March Madness

[Nebu]

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

[WayAbvPar]

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

[Paelos]

I'm in for a bracket challenge.

[Rasix]

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. 

[Paelos]

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. 

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.

[HaemishM]

I'd be all for a bracket this year.

[WayAbvPar]

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. 

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

[Mr_PeaCH]

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.

[Hoax]

I'd be down

[Nebu]

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.

[Paelos]

I renewed the F13 pickem group from last year.

ID# 64526
Password: awesomeforreal

[Hoax]

What is with you and not linking shit?

Stoopid monkey

[Paelos]

I need to link Yahoo for you?

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

There, click join and enter in the crap.

[HaemishM]

Signed up. Thanks, monkey.

[EWSpider]

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

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

[Rasix]

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.

[WayAbvPar]

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.

[HaemishM]

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.

[Paelos]

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.

[Rasix]

Can't believe Arizona got in.

The teams that got snubbed were all awful.   So I guess I'm going to respectfully disagree with no hint of favoritism    . 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.

[Paelos]

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.

[WayAbvPar]

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 

[Paelos]

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.

[Paelos]

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. 

Or something. 

[Nebu]

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

Thanks for the reminder!

[chargerrich]

I will be signing up tonight (cant at work) 

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

[WayAbvPar]

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!

[HaemishM]

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

[EWSpider]

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.

[Paelos]

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.

[sidereal]

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. 

[chargerrich]

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!

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! 

[Nebu]

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! 

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

[Paelos]

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

[chargerrich]

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!