Championship game preview

It was an interesting afternoon / evening of basketball.  After all the complaining about chalk into the Sweet 16, we wound up with exactly one person who managed to get both of the Championship game contestants correct.  That person is also one of 2 people that are guaranteed to win something.  Congratulations to Jay H. #1 for that accomplishment.

I’m honestly not sure how Virginia wound up winning that game.  I was about to curse them as choking dogs after giving up a 10 point lead with less than 5 minutes to play.  My wife had a good theory about it.  Maybe it’s all the karma coming back after the unending humiliation they suffered being the 1^st ever #1 seed to lose in the opening round last year.  Even if they win this year, that ignominy will never go away.  I’m honestly not sure, but I’ll take it as someone that benefited from Virginia going to the Finals.

So, there’s only 7 entries that can still win something.

1. Jay H. #1: 126 (-34) - Virginia

2. Klei R. #1: 119 (-41) - Virginia

3. Stefon K.: 117 (-43) - Virginia

7. Michelle L. #2: 109 (-51) - Virginia

17. Ben S. #2: 97 (-63) - Texas Tech

22. Ben J. #4: 95 (-65) - Texas Tech

45. Klei R. #2: 89 (-71) - Texas Tech

Notice the points, because they are important.  The three entries you see are the only 3 that have Texas Tech winning it all.  Remember that the final game is worth 32 points.  If Virginia wins, it’s pretty obvious what happens: 1^st (Jay H. #1), 2^nd (Klei R. #1), 3^rd (Stefon K.), 4^th (Michelle L. #2).

It gets a little more tricky if Texas Tech wins.  The people that have Texas Tech are pretty far back in actual points.  If you add 32 to Ben S. #2, he winds up with 129, so he wins.  For Ben J. #4, he winds up with 127 and gets 2nd.  If you add 32 to my picks, you only get 121, so I don’t pass Jay H. #1, even though I would have picked the winner and he didn’t.  That’s why it’s important to do well in the earlier rounds.  My Klei R. #2 bracket was sitting in 197^th midway through round 2.  It never really got much better, but so long as Texas Tech kept winning, it kept creeping up the standings.  Anyway, Jay H. #1 would win 3^rd and I’d get 4^th place.

As for the payouts, I mentioned in the last post that everyone has paid their entry fees, so I can calculate the payouts.  If you remember, the structure is 50/25/15/10.

1^st place: 227*5*.5 = $567.50

2^nd place: 227*5*.25 = $283.75

3^rd place: 227*5*.15 = $170.25

4^th place: 227*5*.1 = $113.50

Not too shabby for a $5 investment.  Good luck to everyone!!!!!