2023 March Madness - Finals Set

I’m glad I didn’t care too much about the late game.  It was kind of a snooze fest.  Miami was out of sorts all game.  The best they could do was get to about 10 points in the second half, but never any closer than that.  Some of that is probably Connecticut’s fault, but it wasn’t a great game for Miami.

That means we are down to only one game left.  It also means that there was one last change in the standings.  The way this tournament has broken down has been really interesting.  If you read the last post, you know that Charlotte N. was guaranteed something.  She is now guaranteed to finish in the Top 3.  She was the only person that got both finalists right.  As a result, she is now 15 points clear of the field.  That is huge.  I don’t have all the records going back too far, but if Connecticut wins, she may have had the biggest margin of victory in pool history.  If Connecticut wins, she will win this pool by 19 points.  That’s about 10% of all available points, and that would be what we call domination.

However, if Connecticut doesn’t win, she still has a shot at either 2^nd or 3^rd.  This was the tie-breaker I was mentioning.  There will be no tie-breaker needed where someone gets nothing.  That’s not bad.  I can live with that tie-breaker.  There weren’t many points to be had in the pool this year, so I’m glad we don’t need a more complicated tie-break.

There’s only 2 ways this can go, so here are the only remaining scenarios:

If Connecticut wins:

Charlotte N. wins 1^st place.

Pete J. #4 wins 2^nd place.

CAAT #4 (Adam O.) wins 3^rd place.

Harrell R. #2 wins 4^th place.

 

If San Diego State wins:

Rob I. #1 wins 1^st place.

Winner of tie-breaker between Charlotte N. and Mustard (Nikolajs B.) wins 2^nd place.

Lower of tie-breaker between Charlotte N. and Mustard (Nikolajs B.) wins 3^rd place.

Ryan W. wins 4^th place.

If you remember, only 2 people actually picked SDSU to win the whole thing (Rob I. #1 and Mustard (Nikolajs B.)).  However, Charlotte N. is currently sitting exactly 32 points ahead of Mustard (Nikolajs B.), so the best he can do is tie Charlotte N.  Thus the need for a tie breaker.  Another perspective on Charlotte N.’s dominance – Mustard is in 22^nd place right now, and 32 points behind.

In the “never give up hope” category, Ryan W. had Purdue winning the whole thing and he can still finish in the money.  That’s why you always have a chance as long as your bracket is alive.  I would have thought all people with Purdue or Arizona would be long dead by now.

I’ll reach out to Charlotte N. and Mustard (Nikolajs B.) for their tiebreakers.  Remember that it is the total points scored – closest wins.  If it’s still a tie, we’ll go to PKs.  Just kidding, if it’s still tied, I’ll just split 2^nd and 3^rd so both people get the same amount of money.

Go Aztecs!!!!!