Thursday, December 31, 2009

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?

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Monday, December 28, 2009

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!

Monday, December 21, 2009

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)

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

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)

Monday, December 14, 2009

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

Monday, December 7, 2009

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

Thursday, December 3, 2009

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.