Just in case (and so I don’t keep spamming people) – in order to enter the second chance pool, all you have to do is login – and then click on the “Enter Bracket” link next to the “Placeholder for Second Chance Entry”
Don’t miss your chance to enter the second chance pool – all entries need to be in before 7:15 pm EST on Thursday (before tip-off of Thursday’s first Sweet 16 game)
Congratulations to Christina Lee – our Second Round leader. Christina has taken the lead with 490 points (and 235 in the Upset Pool) – giving her a 10 point advantage over Vernon McGeorge III, Nathan Standley, Ella Flora, and Kate Yost (Elizabeth’s Mom!!!). Apparently, the real basketball expert in the family is Kate.
It can’t be the Lunatic – who is being totally stomped by 203 entries. But that doesn’t hurt as much as watching the Boilers lose an 11 point lead and a Sweet 16 spot in the now wide-open Midwest Region.
As a reminder, for those of you who are doing as badly as the Lunatic (or those of you who are doing the Stomping as well), the Second Chance bracket is ready to go. Don’t forget to login and pick your teams for a second chance to win!!!!
I really thought the Boilers were going to pull it off. But it wasn’t meant to be. Really tough right now to wait for the end of the Florida State / Cincinnati game.
As has become a tradition, Charlie and Katie explain the logic of their picks – with some obvious embellishments from their daddy.
This year, Katie’s pick includes a little video that shows what Nanny and Grandpa have been teaching the children about being a fan of North Carolina.
Just click on Charlie’s picks or Katie’s picks here or on the site navigator.
If Friday’s craziness would linger. Game #1 – 11 seed North Carolina State beats 3 seed Georgetown 66-63. And they become the first double digit seed to make the Sweet 16. We are guaranteed 2 more with Xavier/Lehigh and South Florida/Ohio. Will any of the other underdogs join the insanity? Only time will tell.
There were no upsets on Saturday. Kentucky destroyed Iowa State. Syracuse never seemed in too much danger against Kansas State. Gonzaga gave Ohio State a battle, as did Murray State for Marquette – but both protected seeds found a way to win. Wisconsin held off Vanderbilt, and Indiana battled its way back to ruin VCU’s second attempt to be Cinderella. And in the night games, Louisville built a big lead and then held off a rally by New Mexico, while Baylor saved their run for the end of the game against Colorado – turning what had been a pretty close game into a blowout.
So, on Saturday, only protected seeds made the Sweet 16 – no one worse than 4. Normally, it works out that someone gets upset. A Cinderella story 12 or 13 seed. At least one or two 5 seeds pull of a victory.
This has led Ella Flora to the lead of both the Standard and Upset pools – as she got all 8 of Saturday’s games right. Nathan Standley is following closely – just 20 points behind. And J Ford, June Degenhardt, and Steve Thornton are just 30 points behind. And lets not forget the 16 people just 40 points behind and the 20 people just 50 points behind.
There are 173 entries stomping the Lunatic. The last 6 games were not kind to his picks – especially the losses to Vanderbilt and Murray State.
Brace yourself for Sunday. If relationships hold as Thursday and Saturday matched up – Cinderella could fight back with a vengence on Sunday. It will be interesting to see if the craziness that happened in the arenas on Friday linger into Sunday, or if the top teams pull it together to continue their way towards the championship.
In just 3 games, the Lunatic went from having 10 entries ahead of him to having 143 entries ahead of him. That is more of the type of STOMPING that we are used to.
By the way, if that isn’t a hint – the standings are really tight!!!!! It looks like it is going to be a really close contest this year!!!
Looked like the Rams were going to continue to write a new fairy-tale storybook. But this time, there 9 point lead was widdled away – and the Hoosiers snuck away with a 2 point victory – when their short jumper fell with 13 seconds. And VCU’s open three pointer at the buzzer fell short.
5 games down on Saturday – and 5 favorites have gone through to the Sweet 16. So, it looks like Saturday is holding form to Thursday. If the whole weekend holds form, I would hate to be a favorite playing on Sunday. 🙂
Because this might not ever happen again with the talent in this pool, I must say it now. I am sure it will be short lived, but when checking to make sure that the site had correctly loaded the Ohio State victory over Gonzaga, the Lunatic noticed a shocking sight.
Only 10 people are stomping the Lunatic!!!! I almost fainted when I saw this – the Lunatic’s name being on the first page of the site only happens when I am testing the site before the tournament with 5-10 fake entries.
I am sure this won’t last long – after all, it is my insane picks that have Wichita State making the Final Four – which is obviously impossible. But I might not be able to have a chance again to say it – so I figure I have to take advantage while I still can.
GO INSANE LUNATIC PICKS!!!!
Well – I obviously need to do more Internet analysis. But as you know, I put in my 4 hours of effort to try to predict the bracket – in an attempt to show that it is not as hard as the mainstream sites make it seem. Then, typically, I say how badly I did – because I have a crazy hard scoring system. Well, apparently there is this site called the Bracket Project that tracks all these people.
This has made me aware of a few things.
In 2010, I finished in 66th of 84 brackets – in 2011, I was 71st of 90 brackets. This year, I was 71st of 116 brackets. So, I guess I am getting better.
More importantly, I think the comparison to the main site bracketologists is interesting.
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
| Jerry Palm (CBS) – 312 (65 of 65) | Andy Glockner (SI) – 323 (66 of 68) | Brad Evans (Yahoo) – 333 (67 of 68) |
| Brad Evans (Yahoo) – 308 (64) | Brad Evans (Yahoo) – 316 (66) | Joe Lunardi (ESPN) – 332 (67) |
| Ryan Fagan (Sporting News) – 303 (63) | Joe Lunardi (ESPN) – 310 (65) | Jerry Palm (CBS) – 329 (66) |
| Andy Glockner (SI) – 302 (64) | THE LUNATIC – 304 (65) | THE LUNATIC – 325 (67) |
| Joe Lunardi (ESPN) – 300 (64) | Jerry Palm (CBS) – 301 (66) | Ryan Fagan (SN) – 321 (66) |
| THE LUNATIC – 296 (63) | Ryan Fagan (SN) – 294 (65) | Andy Glockner (SI) – 321 (65) |
So, I can’t claim that I am any good at this – but I think it proves my initial point of doing the bracketology. I have actually beaten some of the main site providers – and if I could figure out seeding better, I could be competitive. 🙂 It also shows, if it is just about picking the correct number of teams, I am almost the same as the main sites.
Maybe one of these years I will put more effort into it and really try to beat the bracketologists.
If you are interested in this stuff, here is a link to the Bracket Project site.
The Crazed Lunatic is a crazy college basketball fan, especially for his Purdue Boilermakers!!!! Boiler Up!!!!
Every March, his passion comes out to rant and rave about one of the best sporting events in the world, the NCAA Basketball Tournament. While many of you will Stomp the Lunatic with your picks in our fun bracket picking game, this will not diminish the Lunatic’s crazed attempt at blogging about the tournament that he loves. Whether it will be trying to predict who will be in the tournament during Championship Week or his insane attempt to handicap all 67 games against the Vegas spreads, you can count on the Lunatic’s sleep-deprived rantings throughout the month of March.
If you notice any problems with the website or have any questions about the Stomp the Lunatic contest, please reach out by email at thomas@tehodgson.com
