- By the end of the 2nd round, out of 48 entries, only 3 still had their Championship match up still in place (Gonzaga over Purdue, and two Villanova over Michigan entries).
- 1 Entry had 6 of the final 7 games still available to be correct.
- 9 Entries have 3 of their Final 4 teams already eliminated.
- The South Region total remaining seeds combined are 32 ( 5, 7, 9, 11).
- In contrast, the East was near chalk and was 1 over the minimum at 11 (1, 2, 3, 5).
- JCASSIVI entry has the most correct picks at the end of the 2nd round (35 out of 48). 2 others come in at 34.
- PHILLY21 - 3 had
hasthe largest "bonus point" discrepancy, having only picked up 24 wins, but totaling 64 points, good enough for 4th overall. - JERGLAZIER3 has the largest bonus point discrepancy as of midway through the Sweet 16 and with no one having Syracuse going on, that should end the bonus point debate.
- Average number of correct picks after 2 rounds: 28.6
- Lowest: 23
- Average Points after 2 rounds: 49.4
- Champion Picks still remaining:
- Villanova: 13 brackets
Duke: 3 brackets- Kansas: 1 bracket
Gonzaga: 1 bracket- Runner Up selections still remaining:
- Villanova: 6
- Kansas: 6
Duke: 4Purdue: 3- Michigan: 2
Kentucky: 1
Team Selection Analysis
Some interesting stats from the Team Selection Registration are posted below, but most importantly for some...the What If Scenarios!
Top three categories of seeds and their round by round as well as overall records this year:
1-3 Seeds
- Villanova: 35 of 38 entries have Nova
- Michigan St: 3rd most popular 1-3 seed (22)
- Tennessee & Texas Tech: The only teams seeded 1-3 that were not selected*
- After the 2nd round, half of the 1-3 seeds were eliminated - 2 at each seed
- After all the mayhem, 3/4 of the Final are still 1-3 seeds
* (this is correcteion from a previous version stating only Tennessee)
- Gonzaga/Arizona: More than doubled the next closest 4-7 seed selections (32/28 respectively vs max of 13 by W Virginia)
- All teams seeded 4-7 had at least 1 selection (Arkansas had 1)
- Not odd based on seed, but based on pool history, the 7s were the lowest combined selection (11 total picks); 4s (79), 5s (36), 6s (26)
- Note that in the past 3 or 4 years, at least 2 11-seeds have won at least one game - not good for the 6s.
Update: by Saturday or Round 2, all 6 seeds had been eliminated, with two losing in the opening round (Miami, TCU) - All 5 seeds won their opening round game for the first time since 2007!
- In fact, 11 seeds have beaten the 6 seed more often than 12 over 5 (which makes sense, but you rarely hear about it). In fact, in the last 6 years, 6 Seeds are only 13-11 versus 11 seeds.
- 3 #5s, 2 #7s, and 1 #4 remain as of the Sweet 16.
- All 4 seeds are gone as of the midway point of the Sweet 16 after Gonzaga got dismantled by Florida St.
- All 4-7s had been officially eliminated by the Elite 8.
- Loyola-Chicago (#11): runaway winner for most selected (68.4%)
- 10s & 11s: both selected a total of 44 times compared to 34 (8s) and 30 (9s).
- Kansas St (9) selected only twice, lowest in the section
Update: With Virginia bowing out in the first round, Kansas St looks to move to the Sweet 16...providing bonus points for these two owners!
Update: I meant the Elite 8! - 4 Teams remained alive into the Sweet 16, comprising of two #11 seeds and two #9s.
- By end of the Elite 8, they compiled an extremely acceptable record of 15-15! By comparison, 4-7 seeds were only 17-16.
Good luck Loyola-Chicago!
- New Mexico St: selected in 71+% of the brackets
- UNC Greensboro - not given a hope against the Zags (0 selections)
- Stone Cold Stephen F Austin is the most popular 14 at 32% (12), selected more than any 13
- All other 14s combined for a total of 4 picks!
- This extends the streak of no teams seeded higher than 11 getting to the Sweet 16 to 5 years (2013 being the last time, with a 12, 13, and a 15 making the Sweet 16)
- Penn was the most popular pick, selected 10 teams (26%)
- Georgia St (9/23%) and Cal St Fullerton (8/21%) were next.
- Three teams were not selected, all 16s (Radford, UMBC, Texas So)
UPDATE: Don't you wish you has opted for UMBC?? Holy history batman! - Well...nothing need be added here...long live UMBC!
- Tennessee (#3) - lost in 2nd round
- Texas Tech (#3) - lost in Elite 8!
- UNC Greensboro (#13) - lost opening round
- Radford (#16) - lost opening round
- UMBC (#16) - lost in 2nd round...yes you read the correctly!
- Texas So (#16) - lost opening round
2018 LogoKudos to our fellow poolie, Mr P Debay, on his 2018 pool logo creation. Slick and subtle. We love it! 29 years strong!
I've already had a sampling of the 30th year logo and it's sweet! And hopefully it'll be unveiled on the new home site in last 2018.
2018 Favorites
Well, as previously mentioned, Virginia is trying to distance itself from the rest of the country, but there are a dozen teams that could easily make a deep run and possibly win it all. In fact, it's not far fetched to say any team in the Top 25 could get hot and win it all. That could be said in most years, but would require a few major upsets. This year, upsets maybe - but doubtful they'd be classified as major.
UPDATE: Virginia Virginia Virginia...tsk tsk tsk!
REMINDER: As some parents like to have their kids play along, the following option is available if you are registering picks on behalf of your child (18 and under), please let me know and I'll make note and update the official entry name as something similar to
Important Dates - 2018
March 11: Selection Sunday
March 13 / 14: First Round Games (not required for the pool)
March 15: Deadline for entries (9am PT)
March 16: Deadline for Payments
March 31: Final Four
April 2: Championship Game and Winners Declared
My Tournament Predictions
1. ACC will have a team in the championship game
2. A #15 will win a game this year
3. A mid-major will have a team in the Elite 8 (West Coast and AAC!)
4. The ACC will have the most teams in the tournament (Correct)
5. One of the three games in the Final 4 will go to OT
HOW TO PAY FOR THE POOL
Email Transfers
My email address for email payments: housesncaapool@REMOVETHISPARTgmail.com
No transaction fees.
*See below for "How Much Do I Owe" to determine your debt if paying before the tournament starts - or check the Payment Status page here for your debt.
No transaction fees.
*See below for "How Much Do I Owe" to determine your debt if paying before the tournament starts - or check the Payment Status page here for your debt.
All Cash Payments
Jason House - text/call me to arrange payment (7**) 689-HABS
Note: Checks are no longer acceptable.
Please do NOT mail a check. Please do not ask if you can mail a check. You have plenty of advance notice to make alternative arrangements for payment. I do NOT want to go to the bank and deposit checks that get held, etc. You'll also notice there's no address - I've moved so it's not the same either. Please either get off your wallet and pay the $1.50 transfer fee or somehow find a way to send me the funds electronically (or show up at my house with cash). Sorry to be a hard a$$ on this, but it's the age of technology - we need to learn to embrace it. If you send me a cheque, you will be added to the banned list (after I cash your cheque). I am not kidding.
Jason House - text/call me to arrange payment (7**) 689-HABS
Note: Checks are no longer acceptable.
Please do NOT mail a check. Please do not ask if you can mail a check. You have plenty of advance notice to make alternative arrangements for payment. I do NOT want to go to the bank and deposit checks that get held, etc. You'll also notice there's no address - I've moved so it's not the same either. Please either get off your wallet and pay the $1.50 transfer fee or somehow find a way to send me the funds electronically (or show up at my house with cash). Sorry to be a hard a$$ on this, but it's the age of technology - we need to learn to embrace it. If you send me a cheque, you will be added to the banned list (after I cash your cheque). I am not kidding.
HOW MUCH DO I OWE?
Is that a question you're wondering? If so...follow this rule:
Add up your Team Selection Entries: 1st one = $15 and each subsequent = $10
Add up your Pick Em All brackets: 1st one = $10 and each subsequent = $5
So...if you had 3 Team Selections and 4 Pick Em Alls:
Team Selection: $15 + 10 + 10 = $35
Pick Em All: $10 + $5 + $5 + $5 = $25
Total: $35 + $25 = $60
Got it?
Special Note: Making a subsequent in your child's name (so they can feel a part of the Madness) is all good and fine. They can be made simply as additional picks and will be charged as such. For example:
John Smith and his son Tommy
John does 1 Team Selection ($15) and 1 Pick Em All ($10).
John also submits a subsequent pick for each pool for his 8-year old son Tommy.
Net result: John owes: Team Selection ($15 + $10) and Pick Em All ($10 + $5) = $40.
Any questions, let me know.
HOW MUCH DO I WIN?
Payouts are determined after all entries are paid, service fees paid out and then awarding winnings based on a 70%, 20%, 10% split. In the case of ties for 2nd and/or 3rd, see the Rules for Tie Breakers.
(Above were the payouts for 2017 - this will be updated after registration closes and payments are all collected)
NOTE: All payouts are in Canadian dollars!
FIRST FOUR - WE DON'T COUNT
When you start selecting your team and making those tough decisions, one thing you won't need to spend any time on is the first four games - we don't not count them (yet). So, when selecting your team, if you choose to select the winner of one of those games, you theoretically get two teams (but only the advancing team matters). Good luck!
Note: No points whatsoever are earned in the first four games - no scoring bonus points, no upsets points, no points for the win.
Note: No points whatsoever are earned in the first four games - no scoring bonus points, no upsets points, no points for the win.
2018 POOL DETAILS
Team Selection: The granddaddy of our pools, you MUST enter this pool in order to participate in any of the pools. This is a unique pool, unlike any other. You pick teams based on the seedings (4 teams that are seeded 1, 2, or 3, 4 teams that are 4, 5, 6, or 7, etc.) and in the end, you end up with 16 teams varying in seeds from 1-16 (yes, you may end up with all 4 #1 seeds - your choice). Points are earned by wins, upsets (lower seed beating a higher seed), and scoring (both offensively and defensively). The Rules section plays out a few scenarios to help explain the scoring and the points. It really isn't hard to understand when you see the example. See the bottom of this post for directions on how to pay.
Pick Em All: This is your standard, run of the mill "bracket" pool that everyone's used to. This year, it's slightly different as we've introduced some new to us bonus points. Read the site details for the full list and information, but here's the summary:
SPECIAL NOTE (and not new)1. Round By Round Points
2. Bonus Points
- Round of 64: 1
- Round of 32: 2
- Sweet Sixteen: 4
- Elite 8: 8
- Final Four: 16
- Championship: 32
- Bonus points are awarded for upsets picked.
- The difference in the seed will be added to the Round Value
ie. if a 12 beats a 5 in the 1st round, you would received 1 (round value) + 12-5 (7) = 8pt; if a 7 beats a 2 in the 2nd round, you would receive 2 (round value) + 7-2 (5) = 7pts.
You MUST go in the Team Selection Pool.
You may NOT just go in the Pick Em All pool.
You may register your spot early for this pool, but the brackets will not be available until after the tournament draw is announced
For those new to the pools, please check out the Rules section that helps explain both the Team Selection and the Pick Em All pools.
RULES FOR PAYMENTS
Payments MUST be sent in by the end of the Round of 64 - MARCH 16th, 2018. If they are not, all of your entries will be removed from all pools and you will be banned permanently from all future pools. I cannot stress this enough - I do not like hounding people months after the pool to get their payments in (this results in people hounding me for their money and I feel like the bad guy although I've done nothing wrong). SO....you've been warned.
Payments MUST be sent in by the end of the Round of 64 - MARCH 16th, 2018. If they are not, all of your entries will be removed from all pools and you will be banned permanently from all future pools. I cannot stress this enough - I do not like hounding people months after the pool to get their payments in (this results in people hounding me for their money and I feel like the bad guy although I've done nothing wrong). SO....you've been warned.
BANNED + SHAMED LIST
- Carlos Cabrera (2009): $15
- Sam Wilson (2008): $90
- David, Donna, Jason and Daniel Rubenstein (2008): $100
- Steve Pettipas (2007, 2009 NFL): $150
* there are others, but I am struggling to locate the file I saved them to; those on the banned list may get back in by paying for their outstanding debt and as well paying 100% upfront prior to the pool starting (current year + previous debt)