second, due to a miscalculation (and those damned Ivies), it turns out there are only 30 conference tournaments, not the 31 I said there were in my initial posts. So the prize money will break down more neatly -- I just added $1 to the prize for picking the most correct champions, which is now $10 instead of $9.
Third (and this is tied into the second point), it has come to my attention that nobody has yet paid their entry fee. If you still need the address to which to send your $5, please let me know.
Now, onto the action. We will offer a short breakdown on each of the 12 tournaments that played/play yesterday and/or today, and what they all mean for our pool. At the bottom of this very long post/e-mail is a look at the overall points standings through Friday. But first, the breakdown by conference.
BIG SOUTH
The Big South did not play Friday. Its final is scheduled for today at 4 pm, with No. 2 seed VMI taking on No. 1 seed and host Radford in Radford, Va. Jon is our current Big South leader, with eight out of a possible eight points so far. (That's right -- Jon has an unblemished Big South bracket.) If VMI (Jon's pick for champion) wins the game, Jon will earn the $1 Big South prize with a perfect score of 11. However, if Radford wins the game, Chris and Steve will tie for first with 10 points and each take home 50 cents.
HORIZON
Second-round action Friday in the Horizon League saw No. 3 seed Cleveland State nip Illinois-Chicago and No. 4 seed Wright State take out UW-Milwaukee. The Horizon semifinals are today, with Cleveland State facing No. 2 Green Bay and Wright State taking on No. 1 Butler. As of now, Dan, Nino and Steve all have perfect Horizon brackets and eight out of a possible eight points. But that will change today, as they all have different winners. Dan has Cleveland State and Butler winning today. Nino is going with Green Bay and Butler. And Steve is picking Green Bay and a Wright State upset of the top seed. Oh, and Sal can still win this, if Cleveland State goes all the way and cuts down the nets Tuesday night at Hinkle Field House in Indianapolis.
OHIO VALLEY
Apparently, the old adage "You don't bet against the Racers in March" needs to be amended to read, ", unless it's March 2009." Murray State was horrendous against the Austin Peay defense and lost by 17 in their OVC semifinal. So 2-seed Austin Peay takes on 4-seed Morehead State (which upset top-seeded Tennessee-Martin) in tonight's final in Nashville (8 pm, ESPN2). HOWEVER, our pool's OVC champ has already been crowned. Mark Feinsand has seven out of a possible eight points so far to lead our OVC pool and cannot be passed. He has Peay in the final tonight, and nobody picked Morehead State, so Mark has already clinched the $1 prize for the OVC portion of our competition. Congratulations to Mark, the first of what I hope is a great many prizewinners this year.
ATLANTIC SUN
The blood rivalry that is Lipscomb-Belmont will not be renewed in this year's A-Sun final, as both of those teams lost semifinals Friday. Instead, top-seeded Jacksonville will play No. 2 seed East Tennessee State for the A-Sun's bid to the Big Dance. Sal and Steve each have seven out of a possible seven points -- perfect Atlantic Sun brackets so far -- and have picked East Tennessee State to win the final. So if ETSU wins tonight's final (also in Nashville, and also on ESPN2, but at 6 pm), Steve and Sal will split the $1 A-Sun prize. However, if Jacksonville wins, Jim and Mark will move ahead of Steve and Sal with eight points apiece, and Jim and Mark would split the $1.
MISSOURI VALLEY
Nine of the 12 people in this pool picked Creighton to win the MVC. So it was a good thing they beat the buzzer and eked out a 63-62 second-round victory over Wichita State. Creighton will take on Illinois State and Northern Iowa will play Bradley in today's MVC semifinals. Nino is our MVC leader, having correctly picked all six games so far for a total of 10 points. But a number of people can still win this, especially Ed, if Illinois State can take out Creighton in tonight's second semifinal. Of the nine who didn't pick Creighton, all three have Northern Iowa winning the MVC.
AMERICA EAST
In the America East's play-in game, Hartford snapped a 14-game losing streak to beat Maine 65-56. This result was correctly forecast by Sal, Rob, Jim and Greg, each of whom has one point in the A-East standings to show for it. The America East tournament begins in earnest today with four quarterfinal matchups: Binghamton/Hartford, Vermont/Albany, BostonU/UMBC and New Hampshire/Stony Brook. Eight people have Vermont winning this thing. Two picked top seed Binghamton. Ed went with Albany (since that's where the tournament is). And Mark picked his alma mater, the Fightin' Terriers of BU.
COLONIAL
Well, everybody had Drexel, and they lost to Towson, so nobody has a perfect CAA bracket after Day One. Dan, Steve, Chris, Nino and Rob all managed to get the other three games right, but Dan and Rob had Drexel advancing one more round, so that's kind of a rough loss for them. The top four seeds join for today's quarterfinal matchups: VCU/Georgia State, George Mason/James Madison, Northeastern/Towson and Old Dominion/Hofstra. Watch that Northeastern team, which may have got a break with the Towson upset. Jon has Northeastern winning this whole thing. Seven others picked George Mason, three picked top seed VCU and Bracket Boy went with Old Dominion.
MAAC
Only two first-round games in the MAAC on Friday. Canisius beat Loyola, earning a point each for Dan and Ed, and Marist beat Iona, earning a point each for Nino, Jim and Greg. No long-term damage, really, as the quarterfinal matchups today will go much further toward shaping this bracket: Siena/Canisius, Niagara/Marist, Rider/St. Peter's and Manhattan/Fairfield. Five people picked Siena to win this tournament, five somewhat surprisingly picked Rider and two picked Niagara.
SOUTHERN
The big upset in the Southern Conference on Friday was apparently Elon's 62-55 victory over Wofford. Not only did 10 of the 12 of us have Wofford winning this game, six of us had Wofford then going on to upset Chattanooga in the quarterfinals. Not gonna happen, thanks to Elon. Jim and Jon each got all four games correct Friday in the Southern conference, which plays its quarterfinals today: Davidson/Appalachian State, Chattanooga/Elon, Samford/Citadel and Western Carolina/Charleston. Ten of us have Davidson winning this thing. Ed has Chattanooga, and Nino went with The Citadel.
WEST COAST
San Diego takes out Loyola-Marymount and Pepperdine beats San Francisco, resulting in two points for everybody but Jim and Yohan (who had the Dons in the nightcap). In today's second round, San Diego faces Santa Clara while Pepperdine matches up with Portland. All the while, top seeds Gonzaga and St. Mary's just bide their time, awaiting their opponents for tomorrow's semifinal games. Ten of the 12 picked Gonzaga to win this tournament. Dan and Jim each have St. Mary's.
BIG SKY
The Big Sky tournament kicks off tonight in Montana and Idaho with two first-round matchups -- Idaho State vs. Northern Colorado and the knockdown/drag-out border war that is Montana vs. Montana State. I'd tell you who everybody picked in this one, but as I said earlier, we're still waiting for three people to pick it.
SUMMIT
The Summit League is just dipping its toe in the water yet. Two of the league's four first-round games take place tonight in Sioux Falls. Top seed North Dakota State faces Centenary, and No. 2 Oral Roberts takes on South Dakota State, which should pack the place with fans. The other two first-round games take place tomorrow.
As always, if anybody has any questions about any of this, you know how to reach me. I'll almost certainly be watching basketball.
OVERALL POINTS STANDINGS THROUGH GAMES OF MARCH 6
Steve Politi: 52
Sal Sabatino: 48
Rob Biro: 48
Jon Graziano: 47
Greg Lester: 47
Paul "Nino" Canino: 47
Jim Graziano: 46
Ed Price: 46
Yohan Sengamalay: 45
Chris Sabatino: 44
Dan Graziano: 42
Mark Feinsand: 42
(as you can see, I'm as awesome at this as I was at the football. yee-haw.)
(So far, the only team in is Cornell, which plays in the Ivy League, which does not have a conference tournament and is therefore dead to us.)
First, some housekeeping. We continue to await three sets of brackets for tournaments that tip off tonight -- the Big Sky and Summit League. Jim, Jon and Greg must submit these brackets by 8 pm EST tonight, or they will receive no points for these tournaments.
Second, due to a miscalculation (and those damned Ivies), it turns out there are only 30 conference tournaments, not the 31 I said there were in my initial posts. So the prize money will break down more neatly -- I just added $1 to the prize for picking the most correct champions, which is now $10 instead of $9.
Third (and this is tied into the second point), it has come to my attention that nobody has yet paid their entry fee. If you still need the address to which to send your $5, please let me know.
Now, onto the action. We will offer a short breakdown on each of the 12 tournaments that played/play yesterday and/or today, and what they all mean for our pool. At the bottom of this very long post/e-mail is a look at the overall points standings through Friday. But first, the breakdown by conference.
BIG SOUTH
The Big South did not play Friday. Its final is scheduled for today at 4 pm, with No. 2 seed VMI taking on No. 1 seed and host Radford in Radford, Va. Jon is our current Big South leader, with eight out of a possible eight points so far. (That's right -- Jon has an unblemished Big South bracket.) If VMI (Jon's pick for champion) wins the game, Jon will earn the $1 Big South prize with a perfect score of 11. However, if Radford wins the game, Chris and Steve will tie for first with 10 points and each take home 50 cents.
HORIZON
Second-round action Friday in the Horizon League saw No. 3 seed Cleveland State nip Illinois-Chicago and No. 4 seed Wright State take out UW-Milwaukee. The Horizon semifinals are today, with Cleveland State facing No. 2 Green Bay and Wright State taking on No. 1 Butler. As of now, Dan, Nino and Steve all have perfect Horizon brackets and eight out of a possible eight points. But that will change today, as they all have different winners. Dan has Cleveland State and Butler winning today. Nino is going with Green Bay and Butler. And Steve is picking Green Bay and a Wright State upset of the top seed. Oh, and Sal can still win this, if Cleveland State goes all the way and cuts down the nets Tuesday night at Hinkle Field House in Indianapolis.
OHIO VALLEY
Apparently, the old adage "You don't bet against the Racers in March" needs to be amended to read, ", unless it's March 2009." Murray State was horrendous against the Austin Peay defense and lost by 17 in their OVC semifinal. So 2-seed Austin Peay takes on 4-seed Morehead State (which upset top-seeded Tennessee-Martin) in tonight's final in Nashville (8 pm, ESPN2). HOWEVER, our pool's OVC champ has already been crowned. Mark Feinsand has seven out of a possible eight points so far to lead our OVC pool and cannot be passed. He has Peay in the final tonight, and nobody picked Morehead State, so Mark has already clinched the $1 prize for the OVC portion of our competition. Congratulations to Mark, the first of what I hope is a great many prizewinners this year.
ATLANTIC SUN
The blood rivalry that is Lipscomb-Belmont will not be renewed in this year's A-Sun final, as both of those teams lost semifinals Friday. Instead, top-seeded Jacksonville will play No. 2 seed East Tennessee State for the A-Sun's bid to the Big Dance. Sal and Steve each have seven out of a possible seven points -- perfect Atlantic Sun brackets so far -- and have picked East Tennessee State to win the final. So if ETSU wins tonight's final (also in Nashville, and also on ESPN2, but at 6 pm), Steve and Sal will split the $1 A-Sun prize. However, if Jacksonville wins, Jim and Mark will move ahead of Steve and Sal with eight points apiece, and Jim and Mark would split the $1.
MISSOURI VALLEY
Nine of the 12 people in this pool picked Creighton to win the MVC. So it was a good thing they beat the buzzer and eked out a 63-62 second-round victory over Wichita State. Creighton will take on Illinois State and Northern Iowa will play Bradley in today's MVC semifinals. Nino is our MVC leader, having correctly picked all six games so far for a total of 10 points. But a number of people can still win this, especially Ed, if Illinois State can take out Creighton in tonight's second semifinal. Of the nine who didn't pick Creighton, all three have Northern Iowa winning the MVC.
AMERICA EAST
In the America East's play-in game, Hartford snapped a 14-game losing streak to beat Maine 65-56. This result was correctly forecast by Sal, Rob, Jim and Greg, each of whom has one point in the A-East standings to show for it. The America East tournament begins in earnest today with four quarterfinal matchups: Binghamton/Hartford, Vermont/Albany, BostonU/UMBC and New Hampshire/Stony Brook. Eight people have Vermont winning this thing. Two picked top seed Binghamton. Ed went with Albany (since that's where the tournament is). And Mark picked his alma mater, the Fightin' Terriers of BU.
COLONIAL
Well, everybody had Drexel, and they lost to Towson, so nobody has a perfect CAA bracket after Day One. Dan, Steve, Chris, Nino and Rob all managed to get the other three games right, but Dan and Rob had Drexel advancing one more round, so that's kind of a rough loss for them. The top four seeds join for today's quarterfinal matchups: VCU/Georgia State, George Mason/James Madison, Northeastern/Towson and Old Dominion/Hofstra. Watch that Northeastern team, which may have got a break with the Towson upset. Jon has Northeastern winning this whole thing. Seven others picked George Mason, three picked top seed VCU and Bracket Boy went with Old Dominion.
MAAC
Only two first-round games in the MAAC on Friday. Canisius beat Loyola, earning a point each for Dan and Ed, and Marist beat Iona, earning a point each for Nino, Jim and Greg. No long-term damage, really, as the quarterfinal matchups today will go much further toward shaping this bracket: Siena/Canisius, Niagara/Marist, Rider/St. Peter's and Manhattan/Fairfield. Five people picked Siena to win this tournament, five somewhat surprisingly picked Rider and two picked Niagara.
SOUTHERN
The big upset in the Southern Conference on Friday was apparently Elon's 62-55 victory over Wofford. Not only did 10 of the 12 of us have Wofford winning this game, six of us had Wofford then going on to upset Chattanooga in the quarterfinals. Not gonna happen, thanks to Elon. Jim and Jon each got all four games correct Friday in the Southern conference, which plays its quarterfinals today: Davidson/Appalachian State, Chattanooga/Elon, Samford/Citadel and Western Carolina/Charleston. Ten of us have Davidson winning this thing. Ed has Chattanooga, and Nino went with The Citadel.
WEST COAST
San Diego takes out Loyola-Marymount and Pepperdine beats San Francisco, resulting in two points for everybody but Jim and Yohan (who had the Dons in the nightcap). In today's second round, San Diego faces Santa Clara while Pepperdine matches up with Portland. All the while, top seeds Gonzaga and St. Mary's just bide their time, awaiting their opponents for tomorrow's semifinal games. Ten of the 12 picked Gonzaga to win this tournament. Dan and Jim each have St. Mary's.
BIG SKY
The Big Sky tournament kicks off tonight in Montana and Idaho with two first-round matchups -- Idaho State vs. Northern Colorado and the knockdown/drag-out border war that is Montana vs. Montana State. I'd tell you who everybody picked in this one, but as I said earlier, we're still waiting for three people to pick it.
SUMMIT
The Summit League is just dipping its toe in the water yet. Two of the league's four first-round games take place tonight in Sioux Falls. Top seed North Dakota State faces Centenary, and No. 2 Oral Roberts takes on South Dakota State, which should pack the place with fans. The other two first-round games take place tomorrow.
As always, if anybody has any questions about any of this, you know how to reach me. I'll almost certainly be watching basketball.
OVERALL POINTS STANDINGS THROUGH GAMES OF MARCH 6
Steve Politi: 52
Sal Sabatino: 48
Rob Biro: 48
Jon Graziano: 47
Greg Lester: 47
Paul "Nino" Canino: 47
Jim Graziano: 46
Ed Price: 46
Yohan Sengamalay: 45
Chris Sabatino: 44
Dan Graziano: 42
Mark Feinsand: 42
(as you can see, I'm as awesome at this as I was at the football. yee-haw.)
Friday, March 6, 2009
The Conference Tournament Pool -- Thursday Recap, Standings and Friday Look-Ahead
Because of ESPNU, which is more or less the greatest thing ever, I actually got to watch the frantic final minutes of the Radford-UNC Ashville semifinal in the Big South. Radford hung on to earn a finals matchup with VMI, which walloped Liberty earlier in the day, and thus the first of our brackets comes into focus.
The Big South final is scheduled for Sunday. If VMI wins it, Jon (who has picked all six Big South games correctly so far) would max out with 11 points and be our Big South winner. Sal, Nino, Yohan, Ed and Greg also picked VMI and would get credit toward the prize for most champions picked correctly, but Jon would have the most total Big South points and win the first $1 prize.
If Radford wins Sunday, Chris and Steve would each have 10 points and would split the $1 prize. Mark also picked Radford, but would only have seven points because of his fondness for first-round loser Coastal Carolina.
Elsewhere on Friday, we saw first-round action in the Atlantic Sun (where Belmont nipped Mercer at the buzzer and Lipscomb walloped Campbell by 30), the Missouri Valley (where Indiana State took out a Drake team that eight people had picked to win the game and Jim had picked all the way to the final, and Wichita State took care of business against Missouri State as all 12 of us predicted) and the Northeast Conference (where the winners were the 1, 2, 3 and 5 seeds and therefore there is no need to re-seed -- Ed, Chris, Rob, Jim and Greg correctly picked all four first-round winners in the NEC).
The overall points standings, through Thursday, March 5, are as follows:
Steve Politi: 30
Sal Sabatino: 28
Chris Sabatino: 27
Jon: Graziano: 27
Greg Lester: 27
Ed Price: 27
Yohan Sengamalay: 26
Rob Biro: 25
Paul "Nino" Canino: 23
Dan Graziano: 23
Jim Graziano: 23
Mark Feinsand: 21
Today, we have a ton of action.
We have first-round games in the America East, Colonial, Metro Atlantic, Southern and West Coast Conferences (Jon and Greg, get your picks in by noon!).
We have second round-action in the Missouri Valley:
(1) Northern Iowa vs. (9) Indiana State
(2) Creighton vs. (7) Wichita State
(3) Illinois State vs. (6) Evansville
(4) Bradley vs. (5) Southern Illinois
We have second-round action in the Horizon:
(3) Cleveland State vs. (7) Illinois-Chicago
(4) Wright State vs. (5) Wisconsin-Milwaukee
We have semifinals in the Ohio Valley:
(1) UT-Martin vs. (4) Morehead State
(2) Austin Peay vs. (3) Murray State
And we have semifinals in the Atlantic Sun:
(1) Jacksonville vs. (4) Lipscomb
(2) East Tennessee State vs. (3) Belmont
Lots and lots and lots of points on the board, and if you think that's something, wait till tomorrow, when we have TWELVE tournaments in action including finals in the Big South, A-Sun and OVC.
Oh, baby.
The Big South final is scheduled for Sunday. If VMI wins it, Jon (who has picked all six Big South games correctly so far) would max out with 11 points and be our Big South winner. Sal, Nino, Yohan, Ed and Greg also picked VMI and would get credit toward the prize for most champions picked correctly, but Jon would have the most total Big South points and win the first $1 prize.
If Radford wins Sunday, Chris and Steve would each have 10 points and would split the $1 prize. Mark also picked Radford, but would only have seven points because of his fondness for first-round loser Coastal Carolina.
Elsewhere on Friday, we saw first-round action in the Atlantic Sun (where Belmont nipped Mercer at the buzzer and Lipscomb walloped Campbell by 30), the Missouri Valley (where Indiana State took out a Drake team that eight people had picked to win the game and Jim had picked all the way to the final, and Wichita State took care of business against Missouri State as all 12 of us predicted) and the Northeast Conference (where the winners were the 1, 2, 3 and 5 seeds and therefore there is no need to re-seed -- Ed, Chris, Rob, Jim and Greg correctly picked all four first-round winners in the NEC).
The overall points standings, through Thursday, March 5, are as follows:
Steve Politi: 30
Sal Sabatino: 28
Chris Sabatino: 27
Jon: Graziano: 27
Greg Lester: 27
Ed Price: 27
Yohan Sengamalay: 26
Rob Biro: 25
Paul "Nino" Canino: 23
Dan Graziano: 23
Jim Graziano: 23
Mark Feinsand: 21
Today, we have a ton of action.
We have first-round games in the America East, Colonial, Metro Atlantic, Southern and West Coast Conferences (Jon and Greg, get your picks in by noon!).
We have second round-action in the Missouri Valley:
(1) Northern Iowa vs. (9) Indiana State
(2) Creighton vs. (7) Wichita State
(3) Illinois State vs. (6) Evansville
(4) Bradley vs. (5) Southern Illinois
We have second-round action in the Horizon:
(3) Cleveland State vs. (7) Illinois-Chicago
(4) Wright State vs. (5) Wisconsin-Milwaukee
We have semifinals in the Ohio Valley:
(1) UT-Martin vs. (4) Morehead State
(2) Austin Peay vs. (3) Murray State
And we have semifinals in the Atlantic Sun:
(1) Jacksonville vs. (4) Lipscomb
(2) East Tennessee State vs. (3) Belmont
Lots and lots and lots of points on the board, and if you think that's something, wait till tomorrow, when we have TWELVE tournaments in action including finals in the Big South, A-Sun and OVC.
Oh, baby.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The Conference Tournament Pool -- NEC First Round Preview
All four quarterfinal games in the Northeast Conference tip at 7 pm EST. They are:
(1) Robert Morris vs (8) St. Francis NY
(2) Mount St. Mary's vs. (7) Wagner
(3) Sacred Heart vs. (6) Central Connecticut State
(4) Long Island vs. (5) Quinnipiac
TONIGHT'S PICKS
Dan: Robert Morris, LIU, Wager, Sacred Heart
Sal: Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, MSM, CCSU
Ed: Robert Morrris, Quinnipiac, MSM, Sacred Heart
Mark: Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, Wagner, Sacred Heart
Chris: Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, MSM, Sacred Heart
Steve: Robert Morris, LIU, MSM, Sacred Heart
Rob: Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, MSM, SacredHeart
Jim: Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, MSM, Sacred Heart
Jon: Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, MSM, CCSU
Nino: Robert Morris, LIU, MSM, Sacred Heart
Yohan: Robert Morris, LIU, MSM, CCSU
Greg: Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, MSM, Sacred Heart
This tournament re-seeds after the first round, with the highest remaining seeds playing the lowest, etc. The semifinals are scheduled for Sunday. You will receive new brackets by then that reflect the first-round winners and re-seeding.
(1) Robert Morris vs (8) St. Francis NY
(2) Mount St. Mary's vs. (7) Wagner
(3) Sacred Heart vs. (6) Central Connecticut State
(4) Long Island vs. (5) Quinnipiac
TONIGHT'S PICKS
Dan: Robert Morris, LIU, Wager, Sacred Heart
Sal: Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, MSM, CCSU
Ed: Robert Morrris, Quinnipiac, MSM, Sacred Heart
Mark: Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, Wagner, Sacred Heart
Chris: Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, MSM, Sacred Heart
Steve: Robert Morris, LIU, MSM, Sacred Heart
Rob: Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, MSM, SacredHeart
Jim: Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, MSM, Sacred Heart
Jon: Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, MSM, CCSU
Nino: Robert Morris, LIU, MSM, Sacred Heart
Yohan: Robert Morris, LIU, MSM, CCSU
Greg: Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, MSM, Sacred Heart
This tournament re-seeds after the first round, with the highest remaining seeds playing the lowest, etc. The semifinals are scheduled for Sunday. You will receive new brackets by then that reflect the first-round winners and re-seeding.
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