NCAA - After Round 1

The first round of the tournament is in the books, and it's hard to remember a  tournament that went more by the seeds.  Even the "upsets" were mostly predictable.  The biggest upset by point spreads was USC over SMU, and that was only 6.5 points.  Every other favorite won.

These last 4 games went largely the way I expected.  Kentucky and UCLA won, as expected.  The other 2 games seemed like coin tosses, so if you picked those, then you were rewarded.  It seems like there were a lot of those types of games in the first round.  There wasn't any bracket busting upset that ruined anyone's bracket.  That makes all the games to come much, much more important to win.

35 people managed to go 4/4 in these last 4 including none other than Dan Dz., who finished the day going 16/16 and finishing the 1st round 31/32.  That is truly incredible.  I'm very impressed.  The average bracket got 2.85 points, which is still pretty large.

As for today, Dan Dz. was the only person who finished 16/16.  There were 4 people that finished 15/16 (Josh D., Allie I., Kirt R. #1, Josh C.).    The overall distribution went like this:

Wins	Count
16	1
15	4
14	21
13	59
12	69
11	48
10	16
9	4
8	3

Today was slightly more difficult than yesterday, probably due to the one upset we had.  Yesterday, the average points was 12.61.  Today it was 12.06.  In most years, 25/32 in the first round would put you in the top 1/4.  This year it is the average.  The good thing is that it keeps more people alive in deeper into the tournament.  It may also mean better games later, but it does rob us of a true Cinderella story.  I think the Florida Gulf Coast's of the world are what makes the tournament fun.  This year has had a serious lack of Cinderella's.  That's a shame.

Remember when I said that there was usually one region that was the hardest to predict, and that I thought it might be the East.  So far, the numbers have born that out.  Only 8 people went 8/8 in the East.  Compare that to 28 people in the West, 24 in the Midwest and 23 in the South.  Obviously, this is because of USC, but also less than half of people chose South Carolina and a lot of people took East Tennessee State and NC Wilmington to pull upsets.

The biggest move up in the standings was Josh D.  He went 15/16, to move up from 141st yesterday to 29th at the end of the 1st round.  That's a great way to get back into this thing.  The biggest dropper was Adam E.  He started the day in 32nd place, but dropped to 176th after only managing to get 9/16 games.  Ouch.  Look on the bright side, Adam E.  You only lost 2 Sweet 16 teams (SMU, Oklahoma State), so there is plenty of time to move back up into contention.  This bad day certainly is not a death sentence.

52 people still have all 16 of their sweet 16 teams alive.  That doesn't mean that they are going to get all those points, but it means that they could.  That's a great position to be in.  There are another 65 entries that have only lost 1 Sweet 16 team.  That means that the games in the next round are pretty critical.  179 entries have all of their Elite 8 teams alive.  Only 10 people have lost even 1 Final 4 team, and no one has yet to lose a Final 4 team from the Midwest region.  That is an astonishingly large amount of points still available.  The moral here is not to lose faith.  There are a lot of points still on the table.

Here are the standings:

1. Dan Dz.: 31 (-1)

2. Chris T. #1: 30 (-4)

3. Alex N. #1: 29 (-3)

3. Chris T. #2: 29 (-3)

3. Hal R. #1: 29 (-3)

3. Josh C.: 29 (-3)

3. Kirt R. #1: 29 (-3)

8. Mike S. #1: 29 (-5)

9. Brayden R.: 28 (-4)

9. Chris T. #3: 28 (-4)

9. Daisy N. #9: 28 (-4)

9. Hal R. #2: 28 (-4)

9. Hal R. #3: 28 (-4)

9. Jana T.: 28 (-4)

15. Eric V.: 28 (-6)

15. Howard S. #2: 28 (-6)

15. Joe D. #3: 28 (-6)

15. Josh S. #2: 28 (-6)

15. Luis B. #5: 28 (-6)

15. Mindi W.: 28 (-6)

21. Allie I.: 28 (-8)

22. Craig G.: 27 (-5)

22. Daisy N. #3: 27 (-5)

22. Hutch H. #1: 27 (-5)

22. Jack K. #2: 27 (-5)

22. Jeff S.: 27 (-5)

22. Mike W.: 27 (-5)

22. Taylor F.: 27 (-5)

29. Ben J. #1: 27 (-7)

29. Bosun S.: 27 (-7)

29. Daisy N. #8: 27 (-7)

29. Dylan B.: 27 (-7)

29. James G. #1: 27 (-7)

29. Jim W.: 27 (-7)

29. Josh D.: 27 (-7)

29. Julie S.: 27 (-7)

29. Luis B. #1: 27 (-7)

29. Pete J. #2: 27 (-7)

29. Szecho L. #1: 27 (-7)

29. Wayne D. #1: 27 (-7)

41. Chad L. #3: 27 (-9)

42. Howard S. #1: 27 (-11)

42. Szecho L. #2: 27 (-11)

44. Nathan R.: 27 (-13)

45. Alex N. #3: 26 (-6)

45. Daisy N. #4: 26 (-6)

45. Daisy N. #6: 26 (-6)

45. Dan S.: 26 (-6)

45. David S.: 26 (-6)

45. Gutless Jack: 26 (-6)

45. Howard S. #3: 26 (-6)

45. Joe D. #1: 26 (-6)

45. Matt M.: 26 (-6)

45. Matt N.: 26 (-6)

45. Mike McQ. #1: 26 (-6)

45. Paul R. #1: 26 (-6)

45. Paul R. #2: 26 (-6)

45. Zach V.: 26 (-6)

59. Alyssa N.: 26 (-8)

59. Brent E. #4: 26 (-8)

59. Dustin B. #2: 26 (-8)

59. Eric R. #1: 26 (-8)

59. Irene H. #3: 26 (-8)

59. Irene H. #4: 26 (-8)

59. Joel B. #1: 26 (-8)

59. Luis B. #2: 26 (-8)

59. Luis B. #3: 26 (-8)

59. Luis B. #4: 26 (-8)

59. Stefan K.: 26 (-8)

70. Brent E. #1: 26 (-10)

70. Brent E. #2: 26 (-10)

70. Brent E. #3: 26 (-10)

70. John E. #2: 26 (-10)

70. Kyle V.: 26 (-10)

70. Larry G. #4: 26 (-10)

70. Rob I.: 26 (-10)

70. Scott Has.: 26 (-10)

78. Cool Guy: 26 (-12)

78. Daisy N. #12: 26 (-12)

78. Ken P.: 26 (-12)

78. Pete J. #5: 26 (-12)

78. Roth W. #3: 26 (-12)

78. Wayne D. #2: 26 (-12)

84. Scott K. #2: 26 (-14)

85. Joshua R.: 26 (-18)

86. Mike S. #2: 26 (-20)

87. Chrissy I.: 26 (-24)

88. Adam S. #1: 25 (-7)

88. April K.: 25 (-7)

88. Ben J. #3: 25 (-7)

88. Daisy N. #1: 25 (-7)

88. Daisy N. #10: 25 (-7)

88. Daisy N. #5: 25 (-7)

88. Dennis R. #1: 25 (-7)

88. Kansas C. #3: 25 (-7)

88. Pete J. #3: 25 (-7)

88. Ron V. #2: 25 (-7)

88. Todd K. #2: 25 (-7)

99. Ava S.: 25 (-9)

99. Brent S. #2: 25 (-9)

99. Chris M.: 25 (-9)

99. Dan D. #1: 25 (-9)

99. Elizabeth N.: 25 (-9)

99. James G. #2: 25 (-9)

99. Jaxon S.: 25 (-9)

99. Michelle L. #3: 25 (-9)

99. Mike McQ. #2: 25 (-9)

99. Presley J.: 25 (-9)

99. Ray W. #1: 25 (-9)

99. Ray W. #3: 25 (-9)

99. Sanjay T.: 25 (-9)

112. Alex N. #2: 25 (-11)

112. Cory W.: 25 (-11)

112. Daisy N. #7: 25 (-11)

112. Damien R. #3: 25 (-11)

112. Joel B. #2: 25 (-11)

112. John E. #1: 25 (-11)

112. Klei R.: 25 (-11)

112. Mike C. #1: 25 (-11)

112. Ron KY: 25 (-11)

112. Roth W. #2: 25 (-11)

122. Brent S. #1: 25 (-13)

122. Chad L. #1: 25 (-13)

122. Irene H. #2: 25 (-13)

122. Jon F.: 25 (-13)

122. Josh S. #1: 25 (-13)

122. Michelle D.: 25 (-13)

122. Tim's Stepson: 25 (-13)

129. Daisy N. #2: 25 (-15)

129. John M. #1: 25 (-15)

129. Larry G. #3: 25 (-15)

132. Eric R. #2: 25 (-17)

133. Brad E.: 24 (-8)

133. Brett W.: 24 (-8)

133. Daisy N. #11: 24 (-8)

133. Jack K. #1: 24 (-8)

133. James R.: 24 (-8)

133. Michelle R.: 24 (-8)

139. Becky H.: 24 (-10)

139. Bella S.: 24 (-10)

139. Ben J. #4: 24 (-10)

139. Ben S. #1: 24 (-10)

139. Hutch H. #2: 24 (-10)

139. Jax I.: 24 (-10)

139. Missy W. #1: 24 (-10)

139. Ron V. #1: 24 (-10)

139. Scott H. #2: 24 (-10)

139. Taima B.: 24 (-10)

149. Ally H.: 24 (-12)

149. Brett K. #2: 24 (-12)

149. Chris L. #1: 24 (-12)

149. Chris L. #2: 24 (-12)

149. Chris L. #3: 24 (-12)

149. Damien R. #2: 24 (-12)

149. Dan D. #2: 24 (-12)

149. Larry G. #2: 24 (-12)

149. Michelle L. #1: 24 (-12)

149. Michelle L. #2: 24 (-12)

149. Michelle L. #4: 24 (-12)

149. Richard Z.: 24 (-12)

161. Brian K.: 24 (-14)

161. Scott K. #1: 24 (-14)

161. Seth D.: 24 (-14)

164. Ben J. #5: 24 (-18)

164. Ryan S.: 24 (-18)

166. Roth W. #4: 24 (-28)

167. Barack O.: 23 (-9)

167. Dennis R. #2: 23 (-9)

169. Ben S. #2: 23 (-11)

169. Brad R.: 23 (-11)

169. Carrie F.: 23 (-11)

169. Jim D. #1: 23 (-11)

169. Kansas C. #1: 23 (-11)

169. Michelle L. #5: 23 (-11)

169. Todd K. #1: 23 (-11)

176. Adam E.: 23 (-13)

176. Brandon H.: 23 (-13)

176. Irene H. #1: 23 (-13)

176. Kevin F. #1: 23 (-13)

176. Kirt R. #2: 23 (-13)

176. Missy W. #3: 23 (-13)

182. Pete J. #4: 23 (-15)

183. Alyssa B.: 23 (-17)

183. Jay H. #3: 23 (-17)

183. Riley Y.: 23 (-17)

186. Ray W. #2: 23 (-19)

187. Jay H. #1: 23 (-23)

188. Chad L. #2: 23 (-25)

189. Jill M. #1: 23 (-79)

190. Arianna S.: 22 (-12)

190. Gigi I.: 22 (-12)

192. Ashley D.: 22 (-14)

192. Dustin B. #1: 22 (-14)

192. Mike C. #2: 22 (-14)

195. Damien R. #1: 22 (-16)

195. Marc R.: 22 (-16)

197. Adam S. #2: 22 (-18)

197. Jim D. #2: 22 (-18)

199. Ben J. #2: 22 (-20)

199. John M. #2: 22 (-20)

199. Scott H. #1: 22 (-20)

202. Jim D. #3: 22 (-22)

202. Kansas C. #4: 22 (-22)

204. Brett K. #1: 22 (-28)

205. Molly R.: 22 (-42)

208. Jay H. #2: 21 (-15)

206. Joe D. #2: 21 (-13)

206. Pete J. #6: 21 (-13)

208. Kansas C. #2: 21 (-15)

208. Karen C.: 21 (-15)

211. Kevin F. #2: 21 (-17)

211. Kiah H.: 21 (-17)

213. Pete J. #1: 21 (-21)

214. Jill M. #2: 21 (-23)

215. Roth W. #1: 21 (-25)

216. Eleanor: 21 (-33)

217. Jim K.: 20 (-16)

217. Larry G. #1: 20 (-16)

219. Irene H. #5: 20 (-18)

220. Tim N.: 19 (-19)

221. Jim D. #4: 18 (-22)

222. Kevin F. #3: 17 (-101)

223. Jack K. #4: 16 (-36)

224. Missy W. #2: 15 (-51)

225. Emily W.: 14 (-32)

...here are the net points standings:

1. Dan Dz. (30)

2. Alex N. #1 (26)

2. Chris T. #1 (26)

2. Chris T. #2 (26)

2. Hal R. #1 (26)

2. Josh C. (26)

2. Kirt R. #1 (26)

8. Brayden R. (24)

8. Chris T. #3 (24)

8. Daisy N. #9 (24)

8. Hal R. #2 (24)

8. Hal R. #3 (24)

8. Jana T. (24)

8. Mike S. #1 (24)

15. Craig G. (22)

15. Daisy N. #3 (22)

15. Eric V. (22)

15. Howard S. #2 (22)

15. Hutch H. #1 (22)

15. Jack K. #2 (22)

15. Jeff S. (22)

15. Joe D. #3 (22)

15. Josh S. #2 (22)

15. Luis B. #5 (22)

15. Mike W. (22)

15. Mindi W. (22)

15. Taylor F. (22)

28. Alex N. #3 (20)

28. Allie I. (20)

28. Ben J. #1 (20)

28. Bosun S. (20)

28. Daisy N. #4 (20)

28. Daisy N. #6 (20)

28. Daisy N. #8 (20)

28. Dan S. (20)

28. David S. (20)

28. Dylan B. (20)

28. Gutless Jack (20)

28. Howard S. #3 (20)

28. James G. #1 (20)

28. Jim W. (20)

28. Joe D. #1 (20)

28. Josh D. (20)

28. Julie S. (20)

28. Luis B. #1 (20)

28. Matt M. (20)

28. Matt N. (20)

28. Mike McQ. #1 (20)

28. Paul R. #1 (20)

28. Paul R. #2 (20)

28. Pete J. #2 (20)

28. Szecho L. #1 (20)

28. Wayne D. #1 (20)

28. Zach V. (20)

55. Adam S. #1 (18)

55. Alyssa N. (18)

55. April K. (18)

55. Ben J. #3 (18)

55. Brent E. #4 (18)

55. Chad L. #3 (18)

55. Daisy N. #1 (18)

55. Daisy N. #10 (18)

55. Daisy N. #5 (18)

55. Dennis R. #1 (18)

55. Dustin B. #2 (18)

55. Eric R. #1 (18)

55. Irene H. #3 (18)

55. Irene H. #4 (18)

55. Joel B. #1 (18)

55. Kansas C. #3 (18)

55. Luis B. #2 (18)

55. Luis B. #3 (18)

55. Luis B. #4 (18)

55. Pete J. #3 (18)

55. Ron V. #2 (18)

55. Stefan K. (18)

55. Todd K. #2 (18)

78. Ava S. (16)

78. Brad E. (16)

78. Brent E. #1 (16)

78. Brent E. #2 (16)

78. Brent E. #3 (16)

78. Brent S. #2 (16)

78. Brett W. (16)

78. Chris M. (16)

78. Daisy N. #11 (16)

78. Dan D. #1 (16)

78. Elizabeth N. (16)

78. Howard S. #1 (16)

78. Jack K. #1 (16)

78. James G. #2 (16)

78. James R. (16)

78. Jaxon S. (16)

78. John E. #2 (16)

78. Kyle V. (16)

78. Larry G. #4 (16)

78. Michelle L. #3 (16)

78. Michelle R. (16)

78. Mike McQ. #2 (16)

78. Presley J. (16)

78. Ray W. #1 (16)

78. Ray W. #3 (16)

78. Rob I. (16)

78. Sanjay T. (16)

78. Scott Has. (16)

78. Szecho L. #2 (16)

107. Alex N. #2 (14)

107. Barack O. (14)

107. Becky H. (14)

107. Bella S. (14)

107. Ben J. #4 (14)

107. Ben S. #1 (14)

107. Cool Guy (14)

107. Cory W. (14)

107. Daisy N. #12 (14)

107. Daisy N. #7 (14)

107. Damien R. #3 (14)

107. Dennis R. #2 (14)

107. Hutch H. #2 (14)

107. Jax I. (14)

107. Joel B. #2 (14)

107. John E. #1 (14)

107. Ken P. (14)

107. Klei R. (14)

107. Mike C. #1 (14)

107. Missy W. #1 (14)

107. Nathan R. (14)

107. Pete J. #5 (14)

107. Ron KY (14)

107. Ron V. #1 (14)

107. Roth W. #2 (14)

107. Roth W. #3 (14)

107. Scott H. #2 (14)

107. Taima B. (14)

107. Wayne D. #2 (14)

136. Ally H. (12)

136. Ben S. #2 (12)

136. Brad R. (12)

136. Brent S. #1 (12)

136. Brett K. #2 (12)

136. Carrie F. (12)

136. Chad L. #1 (12)

136. Chris L. #1 (12)

136. Chris L. #2 (12)

136. Chris L. #3 (12)

136. Damien R. #2 (12)

136. Dan D. #2 (12)

136. Irene H. #2 (12)

136. Jim D. #1 (12)

136. Jon F. (12)

136. Josh S. #1 (12)

136. Kansas C. #1 (12)

136. Larry G. #2 (12)

136. Michelle D. (12)

136. Michelle L. #1 (12)

136. Michelle L. #2 (12)

136. Michelle L. #4 (12)

136. Michelle L. #5 (12)

136. Richard Z. (12)

136. Scott K. #2 (12)

136. Tim's Stepson (12)

136. Todd K. #1 (12)

163. Adam E. (10)

163. Arianna S. (10)

163. Brandon H. (10)

163. Brian K. (10)

163. Daisy N. #2 (10)

163. Gigi I. (10)

163. Irene H. #1 (10)

163. John M. #1 (10)

163. Kevin F. #1 (10)

163. Kirt R. #2 (10)

163. Larry G. #3 (10)

163. Missy W. #3 (10)

163. Scott K. #1 (10)

163. Seth D. (10)

177. Ashley D. (8)

177. Dustin B. #1 (8)

177. Eric R. #2 (8)

177. Joe D. #2 (8)

177. Joshua R. (8)

177. Mike C. #2 (8)

177. Pete J. #4 (8)

177. Pete J. #6 (8)

185. Alyssa B. (6)

185. Ben J. #5 (6)

185. Damien R. #1 (6)

185. Jay H. #2 (6)

185. Jay H. #3 (6)

185. Kansas C. #2 (6)

185. Karen C. (6)

185. Marc R. (6)

185. Mike S. #2 (6)

185. Riley Y. (6)

185. Ryan S. (6)

196. Adam S. #2 (4)

196. Jim D. #2 (4)

196. Jim K. (4)

196. Kevin F. #2 (4)

196. Kiah H. (4)

196. Larry G. #1 (4)

196. Ray W. #2 (4)

203. Ben J. #2 (2)

203. Chrissy I. (2)

203. Irene H. #5 (2)

203. John M. #2 (2)

203. Scott H. #1 (2)

208. Jay H. #1 (0)

208. Jim D. #3 (0)

208. Kansas C. #4 (0)

208. Pete J. #1 (0)

208. Tim N. (0)

213. Chad L. #2 (-2)

213. Jill M. #2 (-2)

215. Jim D. #4 (-4)

215. Roth W. #1 (-4)

215. Roth W. #4 (-4)

218. Brett K. #1 (-6)

219. Eleanor (-12)

220. Emily W. (-18)

221. Jack K. #4 (-20)

221. Molly R. (-20)

223. Missy W. #2 (-36)

224. Jill M. #1 (-56)

225. Kevin F. #3 (-84)

I'll be back tomorrow with the overview of round 2.  All games will be worth 2 points for the next 2 days.  After the Sweet 16 is completely filled out, I'll calculate who is still mathematically alive to win this thing, as well who can still get 2nd, 3rd & 4th.  I'm really interested to see who has the best odds to win.  This seems totally wide open to me.

Then again, maybe tomorrow can be the start of upset central.  We are long overdue for some good ones.  Until then, enjoy the games.  I want to thank my brother for hosting me once again.  The 4 screen setup worked fantastically again this year.

Good luck to everyone!!!!!