f13.net

Anyone setting up a bracket for this year?  I want to see if I can get lucky again.

Ooh good idea. I suck royally at these, but I do enjoy them.

I'm in for a bracket challenge.

It will be hard for me to care this year, but I'd be willing to give it a shot.  Arizona is playing themselves right out of the tournament.  We looked so good 4 games ago.  :uhrr:

You could always be Georgia. 3-12 in conference play, and they went on an 11 game losing streak at one point. For the entire month of January, they lost every game. Barring another miracle like last year where they win the SEC tournament, which will never happen, they will be the worst team in one of the worst basketball conferences this year.

I'd be all for a bracket this year.

The less I have to look at Chase Budinger the better. That guy gives me the creeps.

Heh heh.  In my dim, dark past I ran a youth basketball league at a Boys and Girls Club and Chase was one of our players.  I don't honestly remember him being a standout athlete or even particularly tall but he was only probably about 8 years old then and I just remember the name. 

In for a brackets challenge if anyone is keeping count.

I'd be down

Can someone smarter than I am make a pool on Yahoo?  We had one the last two years and I'd be willing to make it, but all these tubes on the interweb confuse me.

I renewed the F13 pickem group from last year.

ID# 64526
Password: awesomeforreal

What is with you and not linking shit?

Stoopid monkey

I need to link Yahoo for you?

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/register/joingroup (http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/register/joingroup)

There, click join and enter in the crap.

Signed up. Thanks, monkey.

Any top seeds wanna win a tournament game?  Anyone?  Bueller?

At this point I'm penciling in Louisville to win the whole schebang.

The sooner Joe Lunardi and that thing living on his scalp get off my TV, the better.  USC just gave the coup de grace to UofA.

Still, might be an interesting tournament.  If Ty Lawson can get healthy, I'd have to go with Carolina.

Can't believe Arizona got in. And I am nauseous about UW's first game- Mississippi State looks like they are playing well now, and they have a long team, which is exactly the kind of team that gives UW trouble. If they can hit some outside shots they might find a way to get through.

Anyone else having trouble with the Yahoo tourney thing today? I can't get the regions to display in order to pick the games. Server is probably going up in smoke.

I wouldn't worry too much about MS State. The guy I carpool with is a State alum and avid watcher of the ballers has assured me the team is pretty young and are punching above their weight.

They shouldn't have won the SEC tournament, but they did because LSU and Tennessee knew they were already in and played mediocre at best. For some reason, Kentucky and Florida completely suck this year too. Tennessee, even playing very badly, almost caught them, but Miss St. doesn't have the offense to hang with anyone very far into the tournament. If your team can score 70, you'll win.

Also, Arizona was a terrible pick to get in. 9-9 in the conference and 19-13 overall? Please, those are barely NIT worthy numbers. The fact that a team like St. Mary's went 26-6 and didn't get in with the same wins as Gonzaga, a #4 seed, is retarded. The committee really really screwed up this year by giving too much credit to conferences like the PAC-10 and Big East. Syracuse as a 3 seed? WHAT? They are an 6 seed at best. Texas is a 7 seed when they should barely be in the tournament. It's crazy, but I see the logic in the top 8, which is going to be all that matters in this tourny.

The teams that got snubbed were all awful.   So I guess I'm going to respectfully disagree with no hint of favoritism  :grin:  . Saint Mary's, Creighton, San Diego State?  Rack up those crap wins in those crap conferences and we're supposed to care?  If you don't win your conference tournaments there and especially if you get your ass kicked, you're going nowhere.  Saint Mary's maybe has a legit beef, but no one thinks they can win with their point guard banged up.

Their recent slide could have kept them out, but the injury bug didn't help.  Still, there's a lot of quality wins and those tend to hold water throughout the season.  And we'll lift the curse and beat Utah.  If we manage to make it to Louisville, they'll beat us by 30.

It was a bad year for the Big 10, SEC and Pac 10 and teams were incredibly over rated.  I do think in a normal year with stronger conferences we shouldn't have got in.  I'm just not terribly impressed with who got left out.

I'm not terribly upset about who didn't get in. I am moreso wondering how in the hell they decided on some of the seedings, which basically make or break some teams' chances.

I am not so much amazed that Arizona as a team got in (they have several quality wins), but more that the Pac-10 went 6 deep in a decidedly off year. No way Washington wins the league title if UCLA and Arizona are up to their normal tricks. I figured once USC got the automatic bid that sealed the deal for Arizona.

I would rather see some more of the mid major schools get in, just for flavor sake if nothing else. Seeing the little schools compete (and sometimes win!) is the best part about the tournament. Unless it happens against UW or Gonzaga, then it is bullshit that they even allowed the little school in  :drill:

The SEC was bad this year, but I don't think it was only 3 teams getting in bad. I don't see how Minnesota is any better than Florida, for example.

Two days left to make your picks or join up on the game.

Not that it matters what you pick, because my bracket is perfect in every way, and I'm going to win $1M.  :drill:

Or something.  :grin:

I'm gunning for last place.  I let my heart make too many picks for me.

Thanks for the reminder!

I will be signing up tonight (cant at work)  :ye_gods:

Prepare to be dominated!  amazed!  entertained by my infinite sports knowledge

For as big a sports fan as I am, I do surprisingly poorly at this every year. There are just too many teams to follow!

For someone as disinterested in basketball as I am, I do surprisingly well.  :why_so_serious:

There's going to be a lot of upsets this year, imo.  Forget what you know and who you think should win and pick winners based on who has the cooler mascot.  You'll have a better chance of winning.

There are certainly a lot of places where upsets could happen, but the only #1 seed that I think is very vulnerable is UCONN. UNC is ok for the first round because they don't need Ty Lawson to beat Radford. If he's not ready by LSU though... well at that point they are going to be in very big trouble. Still, they have the easiest road to the final four in my book.

We're doing a game on the homefront, with an XBOX 360 as a prize:
http://www.newsvine.com/_games/tpickem09/

Summary is you have a salary cap and pick a roster of teams, which are priced based on seed. 

LOL I was an on air sports broadcaster for 5 years, have won my fantasy football league 3 out of the last 5 years and yet I came in dead last two years running in our local bracket challenge!  :uhrr:

A guy in my annual bracket is a sports book in vegas.  He has never won. 

In a format this random, I think knowledge hurts you in a lot of cases.

It is funny you say that, since this is the first year that I hardly even watched any games. Did most of my research the night before our bracket fantasy player draft and feel like I am more confident this year than any other. We shall see.

I am not so out of touch yet that I pick winners by mascot battles (hmmm lets see a Bison can surely whip a Jayhawk) but I am close!  :thumbs_up:

Wow.  Obama really, really hates the Pac-10 (http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/entry?entryID=2813746).

I'm taking my vote back.

In for this too.

My mild dislike for Duke might be slightly apparent.  :oh_i_see:

Let's see....who is in the tournament?

Duke? check
UNLV? doh

Well the Obama bracket confirms that I went with the most obvious final four. His lack of respect for the PAC-10 warms my heart. I mean who's the best team they have out there? Washington? UCLA? Not exactly gangbusters this year.

You go straight to hell - do not pass Go. We beat Louisville on the road, so suck it! -- and then lost in the first round of the NIT.  :ye_gods:

Despite how much I despise college hoops, I can't resist this kind of thing.

I don't get the NIT... not at all.  What's the point of playing for 65th place?  TV revenue... that's it.  It's like Bowl games as a moneygrab.

It gives those teams more big game/tournament experience.  Many of the players on those teams will be back next season and some of those teams may make the Big Dance that next season.  If they make the Big Dance the following season than their experience in the NIT will be very valuable.  Not to say it isn't a moneygrab by the organizers, but at least it does benefit the teams.

I disagree.  The "tournament experience" is against poor teams and it keeps the student athletes away from the classroom even longer.  If we're going to call these athletes students, we should do them the service of letting them use this time to get caught up with coursework now that the season is over. 

These bogus tournaments are a waste of their time from a competitive standpoint. 

#15 CS Northridge is getting it on with #2 Memphis.  Good stuff already.

Edit:  And the Matadors just went up by 6.  These guys are playing lights out.

Edit2:  Memphis turned it on towards the end.  Heck of a game though.

Memphis had a scare there, which is good. I think they believed they could just coast through the first round, and they didn't coast at all. Good thing they won though, because I have them in the final four.

I have Memphis winning it all. The halftime score had me  :ye_gods:

3 games, 3 wins for me so far.  :grin:

Can you say WAKE UP CALL! - Now they Roll...Tigers are going to the Championship to play Pitt.

I agree!   :awesome_for_real:

Boy, the UConn game is a close one... :ye_gods:

Damnit!  What would have been Maynor's game winning shot fell about 2 inches short.  I'd be sitting pretty right now if that shot had gone in cause it looks like the Hilltoppers are about to pull off an upset.  I picked both of them to advance.

I had WKU as well. Was tempted to take VCU but everyone was on them so I went the other way and took the chalk.

Very few buzzer beaters or upsets, but a few games were closer than expected, at least for a while. LOVE the tournament.

None of my crazy upsets have panned out so far, but that's to be expected in the first round. Illinois getting knocked off was a big shocker in my book though.

Their starting PG was out, so it wasn't as big a surprise as one would initially think. Also 5v12 is notorious for upsets  :drill:

I'm hoping that holds true because I have Wisconsin over FSU today.

I've got FSU going to the Elite 8.  Should be an interesting game.

Every "expert" is calling for wisky to take FSU out...I am calling BS. Toney Douglas is their one trick pony, but he is good. FSU wins.

Wow, N. Dakota St. is keeping pace with Kansas as the 2nd half wears on.  Couple of other close games going on too.  Win!

Kansas has kind of staggered around the past month or so. This is definitely not their year.

OK State has one of the fattest point guards I've ever seen.  Looks like Deron Williams on a Krispy Kreme bender.

edit: Fatboy may end up losing me a point here.

Who was the chubby PG from UConn a few years ago? I had forgotten all about him until you mentioned this other guy.

Argg, another pick lost at the buzzer.  Damn Vols!

Marcus Williams?

I think this is the guy I am thinking of-

(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jKcLblitTy0/Rzx-fqjy7VI/AAAAAAAAAWk/x2T1pPhueG0/s320/E10.jpg)

Khalid El-Amin

Holy shit I am in the lead. I am reasonably sure that has never happened, and AM sure I will be circling the bowl by Sunday.

 :grin:

YAY, I picked the Wisconsin upset. Unfortunately, I had Wake Forest going to the Final 4. FUCK.

Really? They've been terrible lately. I picked UofA to beat them in the next round just because we play an aggressive zone and they can't shoot worth shit.

Very typical of my the way my brackets go.  Great first day and then it all falls apart. Baffling.

I picked my brackets in five minutes with literally no knowledge of anything whatsoever from this season except the seeds (and knowing basic truisms like not picking 16 seeds), and am currently in the 96th percentile on the ESPN challenge and first in my office pool, having picked the EKU, Arizona, and Dayton upsets and getting 26 of the first 32 games  :awesome_for_real: Nobody can win these things consistently, its just dumb luck.

ON WISCONSIN!  I love waking up to go news in the morning. 

... I didn't even fill out a bracket.   :awesome_for_real:

I'm pretty hosed with FSU and W. Virginia losing last night.  QQ

This tournament is setting records again. This is the first time ever that every 1-3 seed has advanced to the Sweet 16 in every bracket. The highest seed, oddly enough, is Arizona. Yeah, that team that quite a few of us, including myself, questioned even being in the tournament at all.

Go figure.  :ye_gods:

Can someone post the F13 bracket standings? I cannot get to them at work  :uhrr:

Yeah... I screwed up.  I may have picked the loser of every close game this year.  Seems the way to win was picking the highest seed in nearly every matchup.

I hope the next round will change that. 

Here are the standings.
1 Fuck Duke   40 of 48
2 Chargerrich1   39 of 48 
3 Zar Ball   38 of 48 
4 The Biggest Dance   38 of 48 
4 The Ol' PeaCH Basket  l 37 of 48
6 Hoax   36 of 48
6 Kilt Wavers   36 of 48
8 Paelos Bracket  36 of 48 
8 [ ]  bunktavious 36 of 48
10 Joe Lunardi sucks.  35 of 48
10 Nebu 35 of 48

Rank   Bracket                                    Correct     Pts     Possible Pts
1    Fuck Duke             itinker88    40 of 48    55    183
2    Chargerrich1         chargerrich    39 of 48    53    177
3    Zar Ball                 barrister090    38 of 48    52    180
4    Biggest Dance      jayprankin    38 of 48    50    178
4    PeaCH Basket       pchartwell    37 of 48    50    174
6    Hoax                   hoaxmarik    36 of 48    49    177
6    Kilt Wavers           Gary Ballard    36 of 48    49    165
8    Paelos Bracket *    Ben            36 of 48    48    176
8    [ ]                       bunktavious    36 of 48    48    172
10    Joe Lunardi sucks.  rasix2176    35 of 48    46    174

Fuck Duke is looking very strong with 15 of 16 still in place.  (And a shout-out to Rasix for having Arizona in his 16.)

My fate rides on UNC winning it all. Should that happen, I think I'm gonna win the whole damn show.

Otherwise, not a chance in hell.

Only if Louisville goes to the final as well.  They didn't look so great this weekend.

Sweet I am still in it...whats the prize again?  :grin:

A few top seeds had some issues besides Louisville. Michigan State, Missou, Pitt, and Oklahoma all played in pretty close games. I also think Syracuse didn't look impressive in their win over Arizona State.

I see this all the time in various forums and sometimes in the national press, and it drives me nuts.  The University of Missouri basketball team may be referred to as Missouri or Mizzou, but not Missou.  Thank you for your understanding.

In other news, Go Mizzou!  I am most likely screwed if they don't defeat Memphis, but I have to stick up for my homeboys.

You can easily see where the error would get made, given that there are actually no Z's in there. However, I'll cut you some slack anyway because we spell our mascot Bulldawgs.

Of those you have listed, I think Pitt and Louisville have the best shot at the championship.  Then again... I'm not sure that I've shown that I know what I'm talking about.  Funny thing, this year the experts are doing terrible in their brackets.  It's historic how many top seeds are following their path.  I should probably take this opportunity to cheer for Arizona, right?

I have Memphis and Pitt going to the championship with the Tigers winning. However, after watching the games, I would have to say UConn has looked the strongest and Pitt has looked, meh.

Pitt also lost to UConn twice this year, but I thought they might have their number in the dance, not sure now, Thabeet is a beast!

Missouri is MURDERING Memphis right now. 57-38 with 18 minutes left. Good lord, it doesn't even look like Memphis has a chance right now.

M-I-Z!

Z-O-U!

Although my bracket will not fare particularly well tonight as I have Duke going to the Final Four.

Both late games today were embarrassing. Duke got absolutely stomped, which was hilarious to watch. Memphis just never showed up, which was less entertaining.

Fuck Duke.  Always a highlight of the tournament to see them exit.

I called one correctly... not so great on the other. 

Put a fork in me.  I'm done.

Same for me.  I called the Mizzou "upset" only to watch Duke get curb stomped.  Bugger.

I basically have to be right on Kansas beating Michigan State, 3 #1 seeds making it to the final four, and UNC winning it all.

Then, I win.  :awesome_for_real:

Yep, I'm fucked. Memphis shit the bed. Well, not exactly, the first 10-15 minutes was a good game. And that Tyreke Evans kid is a goddamn ball handling monster. Way too many drives right down the middle where I was sure he'd just fumbled the ball but he'd just switched hands and BLAM in the net. The rest of Memphis, however, looked like they couldn't play their way out of a paper bag. How many fucking free throws could you miss? If they'd have hit half of those missed free throws, it's a tie game or a win. Their perimeter shooting was awful. I don't think I've ever seen a gameplan like Mizzou brought out, but it worked a treat. You could tell they were getting tired after all the chasing in the second half, but their defense was just stifling.

Now, Duke... they never showed up.

Pittsburgh looked like shit. Matter of fact, both Pitt and Xavier looked like shit, Pitt just got lucky at the end. That was some terrible stinky shooting in that game.

Memphis would do a lot better if Calapari recruited some actual basketball players and not just pogo sticks.  Their lack of solid fundamentals hurts them badly every year and cost them a championship last year.  Athleticism doesn't hit free throws. 

Might help them to play in a real conference.  Playing a higher level of competition during the year could provide better prep that steamrolling Tulsa.

 :awesome_for_real:

Both of the early games were pitiful. Oklahoma just basically said, "Big East? What's that again?" to Syracuse. Louisville bitchslapped Arizona in a laugher as we all expected. I'm hoping upon hope that the same high seed over low seed logic applies to the UNC game. I'd love that one to be a stomping of the Zags.

0/4 Final Four. Can someone remove the giant fork stuck in my back? TIA

I had UNC, which is all that matters!  :awesome_for_real:

 :grin:

I await my honorary honors.

Also, this just goes to prove that picking these things is a complete crapshoot.  I didn't follow college basketball whatsoever this year until near the end when I learned Missouri was doing pretty well.  My selection process consisted of picking the higher seed in all but a few randomly chosen games, and picking Missouri to go one round rather than expected by the pundits, just because Missouri and the Big 12 in general got no love this year from the national press.

Congrats sir.  I get to be the bridesmaid this year. 

Wow, my picks sucked.  I honestly can't think of a year that I cared less about college basketball though.  I filled out my bracket in about 2 minutes, just to get something in.  I don't know when I really stopped giving a real crap about the tourney.  Might relate to the year I spent in Raleigh, and all those crazy hoop heads down there.

It's hard to give a crap about the tournament recently when there are so few teams that actually have a chance. Where were the big upsets this year? Arizona? I don't think you can call Michigan State upsetting people from a #2 seed. Also, at no point did I think that UNC was going to ever lose. Nobody even got close to them.