Ten reasons to do the Stomp the Lunatic Second Chance Pool

• You no longer have a Final Four team left in your real bracket after your cute picks of 3 and 4 seeds watched Auburn, Baylor, Kentucky and Kansas all lose before the end of the first weekend.
• You want another chance to say that you had a perfect bracket after your billion dollar picks were ruined in the second game when Duquesne upset BYU.
• You want to have a chance to pick all 4 top seeds to make it to the Final Four and have a reasonable chance of that actually happening.
• With 4 ACC teams making it to the Sweet 16, you want to jump on the Clemson and NC State bandwagons to pick all ACC finals in the West (UNC vs Clemson) and South (Duke vs NC State) regions.
• Because no one is willing to do a pool with you to see who will win Deal or No Deal Island or the Amazing Race.
• You always wanted to pick a bracket by flipping a coin, and with all the chalk winning so far, the games literally all could be 50/50 games for the rest of the tournament.
• With the popularity of the women’s game, you want to pick the Sweet 16 based on which of the women’s teams have gone farthest (UConn, NC State, Duke and Gonzaga are in the Women’s Sweet 16).
• You wanted to have a dogs vs. cats final four, and realized that the possibility of Huskies vs. Tigers and Bulldogs vs. Cougars was too good to pass up.
• It is another – and more importantly, it is the last chance in 2024 to STOMP THE LUNATIC.
• It’s absolutely FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That’s right – your entry fee already covers your Second Chance Pool entry – and so there is absolutely no good reason not to do the Second Chance Pool. You even have all Thursday afternoon to do them, since the games don’t start until 7:09 pm. Good luck to everyone in stomping the Lunatic a second time!!!

ESPN was doing a piece on the efforts to expand the NCAA Tournament (which I have ton of thoughts about for a later rant – or several rants).

It looks like they have been looking at options to expand to 72, 76 or 80 teams – and according to the article on ESPN, both the Big 12 and SEC commissioners have offered expansion options.

But Greg Sankey was quoted in the article saying this. “That just tells you that the bandwidth inside the top 50 is highly competitive. We are giving away highly competitive opportunities for automatic qualifiers, and I think that pressure is going to rise as we have more competitive basketball leagues at the top end because of expansion.”

While I appreciate that his statements have a decent amount of truth in them, they are very self-serving and it is clear he is trying to simply get a larger share of the revenues.

His comments about expansion are probably accurate. If you look at the Big 12, they added teams like Houston and BYU – and they did well in the conference as more teams started falling to 10-8 or 9-9 in the conference, and yet when there is only 36 at large bids, the reality is you can’t give the Big 12 2 more bids because they got better. You are still likely looking at the 6-8 spots they get. So they have gotten better and the number of spots available really don’t change. The SEC is going to be a lot tougher next season when they add Texas and Oklahoma.

That being said, I don’t feel any sympathy for them – the SEC knew what they were doing and the money it was worth to add those two schools. I don’t feel that it is necessary to take money away from the other conferences in basketball because the SEC wants all the football money.

The part that really rubbed me wrong (and the rest of the college basketball world) is the statement of giving away bids to automatic qualifiers. There is a little bit of truth here. UConn beat Stetson by 39 points. Odds are, if St. John’s, Seton Hall or Providence was given that spot, they would have been closer to making it a competitive game – so you don’t have the top 68 teams.

But here is the problem with that – those teams played their way in by claiming their conference’s title. We could probably debate the wisdom of having a end-of-season week long tournament deciding that bid over the 16-20 games the teams played against each other. But the path was clear – and they earned their spot. And these one-bid conferences simply don’t get the opportunities. If I follow Sankey’s advice, I never see an upset by FDU or Princeton, or St. Peter’s. I also probably lose out on the upsets by Duquesne, Grand Canyon and James Madison this year. When the mid-majors don’t get an opportunity outside of a rare road game to play, how do we know which 25-7 team is good enough to compete. The automatic bids need to be there – you can’t leave a conference out of the championship.

Well – there is an irony here. After Sankey made his comments, only 4 protected seeds did not make it to the Sweet 16. #4 Kansas was done in by injuries – still hung on to win against Samford, and even stayed close to Gonzaga for a half before the lack of players caught up to them. #3 Baylor had no problems in the first round but were upset by Clemson in the second round – while an upset, a 6 seed upsetting a 3 seed isn’t a huge shock.

So that leaves two teams who lost in the first round. where the Ivy League champion Yale knocked off 4 seed Auburn and the Horizon champion Oakland knocked off 3 seed Kentucky. Two of the best teams in the SEC getting knocked out by the types of teams that Greg Sankey was complaining about taking away opportunities to his conference.

Well – it seems like those teams belong based on their victories this year. It is sad that they would even need to make that case – the Cinderella upsets are some of the best things about March (well – when they don’t happen to the school you are rooting for).

And lets be fair, Tennessee and Alabama are doing just fine in the Sweet 16, and both have impressive offensive teams that could surprise everyone and win the whole thing.

But you have to admit that there was a little bit of karma that the two biggest upsets in this year’s tournament happened to the league who had their commissioner basically say that 8 of the 68 spots available wasn’t enough.

Well – while I am sure all of us are ready for Thursday to be here and have the Sweet 16 begin, it is Monday. I thought about blogging about some of the women’s tournament games (there are a couple of really good ones – as UCLA is only up 2 against Creighton, and Iowa is only up 5 against West Virginia). But then I realized, I have tons of material to catch up on.

Now that the games of the first weekend are over with, and I am not trying to handicap 52 games, I should go back and check up on how my bracketology did. This is always a nervous moment for me – as I hate the idea of not doing a good job.

This year, I have two things to check – my bracketology, and my imaginary committee’s bracketology. I got 66 of 68 teams right – while my committee only got 65 of 68 teams. So, it appears that I am better on my own than with a whole bunch of models. Before we compare against the media, lets quickly talk about who I selected wrong.

Basically, I missed on Mississippi State and Virginia. Lets face it – I wanted UVa to get in, but I didn’t expect them to get in with their metrics. And as for Mississippi State, I figured with all the bid stealers, a team that didn’t go better than 50% in their conference would get eliminated. But apparently, the committee went with the metrics on MSU and ignored the metrics for Virginia – who would have guess that.

My committee got MSU right (because it was a lot more tied to the metrics), but missed on Virginia, Texas A&M and Northwestern. So – not the best. If I ever do this exercise again, I will need to really improve the metrics.

My comparison method uses the scoring method from the Bracket Matrix – this is for two reasons – it is as sensible as any other metric, and it tracks so many people’s brackets that the media picks are already scored. You get 3 points for selecting the team correctly, 2 points for getting the seed correct, and 1 point for getting a team within 1 seed line.

For my picks, I selected 66 teams correctly (198 points), got 40 teams seeded exactly correct (80 points), and 60 teams seeded within 1 seed (60 points). 338 points is not bad for me – it is in the middle of the bracket matrix – definitely not the best, but certainly not the worst.

The committee did not do as well. It only got 65 correct (195 points), 35 teams seeded exactly correct (70 points), and 57 within 1 seed (57 points) for only 322 points.

So – I crushed my imaginary committee. A little sad for me because while it shows that I can do better than some statistics, I had high hopes that the statistics would make my seeding better.

Anyways – the real question isn’t how I did against the entire bracket matrix – it is how I did against the media. And it turns out – not that bad.

• FOX – Mike Decourcy – 345 (67, 41, 62)
• Sports Illustrated – Kevin Sweeney – 344 (67, 41, 61)
• THE LUNATIC – 338 (66, 40, 60)
• The Sporting News – Bill Bender – 337 (67, 38, 60)
• ESPN – Joe Lunardi – 336 (67, 38, 59)
• USA Today – Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith and Eddie Timanus332 (67, 36, 59)
• CBS – Jerry Palm – 323 (66, 35, 55)
• LUNATIC COMMITTEE – 322 (65, 35, 57)

So, congratulations to Mike Decourcy – as while I don’t know of all the media members that create a bracket prediction, he did the best of the media members I was tracking.

However, the Lunatic is extremely pleased – while I got one less correct than ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, I did such a better job at seeding that I beat him by 2 points. And I crushed Jerry Palm from CBS (which is a shame – he had this great site that covered the RPI before moving to CBS).

Regardless, any time the Lunatic can beat 4 of the 6 media members, that qualifies as a good job for the year. Still a little disappointed that his committee idea crashed and burned – but glad that my last second change to put my committee vote as its own did so well.

I will at some point have to clean up the bracketology page – it is still stuck on what it said Saturday morning… There is only so much time in the day (and the Lunatic’s old age simply requires more sleep than he used to – he is still sleep deprived, just he needs more sleep to function). That might be an after the tournament project (or a project for the week leading up to the Final Four – where we have to wait 5 full days for basketball to resume.

I was too tired to realize it last night – but midnight on Sunday was pretty symbolic as Yale was getting crushed by San Diego State as the clock struck midnight on the East Coast.

That is because with all the favorites winning, Yale’s elimination was the last true Cinderella left at the dance. Sure – NCAA State is an 11 seed, but it is hard to call the ACC Tournament Champions a Cinderella team.

It is kind of crazy because we did have a decent number of upsets in the first round, but by the time the dust settled on the second round, status quo had taken over. The only non-protected seeds advancing were #5-San Diego State, #5-Gonzaga, #6-Clemson and #11-NC State.

So when the clock struck midnight, Cinderella really did leave the dance. Unfortunately, no glass slippers were found. Maybe next year, she will return for a longer visit – it is always nice when Cinderella is still dancing.

I might have to wait until the morning to send out an email to everyone. But I did want to congratulate our 2nd round leaders very quickly.

Right now, we have a tie at the top between Carrie Viera and Adam Levine at 520 points. They are followed closely by Kennedy Urban, Charlie Hodgson, Matt Richter, Ann Hawkins, and Carlie Reynolds – who are all just 10 points behind. And 10 people are tied for 8th just 20 points behind. We have a very tight race for this year’s tournament!

In the Upset Pool, Tom Forrest is leading with 213 points. He is followed by Chris Franklin (211), Adam Levine (204), Taylor Early (200), and Debbe Evans (197).

The Lunatic is hanging around – he is in a large group tied at 25th – just 40 points behind. With 36 people behind by the total of just one Sweet 16 game, it is still anyone’s game.

But for those of you who already have lost your eventual champion, don’t despair. The Second Chance Pool is available for you – and it is completely free. Just login, enter who you think will win now that we know the sweet 16, and hope that your new picks will do the best!!!!

Good luck to everyone!!!!! And the Lunatic now desperately needs to go back to sleep!

I had fallen asleep. Houston was up 13 points with about 4 minutes to play. I think I saw San Diego State up by 24 points at halftime. I had the game playing on the computer but just couldn’t keep my eyes open. Then, I hear screaming on my computer. All of a sudden, it is a 5 point game.

Apparently, with 1:28 left, LJ Cryer had put Houston up by 10 points from the free throw line. But then the Aggies’ Tyrece Radford made a jumper to cut the lead to 8, they force a turnover, and Wade Taylor IV hit a three-pointer to make it a 5 point lead.

Then, after Emanuel Sharp hit two free throws for the Cougars, Taylor was fouled shooting a three pointer – and he hit all 3 free throws to make it a 4 point game with just 53 seconds. This was also important since it was the 5th foul on Cryer. The Aggies intentionally foul Sharp again, who this time only hits one of the free throws.

The Aggies charge the ball up the court, Radford missed a layup, but Solomon Washington got the rebound and hit the shot to cut the lead to 3. In 45 seconds, the 10 point lead was now just 3 points. And the Lunatic thought “I must be dreaming”

With it being back to a one possession game, the Aggies play straight-up defense, and Washington blocks Jamal Shead’s jumper after Houston had run the shot clock down – setting the stage for insanity.

The Aggies rush the ball down the court, and Taylor misses the shot, Radford tries to tip it in but misses it but A&M get the ball back out of bounds. Taylor misses a three-pointer, gets his own rebound, and misses a second three-pointer. And with 2 seconds left, the scrum for the rebound leads to a jump ball. The Aggies have the possession arrow – and so they get the ball again.

This time, a low pass goes to the top of the key and Anderson Garcia picks up the ball almost at his feet, and heaves up a desperation three-pointer that goes in – we are going to overtime!!!!

In the overtime period, Houston jumped back out to a lead off a three-pointer by Sharp, two free throws by Shead, and a nice layup by Mylik Wilson set up by a pretty pass from Shead. But the Aggies wouldn’t give up, and the Houston starters kept fouling out. They had already lost Javier Francis and Cryer in regulation, then they lost Sharp. And with just 18 seconds left in the game, Shead got his 5th foul as Taylor drove to the basket. Taylor would hit the free throws to cut the lead to 3 points.

On the inbounds, Houston lobbed the ball to seldom used Ryan Elvin. Elvin had shot just 4 free throws in the entire season, and now, Houston’s tournament was in his hands. Elvin missed the first free throw but made the second one to make it a 4 point game.

This time, the magic wasn’t there. Radford would miss a three pointer, and Mylik Wilson got the rebound. He would get fouled and make a free throw to make it a 5 point game. And the remaining shots from Texas A&M would miss until the clock buzzed.

It is not often you see a team win with 4 starters having fouled out of the game. It is not often you see a team come back from being down 10 points with less than 90 seconds left to force overtime. We almost saw a #1 seed go down in one of the last games of the first weekend.

But at the end of the day, there are no style points. Houston survived the upset bid by Texas A&M, and they advance to the Sweet 16. And in the process of writing this, San Diego State finally finished off Yale in an 85-57 blowout. So the Sweet 16 is set.

We will have UConn, San Diego St, Iowa St and Illinois in the East. North Carolina, Alabama, Arizona and Clemson in the West. Houston, Duke, Marquette and NC State in the South. And Purdue, Gonzaga, Tennessee and Creighton in the Midwest.

I was too busy watching the Alabama vs Grand Canyon game but it would be poor to not mention that Connecticut destroyed Northwestern by 17 in a game that wasn’t that close. At one point, I noticed on the scoreboard that the Huskies had doubled the Wildcats total as they were up 55-27.

So that leaves us down the home stretch. Texas A&M is challenging Houston, but the Cougars did take a 5 point lead into half over the Aggies. And sadly for the Lunatic, the San Diego State vs Yale game has not started yet. I am so tired – I am not sure I will make it through that game (or at this rate the Houston game).

Congratulations to the Huskies for advancing to the Sweet 16. If there are no more updates until the morning, it will be because the Lunatic has gone back to dreaming.

It was an entertaining game. It was an overly physical game. Both teams shot uncharacteristically bad. The crowd for Grand Canyon was extremely into the game – as they were super loud. And they were crazy excited with 6 minutes to play when Tyon Grant-Foster hit a jumper to put the Lopes up 58-55. But then a bizarre sequence changed the game.

Alabama missed a three pointer, but Nick Pringer was fouled going for the rebound. Pringer hit the first free throw but missed the second one. But Alabama got the rebound and kicked the ball back out. This time Sam Walters missed the three pointer but Alabama once again got the rebound. Eventually, Mark Sears got fouled trying to score.

Sears also made the first free throw and missed the second, but once again Mouhamed Dioubate got the rebound. Dioubate went back up with the ball, hit the layup and got fouled. Dioubate hit the free throw to essentially wrap up the 42 second 5-point play for the Tide.

This would kick off a 17-3 run where Alabama finished off the 12 seed. Mark Sears probably kept the Tide in the game as he scored 26 points. But it was Dioubate who scored all 9 of his points in the final stretch to lead the Alabama late charge. And Alabama will head to the Sweet 16.

With 6:44 left in the game, the Tigers Ian Schleffelin made a jumper to take a 15 point lead. Then, everything started to unravel.

By 5 minutes, Baylor had cut the lead to 8. By 2:40, Jalen Bridges hit two free throws to cut the lead to 4. With 1 minute, Clemson’s Jack Clark got a defensive rebound, but the Bears’ RayJ Dennis knocked the ball out of his hands and Clark fouled him as Dennis tried to get the ball. Dennis made both free throws and the game was a 2 point lead.

On the next possession, Baylor deflected the ball out of PJ Hall’s hands and Hall fell into JaKobe Walter for Clemson’s star center’s 5th foul. With Walter being an 81.4% free throw shooter, it looked like the Bears might tie the game.

Then Walter missed both free throws. Baylor now had to foul, and Clemson’s RJ Godfrey made both free throws. Dennis missed a three-pointer to try to cut the lead to 1 but it was too strong so the Bears fouled Joseph Girard III, who made both free throws. After Walter missed a three-pointer, the Bears had to foul RJ Godfrey, who also made both free throws, and the Tigers were safe again. Clemson upset 3 seed Baylor and the Tigers are heading to the Sweet 16.

So, after Virginia got beat in the first four game, the other 4 ACC teams have gone 8-0 and all 4 are now in the Sweet 16. Congratulations to the Tigers!

Sadly for the state of Virginia, James Madison’s success against Wisconsin is not translating into success against the mighty ACC. Duke is destroying the Dukes 78-46 with 8 minutes to play.

Meanwhile, there is an upset alert brewing as everything is falling for Clemson, including as Chase Hunter raced down the court and shot a deep three pointer at the buzzer for the first half. The Tigers will take a 35-25 lead into halftime.

Beware the ACC!