The games have begun so it is time for the real fun to begin!!!!

Looks like we have 334 entries this year so it should be lots of fun – and lots of people Stomping the Lunatic!!!!

When I get home from work, I will check to verify number of entries and make sure there are not any emails in my mailbox about last second issues with getting in their picks.

Enjoy the Madness!!!!!! Should be a great tournament!!!!

Totally forgot to mention. The Lunatic’s handicapping is back for another pummeling. The First 4 games have begun and so the Lunatic has even picked them. Those teams made the tournament – they deserve to have their game picked incorrectly by the Lunatic.

For those of you not familiar, the Lunatic picks every single one of the games against the spread as well as the over/under. Typically, I get very excited to do this at the start of the tournament, and then end up so far down in mythical money that I choose not to pick the last games to ensure that the Lunatic curse doesn’t impact the tournament any more than it already has.

I will add my disclosures – I only provide my picks for fun – they are not gambling advice. (Although I am starting to think a good strategy would be to pick against anyone I pick.). I also mention that my luck in Vegas Sportsbooks is as bad if not worse than how I have done the last few years.

Enjoy the picks and rambling with them – just be smart – they are done by a delusional crazy person.

High tempo first half – what everyone would expect from UNC and Kentucky as the Tar Heels lead by 5.

This game has had a different feel than the others because of the history – lets put that into perspective.

This is Gonzaga’s and South Carolina’s first ever Final Four.  And it is Oregon’s second – the last time they were there was 1939 – when the Ducks won the first ever NCAA Tournament.

North Carolina has played in 19 Final Fours – winning 5.   Kentucky has played in 17 Final Fours – and have won 8 (second only behind UCLA’s 11 – who ironically were also in the South Regional Sweet 16)

North Carolina and Kentucky have played in the same Final Four 3 times assuming I counted right (1993, 1997 and 1998).  Ironically they didn’t play each other in those years.  But that still means there has only been 1 Final Four with any of the other three teams, and 3 where these two played at the same time.

If North Carolina wins, they will be playing in back to back Final Fours – so everyone but their 4 freshmen will have made as many or more Final Fours than the other 3 schools have in their history

But that is nothing.  If Kentucky wins, it will be their third in four years – so seniors Derek Willis and Dominique Hawkins will have gone to 2 more Final Fours than South Carolina and Gonzaga and one more than Oregon.

South Carolina is 8-9 in tournament history (with their 4 wins this year).  So Kentucky has won as many National Championships as South Carolina has won tournament games

Oregon is now 23-13 and Gonzaga is 28-19.   UNC is 120-45 and Kentucky is 126-50.   So either the Tar Heels or Wildcats will have won twice as many tournament games as the other three schools combined.

So, in a year where teams are doing things that haven’t been done in history, the South Regional final will ensure that for any of these teams to cap their magical runs with a National Championship, they will have to beat one of the more storied programs in college basketball history.

Enjoy the second half

Florida started this game hot and took a 40-33 lead into halftime.  But the Gamecocks kept winning the battle inside and quickly chipped away at that lead.  

For most of the second half, the teams traded baskets and leads until about 3 minutes in the game.   Then, Sindarius Thornwell took the game over.   Thornwell, who finished with 26 points, got a defensive rebound and drove hard down the court to draw a foul, hit two free throws and give the Gamecocks the lead.  Then, he stole the ball in the corner, drove hard down the court again, but this time stopped in the lane and passed to the trailer Maik Kotsar, who hiy the easier jumper in the lane and the lead was built to 4.

In the Wisconsin game, Florida kept taking it quickly to the basket to close the gap – but this time, the South Carolina defense had the answer, would get the defensive rebound and hit a free throw or two to keep extending the lead.   The game winner was capped as PJ Dozier stole the ball from Friday night’s hero Chris Chiozza and passed the ball up to Duane Notice who threw down an emphatic dunk.   

And so the South Carolina Gamecocks will be heading to their first Final Four in school history,  where they will face Gonzaga.   Congratulations to the 7th seed South Carolina!!!

One last spot remains – will today be a true SEC party with their conference champion Kentucky taking the South, or will the ACC champion North Carolina stop the SEC and take the final spot.   Game starts in 15 minutes!!!!

This was supposed to be the Kansas Jayhawks party.   Kansas was the #1 seed, and they had averaged 96 points in the first three games of the tournament.  The Ducks had a great run so far, but without starting forward Chris Boucher, it was not viewed that they would be able to hang with the talented stars from Kansas.   And of course, the game was being held in Kansas City – making the Midwest Final a virtual home game for the Jayhawks.

Well, someone forgot to tell the Oregon Ducks – they were working under a different script.   That script had them jump out to a 44-33 lead at half-time, including a banked three pointer by Tyler Dorsey to end the half.   Then, Oregon held off any run that the Jayhawks tried.

Jordan Bell had 11 points, 13 rebounds and 8 blocked shots to control the paint and Tyler Dorsey shot 6-10 from three point range to lead the Ducks with 27 points.  And the Pac 12 regular season co-champions beat the powerful Jayhawks 74-60.

The Oregon Ducks are returning to the Final Four for the first time in 78 years – the Ducks were the 1939 National Champions.   Congratulations to the Oregon Ducks!!!!

Xavier and Gonzaga entered today’s West regional with an interesting record – they were tied for first with the most school victories (27) without making the Final Four.

Nigel Williams-Goss scored 23 points and Johnathan Williams added 19 – as the Gonzaga Bulldogs dominated the 11 seed Xavier Musketeers.

Xavier tried to take the Gonzaga big guys away from them – and Gonzaga made them pay for it by hitting a bunch of threes – thr Musketeers simply did not have an answer.

There is always criticism of a small conference champion when they have such an amazing season – their schedule is too weak, they would not have that record if they played in a major conference like the ACC, Big 12 or Pac 12.   Well, the West Coast Conference champions became the first WCC team to make the Final Four since San Francisco did in 1957.   Congratulations to Gonzaga for becoming the first team to book their ticket to Arizona and the Final Four!!

Our new leader in the pool is Justin Peabody – at 710 points, he has a 10 point lead over Justin Peabody, Patricia Kirtz, Brad Harding and Mark Schumaker.  Bill Kahn and Cinde Johnson are in a tie for 5th – just 20 pts behind and Stephanie Palermo, Chris Kelly, Drew Bradley and Earl McKnight are tied for 7th with 680 pts.

Sadly, if someone just picked the team highest in the AP Poll, they would be tied with Justin for the lead – but fortunately, it looks like that type of laziness would have not been rewarded in the end as they would have picked Villanova to win it all.

In the Upset Pool, it is Kyle Kelly leading with 245 points thanks to his brave pick of Xavier to win the West Regional.  Ryan Zotti is second with 235 points – followed by Greg Williams at 231, Gabbi Ams at 229 and Earl McKnight at 225.  Pretty impressive – Greg and Gabbi also got Xavier right – their boldness of taking the 11 seed to the Final Four has placed them in contention for the Upset Pool.

In the second chance pool, Tony Bisese is the leader – getting 7 of 8 correct, as Florida’s last second shot stopped him from going perfect in the Sweet 16.  Then, there is 21 people tied for 240 pts.   So the Second Chance Pool is totally up for grabs.

The Lunatic is likely already done – in a tie for 128th place, he can only move up if UNC keeps winning – and there are likely too many people in the way to get too close to the leaders (but will have a clearer picture of the standings by the end of the weekend).   That being said, the Lunatic’s 10 year old son Charlie is doing well – as he is tied for 19th.   

Good luck to everyone over the weekend, whether your school is still in the games or you simply want to enjoy some great basketball.  The Elite 8 is here – and we have four great regional finals ahead!

What a way to end the Sweet 16.   In overtime, it was Wisconsin that took the lead.   But Canyon Barry came in off the bench to give the Gators a spark.   Barry hit a nice drive to the basket to start the comeback, two big FTs to cut the lead to 2, and a huge block on Iverson – which led to Chris Chiozza driving to the basket to tie the game.

Nigel Hayes made a nice drive to the basket which almost went in – but he got fouled.   The senior who had struggled from the line in the overtime period hit both free throws to give Wisconsin a 2 point lead.

That set the stage for Chiozza who got the inbounds, drove up the court as fast as possible and hit an impressive three pointer at the buzzer to give the Gators an 84-83 victory.

With Kentucky winning against UCLA and South Carolina’s big upset of Baylor in the last two games, the SEC showed their dominance of the night by sending all 3 of their teams to the Elite 8.   Pretty impressive showing by the SEC, and amazing way to end the Sweet 16.