First 3 games and link to spreadsheet

 All right!!  After some rather tedious entry of picks, I finally have finished entering everyone into the scoring spreadsheet.  It looks like we are going to wind up with 211 entries this year.  That’s a little less than the most I’ve ever got, but more than last year, so I’ll chalk it up to people just remembering that college basketball exists after the last two years.

I’m providing a link to the spreadsheet I will be using to keep score.  For people that didn’t use the template I sent out, make extra sure that I have your picks right.  I’m not going to change them after the first week, so if I miskeyed something, it will stay that way.  Correcting picks right now is OK because I don’t run any macros to calculate odds.  Once that happens, and changes will affect who is eliminated and who isn’t, which is unfair to the rest of the field.  Also, there were a few people that had some thins slightly wrong in their picks (like blanks or a team winning that wasn’t picked to play in the game).  I’ve reached out to everyone where I saw this, so please correct those if you have them.

I also sent a reply back to everyone that sent me something.  If you are reading this and didn’t get something from me saying “good luck” or “you’re brackets look clean”, then I may have missed your email.  Let me know if you think you should be in but are not.

So, games are going on right now, and I wish I could have more time to write stuff up about especially this first game.  I have a lot of opinions about Michigan, and maybe a handful of opinions about Colorado State.

Here are particulars:

Vegas Line: Michigan -1.5

Picks for Colorado State: 101

Picks for Michigan: 111

OK.  I am going to get on my soap box and say that I really hate that Michigan is in the tournament at all.  I get that they can win a game.  Guess what?  A lot of teams that didn’t make the tournament can win games.  Syracuse can win a game.  Any team that is only 3 games over .500 shouldn’t be in the tournament, in my opinion.  Michigan is kind of the living, breathing example of big conference mediocrity.  I feel like the only reason they are in at all is because they get to play good teams night in and night out – so they have a million opportunities to beat them.  Small and mid-majors schools don’t have those opportunities and they are always penalized for it.  I prefer teams that win games, and Michigan didn’t win nearly enough to justify selection in my opinion.

On the flip side, good for the Mountain West for getting 4 teams in the tournament.  Colorado State is the highest seeded of that group, and that seems about right.  They were pretty strong all season.

This game seems like a toss up right now, so we’ll see.  2 people have Colorado State in the Final 4.  Only one person has Michigan, so this probably a decent, relatively low-stakes way to wade into the tournament.

The 2^nd game of the day is a lot of people’s upset special:

Vegas Line: Providence -2.5

Picks for Providence: 121

Picks for South Dakota State: 91

So, a lot of you know that I have roughly 340 t-shirts for most of the Division I college basketball schools.  This morning, I am wearing my South Dakota State Jackrabbits shirt.  I really hope they win.  I have nothing against Providence.  I probably had them ranked earlier than most, but I think at the end of the year, they kind of faded back to about where they should be.  I would argue that most people don’t care about Providence in this game – unless you are from Rhode Island.  The reason to watch this game is South Dakota State.  They are the best 3-point shooting team in the country.  They also don’t turn the ball over much, which is usually a recipe for an upset.  You can see by the point spread and the pick distribution, that a lot of people think this.  That makes this another good low-stakes upset pick.  Only 48 people have the winner of this game even winning one more game.  So, it might be a good way to pick up a point on the field, and get some slight separation early.  Right now, it looks like the jackrabbits are getting killed, but with three pointers, you never know.

Game #3:

Vegas Line: Memphis -3

Picks for Boise State: 109

Picks for Memphis: 103

This looks like a classic 8/9 game.  No one knows who will win.  Whoever wins gets to be cannon fodder for Gonzaga in the next round.  Memphis seems like a better version of Michigan.  A team that started the season ranked in or near the top 10 and didn’t live up to expectations.  The difference is they beat more teams, so I actually thought they should be included in the field.  Boise has been a tough team all season, and the 3^rd Mountain West team to play already in the tournament.  Only 9 people have either of these teams winning in round 2.  So, another one to just sit back and relax.  I’m pulling for Boise, but I won’t be heartbroken if they lose.

Here is the link to the scoring spreadsheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wTSEFISRy3W2hEMGx-C6ios_PFT1eLa_/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115935305822530497124&rtpof=true&sd=true

It will be updated throughout.  Let me know if you have any trouble getting into it.  I will be sending out standings after every 2 games as well.

Good luck!!!!!