Powerhouse Trios

The last two years, the winner of the league was the owner of the NCAA tourney champion (Jutdog with Kansas and Jaybird with UNC). The best bet in breaking this cycle lies in the powerhouse trio, a collection of dominant teams that will win important games and score loads of points. So who's got it and who doesn't:

Contenders:

1st place: Akaoni
This is without question, and simply due to the unanticipated success of Syracuse. Akaoni has #2 Texas (11-0), #5 Syracuse (12-0), and #17 Washington (9-2). Each of these teams has a real likelihood of winning their leagues, and receiving 1 and 2 seeds in the NCAA tourney. Not a bad lineup for the current leader. Talks of the remainder of Aka's roster proving too weak may not hold, as in the end the lead produced by these three squads might allow Aka to donate his bottom three teams to the needy, such as Babs.

2nd place: Jutdog
No surprise that Jutdog made the top three, since he's writing this. But seriously, 3 teams in the top 14 in the nation, including unbeaten and #6 West Virginia, #12 Kansas State (12-1), and #14 Tennessee (9-2). WV has 5 wins over other players, while KState has 4. Tennessee has yet to really show any worth, and may prove to be a weak link.

3rd place: Jaybird
Kentucky has proved to be worth the risk, dominating opponents and reaching 13-0 and a #3 ranking. Jaybird has more though - #13 Georgetown (9-1) and #22 Florida State (11-2). This is a strong trio that has placed jaybird in 2nd. If any of these three teams slip, Jaybird's Dayton (10-2) is ready to step in.


In the Dump and looking forward to next year:

Close to Worst Place: Punmunki
I didn't like the 2nd round selection of Michigan, and I don't think Phunmunki does anymore either. While her first team is very good - 8th ranked Villanova (11-1), her other top teams just hang outside of the top 25, including Texas A&M (9-3) and Wake Forest (9-2). Phun's season may rest solely on Villanova.

Worst Place: Babblemur:
Top three teams don't even crack the top 30: California, Butler, and NotreDame, or next closest Richmond We'll give him his top 4 teams, and together they don't even come close to the powerhouse trios or the leaders. This year might just resemble Bab's first season - only without the excuse of "going green". Unless Jacksonville can pull off something amazing, Babs should have the first expansion draft selection - will he sink as low as Steve Alford? Washington State? How about Missouri State?

Happy Ronzakwanica

All Struggle To Keep Up With Akaoni's Aggressive Pace

Week Seven sucked like others as Akaoni, playing a wee 8 games, managed to sweep up 15 points thanks to the Texas win over Michigan St along with two other PVP wins. Illinois' loss to Missouri was his only weakness.

Jaybird went 10-1 for 14 points to hold onto second place, 3rd place Boaris went 9-4 for 13 points, 4th place Gunz 10-1 for 10 points, and Jut went 10-2 for 14 points to hang onto 5th.

Some Guy in Illinois shot out of the basement off the Missouri win over Illinois and 8 other wins to take 13 points and 6th place. The rest of us just pissed the week away.

Standings after Week Seven:
# 1. AKaoni - 126 (76-13)
# 2. Jaybird - 113 (72-18)
# 3. Boaris - 108 (72-18)
# 4. Gunz - 102 (72-21)
# 5. Jutdog - 96 (67-21)
# 6. Some Guy in Illinois - 92 (68-27)
# 7. NotaTurtle - 88 (62-24)
# 8. Phunmunki - 88 (61-28)
# 9. Babblemur - 86 (56-30)
# 10. The CEO - 85 (65-28)

What will Week Eight have in store for us? Who knows, Jut hasn't updated the schedule yet. I guess we'll see!

Gunz Shoots, Gunz Scores (Akaoni Still Leads)

Akaoni Akaoni Akaoni! What about Gunz???

Granted - Akaoni's Texas knocked in 5 points for beating North Carolina, hit 17 points off of 11-2 play, extended his lead from 8 points to 12, and held onto the number one spot for the umpteenth week in a row, but Week Six went to GUNZ.

Gunz shot up the leader board with 20 points, going 12-2 and climbing solidly into fourth place, challenging 2nd place Jaybird and 3rd place Boaris and leaving the rest of us in the dust. Mississippi State nailed 6 points off wins over Wright St. and Houston. Duke put down Gonzaga, and Old Dominion upset Georgetown. Even UCLA won a game, and UNLV won three.

The Bottom Six players got all jumbled up into a virtual tie as Some Guy in Illinois picked up 14 points to stay in last place but just a point back from Babs, the CEO, and NotaTurtle at 80, with Jutdog and Phunmunki lurking slightly further ahead at 82.

Phunmunki gets the dubious distinction of the worst week, going just 6-4 for 6 points, losing big games to Kansas, Kansas St, Butler, and Illinois-Chicago.

Week Seven looks to be Merry as teams pack games in on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the feature game undoubtedly Tuesday's #2 Texas (Akaoni) vs. #9 Michigan St (The CEO). Tuesday's Nevada-BYU game is a classic mid-major matchup that happens to be between our #2 and #3 players Jaybird and Boaris. Wednesday's Illinois (Akaoni) - Missouri (Some Guy) game is a great annual smashup and worth watching - can Akaoni be knocked off his pedestal?

And lets try not to forget the forgettable "Hawaii Diamond Head Classic", a two point tournament that turned out to have only two player teams in it: UNLV (Gunz) and St. Mary's (Boaris). This starts Tuesday, semis on Wednesday and finals on X-mas.

Standings after Week Six:

# 1. AKaoni - 111 (69-12)
# 2. Jaybird - 99 (62-17)
# 3. Boaris - 95 (63-14)
# 4. Gunz - 92 (62-20)
# 5. Jutdog - 82 (57-19)
# 6. Phunmunki - 82 (55-27)
# 7. The CEO - 80 (60-25)
# 8. NotaTurtle - 80 (54-22)
# 9. Babblemur - 80 (50-27)
# 10. Some Guy in Illinois - 79 (59-24)

Akaoni Expands Lead Going Into Slow Finals Week

Akaoni's stranglehold on first place was threatened briefly but last week he expanded his lead to 9 points led by Syracuse's win over #10 Florida. Akaoni picked up 19 points off of 9 wins with only 2 losses.

Jaybird pulled from fourth to second place going undefeated (10-0) and picking up 20 points let by Georgetown's wins over Butler and Washington. Boaris was bumped down to 3rd place. Phunmunki actually returned a losing record last week (6-7) but still climbed from fifth place to fourth thanks to big wins by Xavier and Niagara.

The CEO climbed out of the cellar and into 8th place off 16 points from 11 wins to just 2 losses.

Week Six is a slow week as most schools are in Finals Week. Nonetheless there are a lot of potential points and movement on the Leader Board, especially on Saturday when 75% of the teams will see some action. Notable games:

Wednesday: South Carolina (Akaoni) vs. Richmond (Babblemur) - is South Carolina worth their weight? Can Richmond knock off another big school team?

Saturday: #2 Texas (Akaoni) faces #10 North Carolina (Some Guy) in the "Must See" game of the week.

Saturday: #1 Kansas (Boaris) faces Phunmunki's scrappy Michigan Wolverines.

Saturday: #7 Duke (Gunz) takes on a persistent Gonzaga (NotaTurtle).

Standings after Week 5:

# 1. AKaoni - 94 (60-10)
# 2. Jaybird - 86 (51-15)
# 3. Boaris - 85 (55-11)
# 4. Phunmunki - 76 (49-23)
# 5. Jutdog - 73 (50-17)
# 6. Gunz - 72 (50-18)
# 7. NotaTurtle - 72 (48-19)
# 8. The CEO - 71 (51-22)
# 9. Babblemur - 69 (45-24)
# 10. Some Guy in Illinois - 65 (49-21)

Early Season Idiot Awards

Congrats to the following idiots - folks who picked like stupid fools:

1. Phunmunki and her second round selection of Michigan. They suck. 4-4 against D-1 foes, including a 16 point romping inflicted by Utah, one might reconsider taking Iowa over Michigan this year.

2. Babblemur and his first round pick of California. At 6-3, California was one of the first preseason top 25 squads to completely fall out of the rankings. While their losses aren't that bad (Ohio St, Syracuse, New Mexico), they aren't representative of a first round selection. After all, he could have had Syracuse, Tennessee, Florida, Georgetown, and more.

3. We all know that Rick Pitino can piss the hell out of everyone who watches his teams - they usually have the most pronounced growing pains of any D-1 team followed by national contention. This year seems to be no different, with Louisville having dropped from the rankings and pulling the worst record in the Big East at 5-3. Losses include UNLV, Western Carolina, and Charlotte. They have 5 non-majors coming up (including challenging games against W. Kentucky and Radford) and then go to Kentucky for a definitive game. At this point though, Some Guy in Illinois is a dumbass for takinng UL one ahead of Clemson and two ahead of Georgetown.

4. Gunze and his selection of Mississippi St at #15. That idiot picked a team that dropped games to powerhouses such as Rider and Richmond. At 7-2 with no real good wins, Miss St has proven worthy of a round 4 pick at best.

5. UCLA sucks. Gunz is an idiot. Sure sure, injuries, draft departures, the works. They have a lot to do to make up for a 2-6 start.

6. Some Guy In Illionis comes in again with his 4th round pick of Creighton. They are 3-5, and no one in the MVC has a worse record. Yes, they schedule tough games, but.. Missouri St is 9-0, Witchita St is 9-1, Illinois St is 9-1 - all teams in this conf that he could have taken.. in the last round and instead of Creighton.

7. Jacksonville should not have been selected, except possibly as a last round feel good team. Babs, however, is an idiot, and picked them with his 5th round selection. If it wasn't for such stupidity, Babs might be in first. Think, Jacksonville is 0-5 and worth 0 points. Mississippi, taken several picks later, is at 10 pts and a top 25 team. The list could go on forever.

8. Boston College is proving to be a terrible pick at #53, and as a result, Jutdog (me) receives an idiot award. Those bastards have lost to too many non-players, and its only going to get rougher in the ACC. At 6-4, they aren't looking good at all.

9. TIE: Nevada (Jaybird at 4-4) - pick 59
TIE: Oregon State ( Phunmunki at 4-4) pick 56

Akaoni Hangs On, Boaris & Phunmunki Rising

Akaoni managed to hang on to the number one spot for the fourth straight week off of a 11-2 record and 18 points for the week. Illinois and Baylor had big wins, while Texas and Syracuse maintained their undefeated records. Week 5 will pit Illinois vs. Vanderbilt, Syracuse vs. Florida, and Washington vs. Georgetown for some tough battles.

Meanwhile Boaris pulled from fourth place to second off 21 points, only Siena and BYU losing games. With five head to head matchups in week 5 (including Florida vs. Akaoni's Syracuse) Boaris could be making a play for the #1 spot.

Phunmunki made the biggest jump from 8th place to 5th place off 13 wins for 19 points, her only two losses to Boston College and Purdue. Week 5 will be a challenge though as Xavier faces Kansas St and Cincinnati, Alabama takes on Purdue and the Purple Eagles face red hot Illinois St.

Gunz pulled down the fewest points of the week (11) dropping from 2nd place to 3rd, while Babblemur had the crappiest record as his merry band of losers went 9-6 (Portland 0-2, Jacksonville 0-2, California lost to New Mexico, Maryland lost to Villanova). Babs fell from 5th to 7th but remains two points up on rival Jutdog.

Some Guy in Illinois (+17 pts) and The CEO (+14 pts) both turned it up but still hold down the Cellar in the #9 and #10 spots.

Week 5 Games of the Week:
W: Kentucky (Jaybird) vs. UCONN (Turtle)
W: Kansas (Boaris) vs. Radford (Jut)
TH: Syracuse (Akaoni) vs. Florida (Boaris) TWO OF THE HOTTEST TEAMS RIGHT NOW
SA: Ohio St (Boaris) vs. Butler (Babs)
SA: Washington (Akaoni) vs. Georgetown (Jaybird)

After Week Four Standings:

* 1. AKaoni - 75 (51-8)
* 2. Boaris - 73 (47-8)
* 3. Gunz - 67 (45-13)
* 4. Jaybird - 66 (41-15)
* 5. Phunmunki - 66 (43-16)
* 6. NotaTurtle - 63 (41-15)
* 7. Babblemur - 62 (40-19)
* 8. Jutdog - 61 (42-14)
* 9. Some Guy in Illinois - 60 (44-16)
* 10. The CEO - 55 (39-20)

TEAM WITH MOST POINTS: Syracuse (Akaoni) 18 points

Preview Week 5

What's worth lookin at week for - not a lot of action, as most big teams play little ones:

1. Tue, Dec 8 pits Butler at Georgetown as well as Xavier at Kansas St. Zona St also heads to BYU.

2. Big Matchup Wed, Dec 9 between a tough Kentucky and UCONN. Wisconsin travels north to an 8-2 UWGB

3. Thur Dec 10 is a huge game undefeateds Syracuse and Florida.

4. Sat Dec 12 is a good college hoops day, with #16 Georgetown and #12 Washington facing off, Ohio St and Butler, Kansas State and undefeated UNLV, Marquette and UW, Sienna and Northern Iowa, and several other head to heads.

5. Sunday Dec 13, we see Cincy going to Xavier and Niagara at Illinois St,

predictions in bold

Opening Month Not Picked Awards

The Best of the Not Selected in the opening month:

1. New Mexico, 7-0, strong win over California, we love the coach

2. Marquette, 6-1, wins over Xavier and Michigan,

3. Miami, FL, 7-0, wins over South Carolina, Minnesota

4. South Florida, 7-1, wins over Virginia, Kent St

5. Missouri St, 6-0, wins over Tulsa and Eastern Michigan

6. Texas Tech, 7-0, wins over Oregon St

7. Pacific, 5-1, wins over San Diego St and San Diego

8. VCU, 5-1, wins over Oklahoma, Nevada, and Rhode Island

9. St Johns, 6-0, wins over Temple and Siena

tie. 10. Depaul, 5-1, wins over Northern Iowa, 4 pt loss to Tenn

tie. 10. Bradley, 5-2, win over Illinois

tie. 10. Iowa, 2-5, wins over Bowling Green and North Carolina (central)

ha ha aaah h h a Just kidding about Iowa.. I can't stop laughing.

Week Three Bloodbath

When most of the games are tournaments, you can assume that there are going to be a lot of losses. After all, only one team can go undefeated in an 8 team tournament. But the points were piled on this week, shaking up the leader board and leading some people to wonder just what the hell they were thinking when they drafted _____ .

A recap of the "point worthy" tournaments and who took home the booty:

a. Coaches Vs Cancer = 2 pts Syracuse (Akaoni) won this last week.
b. NIT Preseason = 4 Duke (Gunz) knocks out UCONN to take the big one.
c. College Ball Experience Classic = 2 Texas (Akaoni) beat Pitt (Akaoni) to take this yawner.
d. Maui Invitational = 3 Gonzaga (NotaTurtle) rose up to win this over Cincinnati (The CEO), Wisconsin and Colorado in a fantastic 3 game tourney. Zags are back in the game!
e. 76 / Anaheim Classic = 3 West Virginia (Jutdog) knocked off the great looking Portland Pilots.
f. Old Spice Classic = 3 Florida St (Jaybird) took out Alabama and Marquette to take the Old Spice.
g. Puerto Rico Tipoff = 3 Villanova (Phumnunki) beat George Mason, Dayton and Ole Miss to take Puerto Rico
h. Paradise Jam = 3 Purdue (NotaTurtle) knocked off Tennessee (Jutdog) in a thriller to take the VI.
i. Hawaiian Diamond Head = 2 (not til December)
j. Charleston Classic = 2 Miami beat South Carolina to win Charleston, no points for anyone!
k. Cancun Challenge = 2 Kentucky (Jaybird) faced little threat in Cleveland St and Stanford to win Cancun
l. Chicago Invitational = 2 Northwestern (Jaybird) beat down Notre Dame and Iowa State to take Chicago.

And a SHOUT OUT to the Richmond Spiders (Babblemur) who knocked off Miss St and Missouri to win the South Padre Invitational, worth no points!

While Akaoni managed to hold onto the number one spot for another week, Gunz won week three by picking up 30 points due to Duke's NIT win, Wisconsin's 2-1 run in Maui, UNLV's big win over Louisville Saturday and Illinois State's four wins. NotaTurtle brought home 27 points, and Boaris and Jaybird banged in 26 a piece. Some Guy in Illinois was the Big Loser this week, picking up only 13 points and falling from 2nd to 9th place.

Standings after Week Three:

# 1. AKaoni - 57 (39-6)
# 2. Gunz - 56 (36-9)
# 3. Jaybird - 53 (32-11)
# 4. Boaris - 52 (34-6)
# 5. Babblemur - 49 (31-13)
# 6. NotaTurtle - 47 (31-11)
# 7. Jutdog - 47 (32-12)
# 8. Phunmunki - 47 (30-14)
# 9. Some Guy in Illinois - 43 (33-12)
# 10. The CEO - 41 (29-16)

Feast Week

This week looks to be one of the best weeks of college basketball in a season that has shown signs of greater parity than usual. Top 10 teams are squeaking past spunky opponents, teams are playing scrappy and tenacious ball, and its looking like anything can happen.

Highlights for Week three:

Paradise Jam Final (3 point tourney) - #6 Purdue (NotaTurtle) vs. #9 Tennessee (Jutdog) This game is HOT. Winner will get 5 pts for beating a top 10 team, 3 for the tourney, plus bragging rights given the intense rivalry between Jutdog and NotaTurtle. The hate seethes between these two, and this game decides it.

Maui Invitational (3 point tourney) Kicks off Tonight, Monday, runs through Wednesday. Great field features six player teams: Gonzaga (Turtle) seeking redemption, Vanderbilt (Babblemur) and Cincinnati (The CEO) face off in the first round, Arizona (Turtle) faces Wisconsin (Gunz) in the first round, with Babblemur's Maryland (Babblemur) the favorite to win this bitch. Lets go.

NIT Final(ly) - 4 point tourney (the mother load). Wednesday Duke (Gunz) faces Arizona St (Some Guy in Illinois), the winner faces UCONN (NotaTurtle) or LSU on Friday. Damn, Turtle sure seems to have a lot of tournament teams... could we be looking at a comeback...

Anaheim Versus Orlando - the Battle of Two Awesome Tournaments

14 teams facing off in these two rival tournaments, both kick off Thanksgiving Day and run through Sunday. Both worth three points each. Both located near Disney Theme Parks. Its ON!

76 Classic (Anaheim) - Long Beach St (Turtle) faces the mighty West Virginia (Jutdog), Clemson (The CEO) takes on the Aggies of Texas A&M (Phunmunki). UCLA (oh my god did someone pick them?) faces Babblemur's giant killers the Portland Pilots, but the game to watch in the first round is the highly anticipated matchup between Jutdog's Golden Gophers and Babblemur's Butler Bulldogs. This should be a GREAT Tourney.

Old Spice Classic (Orlando) - Phunmunki has the deck stacked in her favor in this tournament, starting with Michigan vs. Creighton (Some Guy in Illinois), Xavier vs. Marquette (no one), and Alabama vs Baylor (Akaoni). The last matchup is Florida St (Jaybird) vs Iona, who must have blown Goofy to get into the tournament. I think this one will turn into Michigan vs. Baylor in the finals.

Should be a great week - a LOT of points out there!

Week Two Recap

Winners:

Akaoni - who has managed to go (almost) undefeated! With an amazing 25-1 record, Syracuse's surprising win of the Coaches Versus Cancer Tourney over powerhouses California and North Carolina, he deserves the first place position.

Phunmunki - went 15-2, led by Villanova stomping through the Puerto Rico Tip-off over Dayton and Mississippi, bouncing back from a lackluster 5-4 start.

Some Guy in Illinois - sure, Mississippi lost the Puerto Rico, and North Carolina lost the CVC, but a 16-2 record this week shot him up into second place. Nice job!

Losers:

The CEO - five losses, three against other players, dropped The CEO into last place. Oklahoma's loss to VCU is a bad sign, UNI, Oakland, San Diego St, and Arkansas are showing signs of dragging The CEO down. Can Michigan State carry him through...

NotaTurtle - okay some of his six losses were underdog fights that he wasn't likely to win anyway, but still, pretty sucky.

Jutdog - no excuses here - six losses are medals of "crap" around the neck of this squad. Utah State dropped two games, Kansas State fell to Mississippi, and Boston College's loss to St. Joes is inexcusable (unlike Cornell and Radford's losses, which are natural.)

Standings:

# 1. AKaoni - 35 (25-1)
# 2. Some Guy in Illinois - 30 (24-4)
# 3. Boaris - 28 (20-4)
# 4. Phunmunki - 27 (20-6)
# 5. Jaybird - 27 (19-7)
# 6. Gunz - 26 (20-2)
# 7. Babblemur - 26 (20-4)
# 8. Jutdog - 23 (19-6)
# 9. NotaTurtle - 20 (20-6)
# 10. The CEO - 18 (16-6)

Week Two - Tournament Time?

Week Two features a handful of early season tournaments, which could lead to some interesting head to head match ups that aren't on the schedule yet.

NIT
Kicked off Monday, with four player teams involved, but no head to head games in the first two rounds. Unlike some of the "cowards" tournaments, every team has to win the first two rounds to make it to the final four next week. So far Duke (Gunz), Western Kentucky (Jaybird), UCONN (Turtle) and Arizona St (Some Guy) have all survived round one, and at least three should sail to the final four next week. The Hilltoppers will have to best LSU to earn that right.

Coaches Versus Cancer - Thursday and Friday
Syracuse (Akaoni) and California (Babblemur)
North Carolina (Some Guy) and Ohio State (Boaris)
Winners play friday, losers play friday, the team that wins will pick up 8 points (3 per win and 2 for the tourney.)

Puerto Rico - Thursday, Friday, and Sunday
All teams will play 3 games, and there are five player teams in the 8 team field.
Dayton (Jaybird) and Georgia Tech (Turtle) face off in round one in a "game to watch", with the winner likely facing Villanova (Phunmunki). On the other side, Mississippi (Some Guy) and Kansas State (Jutdog) could face off in round two if they get past Indiana and Boston U.

Charleston Classic - Thursday, Friday and Sunday
Don't laugh! This tournament has really stepped up in caliber!
Okay, only South Carolina (Akaoni) and Penn St (Turtle) are in the 8 team field, but they could face off in the final if they run it.

Paradise Jam - Friday, Saturday, and next Monday
Four player teams play non-player teams in round one, but will likely face off in round two on Saturday. Northern Iowa (The CEO) could face Tennessee (Jutdog), and Boston College (Jutdog) could face Purdue (Turtle), with the finals next Monday.

The only other good games this week are UNLV (Gunz) and Nevada (Jaybird) on Wednesday, and a handful of great games tonight (Michigan St v. Gonzaga, Kansas v. Memphis,)

Week 1 Trippings and Standings

It was a good week for several teams to take a hit. And as there were so few, it makes this post possible. But to recap the games that maybe we didn't think would result in a loss:

• Akron (Jaybird) falls to Austin Peay
• Oregon State (Phunmunki) drops one to Texas A&M CC (now 1-2)
• Oregon State (Phunmunki) drops another to Texas Tech
• Iowa, although no one selected them, trips over perennial powerhouse TX-San Antonio
• Mississippi State (Gunz) falls to national contender Rider
• Oakland (CEO) fails to show up against Eastern Michigan
• Alabama (Phunmunki) losses a close battle to the mighty Cornell (Jutdog)
• Niagara (Phunmunki) losses a tough game against a decent Auburn squad (this was to be expected)
• Creighton (SGII) is defeated in a good game against Dayton (Jaybird) (this was to be expected)
• Wright State (SGII) is also defeated by Washington (Aka) (this was to be expected)

And the final standings on the leaderboard for the opening week:

1. Akaoni with 13 points and a 11-0 record

2. Jutdog with 11 points and a 9-0 record

3. Boaris with 9 points and a 9-0 record


Keep in mind Babblemur's theory - the first and second games of the year are a toss up, good teams don't always play together well, etc. He says its not until the 4th and 5th games that you can start judging a team. However, for teams like California, Cornell, and Tennessee, these squads have the same roster as the past two years, so the gel has already been produced.

First Bracketology of the Year Posted

Enjoy!

Let the Games Begin!

With preseason games under way and the regular season starting in just 4 days, the BabblemurBBALL challenge is set for another exciting year.

The first head-to-head matchup takes effect on next Friday (Nov 13) when Wright St faces off against Washington. An additional 126 games are scheduled for that day. The following day, Dayton faces off against Creighton while Cornell seeks to establish their presence against a solid Alabama.

Of particular note:
- Syracuse lost a preseason match to D-2 Le Moyne.
- Minnesota recruit suspended and another player not playin yet, while UCONN players missing some playtime due to eligiblity questions.
- Half the UCLA squad is injured.
- Kentucky guard John Wall will miss two games this year

Early Season Tournament Match Ups

Early Season Tournament Matchups

2K Coaches V Cancer (NYC) 2 points
Nov 19
Syracuse (Akaoni) v. California (Babs)
North Carolina (Some Guy) v. Ohio St (Boaris)
Winners and losers play Nov 20

CBE Classic (Kansas City) 2 points
Nov 23
Texas (Akaoni) v. Iowa
Pittsburgh (Akaoni) v. Wichita State
Winners and losers play Nov 24

NIT Season Tip Off (New York) 4 points
Nov 16-17
Duke (Gunz) v. Coastal Carolina
Charlotte v. Elon
Arizona State (Some Guy) v. Texas State
TCU v. Cal Northridge
Western Kentucky (Jaybird) v. Milwaukee
LSU v. Indiana St
UCONN (Notaturtle) v. Colgate
Hofstra v. Yale
Final Four Nov 25 and 27

Charleston Classic (Charleston SC) 2 points
Nov 19
South Carolina (Akaoni) v. La Salle
Davidson v. South Florida
Penn State (Notaturtle) v. UNC Wilmington
Miami FL v. Tulane
Nov. 20 semis, Nov 22 Champ and consolation game

Puerto Rico Tipoff (Puerto Rico) 3 points
Nov 19
Dayton (Jaybird) v. Georgia Tech (NotaTurtle)
Villanova (Phunmunki) v. George Mason
Ole Miss (Some Guy) v. Indiana
Kansas State (Jutdog) v. Boston U
Nov 20, 22 Champ and consolation games

Paradise Jam (Virgin Isles) 3 points
Nov 20
Northern Iowa (The CEO) v. DePaul
Tennessee (Jutdog) v. East Carolina
Boston College (Jutdog) v. St. Joes
Purdue (Notaturtle) v. South Dakota St
Nov 21, 23, champ and consolation games

Cancun Challenge (Mexico) 2 points
Nov 24
Kentucky (Jaybird) v. Cleveland St
Stanford v. Virginia
Nov 25 champ and consolation (lame!)

Maui Invitational (Hawaii) 3 points
Nov 23
Gonzaga (Notaturtle) v. Colorado
Cincinnati (The CEO) v. Vanderbilt (Babs)
Maryland (Babs) v. Chaminade
Arizona (Notaturtle) v. Wisconsin (Gunz)
Nov 24, 25, Champ and Consolation games

76 Classic (Anaheim) 3 points
Nov 26
West Virginia (Jutdog) v. Long Beach St (Notaturtle)
Clemson (The CEO) v. Texas A&M (Phunmunki)
Butler (Babblemur) v. Minnesota (Jutdog)
UCLA (Gunz) v. Portland (Babblemur)
Nov 27, 29 Champ and consolation games

Old Spice Classic (Orlando) 3 points
Nov 26
Michigan (Phunmunki) v. Creighton (Some Guy in Illinois)
Xavier (Phunmunki) v. Marquette
Alabama (Phunmunki) v. Baylor (Akaoni)
Florida State (Jaybird) v. Iona
Nov 27, 29 Champ and consolation games

Chicago Invitational (Chicago) 2 points
Nov 27
Notre Dame (Babblemur) v. Northwestern (Jaybird)
Iowa State v. Saint Louis
Nov 28 champ and consolation games

Diamond Head Classic (Hawaii) 2 points
Dec 22
Saint Mary's (Boaris) v. Northeastern
USC v. Western Michigan
UNLV (Gunz) v. SMU
Charleston v. Hawaii
Dec 23 and 25 champ and consolation

South Padre Invitational (Texas) 0 points - this turned into a good field! But alas, no points
Nov 27
Missouri (Some Guy in Illinois) v. Old Dominion (Gunz)
Richmond (Babblemur) v. Mississippi State (Gunz)
Nov 28 champ and consolation games

Preseason Low Major Poll Out

This is really the low majors. No Atl 10, no MWC, no WAC, and no CUSA.

1. Butler (28) 0-0 770 - Babs

2. Gonzaga (2) 0-0 699 - Notaturtle

3. Siena (1) 0-0 699 - Boaris

4. Northern Iowa 0-0 612 - CEO

5. Western Kentucky 0-0 585 - Jaybird

6. Old Dominion 0-0 580 - Gunz

7. Creighton 0-0 568 - SGII

8. Akron 0-0 444 - Jaybird

9. Wright State 0-0 377 - SGII

10. Niagara 0-0 366 - Phunmunki

http://www.collegeinsider.com/mmpoll/

No Jutdog or Akaoni

2010 Preseason Polls Out

AP top 10:


1. Kansas (55) 0-0 1,612
2. Michigan State (5) 0-0 1,515
3. Texas (1) 0-0 1,397
4. Kentucky (3) 0-0 1,372
5. Villanova 0-0 1,347
6. North Carolina (1) 0-0 1,320
7. Purdue 0-0 1,284
8. West Virginia 0-0 1,115
9. Duke 0-0 1,064
10. Tennessee 0-0 897


For more, visit: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/rankings

Pre-Season Players Poll

We've polled all the players and the result is an extremely biased, 'partisan', and absolutely un-scientific poll of who has the best squad of teams:

1. Akaoni - 61 pts - 1 top choice
2. The CEO - 56 pts - 1 top choice
3. Jaybird - 48 pts
4. Jutdog - 47 pts - 2 top choice
5. (tie) Babblemur - 43 pts - 2 top choice
5. (tie) Phunmunki - 43 pts
7. Boaris - 42 pts
8. NotaTurtle - 40 pts - 2 top choice
9. (tie) Gunz - 30 pts
9. (tie) Some Guy in Illinois - 30 pts

The bias became evident when considering the players who were ranked last:
Jutdog: 3 times
NotaTurtle: 3 times
Some Guy in Illinois: 1 time
Gunz: 1 time

However - who cares! Obviously Akaoni has the best squad of teams, but Babblemur will be the surprise winner in the end due to the historic undefeated season and national championship by the Butler Bulldogs.

2009-2010 Draft Selections

DRAFT COMPLETE!

#1 Boaris - Kansas (Big 12)
#2 Jaybird - Kentucky (SEC)
#3 The CEO - Michigan State (Big 10)
#4 Some Guy in Illinois - North Carolina (ACC)
#5 Phunmunki (& sidekick ShinySparklePockets) - Villanova (Big East)
#6 Gunz - Duke (ACC)
#7 Akaoni - Texas (Big 12)
#8 NotaTurtle - Purdue (Big 10)
#9 Jutdog - West Virginia (Big East)
#10 Babblemur - California (Pac 10)

#11 Babblemur - Butler (Horizon)
#12 Jutdog - Tennessee (SEC)
#13 NotaTurtle - UCONN (Big East)
#14 Akaoni - Washington (Pac 10)
#15 Gunz - Mississippi State (SEC)
#16 Phunmunki - Michigan (Big 10)
#17 Some Guy in Illinois - Louisville (Big East)
#18 The CEO - Clemson (ACC)
#19 Jaybird - Georgetown (Big East)
#20 Boaris - Ohio State (Big 10)

#21 Boaris - Siena (MAAC)
#22 Jaybird - Dayton (A-10)
#23 The CEO - Oklahoma (Big 12)
#24 Some Guy in Illinois - Tulsa (CUSA)
#25 Phunmunki (& sidekick ShinySparklePockets) - Xavier (A-10)
#26 Gunz - UCLA (Pac 10)
#27 Akaoni - Illinois (Big 10)
#28 NotaTurtle - Georgia Tech (ACC)
#29 Jutdog - Minnesota (Big 10)
#30 Babblemur - Maryland (ACC)

#31 Babblemur - Vanderbilt (SEC)
#32 Jutdog - Kansas State (Big 12)
#33 NotaTurtle - Gonzaga (WCC)
#34 Akaoni - South Carolina (SEC)
#35 Gunz - Oklahoma State (Big 12)
#36 Phunmunki - Texas A&M (Big 12)
#37 Some Guy in Illinois - Arizona State (Pac 10)
#38 The CEO - Northern Iowa (MVC)
#39 Jaybird - Florida State (ACC)
#40 Boaris - Florida (SEC)

#41 Boaris - BYU (MWC)
#42 Jaybird - Western Kentucky (Sun Belt)
#43 The CEO - Cincinnati (Big East)
#44 Some Guy in Illinois - Creighton (MVC)
#45 Phunmunki - Wake Forest (ACC)
#46 Gunz - Wisconsin (Big 10)
#47 Akaoni - Syracuse (Big East)
#48 NotaTurtle - Arizona (Pac 10)
#49 Jutdog - Utah State (WAC)
#50 Babblemur - Notre Dame (Big East)

#51 Babblemur - Jacksonville (Atlantic Sun)
#52 Jutdog - Boston College (ACC)
#53 NotaTurtle - Memphis (CUSA)
#54 Akaoni - Pittsburgh (Big East)
#55 Gunz - Old Dominion (Colonial)
#56 Phunmunki - Oregon St (Pac 10)
#57 Some Guy in Illinois - Ole Miss (SEC)
#58 The CEO - San Diego St (MWC)
#59 Jaybird - Nevada (WAC)
#60 Boaris - Seton Hall (ACC)

#61 Boaris - St. Mary's (WCC)
#62 Jaybird - Akron (MAC)
#63 The CEO - Oakland (Summit)
#64 Some Guy in Illinois - Missouri (Big12)
#65 Phunmunki - Niagara (MAAC)
#66 Gunz - UNLV (MWC)
#67 Akaoni - Virginia Tech (ACC)
#68 NotaTurtle - Long Beach St. (Big West)
#69 Jutdog - Cornell (Ivy)
#70 Babblemur - Richmond (A-10)

#71 Babblemur - Portland (WCC)
#72 Jutdog - Radford (Big South)
#73 NotaTurtle - Penn St. (Big 10)
#74 Akaoni - Baylor (Big 12)
#75 Gunz - Illinois St (MVC)
#76 Phunmunki - Alabama (SEC)
#77 Some Guy in Illinois - Wright St (Horizon)
#78 The CEO - Arkansas (SEC)
#79 Jaybird - Northwestern (Big20)
#80 Boaris - Houston (CUSA)

Draft Order Set!!!

This afternoon the draft order for the 3rd Annual Babblemur Basketball Contest was drawn, videotaped, and is posted below. This year we will have 10 (ten) players: Akaoni, Babblemur, Boaris, the CEO, Gunz, Jaybird, Jutdog, NotaTurtle, Phunmunki(& sidekick ShinySparklePockets), and Some Guy From Illinois.

Here is the video documentation of the draft order drawing, which was only done once, by Babblemur (left) and Jutdog (right) filmed by little ShinySparklePockets:



Here is a shot of the draft order board:



For the "imagery impaired", the draft order for round one will be:
1. Boaris
2. Jaybird
3. The CEO
4. Some Guy in Illinois
5. Phunmunki (& sidekick ShinySparklePockets)
6. Gunz
7. Akaoni
8. NotaTurtle
9. Jutdog
10. Babblemur :-(

Draft rules:

- Each player will draft 8 NCAA D-1 Men's Basketball Teams
- No team can be drafted by more than one player
- Round 1 draft order is chosen randomly
- Draft will follow snake draft method (team A picks 1 and 8, team B picks 2 and 7, etc)
- No player can draft more than 1 team from the same conference in the first 4 rounds
- No player can draft more than 2 teams from the same conference (in preseason)

Team Selection May Begin ANY TIME.

Early Season Tournaments and their point values

I know, I know, why should early season tournaments be worth any
points at all, right?

They build early excitement for the basketball season, they pit teams
in tournament settings against non conference schools at a neutral
setting, and the teams that win them come out with some momentum.
Below are the tournaments that are worth additional points for winning
this season – get excited!

NIT Season Tip Off (4 pts)
A 16 team field opens up Nov 16, with all 16 eligible to go to the
final championship on Nov 27.
Coastal Carolina v. Duke
Charlotte v. Elon
Texas St v. Arizona St.
TCU v. Cal St. Northridge
Indiana St. v LSU
Western Kentucky v. Milwaukee
Colgate v. UCONN
Hofstra v. Yale

Coaches versus Cancer (2 pts)
16 teams are involved but four automatically go to the championship
rounds Nov 19-20:
Syracuse v. California
North Carolina v. Ohio State

Puerto Rico Tip-off (3 pts)
8 team field playing Nov 19-22 (I can't wait to see Dayton and
Villanova play...)
Dayton v. Georgia Tech
Villanova v. George Mason
Indiana v. Ole Miss
Kansas St. v. Boston U.

Charleston Classic (2 pts)
Not that glamorous but an 8 team tourney running from Nov 19-22
South Carolina v. La Salle
Davidson v. South Florida
Penn State v. UNC Wilmington
Miami (FL) v. Tulane

Paradise Jam (3 pts)
Purdue and Tennessee are the highlights of this 8 team tourney Nov 20-23
DePaul v. Northern Iowa
Tennessee v. East Carolina
Boston College v. St. Joseph's
Purdue v. South Dakota State

CBE Classic (2 pts)
16 teams but four are automatically in the championship rounds Nov 23-24
Pittsburgh v. Wichita State
Texas v. Iowa

Cancun Challenge (2 pts)
16 teams involved but four are automatically in the championship rounds Nov. 24-25
Stanford v. Virginia
Kentucky v. Cleveland State

Maui Invitational (3 pts)
8 teams in Hawaii Nov 23-25
Maryland v. Chaminade
Cincinnati v. Vanderbilt
Colorado v. Gonzaga
Arizona v. Wisconsin

Chicago Invitational Challenge (2 pts)
An interesting mix, with four teams getting auto bids to the championship rounds Nov 27-28
Notre Dame v. Northwestern
Iowa State v. St. Louis

76 Classic (Anaheim) (3 pts)
A great field of 8 teams playing Nov 26-29
Clemson v. Texas A&M
West Virginia v. Long Beach St
UCLA v. Portland
Butler v. Minnesota

Old Spice Classic (Orlando) (3 pts)
8 teams playing Nov. 26-29
Michigan v. Creighton
Marquette v. Xavier
Alabama v. Baylor
Florida St. v. Iona

Finally...
Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (2 pts)
8 teams in Honalulu Dec 22-25
Northeastern v. St. Mary's
USC v. Western Michigan
UNLV v. Southern Methodist
Charleston v. Hawaii

A number of other tournaments are out there but left out of the point values. The rule used was: 4 teams (1 pt), 8 teams (2 pts), 16 teams (3 pts), plus one point if there are 3 or more schools from the Major conferences involved. Any tourney only worth 1 pt after this formula was left out.

2008-09 Season Recap

I was too bitter to do this last spring, but in an effort to bring closure to last season here it is.

The Second Annual contest came down to the final week, the Final Four, and the Final Game. Entering the Final Four were North Carolina (Jaybird), Villanova (The CEO), Michigan State (Babblemur), and Connecticut (HippieD). Of these four, Jaybird, The CEO, and Babblemur all could potentially win this season's contest by winning the NCAA Tournament. The other 9 players had all been essentially eliminated. In the semis, Michigan St (Babs) knocked off UCONN (HippieD) putting their fate in their own hands. North Carolina (Jaybird) knocked off brother Villanova (The CEO) setting up a showdown for the Championship. A Michigan State win would make Babblemur the undisputed winner of the 2nd Annual Babblemur Basketball Challenge. A North Carolina win would push Jaybird past Babblemur by a single point stealing the championship. (Detecting media bias?)

As it happened, North Carolina spanked Michigan State hard, really hard, it was over before half time, with no chance of a come back. Jaybird became the winner of the Second Annual Babblemur Basketball Challenge, joining his cheatin' brother Jutdog who won the first year as the only two winners of this insane contest!

The final standings:
1. Jaybird (202-88) - 476 points
2. Babblemur (208-94) - 475 points
3. Jutdog (192-82) - 442 points
4. Boaris (196-101) - 437 points
5. The CEO (200-91) - 433 points
6. Akaoni (198-100) - 431 points
7. Phunmunki (195-91) - 383 points
8. ProgressMedia (199-92) - 382 points
9. Gunz (181-108) - 370 points
10. NotaTurtle (172-117) - 348 points
11. Musashisan (167-126) - 340 points
12. HippieD (176-108) - 332 points

Highest scoring Teams from 2008-09 season:
1. North Carolina (Jaybird) 159 points (#1 pick overall)
2. Michigan State (Babblemur) 127 points (#10 pick overall)
3. Louisville (Jutdog) 106 points (#4 pick overall)
4. UCONN (HippieD) 100 points (#2 pick overall)
5. Pittsburgh (Boaris) 93 points (#11 pick overall)
6. Villanova (The CEO) 90 points (#19 pick overall)
7. Oklahoma (Boaris) 89 points (#14 pick overall)
8. Duke (The CEO) 88 points (#6 pick overall)
9. Washington (Akaoni) 75 points (#41 pick overall)
10. Memphis (Gunz) 74 points (#12 pick overall)


2008-09 season spreadsheet

Good season, all! Looking forward to Season 3!!!

2009 - 2010 Challenge Rules

Following last year, the league conducted a vote on proposed rule changes. Following the vote, and as expected, Iowa complained. The final tally of those who voted resulted in an overwhelming support of a provision to add +3 pts for an undefeated regular season conference. As a result, this componant will be added to the 09-10 challenge season. There was then a 3-way tie for 2nd, including support of A, D, and G (see 3/28/09 post). Due to the lack of any clear support for a 2nd change, and the vocalized opposition to causing any significant changes, I've made a preliminary determination to only implement the well-supported +3 pts for an undefeated reg conference season. All other rules will remain the same, and are as follows:


Overview:

Players select teams from NCAA D-1 Men's Basketball in a draft before the season begins. Points are earned by winning games, tournaments, conference standings, and by beating other players. The goal - to have the most points at the end of the season.


Scoring:

- A team earns 1 point for every 1 D-1 win
- A team loses 2 points for every loss to a non-D-1 team (because that is a sorry loss)
- A team earns 2 extra points for a vicory over another player's non-AP top 10 team (3 total)
- A team earns 2 extra point for a victory over a non-player AP top 10 team (3 total)
- A team earns 4 extra point for a victory over another player's AP top 10 team (5 total)

- A team that wins a pre / in-season tournament receives points as follows (SUBJECT TO CHANGE BY BABBLEMUR):
a. Coaches Vs Cancer = 4 pts
b. NIT Preseason = 4
c. College Ball Experience Classic = 3
d. Maui Invitational = 3
e. Great Alaskan Shootout = 3
f. Old Spice Classic = 3
g. Puerto Rico Tipoff = 3
h. Anaheim Classic = 3
i. Paradise Jam = 3

- A team that wins a major conference regular season earns 7 points
- A team that wins a non-major conference regular season earns 6 points
- A team that wins a major conference tournament earns 5 points
- A team that wins a non-major conference tournament earns 4 points
- A team that completes the regular conference season undefeated earns +3 points.
- A team that makes the post-season NIT final 4 receives 2 points*
- A team that makes the post-season NIT championship receives 4 points*
- The team that wins the post-season NIT championship receives 7 points*

- Each team that makes the NCAA tourney receives 4 points
- Each team earns 2 points for a NCAA tourney round 1 win*
- Each team earns 5 points for a NCAA tourney round 2 win*
- Each team earns 8 points for a NCAA tourney round 3 win*
- Each team earns 12 points for a NCAA tourney round 4 win*
- Each team earns 16 points for reaching the NCAA final*
- The team that wins the NCAA tourney earns 20 points.*

- * Each post-season win over another player will also include +2 points


Preseason Draft:

- Each player will draft 8 NCAA D-1 Men's Basketball Teams
- No team can be drafted by more than one player
- Round 1 draft order is chosen randomly
- Draft will follow snake draft method (team A picks 1 and 8, team B picks 2 and 7, etc)
- No player can draft more than 1 team from the same conference in the first 4 rounds
- No player can draft more than 2 teams from the same conference (in preseason)


Interim Draft and Release:

- The last week of January, each player must draft 2 additional teams.
- Draft order will utilize snake method, with pick 1 going to last place point earner
- A voluntary third round will take place following the 2-round draft, in which one team from the original roster can be dropped and a new team picked up. All existing points from original team will remain. Order will continue snake method from round 2.
- Points will begin to be earned by the new teams on February 2, and new points will no longer be added for the discarded team effective February 2.


More

- Major Conferences include: ACC, Big 10, Big East, Big 12, Pac 10, and SEC

- Winner receives highly coveted & valued prizes from the BabblemurVault & ProgressMedia

- Winner also receives a place in the honorable Babbleball Hall of Fame

- Re. Playing your own team. A victory over your own team does not produce the +2 effect, nor the +4 effect if it is a top 10 team. You would still earn 1 point for a victory.

- While the CBI itself isn't worth anything, a team will still earn 1 point for each victory, and +2 for a victory over another player's team throughout CBI play

- Only the preseason tourneys listed are worth additional points for winning.

- AP poll is effective 2:00pm on each Monday throughout the pre and regular season, and lasts through the end of conference tourneys. Following the conference tourney, you will no longer receive a +2 bonus for defeating a "top ten" team

- If two teams tie for conference regular season champs, both teams are awarded full points

- Winning a division within a conference does not produce additional bonus points under the conference champion rule. If a conference is divided into divisions, only the overall conference champion will be awarded the bonus points, with no bonus points for winning a division but not the overall conference

Penn State Wins NIT, Musa climbs to 11th

Penn State defeated Baylor in the NIT, a crushing blow for NotaTurtle that boosted the ailing Musashisan out of the basement and into 11th place, just a few points ahead of HippieD. HippieD, however, still has UCONN in the Final Four, and thus his fate is in his hands.

Musashisan also has a chance to win the CBI best of 3 finale when Oregon State faces Turtle's UTEP tonight in the tie breaker.

But the big games are Saturday! Final Four Baby

Michigan State (Babblemur) long shots to reach the final game and give Babs the win;

UCONN (HippieD) the giant killers with their own giant wade into the final four ready to reek havoc as HippieD tries to stay out of last place;

North Carolina (Jaybird) everyone's choice for National Champs at the beginning of the year is finally giving Jaybird, who has never led this competition, a crack at winning it all;

Villanova (The CEO) unlikely rise out of the brutal Big East, maybe the only team that can beat UNC at this level and potentially give The CEO, who has also never led this competition, a crack at winning it all;

ITS ON!

THE FINAL WEEK

Our long nightmare is almost over, just in time for planting season for us farmers.

It is down to three potential winners, all in the Final Four

Semi-Finals on Saturday are worth 17 points (plus 2 for beating another player, 1 for the win):
North Carolina (Jaybird) vs Villanova (The CEO)
UCONN (HippieD) vs Michigan State (Babblemur)

Championship Game is worth 21 points (plus 2 for beating another player, 1 for the win)

Prognosis: If North Carolina, Michigan State or Villanova win the National Championship, Jaybird, Babs or The CEO, currently in 5th, 1st and 4th place, will win it all.

If UCONN wins the National Championship, HippieD will rise from 11th to 9th place, but who will finish in first then??? Jaybird or The CEO will pick up 20 points Saturday, putting them at either 452 or 453, still 2 points behind Babblemur. With neither having teams playing in the NIT, CBI, or CIT, that's it - if UCONN wins, Babblemur wins.

NIT - Butter Battle in a Bottle

Still points going on here - Semi Finals on Tuesday are worth 4 points (plus 2 for beating another player, 1 for the win):

San Diego State (Babblemur) vs Baylor (NotaTurtle)
Penn State (Musashisan) vs Notre Dame (Gunz)

Finals on Thursday are worth 7 points (plus the you know)

Commentary: If the CEO or Jaybird were just a little closer to Babs, the NIT may have become the decider in either putting Babblemur over the top or keeping them below the mark. Now it is for glory only.

CBI: Best 2 out of 3?

Whatever, I guess it is something different. Tonight UTEP (NotaTurtle) and Oregon St (Musashisan) play the first in a best of 3 game series for the CBI Title, worth nothing but the points they get playing each other.

CIT: [insert witty comment]

Tuesday is the finals of the CIT, with Old Dominion (Gunz) taking on Bradley for that single point that comes from a win. Combine that point with a Notre Dame NIT Champ and Gunz could move into seventh place leaping past ProgressMedia and Phunmunki.

Rule Change Vote

Below are 9 proposed changes to our scoring system. We will implement the 2 with the most votes for next year. Each player has 3 votes. Votes can be piled up onto one change (example all 3 of Bab’s votes go for C). Vote by commenting below. Add your name.

A. AP Top 25 win +1 pt. Currently, you receive +2 for a top 10 win. This change would keep the +2 over the top 10, but would add +1 to wins over AP 11-25.

B. Undefeated: +3 pts for an undefeated regular season conference. Currently, no points are allocated for successfully going undefeated in conference play. In 2009, this bonus would have only affected Gonzaga and Memphis. In 2007, Memphis, Cornell, and Davidson would have achieved this.

C. Preseason: Add an additional +1 pt to each pre-season tourney in which points are given. Early season tend to lack significant point action, and increasing preseason tourney values by 25-33% will add a little more early excitement.

D. CBI points: A team that reaches the CBI final receives +2. The team that wins the CBI received +4. In 2009, over ½ of the CBI teams were player teams. At current, no CBI games receive bonuses. Increasing the championship adds a little more significance.

E. NIT points: A team that reaches the Final 8 of the NIT receives +1. A team that reaches the NIT final 4 receives +3. A team that reaches the NIT championship game receives +5. The team that wins the NIT receives +7. At current, you receive +2 for the final 4, + 4 for making the final, and +7 for winning.

F. NCAA points: Add +1 additional point to winners of round 1, 2, and 3. Currently, a round 1 win is worth +2, a round 2 win is worth 5, a round 3 win is worth 8, with a round 4 win jumping up to 13.

G. Conf Grouping & Point Restructuring: Create 3 conference tiers: Major, Mid-Major, and Minor. Major conferences (6 confs) would not change. Mid-Major (9 confs) would consist of Atl 10, Mountain West, Miss Valley, CUSA, Horizon, WAC, West Coast, MAC, & CAA. Minor would consist of the rest (16 confs). Tier one reg season championship: 10 pts; Tier two reg season championship: 8 pts; Tier three reg season championship: 6 pts. A conf tourney champion would receive: 8, 6, and 4. At current, there is no mid-major tier, a team that wins a major conference regular season earns 7 points and a non-major conference regular season earns 6 points; A team that wins a major conference tournament earns 5 points and a non-major 4 points.

H. Trades: Players can trade draft order spots with certain restrictions. Each player must have a draft pick in every round, and each draft order trade must include 2 rounds for each player. For example, Turtle may trade his 3rd pick and 22nd pick for Gunz’s 12th and 13th pick. Selected teams may not be traded.

I. Bad: A loss by an AP top 25 team to an unrated team by over 35 points results in –5 pts.

Week Twenty Preview

After nineteen weeks there are still nine players that can potentially win this contest, and only 26 points separates 6th place from 1st place. All games this last week were both critical and brutal as any loss eliminates that team from any future points.

Going into Week 20, who is left in play and what do they have to do:

NCAA Tourney (16 teams)
Midwest
Louisville (Jutdog) plays Arizona (Progress Media)
Michigan St (Babblemur) plays Kansas (Jaybird)
West
UCONN (HippieD) plays Purdue (Akaoni)
Memphis (Gunz) plays Missouri (Gunz)
East
Pittsburgh (Boaris) plays Xavier (Phunmunki)
Duke (The CEO) plays Villanova (The CEO)
South
North Carolina (Jaybird) plays Gonzaga (Phunmunki)
Oklahoma (Boaris) plays Syracuse (Babblemur)

NIT (9 teams left)
San Diego St (Babblemur) plays winner of St. Mary's (Progress) and Davidson (Progress)
Baylor (NotaTurtle) plays Auburn
Notre Dame (Gunz) plays winner of Creighton (Babs) & Kentucky (Boaris)
Florida (Akaoni) plays Penn St (Musashisan)

CBI (6 teams left)
Northeastern (Jaybird) plays UTEP (Turtle)
Richmond (HippieD) plays Charleston
Stanford (Boaris) plays Wichita St
Vermont (Phunmunki) plays Oregon St (Musashisan)

CIT (2 teams left)
Belmont (Phunmunki) plays Old Dominion (Gunz)
James Madison v. Liberty
Oakland v. Bradley
Idaho v. Pacific

Next NCAA Tourney rounds games are worth 8 points on top of the 1 point win and 2 points against other players (11 total). The sat-sun games will be worth 13 points plus the 1 point win and 2 points against other players (16 total). This weeks games are critical for everyone.

The Good, Bad, and the Babblemur

So, with only a few weeks left to go, and several rounds of tourney action underway, and several lame posts from Iowa, I thought its a good time to recap our picks. We'll finish the year with a final BRI, but for now, here is how our draft can be scored (Starred* teams still alive):

Round 1.

Winners:
1. Jutdog (Louisville* with 87 pts),
2. CEO (Duke* with 80 pts),
3. Jaybird (UNC* with 80 pts),
Honorable Mention: Babs with Michigan St* - 72 pts and Boaris with Pitt - 74 pts.

Losers:
1. Musas (Tennessee with 48 pts)
2. ProgressMeds (Texas with 53 pts)


Round 2

Winners:
1. Boaris (Oklahoma* with 70 pts)
2. Jutdog (Wake Forest with 63 pts)
3. Babs (Zona St* with 61 pts)

Losers:
1. Musash (Georgetown with 34pts)
2. ProgressMeds (Davidson with 36 pts)
3. Gunz (Notre Dame with 39 pts)
4. Notaturtle (Miami with 34 pts)


Round 3

Winners:
1. Phunmunki (Xavier* with 67 pts)
2. Jaybird (Kansas* with 65 pts)
3. Babs (Syracuse* with 59 pts)

Losers:
1. HippieD (UNLV with 37 pts)
2. Notaturtle (Baylor* with 38 pts)
3. ProgressMeds (St Marys* with 37 pts)


Round 4

Winners:
1. Akaoni (Washington* with 71 pts)
2. CEO (LSU* with 66 pts)
Honorable Mention: Babs and Creighton* with 51 pts and Jutdog and Temple with 50 pts

Losers:
1. Musash (Iowa with 19 pts)
2. Turtle (Kent St with 24 pts)
3. HippieD (George Mason with 30 pts)


Round 5

Winners:
1. CEO (VCU with 52 pts)
2. Babs (West Virginia with 51 pts)

Losers:
1. HippieD (Murray St with 17 pts)
2. Jutdog (San Diego - dropped - 16pts through Feb draft)
3. Phunmunki (Nevada with 26 pts)
4. Gunz (Arkansas with 26 pts)


Rounds 6-8

Winners:
1. Akaoni with Dayton* - 53 pts
2. Boairs with Mississippi St - 53 pts (last round pick)
3. Boaris with Butler - 52 pts
4. Turtle with Cal St Northridge - 42 pts
5. ProgressMeds with Illinois St - 39 pts (last round pick)
6. Phunmunki with Vermont* - 32 pts (last round pick)

Losers:
1. The CEO with Midd Tenn St - 16 pts
2. HippieD with Western Mich - 8 pts
3. Musash with Oregon - 8 pts, dropped for expansion draft
4. Babs wtih Charlotte - 11 pts, dropped for expansion draft
5. The CEO with Boston - 19 pts
6. The CEO with Mount St Marys - 21 pts

Presidential Bracket

Obama, hoops fan that he is, has released his NCAA bracket on the White House website.

For anyone needing any executive guidence, here's the bracket.

Also...Open Thread.

Update: More on the Prez picks HERE

Tournament Time!

Who got burned? Who got the sweet seeds? The CEO said it best - we all got burned.

What that means is that there is actually some parity going into the NCAA Tournament, and earlier projections of Jutdog sweeping this contest can now be retracted.

The Top 6 (Bottom 6 coming later)

Jutdog goes into the tournament with a 28 point lead but can he hang on? His best four teams (Louisville, Wake Forest, Ohio State, Utah) are all in the top half of the Midwest bracket, meaning no more than 2 Sweet 16 teams for Jut, and only one Elite 8 at most. SF Austin, Cornell and Temple all drew tough match ups and won't last long although Temple might give Arizona State a run if not an upset. In the NIT, Rhode Island got a good draw but Weber St faces top seed San Diego State for a quick defeat.

Akaoni can complain about 3 of his 5 teams being in the same bracket as well, one that will likely see UCONN emerge into the Elite 8 so a tough row for Washington, Purdue, and Texas A&M. Dayton could give West Virginia fits, and Akaoni needs Michigan to upset Clemson and Oklahoma in the South. Prospects are dim for Akaoni. However he does have three teams in the NIT (Florida, New Mexico, South Carolina) with Florida a clear favorite to make it far.

Babblemur only got four teams in, but they are good teams with pretty good seedings. Michigan State & West Virginia will have some tough games to get to the Sweet 16 but face each other if they do. Arizona State & Syracuse will face off in the second round assuming they beat up Jut's teams in the first. Either can hold their own against Oklahoma. Overall weak prospects for Babs given that only 3 teams can reach the Sweet 16, and might not make it much further. However with a league leading 4 teams in the NIT (San Diego St, Tulsa, Creighton, Jacksonville) he could get an edge with the bonus points.

Boaris got himself back on track with a good week and four teams in the NCAA. Top seed Pitt is a Final Four favorite in the East, Oklahoma a 2 seed in the South will have to fight their way to the Elite 8. Butler got a good draw against LSU and could face UNC in round 2. Miss St faces Washington and ought to be eliminated but they could win this one. Pitt & Oklahoma have the potential to catapult Boaris back into first place and contend for the championship. 3 NIT teams (Kentucky, Providence, V-Tech) might help.

Jaybird has a chance as long as North Carolina stays alive. UNC got a good draw and should easily handle LSU, Illinois, or Gonzaga should they match up, and Oklahoma might be all that stands between UNC and the Final Four. Marquette's recent decline will probably continue with an early out, if not against Utah St then Missouri. One round one win to count on is the North Dakota St-Kansas game, Jaybird will win even when he loses. Kansas will face tough competition to get out of that bracket alive. Kansas-West Virginia could be a great game to watch. Lets not forget Alabama State in the "play-in" game - if they win (2 points) they face Louisville. Could they...? Nah.

The CEO got six good teams into the Tournament, which gives him more room for more points but will any of them reach the Final Four? Duke & Villanova got good draws but will have to face off in the Sweet 16 if they both make it. VCU gets to wear down UCLA before Villanova (likely) takes them on. LSU got burned and not only face a scrappy Butler team in round one but take on North Carolina in round two if they beat Butler. Siena drew Ohio State, and even if they win they face Louisville. Northern Iowa drew Purdue as a 12 seed, and could surprise some people and wind up in the Sweet 16. The CEO has a shot if Duke or Villanova get to the Final Four and he gets some wins from Siena & UNI.

By the way, join the Babblemur Group on ESPN with your tournament predictions!

The Bottom Six

The Bottom Six have a much taller order to win it all, with Progress Media and Phunmunki starting 70 points down and last place HippieD over 130 points down. Are they out? Consider this - The NCAA Champion will likely finish with 78 points, the runner up will finish with 55. Making it to the Sweet 16 alone is worth 11 points (I'm including 2 points for each round assuming it is against another player's team). So do they have a chance?

Progress Media has six teams in but none of them are stellar. He will need a series of upsets to wrack up points: Utah State over Marquette is doable but Morgan St, E. Tenn St. and American have tough draws and little hope. Texas and Arizona are the best PM has, and Texas would face Duke in round 2 and Arizona has to fight past Utah and Wake to be competitive. Progress is done.

Phunmunki has seven teams in and several of them are certainly Sweet 16 material but Final Four? 4 seeds Gonzaga and Xavier will have to earn their way to the Elite 8 and at least one must make the Final Four to give Phun a shot. California & Maryland are both good teams but face off in round one with the winner taking on Memphis. If California or Maryland can take the West Phun will be competing for the top.

Gunz has 1 great team (Memphis) and 3 pretty good ones (Missouri, Minnesota, Boston College) and he needs all four in the Sweet 16. Memphis is favored and has a chip on their shoulder, Missouri is hot but will face Memphis in the regionals if they get past Marquette. Boston College could upset Michigan State in round 2 and run deep, Minnesota however will be lucky to beat Texas in the first round.

NotaTurtle needs UCLA & Illinois in the final four. UCLA has tough match ups against potentially Villanova and Duke. Illinois got a good draw if they can get past the Hilltoppers and take down Gonzaga. Northridge vs Memphis = upset? Cleveland St vs Wake Forest = blowout. Baylor and Miami should go far in the NIT.

Musashisan needs a miracle, and they don't have one. 9 seed Tennessee faces Pitt in round 2, 5 seed Florida St could fall to Pitt as well in round 3 if they get that far. Western Kentucky will be trying to repeat last year's amazing run (and could do it), and 7 seed Clemson could make it into the Elite 8 but it won't be easy. NIT teams Penn St and Wash St should fall fast.

HippieD is in the dubious position of having one of the best teams (UCONN) and the worst position (last place). UCONN could easily win the national championship, netting HippieD 78 points and still fall far short of first place. With only USC and Oklahoma St joining UCONN in the Big Dance, it isn't looking good. USC could make a good run, they are capable of beating both Boston College and Michigan St, and if they make it that far they could beat West Virginia or Kansas as well. Louisville? Doubt it. HippieD has the potential to win both the NCAA Tourney and the NIT Tourney and still lose.

By the way, join the Babblemur Group on ESPN with your tournament predictions!

Power Weekend Points Galore

POWER WEEKEND POINTS GALORE

6 Major Conferences: 30 points
9 Other Conferences: 36 points
15 More Automatic bids: 60 points

And Selection Sunday will result in 34 At-Large bids: 136 points

Who's still in the running for those Conference bids this weekend? Most players have just one or two teams left on the point hunt with the exception of NotaTurtle (3 teams) Babblemur (4 teams) and Jutdog (5 teams). First place Babblemur faces second place Jutdog in three huge games on Saturday that could determine the point spread going into the tournament.

The rundown:

ACC
North Carolina (Jaybird) vs Florida St (Musashisan)
Duke (The CEO) vs Maryland (Phunmunki)

Big Ten
Michigan St (Babblemur) vs Ohio St (Jutdog)
Purdue (Akaoni) vs Illinois (Notaturtle)

SEC
LSU (The CEO) vs Mississippi State (Boaris)
Tennessee (Musashisan) vs Auburn

Big East
Louisville (Jutdog) vs Syracuse (Babblemur)

Big 12
Baylor (Notaturtle) vs Missouri (Gunz)

Pac 10
Arizona State (Babblemur) vs USC (HippieD)

Conference USA
Memphis (Gunz) vs Tulsa (Babblemur)

Mountain West
Utah (Jutdog) vs San Diego St (Babblemur)

WAC
Utah St (Progress Media) vs Nevada (Phunmunki)

The following conferences have players playing against non-player teams for championships (& eight points):

Atlantic 10: Temple (Jutdog) vs Duquesne
Big West: Northdridge (Notaturtle) vs Pacific
MAC: Buffalo (Jaybird) vs Akron
MEAC: Morgan St (Progress Media) vs Norfolk St
SWAC: Alabama St (Jaybird) vs Jackson St
Southland: Stephen F. Austin (Jutdog) vs. San Antonio

March 23 2009 BRI

Babblemur Rating Index - the authority on who gets into the NCAA tourney....


1. UNC, 70 pts, pick 1, Jaybird

2. PITT, 65 pts, pick 11, Boaris

3. Louisville, 64 pts, pick 4, Jutdog

4. Washington, 63 pts, pick 41, Akaoni

5. Oklahoma, 61 pts, pick 14, Boaris

6. Michigan St, 60 pts, pick 10, Babs

7. Wake Forest, 59 pts, pick 21, Jutdog

7. Duke, 59 pts, pick 6, CEO

9. Kansas, 58 pts, pick 25, Jaybird

9. Gonzaga, 58 pts, pick 5, Phunmunki

9. UCONN, 58 pts, pick 2, HippieD

12. Xavier, 57 pts, pick 29, Phunmunki

13. LSU, 54 pts, pick 43, CEO

14. VCU, 52 pts, pick 52, CEO

15. Creighton, 50 pts, pick 39, Babs

15. UCLA, 50 pts, pick 3, Notaturtle

17. Butler, 48 pts, pick 62, Boaris

17. Memphis, 48 pts, pick 12, Gunz

19. Arizona St, 46 pts, pick 15, Babs

20. Villanova, 45 pts, pick 19, CEO

3 teams tied with 44 pts.

Tight Race & Higher Stakes

Its getting down to the wire and the leader board is tightening just as each game seems to be worth so much more than a point!

Conference Champs

All the regular season champs have been determined, and those points have catapulted Jaybird, Jutdog, CEO and ProgressMedia into contention with Top Dogs Akaoni, Babblemur & Boaris. Jaybird took in 32 points off 5 conferences, Jut 31 off 5 conferences, The CEO took in 25 from 4, ProgressMedia took in 24 from 4. The other 11 conferences were split among the others.

Now just 25 points separates 6th place from 1st place, while almost 100 points separates 12th place from 1st place.

Losers

Now a tribute to the little teams that sucked just enough to not win their conference tournaments so far and thus will likely be going to the NIT, if that:

Drake (Akaoni); Wright St (Akaoni); Creighton (Babs); VMI (Babs); Jacksonville (Babs); Austin Peay (Boaris); Southern Ill (Gunz); Old Dominion (Gunz); Murray St (HippieD); Northeastern (Jaybird); Green Bay (Jutdog); Milwaukee (Turtle); Belmont (Phun); Vermont (Phun); Davidson (Progress); Illinois St (Progress); Mid Tenn St (CEO); Oral Roberts (CEO);

It was fun, losers, although Creighton & Davidson might still be on the "at large" bubble and many of these guys will wind up in the NIT.

Bubble Teams

If you ain't sure, you are on the bubble. These teams need a good couple of wins during championship week to be considered for the NCAA Tourney. Who do you think should be in? I've added teams as "Locks" if they have already secured an automatic bid.

• Akaoni
• Locks: (4) Purdue, Florida, Texas A&M, Washington,
  
• Bubble: (4) New Mexico, Dayton, Michigan, South Carolina
  
• Jutdog
• Locks: (4) Louisville, Wake Forest, Cornell, Utah,
  
• Bubble: (3) Ohio St, Temple, Rhode Island,
  
• Babblemur
• Locks: (4) Michigan St, Arizona St, Syracuse, West Virginia,
  
• Bubble: (2) Creighton, San Diego St,
  
• Boaris
• Locks: (2) Pittsburgh, Oklahoma,
  
• Bubble: (3) Virginia Tech, Butler, Providence,
  
• The CEO
  
• Locks: (4) Duke, Villanova, LSU, UNI
  
• Bubble: (1) Siena,
  
• Jaybird
• Locks: (3) North Carolina, Marquette, Kansas,
  
• Bubble: none
  
• Progress Media
  
• Locks: (2) Texas, E. Tenn St.
  
• Bubble: (4) Davidson, St. Mary's, Arizona, Utah St,
  
• Phunmunki
  
• Locks: (4) Gonzaga, Xavier, BYU, California,
  
• Bubble: (2) Wisconsin, Maryland,
  
• Gunz
  
• Locks: (2) Memphis, Missouri
  
• Bubble: (2) Boston College, Minnesota,
  
• NotaTurtle
  
• Locks: (2) UCLA, Illinois,
  
• Bubble: (1) Miami,
  
• Musashisan
  
• Locks: (3) Tennessee, Clemson, Florida State,
  
• Bubble: (1) Penn State,
  
• HippieD
  
• Locks: (1) UCONN,
  
• Bubble: (2) UNLV, Oklahoma St,
  

Conference Showdowns

Things are heating up as we approach 11 days from Selection Sunday. Conference championships are on the line, and the leader board is tightening.

ACC: It all comes down now to Sunday's North Carolina-Duke game. If North Carolina wins, they win sole possession of the ACC championship, and Jaybird picks up 7 points. If Duke wins, they share the championship (they will have split their 2 meetings) and both Jaybird and The CEO will get 7 points each.

Big 12: Missouri's (Gunz) huge win over Oklahoma (Boaris) could have given Kansas (Jaybird) the conference championship but Kansas fell to Texas Tech, meaning that Kansas must beat Texas on Saturday to become sole Big 12 Champ, or both Missouri and Oklahoma must lose. If Kansas loses and Missouri wins, Gunz and Jaybird will both get the 7 points. If Kansas loses and Oklahoma wins, Boaris gets nothing because Oklahoma lost to both Missouri and Kansas in their only games against each other.

Big East: The Big East has come down to UCONN (HippieD), Pittsburgh (Boaris) and Lousiville (Jutdog). Pitt & Louisville both won Wednesday night, putting the pressure on UCONN to win their final game on Saturday against Pittsburgh in order to take the Big East championship (and 7 points for HippieD). If Pitt beats UCONN, and Louisville beats West Virginia, Louisville will get sole possession of the Big East. If Pitt beats UCONN and Louisville falls to West Virginia, we have a three way tie, and all three (HippieD, Jaybird, & Boaris) will get 7 points each. Pitt will have beaten Louisville twice, but Louisville beat UCONN in their only matchup, and UCONN beat Pitt in their only match up.

Pac 10: This is Washington (Akaoni) to win or lose. If Washington beats Wash St on Saturday they get the sole championship in the Pac 10 (and Akaoni gets 7 points). If Wash loses, UCLA (NotaTurtle) could share that championship but only if they sweep both Oregon & Oregon St this week. They face Oregon St on Thursday, and a loss gives Akaoni the title.

Mountain West: It is a horse race. BYU (Phunmunki), Utah (Jutdog) and New Mexico (Akaoni) are all 11-4, with one game remaining. San Diego St (Babs) is 10-5, with one game remaining. None of them play each other in their final game, so whichever teams win on Saturday will get the 6 points for the MWC. If all three lose, and San Diego St wins, Babs will get 6 points along with the other three.

MAC: Buffalo (Jaybird) not only needs to win both of their final two games, but they need Bowling Green to lose at least one of their final games. If they finish tied as they are now, Buffalo won't get squat because they lost twice to Bowling Green this year. Buffalo plays Kent St (Turtle) on Thursday and Miami (OH) (Gunz) on Sunday. Technically both Miami (OH) and Kent St. are still in the running, but Buffalo would have to lose their final games to put them into play.

Ivy: Cornell (Jutdog) is taking their time securing these 6 points, plus the 4 points for an automatic bid into the NCAA Tourney. They have 2 games left.

Big West: Cal Northridge (NotaTurtle) has a one came lead with two games remaining. They are on the road in both games, and will need to win at least one to get these 6 points.

I predict Jaybird scoring points for the ACC, Big 12, and MAC. Jutdog is going to get the Big East and Ivy. Akaoni will get the Pac 10, Turtle the Big West, and the Mountain West will give 6 to Jut, Phunmunki & Akaoni.

Two Week Countdown

Week 16 saw some points pile up, a brief new "leader" on the leader board, not much change in the leader board order but some big jumps for players winning conferences.

RECAP

The Top 3 (Boaris 310, Akaoni 308, Babblemur 307) tightened up as Boaris' slump continued as he was held to 23 points. Akaoni had enough (28) to catch up and finish one back, and Babblemur's 38 points was the second highest of the week to close in on the other two.

The CEO was the big winner of the week though with 42 points. He was led by LSU defeating Florida and Kentucky to take the SEC champs, and Duke beating Maryland and Virginia Tech to stay one game behind UNC in the ACC. Also Northern Iowa beat Illinois St and Evansville to share the MVC champs, and VCU won the Colonial. This was enough points to vault him into a tie with Brother Jut at 291 points. Jutdog's 26 points was respectable but gained him no ground.

Jaybird also took in 38 points with Kansas & Alabama winning big games and taking two low major conferences. North Carolina and Kansas are both in position to win 7 points a piece for the ACC and Big 12 if they can hang on this week. Marquette however is entering a losing streak after whats-his-name got injured. Jaybird moved from 8th to 6th place.

ProgressMedia's 32 points kept him in 7th, Phunmunki's 25 dropped her to 8th, Gunz took 30 to stay in 9th place, Musashisan 29 to stay in 10th place, HippieD took 20 and NotaTurtle took 16.

WEEK SEVENTEEN

We have 11 more conference champs potentially in the making this week, including the big ones: ACC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, Pac 10. That is an additional 71 points that will be out by the end of the week. Some conferences are all ready to start conference tournaments, so by next Sunday we might have points for that on top of the one's still playing regular season ball.

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK (Part 1)

These conferences start their tournaments this week. Every team now has a chance to fight their way into the Big Dance, as well as pick up the 5 points for winning a Major Conference Tourney, or 4 points for all other Conference Tournies.

• Big South (March 3, 5, 7) - VMI
  
• Horizon (March 3, 6-7, 10) - Butler, Green Bay, Cleveland St, Wright St, Milwaukee
  
• OVC (March 3, 6-7) - Murray St.,
  
• Atlantic Sun (March 4-7) - Jacksonville, E. Tenn. St., Belmont
  
• Patriot (March 4, 8, 13) - American, Holy Cross
  
• Sun Belt (March 4, 8-10) - Western Kentucky, Arkansas-Little Rock
  
• Missouri Valley (March 5-8) - Creighton, UNI, Illinois St., Southern Ill, Drake
  
• NEC (March 5, 8, 11) - Robert Morris, Mt. St. Mary's
  
• Southern (March 5-9) - Davidson,
  
• America East (March 6-8, 14) - Vermont, Boston
  
• Colonial (March 6-9) - VCU, George Mason, Old Dominion, Northeastern
  
• MAAC (March 6-9) - Siena
  
• West Coast (March 6-9) - Gonzaga, St. Mary's
  
• Big Sky (March 7, 10-11) - Weber St., Portland St.,
  
• Summit (March 7-10) - North Dakota St., Oral Roberts,
  

SQUIGLY CHART

This is just since Jan 1 2009, gives a little more je ne sais quoi. Click image to embiggen it.



There you are.

Please be patient as we update the schedule from here on out daily based on who wins and loses conference tourney games.

Mid Major Crunch Time

Horizon Review

Butler. Butler. Butler. Are there other teams in the conf? Butler. If crazy things happen, and Butler (Boaris) loses either of their last 2 games - both at home - AND UWGB (Jutdog) wins on the road at Wright St, the we have a tie for the reg season.

But, likely GB ends tied for 2nd with Cleveland St. And neither receive an at large.

I don't think anyone can say Butler walks through the conf tourney. They've played loads of close conf games this year, and dropped 3 games to different teams. Fortunately, they don't need to win the conf tourney, and are in for sure.

NCAA hopes - At least 1. Maybe 2 if Butler falls in the conf tourney.


MAAC Review

Amazingly, two MAAC teams are borderline. Sienna should be in even with a poor conf tourney finish, with a 62 Sagarin, 23-7 record, 24 RPI, and top 65 SOS. They might lose their next game, played at Niagara, who should finish 24-7. They currently are at 74 Sagarin and 63 RPI. If Niagara can knock Sienna at home, along with a strong conf tourney finale of Niagara vs Sienna, the MAAC could produce two teams in the NCAAs.



Mizz Valley Review

Creighton and Northern Iowa are battling for conf reg season champs. Creighton and Illinois St are battling for a spot in the NCAA tourney. Creighton finishes the season with a battle at home against Ill St.

Creighton will finish the reg season with at least 24 wins, 45 RPI, and 54 Sagarin. I suspect they are in with at least one win in the conf tourney.

Northern Iowa needs to win the conf tourney.

Illinois St will probably also need to win the conf tourney, finishing the reg season with 22 or 23 wins, a 73 Sagarin, a 67 RPI, and weak schedule. This is another of those "make it to the finale of the conf reg season" and they have a chance. A win at Creighton finishing the reg season could greatly help.

NCAA - 1 team.


CUSA Review

Obviously Memphis is in, with a potential 1 seed. Who else?

- UAB (Jaybird) - They should finish 22-9 reg season, with a Sagarin of 41, RPI of 38, and SOS of 71. Unless they blow 2+ games against lesser teams, they're in, and CUSA actually has 2 teams.

- Tulsa, Houston, and UTEP should each be NIT bound, unless Houston can win the rest of their games, including home vs Memphis.


Colonial Review

While the CEO swears by the CAA, I don't think the committee will. They will only send 1 team, regardless of conf tourney finish. Here's why:

VCU: should finish 21-9, with lowly ratings, including 64 RPI, 117 SOS, and 78 Sagarin.

George Mason: should finish 20-9, with slightly better ratings including 54 RPI, 109 SOS, but only 88 Sagarin.

While Northeastern and Old Dominion are solid mid major teams, they aren't worth considering for the NCAA.

The only way two teams go is if George Mason and VCU face off in the final conf tourney game. Even then, it depends on the Providences, Penn States, etc.


Mountain West Review

Can 5 teams really make it from the Mountain West? Utah is shaping up to win the reg season, although both BYU and New Mexico are in striking distance. In fact, a 3-way tie is in my guess is just as probable as an outright Utah win.

Two teams are certainly in: Utah (Jutdog) (20-7, 11-2 conf, 25 Sagarin, 9 RPI, 20 SOS) and BYU (munki) (21-6, 9-4 conf, 23 Sagarin & RPI, 49 SOS).

So what about the others:

- New Mexico (Akaoni): 64 Sagarin, 70 RPI, and 75 SOS. They'll need to finish the season with a good conf tourney, and a win in their upcoming home game vs Utah.

San Diego St (Babs): Should finish the year with 3 wins, but a tough home game vs UNLV could change that. 51 Sagarin, 53 RPI, 60 SOS. They also better not lose the opening round of the conf tourney.

UNLV (HippieD): At one point, they were a top 35 team. Now? They'll finish just above .500 in conf play. Sagarin 52, RPI 50, SOS 68. We'll say it again, They also better not lose the opening round of the conf tourney.

Overall, I say barring a huge upset in the tourney, 3 teams are guaranteed from the MWC, and it depends on how they finish in the conf tourney. Upsets over Utah and BYU could produce 4 NCAA teams.


Atlantic 10 Review:

4-way contention right now:

- Xavier (10-3) - Phunmuni: At St Joes & Richmond, Dayton home. They should finish 13-3

-Temple (9-3) - Jutdog: 3 very winnable games, with a tough road battle at Dayton. I predict a 13-3 first place tie.

- Rhode Island (10-4) - Jutdog: Only two games left, one tough game on the road at Duquesne. Will finish either 11-5 or 12-4.

- Dayton (9-4)- Akaoni: Finishes the conf season with a gauntlet, first losing at Rhode Island, then having to face both Temple (hm) and Xavier (away). Dayton finishes 10-6.

Can 3 teams make it? Xavier is a certain. Temple has the best resume of the remaining teams, with a 53 SOS, 37 RPI, and 57 Sagarin. Rhode Island looks borderline, but needs a VERY strong finish. They post a top 60 RPI and a 61 Sagarin, but have only a 119 SOS.

Dayton has a great RPI (35) and good record, but a SOS at 116 (171 at one source) and only a 63 Sagarin. A poor finish and/or conf tourney finish could mean the boot for them, but I suspect they sneak in.


All others:

WAC: Utah St is in. A loss in the conf tourney produces two WAC bids

WCC: Zaga and St Marys are in. Portland needs to win the tourney. A San Diego-ish repeat?

Southern: Davidson is in for sure, anchored by a huge win over West Virginia and a great showing against Duke. A loss in the conf tourney produces two. Charleston?

All others will only send the conf winner.


.

Boaris Cracks, Musa Blast Off, Aka Rising

Points are stacking up as we approacheth the end of regular season and beginning of tournaments, and the big winners last week were...

1. MUSASHISAN! That's right, cellar dweller Musa nailed 36 points to shoot from last to 10th place, and that was without any of the four conference champs dolled out to others. How did he achieve this amazing feat? Lowly Oregon St beat California and Stanford (Boaris)... Lowly St. Louis beat St. Joes (Boaris) & Dayton (Akaoni)... Florida St beat Miami (Turtle) and Virginia Tech (Boaris)... Iowa over Michigan (Akaoni), Wash St over UCLA (Turtle), Penn St over Illinois, even Western Kentucky beat conference rival Arkansas Little Rock (Progress) to lead to the only decent week Musashisan has had all year. Congrats!

2. AKAONI! No conference champs here, he took 34 points the hard way: Purdue over Mich St (Babs), Texas A&M over Texas (Progress), Florida over Alabama and Vandy, Drake over UNI and Austin Peay... Akaoni is likely the one player that doesn't stand a chance of winning a conference so he needs the points. These 34 points put him just 7 points behind first place Boaris, who turned in a second slumpy week of play.

In fact, lets take a closer look at Boaris' week, since he is the team to beat: Oklahoma lost to Texas, Kentucky lost to Vandy, Virginia Tech dropped two games, Stanford lost to both Oregon and Oregon St which is really sucky, Butler lost to Milwaukee, St. Joes lost two straight in the A-10, Miss St fell to Alabama, Providence dropped two in the Big East, and Austin Peay lost to Drake in the Bracket Buster. Boaris' 6-13 record would make even last place NotaTurtle cringe (Turtle went 10-9 last week). But... can anyone beat Pitt?

The rest of us:
Phunmunki - 30 points to jump from 9th to 6th place
The CEO - 28 points to climb to 5th place
ProgressMedia - 26 points moves into 7th place
Jutdog Millionaire - 23 points
Jaybird - 22 points
Notaturtle - 20 points
HippieD - 18 points falls into 11th place
Babblemur - 17 points falls from 2nd to 3rd place
Boaris - 16 points to show signs of weakness and vulnerability
Gunz - 11 points to drop from 5th place to 9th place

Team of the Week: Morgan State (ProgressMedia) who won 3 games this week to seal the conference championship of the MEAC, nice job!

Conference Champs:
So far 4 conference championship points have been doled out so far. Champs get 7 points for Majors, 6 for Minors. We have:
Big Sky - Weber St (Jutdog)
MAAC - Siena (The CEO)
MEAC - Morgan St (Progress Media)
West Coast - Gonzaga (Phunmunki)

This week we will likely see a dozen or more conferences sealed up, which is a lot of bonus points flying around. Look for the leader board to shake up even more.