2023 March Madness - Cardiac Aztecs advance

At no point in the 2^nd half did I think, “Oh yeah.  San Diego State’s got this one”.  Most of my thoughts in the second half were “They’ve missed 5-6 layups” and “You’ve GOT TO make your free throws!!!”  However, I looked up and they would be a little bit closer.  Then a little closer still.  I figured they’d call a TO before the last play.  Remembering back to last year, San Diego State had a chance to win the game in the last seconds against Creighton and they kind of fumbled the ball around and never got a shot off.  Maybe Brian Dutcher just decided he was better served playing it out.  I was kind of amazed about that.  I mean, SDSU had largely a defensive team in the game.  They didn’t have a ton of offensive options, but I guess they didn’t need one.

I was talking to my wife before the game, and I was ranking the ways the game could play out in order of stress level.  First was blow-out win.  Second was blow-out loss,  about dead last on this list was the way it actually ended.  The only more stressful game would have been if SDSU had missed the last shot.  Luckily for me, I can now relax while the next game goes on.  I don’t really care who wins that game at this point.

There is an update in the matrix.  We have our first guaranteed prize winner.  What that prize will be has yet to be decided, but Charlotte N. now has a 100% chance of finishing in the money.

Here is the updated Matrix:

It looks like there will be a tie-breaker in play regardless of how this second game plays out.  I’ll contact people for tie-breakers as soon as we know who is involved.

Game 62

Connecticut v Miami

Vegas Line: Connecticut -5.5

Picks for Connecticut: 13

Picks for Miami: 1

Steve D. #1 is looking pretty smart right now as the only person to have Miami in this game.  That’s how you keep your bracket alive.

Here are the eliminations:

If Connecticut wins:

Charlotte N. is eliminated from 4th place contention.

Chun W. #3 is eliminated from 4th place contention.

Hack a Zach (Dave F.) is eliminated from 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th place contention.

Noah N. is eliminated from 4th place contention.

Rob I. #1 is eliminated from 4th place contention.

Steve D. #1 is eliminated from 3rd place contention.

If Miami wins:

CAAT #4 (Adam O.) is eliminated from 3rd place contention.

Harrell R. #2 is eliminated from 4th place contention.

Mustard (Nikolajs B.) is eliminated from 3rd place contention.

Pete J. #4 is eliminated from 2nd place contention.

Ryan W. is eliminated from 4th place contention.

Good luck to everyone!!!!