Stomp The Lunatic

At this very critical point in the tournament, the people who have positioned them at the top of the standings are now in very good shape.   That is because, thanks to the upsets today by Connecticut and Kentucky, there really is not a lot of chances for scoring.

If I have looked correctly, only Clay Holloway picked Kentucky to the championship game, where he had them losing to UCLA.  But he is not within 120 points of the leaders, so while that scenario will jump him up in the standings, he will not be able to overtake the lead.

And that is better than Connecticut – which no one had to the championship.

So, that basically leaves three camps.  Those rooting for Florida to win.  Those rooting for Wisconsin to win.  And those rooting for continued chaos to reign supreme.

That brings us to our leaders…..

In the standard pool, our leader, Chris Franklin is hanging on by a thread at 840 points.  That is because while he is the leader, he also has no more way to score points – and there are several people close behind.  So, Chris definitely is in the third camp.

He is followed by Chuck Brugh (our 2007 upset pool co-champion), Kyle Kelly (our 2013 defending champion), and Amy Lancette.  Of course, in this group with two past champions, it makes sense that Amy is the one to watch – she is the top person who has Wisconsin winning it all, while Chuck and Kyle are joining Chris in the third camp of chaos

Then, we have Michael Strange only 20 points behind, Rob Bradley only 30 points behind, James Franklin only 40 points behind (and most importantly the top score with Florida winning), Emily Vittum only 50 points behind and Robert Shipp and Jerry Caldwell only 60 points behind.

Of additional noteworthiness, Ruoyu Fan and Steve Glass are only 70 back – and the top scores where they have Florida actually beating Wisconsin.  We only had 5 people picking Wisconsin, and only one of them (Hamer) had them beating Florida.  But if I have done the math right, Amy is far enough ahead that she will win if Wisconsin wins.

But that is not all – there are two more pools to go!!!!!!!!!!

In our upset pool, while it is not official, it looks like no one is going to catch Michelle Horgan at 279 points.  Sarah Manley is 14 points behind, Chuck Brugh is 21 points behind, Christy Lindvall is 24 points behind, and Justin Gorman and Amy Lancette are 30 points behind.

And finally, the second chance pool doesn’t appear to have anyone with all 4 Final Four.  While not official, it definitely looks from the leaders that despite only needing to pick two rounds correctly for just the winners, none of us could do it – guess that is why Warren Buffett was so comfortable to offer a billion dollars for a perfect bracket – we could even do it for the last 15 games.   But that doesn’t matter to our leaders.  Will Caldwell has a small lead at 520 points – having gotten 3 of the final 4 correct.   He is followed by John Woodburn, Edward Zhang, and Jess Atkinson who are only 40 points behind.

The Lunatic is no longer lurking.  He is in the tie for 126th place with his only ability to get points being for Florida wins.  While a Florida victory might make it less of a stomping, since many people have the Gators, it should still be a pretty solid stomping by the pool – good job by everyone!!!!

Good luck to all the leaders – and for everyone, enjoy the Final Four games – if this weekend is any indication, it should be a fanastic finish.

 

Aaron Harrison might be a freshman, but this weekend, he has shown that he might be the most clutch shooter in the tournament.

On Friday night, with only 40 seconds left, Harrison nailed a three pointer from the corner to give Kentucky a 2 point lead and put the dagger into their arch rivals Louisville.  Then, today, with just 3 seconds left in the game, after a wild sequence that had the Michigan Wolverines tie the game with a tip-in, Aaron struck again.  With a man in his face, Harrison drilled another late game three pointer to lead his Wildcats to the Final Four.

So, after another amazing finish, the Final Four is set.   We will have Florida going up against Connecticut, the last team to beat the Gators before they went on a 30 game winning streak.  And then, we will have another SEC team, the Kentucky Wildcats, whose amazing freshmen will go against the Wisconsin Badgers – who ironically, are the only other team to have beaten the #1 Gators.

Arlington will get the #1 team going into the tournament, going against the only two teams that beat it in the regular season and the team that lost to it by one point in the SEC championship.   Should be a fun Final Four!!!!

In a game of runs, the team that went on the final streak was the UConn Huskies.  Shabizz Napier scored 25 points and hit some key shots at the end of the game as the Spartans were trying to tie the game.

It was an amazing run for Tom Izzo.   Izzo has now coached at Michigan State for 19 years, and this is the first time one of his recruiting classes did not make it to the Final Four.  Unfortunately for him (and fortunately for the rest of the Big 10), that recruiting pitch will now have to say the Elite 8 (which is still an incredible streak).

In an interesting turn of events, this year’s tournament is trying to make it hard for me to make my statement.   Almost every year, you get to the point that the final teams remaining have either won a share of their conference’s regular season championship or they won their conference tournament.   However, with three teams now having made it to the Final Four, only Florida can make that claim.  Wonder if that bodes well for Kentucky in the final regional championship.

 

After 45 minutes of basketball, the result came down to one thing – Arizona had no answer for Frank Kaminsky.  The junior scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, but his biggest play might have been a tip-in basket with a little over a minute to play to give the Badgers a three point lead in overtime.  The Wildcats would only be able to muster 2 points in the final minute despite getting a bunch of opportunities at the end of the game – and the Wisconsin Badgers held on to make a trip to the Final Four.

The loss means that the Florida Gators, a comfortable winner in the South Regional against Dayton, are now the only #1 seed left in the tournament.

It was a rough day for the Millers – as younger brother Archie had his team’s Cinderella season ended as they never could get into the game against the Gators.  And then, of course, it had to be heart-breaking for older brother Sean to be so close to the Final Four and then lose by a point.

But in the end, it was the Wisconsin Badgers key players making the big time shots, and this time, the shots didn’t fall for Nick Johnson and TJ McConnell as they had when the Wildcats had needed them in earlier games of the tournament.

So, congratulations to the Florida Gators and Wisconsin Badgers – our first two teams to punch their ticket to Arlington, Texas for the Final Four.

Why not – it has been such a great game between Arizona and Wisconsin, why not give everyone the privilege of 5 more minutes.

Expert opinion on the Elite 8 games – as only the Lunatic can bring to you.

South Regional: #1 Florida vs #11 Dayton

Crazed Lunatic – this is very typically where the season of Cinderella teams end.  Dayton has had a fantastic tournament, but Florida was the number one overall seed for a reason – no reason to doubt them at this point.

Mrs. Lunatic – I will take Dayton, because I love an underdog story, and I try as hard as I can never to root for a Florida school.

Charlie – I am into going with what the computer says – it is always right.   And the computer (ESPN’s site) has both scores picking Florida

Katie – I am fraid of Gators.  Editor’s note: I interpreted that as Katie picks the Gators in a fight.

West Regional: #1 Arizona vs #2 Wisconsin

Crazed Lunatic – I think this will be a crazy good game.  But while Wisconsin is hot, I believed at the start of the tournament that Arizona would win this regional – shouldn’t go back on that now.

Mrs. Lunatic – I will take Wisconsin – I have heard that they are good at this basketball stuff.

Charlie – Computer says Arizona – so take the Wildcats.

Katie – Oh, kitty cats.   And their color is close to purple – my favorite.  I will take Arizona.

East Regional: #4 Michigan State vs #7 Connecticut

Crazed Lunatic – If Michigan State loses, Adreian Payne, Keith Appling, and Dan Chapman would become the first 4 year players under Tom Izzo to not make the Final 4.  They seem determined to not be that footnote – pick the Spartans

Mrs. Lunatic – Definitely Michigan State – UConn is another school on my list that I can’t root for.

Charlie – Michigan State looks like the favorite from both picks.  And my daddy loves the Big 10.  What are my chances if I pick the Big 10 school that he will play Disney Infinity with me later?   I will take the Spartans.

Katie – How can you not pick that pretty, big, white doggy.  I wish my daddy wasn’t allergic to dogs and cats – I want a pet.  Oh yeah – I will take Connecticut.

 

Midwest Regional: #2 Michigan vs #8 Kentucky

Crazed Lunatic – I am really impressed with how Kentucky kept sticking in it with Louisville – never quitting.  However, I think the freshman still made a bunch of mistakes, and that eventually comes back to burn you.  Michigan was the regular season champion of the Big 10 – I will take the Wolverines.

Mrs. Lunatic – That’s a tough one – I think the lesser of the two evils is Michigan – so I will take the Wolverines.

Charlie – Interesting, the computer is saying to take the #8 seed.  Well – who am I to disagree with the computer.  I will take Kentucky.

Katie – Oh my goodness, more kitty cats.  How fortunate is that.  I so want a kitty cat.  I will predict Kentucky to win.

Any final thoughts from my experts:

Mrs. Lunatic – Don’t bother me right now, I almost done with dinner – thank goodness its almost April

Charlie – Lets play a game, daddy!!!!   Maybe a video game!!!!   Like Disney Infinity!!!!   I will let you be whatever character you want!!!!!   PLEASE LETS PLAY A GAME!!!!

Katie – NO!!!!!!!!!!   I want to watch a show while we eat dinner!!!!!   Lets watch My Little Ponies!!!!!   Maybe the one where Pinkie Pie creates tons of copies of herself – I know you like Pinkie Pie.  But my favorite is Rainbow Dash!!!!  Maybe we could watch a Ponies starring Rainbow Dash!!!!

Crazed Lunatic – Enjoy the regional finals, everyone!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

The Wildcats never gave up.  When Kentucky was down 18-5 to the defending National Champions, they slowly worked their way back in the game to be down by 3 at half.  With just 4 and a half in the game, Louisville extended the lead to 7.  But there is no quit in these Wildcats.

Alex Poythress kept hitting layups or free throws, and then, Aaron Harrison hit a three-pointer from the corner with 40 seconds left in the game.  And suddenly, it was the defending champs that found themselves looking up at the scoreboard.

And Kentucky hit their free throws down the stretch to finish off the game – so instead of the trendy pick out of the Midwest going to the Final, it will be 8 seeded Kentucky who will go up against the Michigan Wolverines.

The other late game was fantastic as well – as Michigan State and Virginia traded leads back and forth in a defensive battle.  But it was the Spartans at the end who got out to a late lead and then held off an amazing streak of three pointers for the Cavaliers (Virginia scored only 51 points in the first 39 minutes and 20 seconds to then put up 8 points in the last 40 seconds…)

So, the Elite 8 are set – Saturday will see Florida try to finally break the Elite 8 barrier and get to the Final 4 by ending Dayton’s Cinderella season.   And then, Arizona will be put to the test out West against Wisconsin.   Then Sunday, will have Michigan State and Connecticut battle in Madison Square Garden for the East region and surprising Kentucky trying to take down one more elite team in the Michigan Wolverines.

At this stage in the game, the Lunatic is nowhere to be seen (as is expected) – but we do have some amazingly good picks.

Stacy Dooms is leading the standard pool with 690 points.  She is closely followed by Chris Franklin and Steve Glass, who are just 10 points behind.  And don’t forget last year’s champion Kyle Kelly, Chuck Brugh, James Franklin and Amy Lancette who are 20 points behind, and Neeti Vetter, Michael Strange, and Bill Murphy are just 30 points behind.  Considering the Elite 8 games are worth 80 points, this is obviously still anyone’s game.

While it isn’t a lock, Michelle Horgan took major control of the Upset Pool – as her backing of Kentucky has propelled her to 279 points.  Justin Gorman (30 points behind), Christy Lindvall (32), David Gatewood – the amazing, awesome creator of the Loser Pool (34), and Brian Lawton (37) will be the closest competitors trying to catch Michelle.

In the Second Chance Pool, we have only 2 people who were able to get 280 points (7 of 8 games correct) – that was Ayanna Richardson and Will Caldwell.  There is then way too many people tied for 3rd at 240 points for me to type.

Finally, we have our first prize of the tournament.  Sadly, it was a member of the Lunatic’s family who has claimed the last place in the Standard Pool.  With having Wichita State and Cincinnati in the Final Four, the picks qualified as eligible – and with only 210 points and no potential to score any more points, my step-mom, Barbara Hodgson has claimed the prize.  My guess is she just didn’t want to have to wait until I come back to Chicago to visit to pay me her entry fee – so she didn’t really try.

And while it is ridiculous to say this since the Lunatic is no where close to the lead in a tie for 112th place, it is still tradition – congratulations on your prize – but you should not have challenged the Lunatic!!!!

If the Sweet 16 games were any indicator, the games on Saturday and Sunday should be fantastic – enjoy the games, especially if your favorite team is still hanging in there.

 

Congratulations to the Michigan Wolverines as they hung on to a large lead and held off a furious fury by Cinderella Tennessee – but unfortunately for the Volunteers, the clock struck midnight for their season.

Then, almost if on cue, Iowa State started their own rally to try to catch up to Connecticut – but the Huskies held off the run and finished off the upset against the 3rd seeded Cyclones.

Well, it definitely wasn’t a certainty, as San Diego State gave Arizona a fight – and UCLA played well against Florida.   But when the clock hit 0, it was the Gators and Wildcats who had more points and continued on to the Elite 8.

So, that means half the Elite 8 is set – as Florida will get Cinderella Dayton to try to claim the South Regional, and Arizona will tip off against Wisconsin to battle for the West Regional.

Just wish the games weren’t so late – but the late games were definitely worth watching – hopefully, Friday’s games will be more like them.

 

Congratulations to Dayton and Wisconsin – who jumped out early to big leads and coasted.  Considering that Dayton and Stanford had been playing tight games, and Baylor had been one of the hottest teams in the tournament, watching the Flyers and Badgers win by double digits has to be a little bit of a surprise.

But now, Cinderella officially has a name – #11 seed Dayton Flyers refused to let the clock strike midnight and will await the winner of the Florida / UCLA game.