The madness officially began as of 11:20 AM this morning, Thursday, March 19th, 2009. The first round is well underway, and the pool is closed to further entries.
For the third year straight, there are a record number of entries. Last year's 61 entries from 45 different people has been exceeded. For 2009, we have 64 official entries from 48 people. The last two places will earn their $6.00 entry fee back, and after the administrative fees are deducted, the remaining $342.00 will be split among the top 4 finishers and the winners of the individual money rounds according to the percentages stated in the rules.
This of course, assumes that everyone who entered eventually pays their entry fee. If people don't pay, I will drop their entry from the pool, the resulting total money available will be less than the expected $342.00, and the public humiliation and fear of reprisal from an angry March Madness Mob will haunt the delinquent participants well beyond July.
Once again, I have included a Pick By Seeds and Random Coin Toss entry so you can track your progress against either complete randomness, or blind faith in the rankings/ESPN/NCAA Selection Committee. Sadly enough, Mopey the Xbox 360 has declined to make a return to the pool. We shall again not know this year how our human brain stacks up dollar for dollar against a microchip.
Because everything is nicely computerized and online again this year, after each round when the pool has been updated, you will receive an email with the URL link to the appropriate round update on this website. Individual Round Update links will be added as games are completed, and can be found here:
Round 1A - 16 First Round Games played Thursday, 3/19/2009
Round 1B - 16 First Round Games played Friday, 3/20/2009
Round 2 - 16 Second Round Games played Saturday and Sunday, 3/21/2009 and 3/22/2009
Round 3 - 8 Regional Semifinal Games played Thursday and Friday, 3/26/2009 and 3/27/2009
Round 4 - 4 Regional Final Games played Saturday and Sunday, 3/28/2009 and 3/29/2009
FINAL FOUR - 2 National Semifinal Games played Saturday, 4/04/2009
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP - National Championship Game played Monday, 4/06/2009
Now in my seventh year of running this pool from Illinois State University, the pool's loyal following continues to add new faces. I did very little pestering to get folks to enter, but but still surpassed last year's record with 64 total entries this year. I appreciate everyone's enthusiasm and participation. It's that spirit that makes running the pool, as well as participating, so much fun each year.
Many who entered last year have entered again. There are still a quite a few mainstays from my days at the University of Iowa, many of whom are scattered around the country. Jason Letcher is back to defend his title after winning the pool last year. In fact, the past 6 winners are all back: Donna Smith in 2007, "Dr. K" Ken Brown in 2006, Jay Ansher in 2005 (and tied for 1st in 2007), Charles Su, the 2004 champ, and Erik Severson who won in 2003. Kris Strauch was a winner way back when, and along with Rick Quinn, Dr. K and Decaman Jake Drewry is among the most dedicated participants, having entered regularly since about 1994 or 1995. Darren Thompson and Rick Quinn, last year's 3rd and 4th placers are entered again. Other returning former placers include Nick Burger, Alyssa and Teft Francisco, Rod McElvain and Nick LaMattina. Good luck to all of them, as well as everyone else.
Of the 64 entries, 29 are local (Central IL area including Peoria, Bloomington/Normal, Decatur, and Champaign). Jason Letcher is in the Chicago area, while Erik Severson is up in Eden Prairie, MN (the Minneapolis area). Phil Forbes, kids Lucas and Alex Forbes, Nick Francisco, kids Alyssa and Teft Francisco, and Rod McElvain are all in the Iowa City, IA area. Scott "Squat" Schumacher is in Des Moines, IA. Kris Strauch is in Kansas City, MO, while Justin Hansen is on the Kansas side of the river.
Moving beyond the midwest, JoAnn Harris, Keith Swanson, and Shawn Springsteen, all new participants, entered from Colorado. Rick Quinn, a veteran participant, sends his entries along with his families' from Massachussetts. George and Richard Jacquin both are entering this year, and make their homes in Liverpool, NY. Jake Drewry is in Neptune Beach, FL, while his mother is playing from Duluth, Minnesota. Another newcomer, Jan Whitlow sends an entry from Lake City, FL, and my grad school friend Colin Law entered from the Atlanta area. Heading out to the left coast, Ken Brown makes his home in Inglewood, CA, and Nick LaMattina dials in from Stockton, CA. Jersey Brian and his fiancee Sarah enter from Boring, Oregon (near Portland). Bruce Farneti is in Ft. Worth, TX, and Carlton Watson again makes this an international affair, sending two entries from the Bahamas. Thanks to everyone for entering!!!
Current Men's Tourney Results Bracket
Champs: Three of the top four seeds, not surprisingly, got most of the attention and therefore 65% of the votes for champion with North Carolina the most popular (18 votes), Pittsburgh getting 16 votes, and Louisville with 13 votes. Five entries picked Connecticut, and four had Memphis to win it all. Other picks for National Champ included Michigan State, Kansas, Duke, and Villanova.
Final Four highlights: Sixteen different teams were picked to reach the Final Four. The most common picks to make it that far were the top eight seeds (UNC, LOU, PIT, UCONN, MSU, DUKE, MEM, and OKLA). Multiple entries have different lower seeds (#3, #4, #5) making it to the Final Four. Twelve (19%) picked #3 Villanova, while 7 (11%) picked #3 Syracuse. A few had Kansas and Missouri as well. Six folks had #4 Wake Forest as their dark horse, and two had #4 Gonzaga. The only lower seeds picked to advance to Detroit were #6 UCLA, and #8 Ohio State (1 vote each).
Cinderella: Very few Cinderella teams are being picked to make it very far, but many entries have low seeds winning 2 or 3 games. Among the more interesting picks to get out of the first or second rounds are #13 Mississippi State, #12 Wisconsin, and #10 Southern California, each picked by one entry to win 3 games. A few first round upset picks included #15 Morgan State, #14 North Dakota State, Cornell, and American University, as well as 7 entries picking #13 Portland State, and a whopping 23 picking #12 Western Kentucky to upset the Illini.
After each update, the Pick Summary file will be updated to indicate which teams have been eliminated. You can refer back to this original file to see how things started out.