Stomp The Lunatic

After a wild Thursday, the first 8 games of today have been won by the favorites.   There has been a couple close ones – including awesome efforts from two of the 13 seeds – as UC-Irvine was beating Louisville with less than a minute to play before giving up the last 4 points to lose by a basket.  And Valparaiso had a chance to hit a three pointer in their final possession before losing the ball and the game to Maryland.

So – still some exciting games.  But this time, the favorites seem to be the ones surviving.   We will have to see if the evening games continue to hold that form.

Brian Lawton earned the lead in both the standard and upset pools by getting 14 of 16 games correct.

Considering that not a single one of our 361 entries was able to correctly get all of the first 5 games correct, being able to survive the day with only 2 losses is an incredible achievement!!!!

Great job of picking the games, Brian!!!!

How do you lose a 7 point lead with 48 seconds, especially with the other team’s best player ejected earlier from the game.   My Boilers just couldn’t hit a free throw to extend their season to the weekend.  Just one would have been enough.

Very tough time to be a Boilermaker fan.  Hate to see such a turnaround season end with tons of missed opportunities.  I guess the only consolation I have is that Kentucky probably would have crushed us.  But right now, that is not much consolation.

As I watch Dayton finish off a nail-biter to come from behind to upset Boise State, the Lunatic realizes that he should create his own picks.   So, without further ado.

In my sane picks, I have Kentucky doing what Vegas says is even-odds (which is one of the first times I remember seeing that) – beating Notre Dame to win the Midwest and going on to win the entire tournament.   In the west, Arizona will knock off Wisconsin.   In the Midwest, Virginia will take out Villanova.   And then in the South, Duke will beat Iowa State.  This will lead to Kentucky beating Duke for the title.

In my insane picks, I still have Duke and Kentucky getting to the championship game.  But I have Wisconsin winning the west over Arizona.   And I have the Midwest completely blowing up, as Michigan State upsets Virginia and Louisville on their way to the Final Four.  This will lead to Duke upseting Kentucky’s perfect season and creating a new reason for Kentucky fans to hate Duke.

We currently have 263 entries – and it is not unheard of for us to get tons of entries on Thursday – don’t miss your chance to join the fun!!!!!   I am sure that all of you will have great odds of Stomping the Lunatic!!!!!!

It is a horrible job to be that poor soul that has to pull aside one of the head coaches at halftime and interview one of the coaches.

In the BYU – Ole Miss game, the reporter started off with a great question.  One of BYU’s stars, Kyle Collinsworth, left the court late in the first question favoring the knee he had ACL surgery on last year.   BYU’s Dave Rose answered well also – letting everyone know that Collinsworth looked like he would be alright and play in the second half.

Then, the low.  The reported asked Rose what type of adjustments they were going to make in the second half.   For those not watching, BYU is currently leading at halftime, 49-32.   When you are up 17 points, you likely don’t make a lot of adjustments.  I even think I heard a little chuckle from Rose as he composed himself to answer.  He answered the stupid question nicely – but I am sure if he wasn’t being so nice, he could have easily answered – “In all my years of coaching, I have learned one thing.   When you are winning by 17 points at halftime, you don’t make adjustments – you keep attacking with the game plan that has gotten you a huge lead!”

Great first half by the Cougars – hopefully, Collinsworth really is OK.  Would love to see this team at full strength keep knocking down shots from everywhere.

That’s right, the only team entering the tournament with a losing record managed to get to .500 tonight, as they jumped out to an early lead on Manhattan, and held on through the second half for a 74-64 victory!!!!!

Tourney basketball is here – the Madness has officially begun – and it starts with an upset!  The beauty of the dance – all you need is an invitation, then anything can happen.

Don’t believe that they stand much of a chance against Kentucky, but it is still a big deal for Hampton to have won an NCAA Tournament game!