A New Leader, And We Have Our Final Four!

Well, two of the Final Four teams have advanced in Wichita State (GO SHOCKERS!) and Syracuse... and with that, we're down to our Final Four!

Beth, Gary (Dad), Melissa and Robbie are the only people who can still win the 2013 Young Family Bracket Challenge!

 


Before I get to the scenarios, here are the standings as of today's games... the only person to move was Melissa as she picked Syracuse to get to the Final Four and it was good enough to get her into first place and potentially earn her a Young Family Bracket Challenge victory!

1.  Melissa - 137 points
2.  Gary (Dad) - 135 points
3. Robert - 132 points
4. Teresa - 123 points
5. Jacob - 122 points
6. Heather - 119 points
7. Nathaniel - 115 points
8. Beth - 107 points
8. Matt - 107 points
10. Jeremy - 105 points
11. Allie - 102 points
12. Lindsey - 101 points
13. Joe - 98 points
14. Brad - 95 points
15. Eric - 93 points
16. Jo (Mom) - 63 points

OK... so here are the scenarios!

Final Four: Dook, Michigan, Syracuse, Wichita State: Robbie wins!
Final Four: Dook, Florida, Syracuse, Wichita State: Melissa wins!
Final Four: Louisville, Michigan, Syracuse, Wichita State: Robbie wins!
Final Four: Louisville, Florida, Syracuse, Wichita State: It's down to Beth, Gary (Dad), and Robbie... more details...

FINAL FOUR: Louisville, Florida, Syracuse, Wichita State...
If Louisville does NOT advance to the National Championship game: Gary (Dad) wins!
If Louisville DOES advance to the National Championship game: Beth and Robbie TIE!!!  And they BOTH have Louisville winning the Championship...

SO!  For the first time ever... we may have to go to the Tie-Braeker for the Bracket Challenge... WOW!

Even though the brackets SUCKED this year... it may make for a VERY exciting finish...

We may have a winner on Sunday night... or we may have to wait until next Monday... who knows?!

At least, I think that this is all correct................

Gary (Dad) is still ahead... but not for long...

Gary (Dad) is still in the lead, but not for much longer...

His National Championship selection has been eliminated (Kansas) after Trey Burke hit a three pointer from downtown Ann Arbor (Wow!) to force OT and then win the game versus the Jayhawks.

But Robbie has made a push... and got three of the four correct yesterday and he has three of his Final Four selections still in tact.  Pardon me while I puke... if he wins again...........................................

Pic: Gary in front, Robbie not far behind... muahahaha

Standings:

Alright everyone, Saturday and Sunday night games will finalize the Final Four and we should get a better idea who is still statistically in it and who is not when I get back to work and get my excel sheet that I left there over Spring Break.

Also, I'm sad to say that Jo (Mom) has secured last place this year and Eric has secured 15th place this year as they both are no longer able to tally any more points.  Ouch...

The Bracket Challenge Sucks... Gary (Dad) is winning

I hate the Bracket Challenge.

I hate it.

This year sucks.

How is all of this possible?

This is ridiculous.

The people who created the bracket this year need to be fired.

This is a joke, right?

No?

Screw that.

Well, the #1 and #2 seeds in the East went down last night and now we have a new leader... after Syracuse beat Indiana and Marquette DESTROYED Miami, Gary (Dad) managed to eek his way into first place.  He was one of only three people who picked up two wins last night, as Melissa and Teresa also picked up 30 points and moved into second and third place, respectively.

And there were four people who did not get a single one correct... Beth, Brad, Jo (Mom), and Joe.... blah...

Standings:

1.  Gary (Dad) - 105 points
2.  Melissa - 97 points
3.  Teresa - 93 points
4.  Jacob - 92 points
4.  Matt (Brutus) - 92 points
6.  Jeremy - 90 points
7.  Heather - 89 points
8.  Robbie - 87 points
9.  Nathaniel - 85 points
10. Eric - 78 points
11. Allison - 72 points
12. Lindsey - 71 points
13. Joe - 68 points
14. Brad - 65 points
15. Jo (Mom) - 63 points
16. Beth - 62 points

Worst. Bracket. Ever.

There are four more games tonight, everyone... and the Elite 8 will be officially set and I will have officially began drinking myself into oblivion... getting chocolate wasted.

Mad props if you get the movie reference there.

A Tie for First and the Sweet 16 is Set!

Well, the first weekend of the tournament is officially over and we are down to our Sweet 16!

It has been a really screwed up tournament, am I right?  I said from the beginning that this bracket was ridiculous and man that was an understatement.

In the Midwest we have the #1, #2, #3, and the #12 seeds left...
In the South we have the #1, #3, #4, and the #15 seeds left...
In the East we have the #1, #2, #3, and the #4 seeds left... (a normal one)
And then there is the West... where we have the #2, #6, #9, and the #13 seeds left...

How are we supposed to get that?  This is messed up.  I say we start the entire tournament over again because I'm calling BS on the entire thing.

Last night we witnessed the first #15 seed advance to the Sweet 16 in NCAA history, and LaSalle made the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history as the #13 seed (way to go Doodle for picking them to go to the Sweet 16!).

                   

And with all that said, we have a tie atop the standings after the first weekend.  One-time champion, Jacob, and the reigning Young Family Battle of the Bowls champion, Matt, are tied with 77 points! (Is anyone else legitimately scared for the trash that Matt is about to throw our way and post on Facebook?)

Right behind him is Gary (Dad) and Jeremy tied with 75 and Heather rounding out the top-5 after she got seven of the eight games right on Sunday night!  Way to go, Heather!  She climbed from 13th to 5th!

Oh, and after talking a lot about Brad being second to last, Teresa is now tied in 11th place and Brad has jumped up the 10th.  What do you have to say about that, Teresa??????

Standings:

T1.  Jacob - 77 points
T1.  Matt - 77 points
T3.  Dad - 75 points
T3.  Jeremy - 75 points
5.  Heather - 74 points
6.  Robbie - 72 points
7.  Nathaniel - 70 points
8.  Joe - 68 points
9.  Melissa - 67 points
10. Brad - 65 points
T11. Eric - 63 points
T11. Jo (Mom) - 63 points
T11. Teresa - 63 points
14.  Beth - 62 points
15.  Allie - 57 points
16.  Lindsey - 56 points

Dad, Matt, Nathaniel, and Robbie are the only ones who have all four of their Final Four selections still alive.  Ugh...

So we have a little bit of a break until the next set of games start.  The next ones will start on Thursday night!  And by this time next week we will have the Final Four set.

Pretty much everyone is still in it, so enjoy it while it lasts.

Well, I'm "Shockers"-ed.. The old people are leading...

Well, the first #1 seed goes down tonight... and the old people are leading... Ugh...

The Wichita State Shockers took down Gonzaga tonight and everyone's brackets took a hit.  Unfortunately, we did have one person choose Gonzaga winning the National Championship and that was... Allie.  Sorry, kiddo!

Other than that, the only other upset today was Oregon taking down Saint Louis.  Only Jeremy and Lindsey Doodle called that upset and put them into the Sweet 16.  That's right, half of the spots are filled and the rest will be filled on Sunday night!

Gary (Dad) was the big winner today, correctly guessing SIX of the eight games.  Wow!  A 30-point swing puts him atop the Young Family Bracket Challenge Standings with 50 points.  I'm pretty sure he's cheating.

Jo (Mom) is sitting in second place with 48 points and Jacob, Matt, and Melissa are tied for third with 47 points.  Again, cheating is probable here as well.

Brad is having a terrible challenge!  He is currently sitting in 15th place with 35 points, just above Doodle.  Heather and Eric join the two down in the bottom quarter of the standings with 39 and 38 points, respectively.

And I'm just saying, after her trash talking this morning, Teresa and Joe fell down a bit in the standings... you should keep talking there, Teresa!

Standings:

1.  Gary (Dad) - 50 points
2.  Jo (Mom) - 48 points
T3. Jacob - 47 points
T3. Matt - 47 points
T3. Melissa - 47 points
T6. Jeremy - 45 points
T6. Nathaniel - 45 points
T8. Joe - 43 points
T8. Teresa - 43 points
T10. Allie - 42 points
T10. Beth - 42 points
T10. Robbie - 42 points
13. Heather - 39 points
14. Eric - 38 points
15. Bradley - 35 points
16. Doodle - 26 points

I'm pretty sure this is the most @s$-backward standings I've ever seen in this tournament.  I'm pretty sure that everyone knows why.

There are 8 more games tomorrow... and then we have a few days off!

It's Crowded at the Top!

Well, it's crowded at the top of the Young Family Bracket Challenge after the first round of tournament play!  There is a four-way tie for first place... two of whom, suspiciously, live in the same household.


Eric, Jo (Mom), Joe, and Teresa are all tied for first place in the Bracket Challenge with 23 correct selections out of the 32 games.  I'd say that's a great job, but that's not even close to the all-time record for correct selections in the first round of the Young Family Bracket Challenge (28: Brad Young 2010; and I guess if we're being fair technically Jo (Mom) did the same in 2011).  So, instead, you guys did an "OKAY" job.  Pat yourselves on the back and revel in the mediocrity of not tying or breaking the record. (Editor's note: can you tell I'm a little bitter because I'm doing awful this year?  No?  Wake up!)

Teresa was the biggest winner of the day, correctly selecting 13 of the 16 games yesterday, including going 4-for-4 in the final four games of the evening.

And a big congratulations goes out to Lindsey Doodle for correctly guessing 12 of the 16 games yesterday!  In fact, she was the only one who called the LaSalle upset over Kansas St.!  It's like she's a NCAA Basketball savant!

But nobody seemed to see the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles coming from all the way down from the Florida Gulf Coast (see what I did there?) as they beat Georgetown... wow!  That hurt a lot of people.  I'm sorry that I'm not sorry.

Standings:

1.  Eric Young - 23 points
1.  Jo (Mom) Young - 23 points
1.  Joe Matters - 23 points
1.  Teresa Matters - 23 points
5.  Allison Young - 22 points
5.  Beth Bird - 22 points
5.  Jacob Young - 22 points
5.  Matt Abbott (Brutus) - 22 points
5.  Melissa Young - 22 points
5.  Robert Young - 22 points
11. Lindsey Abbott - 21 points
12. Bradley Young - 20 points
12. Gary (Dad) Young - 20 points
12. Jeremy Bird - 20 points
12. Nathaniel Abbott - 20 points
16. Heather Abbott - 19 points

Aw, poor Heather... she's in last.  I'd ask her if she's sad, but we all know she'll just say that she's so excited the Lindsey is doing well, which is the LAMEST excuse ever... c'mon, Heather, you're just as competitive as everyone else here, we know you've got to be PISSED!

Saturday and Sunday will lock in the Sweet 16!  8 games today and 8 games tomorrow!  Get pumped!

No more ties at the top... it's way too hard to get the pictures right on this new blogger.  Yikes!

An interesting list from CollegeHumor

It's safe to say that each one of these is represented multiple times:

http://www.collegehumor.com/article/6877146/winning-your-ncaa-tournament-pool-know-the-competition

Enjoy.