# 2014 SDMB March Madness Tournament Pool: The Sequel (on ESPN) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 18, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030 "2014-03-18T22:08:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/81 "2014-03-30T01:16:04Z")
With Florida in the FF, am I eliminated? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/82 "2014-03-30T02:15:43Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Yes they did deserve a better seed (Kentucky); they should have been more like a 3-4 seed. I agree they under performed in the season somewhat, but the talent was obviously there. I agree about the talent but the selection committee doesn’t hand out seedings due to talent, rather, due to performance. And for the consensus #1 ranked preseason team that ended up losing ten games and falling out of the top 25 altogether by season’s end, I think they got about what they deserved. Nobody could have predicted that this group of talented but extremely young players was going to suddenly gel and listen to Calipari and make a run into the tournament like they have. The only inkling that this was about to happen was their one point loss to Florida in the SEC title game, but that was very late in the season and UK lost to some really crappy SEC teams along the way to getting where they are now. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/83 "2014-03-30T03:28:55Z")
Wolfman’s got a commanding lead after day 1 of the Elite 8… 99.9 percentile… pretty impressive! Happy to see my Badgers win and my bracket jump into the top million at ESPN. I’ll be rooting for the Michigan schools tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/84 "2014-03-30T04:10:53Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Wolfman’s got a commanding lead after day 1 of the Elite 8… 99.9 percentile… pretty impressive! \*\* Happy to see my Badgers win and my bracket jump into the top million at ESPN.\*\* I’ll be rooting for the Michigan schools tomorrow. Isn’t that funny? I’m the same way. “Look honey, my ESPN bracket is in the 90th percentile!” “What do you win for that?” “Oh, nothing…it just means I’m in 1,234,364th place out of 10,000,000!” “That’s nice dear” ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/85 "2014-03-30T06:40:08Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Wolfman’s got a commanding lead after day 1 of the Elite 8… 99.9 percentile… pretty impressive! Happy to see my Badgers win and my bracket jump into the top million at ESPN. I’ll be rooting for the Michigan schools tomorrow. _whistles nonchalantly in a way scientifically calculated to not offend the gods of college basketball fate_ 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/86 "2014-03-30T07:29:01Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I agree about the talent but the selection committee doesn’t hand out seedings due to talent, rather, due to performance. And for the consensus #1 ranked preseason team that ended up losing ten games and falling out of the top 25 altogether by season’s end, I think they got about what they deserved. I’m sorry, but I quite disagree. Not saying they should have been a #1 or #2 or even #3 seed. But #8? Ridiculous. > [@](#): > > Nobody could have predicted that this group of talented but extremely young players was going to suddenly gel and listen to Calipari and make a run into the tournament like they have. Actually, many did. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/87 "2014-03-30T15:54:12Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > I’m sorry, but I quite disagree. Not saying they should have been a #1 or #2 or even #3 seed. But #8? Ridiculous. > > Actually, many did. Well, I guess to belabor the point, the SEC is weak (and has been) this season. They lost some games to some pretty weak teams. Ten losses total. And all I heard (and I’m relatively local to the Cats and am a fan) was “when is this team going to ‘get it’?” all over local radio and on sites like [ESPN.com](http://ESPN.com). I’d have to go back and look but now I am wondering how many 10 loss teams from weak conferences that didn’t win their conference tournament had a better seed than #8? ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/88 "2014-03-31T02:01:43Z")
**Results after Elite Eight (Bracket, Points, PPR, Champ)** wolfman1393 1, 850, 160, [del]Michigan[/del] Ponch8 1, 780, 480, Florida SouthernYankee1, 780, 480, Florida NFMensa 1, 770, 480, Florida Bo Knows Basketball, 740, 640, Florida Purple Passion, 740, 480, Florida etv78 1, 740, 0, [del]Duke[/del] Frosty’s Picks, 720, 480, Florida Wolverine 1, 690, 480, Florida Shoeless, 690, 0, [del]Michigan St[/del] mtrg’s Reasonable Bracket (Y), 680, 480, Florida Shoeless (Y), 680, 160, [del]Michigan St.[/del] 85 BracketMatology (Y), 670, 480, Florida Ace331, 660, 480, Florida Raza B 1, 640, 480, Florida Shooter Flatch (Y), 630, 0, [del]Michigan St.[/del] RetroVertigo, 620, 160, [del]Duke[/del] jimmychitwoodsd 1, 600, 480, Florida HubZilla, 580, 0, [del]Kansas[/del] Knorf’s Legendary Bracket (Y), 580, 0, [del]Kansas[/del] Oakminster 2, 570, 480, Florida jms12084 1, 570, 0, [del]Louisville[/del] Jayhawks all the way! (Y), 570, 0, [del]Kansas[/del] Biotop123 3, 560, 0, [del]Virginia[/del] jackaroe, 550, 160, [del]Louisville[/del] jcatcher43 1, 530, 0, [del]Arizona[/del] JohnHa84 1, 530, 0, [del]Louisville[/del] John’s Matchless Bracket (Y), 530, 0, [del]Louisville[/del] Isaac’s Amazing Bracket (Y), 510, 480, Florida Knorf’s Irritated Picks, 490, 0, [del]Arizona[/del] Knorf’s Wacko Bracket (Y), 490, 0, [del]Arizona[/del] Hamlet’s Coin Flips (Y), 430, 0, [del]Kansas[/del] Raza B 2, 380, 0, [del]Wichita St[/del] All champs have been eliminated except Florida. 15 brackets have no possible points remaining. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/89 "2014-03-31T02:06:39Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Well, I guess to belabor the point, the SEC is weak (and has been) this season. They lost some games to some pretty weak teams. Ten losses total. And all I heard (and I’m relatively local to the Cats and am a fan) was “when is this team going to ‘get it’?” all over local radio and on sites like [ESPN.com](http://ESPN.com). > > I’d have to go back and look but now I am wondering how many 10 loss teams from weak conferences that didn’t win their conference tournament had a better seed than #8? Compare Kentucky to Kansas, which was a very similar team. Kansas won the Big 12 conference title but lost in the tournament to Iowa State. They had nine losses going into the NCAA tournament (and had lost 3 of their last 6 games), but somehow still managed to snag a #2 seed. I would argue that both teams probably should have been seeded around #4. The problem with Kansas was that they peaked about a month too early. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/90 "2014-03-31T02:37:52Z")
Does that mean only Dopers who have the Gators cutting down the nets are viable pool winners? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/91 "2014-03-31T03:18:39Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Compare Kentucky to Kansas, which was a very similar team. Kansas won the Big 12 conference title but lost in the tournament to Iowa State. They had nine losses going into the NCAA tournament (and had lost 3 of their last 6 games), but somehow still managed to snag a #2 seed. I would argue that both teams probably should have been seeded around #4. The problem with Kansas was that they peaked about a month too early. I agree it’s somewhat similar, but the Big 12 is a better conference, Kansas had more quality wins and better strength of schedule. I agree that’s a pretty big disparity in the other direction though. Ultimately though, even if **knorf** is correct in calling them “egregiously underseeded”, it just means that UK had a tougher road to where they are than they would have had as a higher seed in the earlier rounds of the tournament. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/92 "2014-03-31T06:34:07Z")
Fair enough. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/93 "2014-03-31T12:09:41Z")
So, if Florida wins the whole thing, does **wolfman** have enough points to hang on, or do \*\*Ponch8 \*\*and I pull ahead? ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/94 "2014-03-31T15:23:27Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Does that mean only Dopers who have the Gators cutting down the nets are viable pool winners? If Florida falls in their Final Four game, other players may have enough points to pull ahead, but I’d have to check individual brackets to see who everyone has picked in the remaining games. Maybe if I have some time this evening I can check out the different combinations and see how it shakes out. I’m pretty sure, however, that those of us with 0 PPR are screwed at this point. > [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > So, if Florida wins the whole thing, does **wolfman** have enough points to hang on, or do \*\*Ponch8 \*\*and I pull ahead? I believe if Florida goes all the way then **wolfman** drops to around 4th place. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/95 "2014-04-01T02:49:56Z")
OK, I checked the 18 brackets with points remaining. In a nutshell: [ul] [li]Nobody had UConn or Kentucky in the Championship game[/li][li] **Bo Knows Basketball** has both Florida and Wisconsin in the Championship game, with Florida winning[/li][li]My bracket in the Yahoo pool has Wisconsin in the Championship game, but losing [/li][li]Three brackets had Florida in the Championship game, but losing[/li][li]The rest had Florida going all the way[/li][/ul] So, if UConn and Kentucky make it to the Championship, there is no change in the current standings. This is **wolfman** ’s only chance of winning. If Florida and Wisconsin make it to the Championship, then regardless of who wins the game, **Bo Knows Basketball** takes the lead, and **Ponch8** and **Southern Yankee** tie for second. If Florida and Kentucky make it to the Championship then **Ponch8** and **Southern Yankee** tie for the lead no matter who wins the game. If UConn and Wisconsin make it to the Championship, **Bo Knows Basketball** wins and my Yahoo bracket gets me second. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/96 "2014-04-01T12:59:45Z")
_Bo Knows Basketball_ c’est moi. Woo! Go Bucky! Go Gators! ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/97 "2014-04-06T04:15:33Z")
I guess Wolfman is our winner! So sick for my Badgers. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/98 "2014-04-06T12:48:03Z")
Yep, congrats to **wolfman** for pulling off the upset! The ending to that UK-Wisconsin game was a stunner. Wisconsin was hitting free throws all night but missed a crucial one at the end. Kentucky couldn’t hit a three pointer all night but nailed one when it mattered most. Maybe it was just me, but I could have sworn when Kentucky was bringing the ball down the court on their last possession, that the clock didn’t start running until the ball was around mid-court. I thought for sure they would be reviewing that during the last time out and would put a few more seconds back on the clock for Wisconsin, but nobody said a peep about it and no review. Watching that last shot swirl around the rim and roll out was heart-breaking (and not just because it would have given me second place! :D) ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/99 "2014-04-06T15:55:41Z")
Nice job! ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030/100 "2014-04-06T17:37:59Z")
Thanks Guys. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-sdmb-march-madness-tournament-pool-the-sequel-on-espn/684030.md?page=4)