NCAA - First 2 games finished.

Wow.  That Rhode Island / Oklahoma game was pretty exciting.  At one point in the second half it didn't look like Rhode Island would ever miss a shot from 3-point range.  Somehow, Oklahoma clawed back to tie the game.  Then Rhode Island almost made a buzzer-beating put-back at the end of regulation that would have won the game.  Great game all around.  I mentioned that this was the 3rd closest game if you go by the point spread, and it totally lived up to it.

I didn't watch much of the Tennessee / Wright State game.  Tennessee had a double digit lead for virtually all of the second half.  Honestly, as long as the URI / OU game was on, there wasn't much reason to watch this game.  There was a bet you could make about the largest final scoring margin that was set at 34.5.  At one point, I thought this game might threaten the over.

The standings are more or less indicative of who took Rhode Island in the first game.  Almost everyone took Tennessee.  Here are the standings:

1. Adam E.: 2 (0)

1. Bhav D. #2: 2 (0)

1. Brett G. #4: 2 (0)

1. Chad L. #1: 2 (0)

1. Chad L. #2: 2 (0)

1. Chad L. #3: 2 (0)

1. Chad L. #5: 2 (0)

1. Damien R. #1: 2 (0)

1. Damien R. #2: 2 (0)

1. Jay C.: 2 (0)

1. Jeff Sag. #2: 2 (0)

1. John M. #1: 2 (0)

1. John M. #2: 2 (0)

1. John M. #3: 2 (0)

1. Klei R.: 2 (0)

1. Larry G. #2: 2 (0)

1. Larry G. #3: 2 (0)

1. Larry G. #5: 2 (0)

1. Marc R.: 2 (0)

1. Mason A. #1: 2 (0)

1. Mike S. #1: 2 (0)

1. Mike S. #2: 2 (0)

1. Mike W.: 2 (0)

1. Missy W. #1: 2 (0)

1. Pete J. #3: 2 (0)

1. Scott Has.: 2 (0)

1. Seth D.: 2 (0)

1. Stefan K. #2: 2 (0)

1. Tomas L. #1: 2 (0)

1. Tomas L. #2: 2 (0)

1. Brad R.: 2 (0)

1. Joel S.: 2 (0)

1. Scott K.: 2 (0)

1. Ben S. #1: 2 (0)

1. Ben S. #2: 2 (0)

1. Ben S. #3: 2 (0)

1. Ben S. #4: 2 (0)

1. Jeff M.: 2 (0)

1. Hal R. #1: 2 (0)

1. Hal R. #2: 2 (0)

1. Hal R. #3: 2 (0)

1. Josh C.: 2 (0)

1. Jay H. #1: 2 (0)

1. Jay H. #2: 2 (0)

1. Andrew D. #2: 2 (0)

1. Trent L.: 2 (0)

1. Jim W.: 2 (0)

1. Max A. #2: 2 (0)

1. Max A. #3: 2 (0)

1. Dane R.: 2 (0)

1. Michelle L. #1: 2 (0)

1. Michelle L. #3: 2 (0)

1. Michelle L. #4: 2 (0)

1. Michelle L. #5: 2 (0)

1. Jaxon S.: 2 (0)

1. Matt M.: 2 (0)

1. Elizabeth N. #1: 2 (0)

1. Elizabeth N. #2: 2 (0)

1. Brett K. #1: 2 (0)

1. Brett K. #2: 2 (0)

1. Brett K. #3: 2 (0)

1. E Rucker #2: 2 (0)

1. Arianna S.: 2 (0)

1. Amaris S.: 2 (0)

1. Jim D. #1: 2 (0)

1. Jim D. #2: 2 (0)

1. Jim D. #3: 2 (0)

1. Malcolm X #1: 2 (0)

1. Malcolm X #2: 2 (0)

1. Wayne D. #2: 2 (0)

1. Wayne D. #3: 2 (0)

1. David W. #1: 2 (0)

1. David W. #2: 2 (0)

1. Joe D. #1: 2 (0)

1. Joe D. #3: 2 (0)

1. Rob S. #2: 2 (0)

1. David S.: 2 (0)

1. Kirt R. #1: 2 (0)

1. Kansas C.: 2 (0)

1. Alex N. #1: 2 (0)

1. Alex N. #2: 2 (0)

1. Hutch H. #1: 2 (0)

1. Dan D. #2: 2 (0)

1. Dylan B.: 2 (0)

1. Grant F.: 2 (0)

1. Ben J. #1: 2 (0)

1. Ben J. #2: 2 (0)

1. Eric V. #1: 2 (0)

1. Scott K. #2: 2 (0)

1. Roth W.: 2 (0)

1. Dan S. #1: 2 (0)

1. Dan S. #2: 2 (0)

1. Bosun S.: 2 (0)

1. Ava S.: 2 (0)

1. Julie S.: 2 (0)

1. Josh D. #1: 2 (0)

1. Josh D. #2: 2 (0)

1. Josh D. #3: 2 (0)

1. Mindi W.: 2 (0)

1. Ray W. #2: 2 (0)

1. Ray W. #3: 2 (0)

1. Nick I.: 2 (0)

1. Suki I.: 2 (0)

1. Rob I.: 2 (0)

1. Chrissy I.: 2 (0)

1. Gigi I.: 2 (0)

1. CSU #1: 2 (0)

1. Luis B. #1: 2 (0)

1. Luis B. #2: 2 (0)

1. Luis B. #3: 2 (0)

1. Taima #1: 2 (0)

1. Taima #2: 2 (0)

1. Irene H. #5: 2 (0)

1. Irene H. #4: 2 (0)

1. Irene H. #1: 2 (0)

1. Ally H.: 2 (0)

1. Scott Her. #1: 2 (0)

1. Scott Her. #2: 2 (0)

119. Allison C.: 1 (-1)

119. Becca T.: 1 (-1)

119. Brad E.: 1 (-1)

119. Brent S. #1: 1 (-1)

119. Brent S. #2: 1 (-1)

119. Brett G. #1: 1 (-1)

119. Brett G. #2: 1 (-1)

119. Brett G. #3: 1 (-1)

119. Chad L. #4: 1 (-1)

119. Chris T. #1: 1 (-1)

119. Chris T. #2: 1 (-1)

119. Craig G.: 1 (-1)

119. Damien R. #3: 1 (-1)

119. Daniel C.: 1 (-1)

119. Dennis R.: 1 (-1)

119. Howard S. #1: 1 (-1)

119. Howard S. #2: 1 (-1)

119. Jace D.: 1 (-1)

119. Jeff Sag. #1: 1 (-1)

119. Ken Pom: 1 (-1)

119. Kiah H.: 1 (-1)

119. Larry G. #1: 1 (-1)

119. Larry G. #4: 1 (-1)

119. Michelle R.: 1 (-1)

119. Miguel D.: 1 (-1)

119. Missy W. #2: 1 (-1)

119. Paul W.: 1 (-1)

119. Pete J. #1: 1 (-1)

119. Pete J. #2: 1 (-1)

119. Pete J. #5: 1 (-1)

119. Stefan K. #1: 1 (-1)

119. Todd K. #2: 1 (-1)

119. Uproxx: 1 (-1)

119. Valerie D.: 1 (-1)

119. Barack O.: 1 (-1)

119. Brent E. #1: 1 (-1)

119. Brent E. #2: 1 (-1)

119. Brent E. #3: 1 (-1)

119. Jared B.: 1 (-1)

119. Jay H. #3: 1 (-1)

119. Andrew D. #1: 1 (-1)

119. Max A. #1: 1 (-1)

119. Michelle L. #2: 1 (-1)

119. Matt N.: 1 (-1)

119. Tim N.: 1 (-1)

119. Ben P.: 1 (-1)

119. Kate G.: 1 (-1)

119. Veronica A.: 1 (-1)

119. Wayne D. #1: 1 (-1)

119. Joe D. #2: 1 (-1)

119. Rob S. #1: 1 (-1)

119. Kirt R. #2: 1 (-1)

119. Andrzej R.: 1 (-1)

119. Hutch H. #2: 1 (-1)

119. Dan D. #1: 1 (-1)

119. Daisy N. #1: 1 (-1)

119. Daisy N. #2: 1 (-1)

119. Daisy N. #3: 1 (-1)

119. Daisy N. #6: 1 (-1)

119. Daisy N. #7: 1 (-1)

119. Daisy N. #9: 1 (-1)

119. Daisy N. #10: 1 (-1)

119. Daisy N. #13: 1 (-1)

119. Chris M.: 1 (-1)

119. Alyssa B.: 1 (-1)

119. Dustin B.: 1 (-1)

119. Ben J. #3: 1 (-1)

119. Eric V. #2: 1 (-1)

119. William G.: 1 (-1)

119. April K.: 1 (-1)

119. Scott K. #1: 1 (-1)

119. Mike McQ.: 1 (-1)

119. Szecho L. #1: 1 (-1)

119. Szecho L. #2: 1 (-1)

119. Nikolajs B.: 1 (-1)

119. Ray W. #1: 1 (-1)

119. Jackson I.: 1 (-1)

119. CSU #2: 1 (-1)

119. Irene H. #7: 1 (-1)

119. Irene H. #6: 1 (-1)

119. Irene H. #3: 1 (-1)

119. Irene H. #2: 1 (-1)

119. Becky H.: 1 (-1)

119. Adam S. #1: 1 (-1)

119. Adam S. #2: 1 (-1)

119. Mike N.: 1 (-1)

119. E Rucker #1: 1 (-1)

119. Joe D. #4: 1 (-1)

119. Alex N. #4: 1 (-1)

208. Mason A. #2: 1 (-3)

208. Pete J. #4: 1 (-3)

208. Ryan W.: 1 (-3)

208. Sulbum H.: 1 (-3)

208. Todd K. #1: 1 (-3)

208. Karen C.: 1 (-3)

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

208. Daisy N. #12: 1 (-3)

208. Virginia L.: 1 (-3)

217. Bhav D. #1: 1 (-7)

217. Daisy N. #8: 1 (-7)

217. Daisy N. #11: 1 (-7)

217. Ben J. #4: 1 (-7)

221. Daisy N. #5: 1 (-15)

283. Daisy N. #4: 0 (-2)

284. Stephen N.: 0 (-4)

....and the net standings:

1. Adam E. (2)

1. Alex N. #1 (2)

1. Alex N. #2 (2)

1. Ally H. (2)

1. Amaris S. (2)

1. Andrew D. #2 (2)

1. Arianna S. (2)

1. Ava S. (2)

1. Ben J. #1 (2)

1. Ben J. #2 (2)

1. Ben S. #1 (2)

1. Ben S. #2 (2)

1. Ben S. #3 (2)

1. Ben S. #4 (2)

1. Bhav D. #2 (2)

1. Bosun S. (2)

1. Brad R. (2)

1. Brett G. #4 (2)

1. Brett K. #1 (2)

1. Brett K. #2 (2)

1. Brett K. #3 (2)

1. Chad L. #1 (2)

1. Chad L. #2 (2)

1. Chad L. #3 (2)

1. Chad L. #5 (2)

1. Chrissy I. (2)

1. CSU #1 (2)

1. Damien R. #1 (2)

1. Damien R. #2 (2)

1. Dan D. #2 (2)

1. Dan S. #1 (2)

1. Dan S. #2 (2)

1. Dane R. (2)

1. David S. (2)

1. David W. #1 (2)

1. David W. #2 (2)

1. Dylan B. (2)

1. E Rucker #2 (2)

1. Elizabeth N. #1 (2)

1. Elizabeth N. #2 (2)

1. Eric V. #1 (2)

1. Gigi I. (2)

1. Grant F. (2)

1. Hal R. #1 (2)

1. Hal R. #2 (2)

1. Hal R. #3 (2)

1. Hutch H. #1 (2)

1. Irene H. #1 (2)

1. Irene H. #4 (2)

1. Irene H. #5 (2)

1. Jaxon S. (2)

1. Jay C. (2)

1. Jay H. #1 (2)

1. Jay H. #2 (2)

1. Jeff M. (2)

1. Jeff Sag. #2 (2)

1. Jim D. #1 (2)

1. Jim D. #2 (2)

1. Jim D. #3 (2)

1. Jim W. (2)

1. Joe D. #1 (2)

1. Joe D. #3 (2)

1. Joel S. (2)

1. John M. #1 (2)

1. John M. #2 (2)

1. John M. #3 (2)

1. Josh C. (2)

1. Josh D. #1 (2)

1. Josh D. #2 (2)

1. Josh D. #3 (2)

1. Julie S. (2)

1. Kansas C. (2)

1. Kirt R. #1 (2)

1. Klei R. (2)

1. Larry G. #2 (2)

1. Larry G. #3 (2)

1. Larry G. #5 (2)

1. Luis B. #1 (2)

1. Luis B. #2 (2)

1. Luis B. #3 (2)

1. Malcolm X #1 (2)

1. Malcolm X #2 (2)

1. Marc R. (2)

1. Mason A. #1 (2)

1. Matt M. (2)

1. Max A. #2 (2)

1. Max A. #3 (2)

1. Michelle L. #1 (2)

1. Michelle L. #3 (2)

1. Michelle L. #4 (2)

1. Michelle L. #5 (2)

1. Mike S. #1 (2)

1. Mike S. #2 (2)

1. Mike W. (2)

1. Mindi W. (2)

1. Missy W. #1 (2)

1. Nick I. (2)

1. Pete J. #3 (2)

1. Ray W. #2 (2)

1. Ray W. #3 (2)

1. Rob I. (2)

1. Rob S. #2 (2)

1. Roth W. (2)

1. Scott Has. (2)

1. Scott Her. #1 (2)

1. Scott Her. #2 (2)

1. Scott K. #2 (2)

1. Scott K. (2)

1. Seth D. (2)

1. Stefan K. #2 (2)

1. Suki I. (2)

1. Taima #1 (2)

1. Taima #2 (2)

1. Tomas L. #1 (2)

1. Tomas L. #2 (2)

1. Trent L. (2)

1. Wayne D. #2 (2)

1. Wayne D. #3 (2)

119. Adam S. #1 (0)

119. Adam S. #2 (0)

119. Alex N. #4 (0)

119. Allison C. (0)

119. Alyssa B. (0)

119. Andrew D. #1 (0)

119. Andrzej R. (0)

119. April K. (0)

119. Barack O. (0)

119. Becca T. (0)

119. Becky H. (0)

119. Ben J. #3 (0)

119. Ben P. (0)

119. Brad E. (0)

119. Brent E. #1 (0)

119. Brent E. #2 (0)

119. Brent E. #3 (0)

119. Brent S. #1 (0)

119. Brent S. #2 (0)

119. Brett G. #1 (0)

119. Brett G. #2 (0)

119. Brett G. #3 (0)

119. Chad L. #4 (0)

119. Chris M. (0)

119. Chris T. #1 (0)

119. Chris T. #2 (0)

119. Craig G. (0)

119. CSU #2 (0)

119. Daisy N. #1 (0)

119. Daisy N. #10 (0)

119. Daisy N. #13 (0)

119. Daisy N. #2 (0)

119. Daisy N. #3 (0)

119. Daisy N. #6 (0)

119. Daisy N. #7 (0)

119. Daisy N. #9 (0)

119. Damien R. #3 (0)

119. Dan D. #1 (0)

119. Daniel C. (0)

119. Dennis R. (0)

119. Dustin B. (0)

119. E Rucker #1 (0)

119. Eric V. #2 (0)

119. Howard S. #1 (0)

119. Howard S. #2 (0)

119. Hutch H. #2 (0)

119. Irene H. #2 (0)

119. Irene H. #3 (0)

119. Irene H. #6 (0)

119. Irene H. #7 (0)

119. Jace D. (0)

119. Jackson I. (0)

119. Jared B. (0)

119. Jay H. #3 (0)

119. Jeff Sag. #1 (0)

119. Joe D. #2 (0)

119. Joe D. #4 (0)

119. Kate G. (0)

119. Ken Pom (0)

119. Kiah H. (0)

119. Kirt R. #2 (0)

119. Larry G. #1 (0)

119. Larry G. #4 (0)

119. Matt N. (0)

119. Max A. #1 (0)

119. Michelle L. #2 (0)

119. Michelle R. (0)

119. Miguel D. (0)

119. Mike McQ. (0)

119. Mike N. (0)

119. Missy W. #2 (0)

119. Nikolajs B. (0)

119. Paul W. (0)

119. Pete J. #1 (0)

119. Pete J. #2 (0)

119. Pete J. #5 (0)

119. Ray W. #1 (0)

119. Rob S. #1 (0)

119. Scott K. #1 (0)

119. Stefan K. #1 (0)

119. Szecho L. #1 (0)

119. Szecho L. #2 (0)

119. Tim N. (0)

119. Todd K. #2 (0)

119. Uproxx (0)

119. Valerie D. (0)

119. Veronica A. (0)

119. Wayne D. #1 (0)

119. William G. (0)

208. Alex N. #3 (-2)

208. Daisy N. #12 (-2)

208. Daisy N. #4 (-2)

208. Karen C. (-2)

208. Mason A. #2 (-2)

208. Pete J. #4 (-2)

208. Ryan W. (-2)

208. Sulbum H. (-2)

208. Todd K. #1 (-2)

208. Virginia L. (-2)

218. Stephen N. (-4)

219. Ben J. #4 (-6)

219. Bhav D. #1 (-6)

219. Daisy N. #11 (-6)

219. Daisy N. #8 (-6)

223. Daisy N. #5 (-14)

Unfortunately, Daisy had a lot invested in Oklahoma, including one bracket that had them in the Championship game.  All is not lost though.  There's still over 90% of all available points out there.

Right now, it looks like Gonzaga is pulling away and Kansas is in a real dog fight with Penn.  I'd love to see an upset there, but given they are playing in the state of Kansas, I feel like they will pull away in the second half.  We shall see...

The next set of games looks to have one good game in it.  This one is not it:

Duke vs Iona

Vegas Line: Duke by 20.5

Duke picks:  222

Iona picks:  1

As a lot of you may know, I have a very extensive collection of college basketball T-shirts.  I decided I was going to wear the school that had the biggest point spread against them.  Since I don't have a Radford T-shirt, I decided to wear my Iona shirt.  I would love to see them win.  I hate Duke with the white hot passion of a thousand suns.   It would make my day to see a Lehigh-type game from the Iona Gaels.

Miami-Florida vs Loyola-Chicago

Vegas line: Miami by 1.5

Miami picks: 128

Loyola picks: 95

This seemed like a lot of people's upset special pick.  On paper, this was the closest game of the day.  I doubt it could possibly be closer than the Rhode Island game, but given that the current games are a little sluggish, I'll take what I can get.   I will say that most of the 11 seeds seem pretty strong this year.  Loyola, San Diego State and the 2 play-in winners.  I am a huge fan of taking the play-in winner to the Sweet 16.  I'm not sure about Syracuse, but I like St. Bonaventure.  We'll see them later tonight.

I'll be back after the Kansas game finishes and almost everyone collects an additional 2 points.

NCAA Day 1 - 2nd 2 games.

The Rhode Island / Oklahoma game is currently tied, and is pretty good so far, but there are some more games about to start, and honestly, I don't think either of them is going to be very good.  Either that, or they are going to fantastic upsets.

Gonzaga vs. NC Greensboro

Vegas Line: Gonzaga by 12.5

Gonzaga picks: 220

NC Greensboro: 3

I would love to see this upset happen.  I doubt it will, but it would be fantastic if it did.  A lot of people have Gonzaga going a long way.

Kansas vs. Penn

Vegas line: Kansas by 13.5

Kansas picks: 221

Penn picks: 2

I tried to convince people to not take 16 or 15 seeds, since they almost never win and the risk is hardly worth the reward.  This may be a special case.  Penn is actually much better than most #16 seeds.  It seems like I hear this same story every few years, and still there has never been a 16 seed beat a 1 seed.  Then again, no #15 seed had ever made the Sweet 16, and Florida Gulf Coast did it a few years back, so it's possible.

A word on scoring until the Sweet 16 is set.  All games today and tomorrow are worth 1 point.  The tie breaker will be how many points you've lost.  So, if my team loses but I had them going to the Final 4, I am going to be ranked lower than someone that only had them winning one game.

The scores will look like this:

1. Klei R.: 2(-3)

That means I won 2 points, but I have lost 3 points.  Since there are 192 points possible, it means that I can only get 189.  I hope this makes sense.  It probably will as soon as people see the standings.

I also send out the standings and the net standings.  In the above example, my net points would be 2 + (-3) = -1.  This is a pretty good indicator of the health of the bracket.

I'll update the standings after every 2 games.