This might be a long shot, and it has nothing to do with music, but if there are any other college basketball fans on this forum, would anyone be interested in a just-for-fun NCAA Tournament pool?
(Before anyone in Europe or Oceania asks, NCAA stands for National Collegiate Athletic Association. Every March, they stage their 65-team college basketball tournament, and it's the most bet-upon sporting event in the US.)
I'm putting the finishing touches on my picks right now, and I'll post them in a little bit. If anyone wants in, post your choices before the first game tips off tomorrow (noon, Eastern time, 11:00 am where I am).
If not, no worries...it just occurred to me that since the bracketology meme is already out on the forum, it might be fun. (I'll be OK--I'm entering three other pools myself.)
The teams are split into four regions and seeded from #1 to #16 in each region, so you can kind of get a general idea of who's better than who.
(Of course, there are always apocryphal stories of people who win their pools by picking teams on the basis of their colors or mascots.)
You can find the tournament field here. If you want more insight about the teams, try this page for starters...but there are probably hundreds of sites you could look at.
Let's make it so that every round you get 2 more points for a correct pick. Then we can keep track of our own picks and scoring and maybe post after every day. Unless you want to keep track of it schleuse, but I don't see the harm in letting everyone score themselves.
FIRST ROUND
EAST: North Carolina, Arkansas, Notre Dame, Washington State, St. Joes, Louisville, Butler, Tennessee.
MIDWEST: Kansas, UNLV, Clemson, Vanderbilt, USC, Wisconsin, Davidson, Georgetown.
SOUTH: Memphis, Mississippi St., Temple, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Stanford, St. Mary’s, Texas.
WEST: UCLA, BYU, Drake, Connecticut, Baylor, Xavier, West Virginia, Duke.
Actually, John, I'll let you keep track. It's looking like it may just be the two of us, anyway (and before the Elite 8, our picks aren't that different).
I hereby anoint you the NCAA bracketologist of Acclaimed Music (not that I have any power to do that, of course...). Unless you don't want to...
I guess I can do that. It would be great if we got a few more to enter. Heck, my wife fills one out every year and hasn't watched a college basketball game in 6-7 years and she's beat me a couple times!
man, some ballsy picks out there! i like it. also nice to see i'm not the only one picking Davidson (my alma mater) - i'd love to see them make the 2nd round!
'03 - I'll be back down there in October for my 5-year. I didn't always love it while I was there, but I always look forward to going back and I keep in occasional touch with a few profs.
I believe there was only one music major in my class, but someone told me recently that she's now considered the #4 bassoonist in the world or something like that...? I didn't know they had rankings for such things...
We'll be there next month for her 10th reunion...and she wasn't a bassoonist, but a singer...don't know what her ranking is. Maybe I'll ask her (on second thought, maybe not).
Tennessee got totally hosed as the proverbial last 2 seed. They are 1st in the RPI, for goodness sake! Not only that, but they either face a very underseeded Butler team (should have been a 4 or 5) or a South Alabama team playing in Birmingham in the second round. I'm banking on them taking this "slight" and letting it motivate them to a championship.
Duke is always overseeded, and in recent years, they have never advanced as far as their seed would indicate. I see the trend continuing here, whether they face WVa or AZ in Round 2.
Pairing Mid-majors against each other seems like a cruel ploy to eliminate them and guarantee that there won't be many left by the Sweet 16.
Memphis's reward for that 33-1 record? A number 1 seed in a region where Texas is Number 2, and the potential matchup would take place in Houston. Unfair!
UCLA always seems to get an easy road through to the Final 4.
Midaso, as much as I love college hoops, the NBA has my heart, as it has since I was 4. The West is so crazy this year! The first round matchups are looking like the best ever for one conference! It's a shame Denver and Portland are out of it, because they could do some major damage in the East! Heck, even Sacramento would be a playoff team in the East.
I really think UCLA has the hard road. If we're talking RPI (and I agree Tennessee got jobbed to not only get a #2 but have to play the #1 team overall) this is UCLA's final four road after the shoo-in if the top RPI's advance. #25 BYU, #10 Drake, #7 Duke. That's by far the hardest.
Denver is far from out of it! A game and a half, and if they could put a run together they are only 6 games out of first in the West! You're probably right about Portland though even though they still have some shot.
The RPI doesn't tell the whole story though. To me, Duke is definitely the least imposing 2 seed, and they would play across the country in Phoenix. UConn has been slumping, and although I like the Missouri Valley, Drake benefitted from it having a down year.
College Basketball was a lot better when they had a real senior class. There are so many freshman dominating college basketball this year. Kansas or North Carolina my picks. Best freshmen if you to chose one.
Moonbeam, I have to point out that we have a pretty nice NBA team here in my hometown, even without Yao. The streak ended last night, but 22 wins in a row is hard to argue with.
Maybe they'll fold in the first round again, but would you want your team to play the Rockets right now?
John, I'm not saying that they don't deserve their ranking. The RPI is what it is, a statistical guess at the best teams in the country. Common sense tells me that I think Duke is by far the weakest 2 seed and that Drake might make the Sweet 16, but not advance further. That said, it's just my opinion, and you're certainly entitled to yours.
Schleuse, I would love for my team (Portland) to play Houston in the playoffs, because it would mean that they would qualify! Of my other favorite teams (Utah and Seattle), only Utah has a chance for qualifying for the playoffs, and I doubt they will face Houston in the first round. However, if recent history means anything, I guess I wouldn't mind facing Houston in another 7-game series.
Yeah, I agree the RPI isn't exact. But, it is usually pretty telling. I'm a huge Duke fan and I agree that they are a weak #2 so I don't think it'll be them. Duke has a pretty easy road though so I see them getting to the Elite 8. I think Drake might surprise...I really wanted to pick them for the final 4 but couldn't bring myself to do it on any of my brackets.
Nice to see another Rockets fan in the forum. I lived in Houston for a while during my youth and became a Rockets and Astros fan at that time. I was a Miami Dolphins fan (yeah, I know) before living in Houston, though. Although, I live near Seattle now, I've remained loyal to those three teams. But I do like the teams in Seattle now, at least until the Sonics move to Oklahoma City.
I'll put in my NCAA bracket later.
Hahaha the East is so weak the HEAT have only just been eliminated from Playoff Contention at 12-55 but still,I think the Pistons or Celtics will take the title this year
Let's hear it for obscure school Drake, where I went!
I didn't follow NCAA b-ball this year but was suddenly shocked when I found out Drake was doing so well. No one was very enthusiastic about them at my school and they hadn't made it to the tournament since 1970. Their games were just given a passing thought by most of us (although we were a pretty nerdy campus, so maybe we just didn't care).
I suppose Penguin, you are referring to that late 60s final four game between UCLA in their ultimate prime, and Drake? I don't know the exact year.
At our freshman orientation, one of the former players who now worked at the University gave us a little motivational speech, and told us that Coach Wooden admitted that Drake v. UCLA game was the only game the Bruins should have lost.
This may be a continental divide thing, but I can't understand the juxtaposition of college and sports in the same sentence.
Surely college should be about loftier pursuits...like incipient alcoholism, chronic sexual frustration and getting so stoned that you sit in front of a video for an hour before you realise you've got it on pause.
The one thing I hate about March Madness is you have a bunch of different emotions if you fill out multiple brackets. Duke losing would have been great on one of my money brackets and horrible in another which is the same as this one. Then you add in that I'm a Duke fan (not as much as I am a Gopher fan though) so I guess it evened out and I did want them to win in the end. Does that make sense?
Ooh good things are coming: My character confirmation spells out ABBA.
Yeah, the tournament always pulls me in different directions...I would have been thrilled if Belmont or Fullerton had won, even though if either of them had, they would have taken out one of my Elite 8.
My bracket's always in shreds by the end, anyway, so I'm hoping for a few out-of-the-blue upsets along the way (and I do have a #13 seed winning tomorrow).
John, are you officially our commissioner? I'm not sure we ever actually decided that...