Stomp The Lunatic

Just a test

With 3.2 seconds left in the game, Taylor Barnette hit what might be the biggest three point shot in his entire life.  His three-pointer was the game winner to give the Belmont Bruins an improbable 88-87 victory over Murray State to claim the Ohio Valley Conference Championship and make the Bruins the first team in 2015 to punch their ticket to the dance.

Poor Murray State was 16-0 in conference play and were literally 3 seconds away from going undefeated in their conference – now forced to wait anxiously for a week to see if the Selection Committee will reward the Racers for their 27-5 season.  And while sad for Murray State, it was probably the perfect way to start off March – with a reminder that every team is a buzzer beater away from an incredibly emotional victory or a horrible agonizing defeat.

It must be March!!!!!!!!!!   We are only 8 days away – March Madness is on its way.  I am sure that means that the Crazed Lunatic won’t be far behind.

To put into perspective what type of unexpected and amazing run this was for the Huskies – for the first time in the Lunatic Pool history, no one predicted the champion.   To add to it, no one was willing to take the Huskies in the Second Chance Pool either.

 

And now, the part you all have been waiting for – congratulations to our 2014 Stomp the Lunatic champion – Chris Franklin.  Chris managed to play an unusual pool type of defense by taking the lead going into the Final 4, not score a single point in the last 3 games, and yet manage to hang on to the victory.

 

Our Upset Pool saw a similar feat – as Michelle Horgan’s 279 points hung on to win.  Her gutsy pick of taking the Dayton Flyers to make it to the Elite 8 helped gain Michelle enough upset points to coast to victory.

 

Then, there was the only part of the pool that was still up for grabs tonight – the Second Chance Pool.  Thanks to the Huskies victory, Will Caldwell hung on to the victory with 640 points.

 

Here are the full set of winners:

​Standard Pool

1)     Chris Franklin – 840

2)     Kyle Kelly, Chuck Brugh, and Amy Lancette – 830

5)     Michael Strange – 820

6)     Rob Bradley – 810

7)     James Franklin – 800

8)     Emily Vittum – 790

9)     Robert Shipp and Jerry Caldwell – 780

LAST) Barbara Hodgson – 210 (you should not have challenged Chris!!!)

 

​Upset Pool:

1) Michelle Horgan – 279

2) Sarah Manley – 265

3) Clay Holloway – 259

4) Chuck Brugh – 258

5) Christy Lindvall – 255

 

​Second Chance Pool:

1) Will Caldwell – 640

2) Edward Zhang – 600

3) Chauncey, Jenn Carter, and Tonya Cole – 520

 

The Lunatic is embarrassed to mention that if leveraging the tie-breaker, 130 entries stomped the Lunatic – another thorough stomping!!!!!!!   Well done by everyone in the pool in putting the Lunatic in his proper place!!!!

 

Thanks to all of you for making this such a fun pool – hope that everyone enjoyed the games!!!!   Congratulations again to all our winners and of course, Connecticut Huskies – the 2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball Champions.

The Wildcats kept fighting back and fighting back – but they could never get past being down 1 point.  In the end, there was just way too much Shabazz Napier – as the 22 points from the senior led the Connecticut Huskies to a 60-54 victory.

It was a little surprising how the last minute went with Kentucky deciding not to foul – and then making the mistake and fouling in the final seconds of the shot clock.  In the end, the freshmen just couldn’t keep coming back.  The Huskies defense was just too strong – as it shut down the high scoring Wildcats to just 54 points.

Congratulations to the UConn Huskies – our 2014 National Champions!!!

 

So, with a championship game between a 7 seed and an 8 seed, maybe anything should be considered possible.  But who had the Huskies jumping out to a 15 point lead in the first half.

And then, after that, who had the Wildcats going to a zone defense to claw their way back to be only down 4 at halftime.   One almost has to wonder – the only game that Kentucky has been leading at halftime was their first game against Kansas State.  So, they find themselves in a familiar position.

Will the experience of the talented Huskies’ guards finish an incredible journey to a championship.  Or will the youthful Wildcats continue to defy the odds and pull off one last amazing comeback.   Only 20 minutes will tell…….

Well – if it wasn’t abundantly clear, it is now.  For the third game in a row, with time running out on the Wildcats season, the ball ended up in Aaron Harrison’s hands.  And as in the Louisville and Michigan games, Aaron Harrison put another dagger into his opponent’s hearts – as his three pointer with 5 seconds left in the game goes through the bottom of the net.

After it looked like the Badgers might have the game won from the FT line, Traevon Jackson allowed the refs to bail him out on a wild three point shot that was clearly an attempt to get fouled.  But the Badgers guard could only hit two of the three FTs, setting up Harrison’s third chance to win the game.

There have been some amazing players in this tournament hitting clutch shots, but at this point it is no contest.  If I need a basket at the end of the game, I want the ball in Aaron Harrison’s hands.

And if my scenario files are correct, that means congratulations are in order.   Chris Franklin was rooting for chaos going into this weekend, as the leader of the pool but with no more chances to score points.   And with the #7 seed Huskies and #8 seed Wildcats winning tonight, no one else will be able to score any points either. While it is still unofficial – congratulations, Chris on winning the Stomp the Lunatic contest!!!!

After falling behind 16-4 to the #1 seeded Florida Gators, the Huskies found themselves in a familiar position.  They had fallen down double digits in both their first two games of the tournament to St. Joseph’s and Villanova.   They had also found themselves behind 9 points to the Michigan State Spartans.

But these Huskies don’t know what it means to give up – and so when they found themselves down 12 points to the top seed of the tournament, they just kicked their game up to another gear.

By the end, DeAndre Daniels put up 20 points – and Ryan Boatright and Shabazz Napier completely stuffed the Florida backcourt – including holding SEC player of the year, Scottie Wilbekin to 4 points.

And so, the Lunatic’s curse is complete.  The Florida Gators tried their hardest to avoid it, but in the end, the Lunatic’s curse is too strong.   And so were the UConn Huskies – they dominated the last 30 minutes of this game and have earned their way to the championship.

As we are just 5 minutes away from the start of the Final Four, it seems appropriate to offer congratulations to the smaller tournament champions.

Congratulations need to go out to the Minnesota Gophers, who in the first season under Richard Pitino, managed to claim the NIT tournament title over SMU – the team that looked like the largest snub from the NCAA tourney by being ranked in the top 25 in the last week before the polls and then missed the field.

Then, in the CIT tournament, Murray State from the Ohio Valley Conference pulled away from Yale for a 65-57 victory.

Then, in the crazy CBI tournament, Siena and Fresno State racked up on travel miles as they played their best 2 out of 3 series against each other.  Today, it was Siena who finally finished off Fresno State with a 81-68 victory to take the decisive third game.

So, congratulations to Minnesota, Murray State and Siena – who managed to finish their seasons on winning notes.  And now, let the Final Four begin!!!!!!!!

As said in the weekly update email, the unofficial scenarios are available – just check out the links to the left and see which outcome gives you the best chances to do well in the pool.

Good luck to everyone!!!!