Week 16 BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

What a week! Kansas falls! Kentucky falls! Purdue falls! Damn - will Syracuse be #1??? It might be fitting for first place Akaoni to actually have the #1 team in the nation as we enter the last week of regular season play.

Ten conferences dished out points for regular season champs, Week 17 will see 12 more plus some conference tournaments getting underway - points shall be flying from the left and from the right and the leader board shall shake. For now, Akaoni holds onto a 45+ point lead, Boaris and Gunz are locked up in second place, and Babblemur is climbing up to bite the butt of Jaybird's hold on 4th. Jutdog & NotaTurtle both had stellar weeks, and The CEO is launching his comeback. Can Phunmunki and Some Guy in Illinois finish week 17 in the running or on the out...

Conference Points Distributed for Week 16:

• Atlantic Sun - Jacksonville (Babblemur) finished in a four way tie for first place, but split their contests with each of their challengers, giving them a share of the conference regular season. +6 for Babblemur
• Big South - Coastal Carolina (Akaoni) finished 2 games up over rival Radford (Jutdog) to win the Big South. +6 for Akaoni
• Colonial - Old Dominion (Gunz) finished strong to win the Colonial outright over a late stumbling Northeastern (Jaybird) and never quite there William & Mary (Babs). +6 for Gunz
• Horizon - Butler (Babblemur) met pre-season expectations and easily won the Horizon, and went undefeated in the process, earning an extra +3 points. Wright St (SGII) had no chance. +9 for Babblemur
• MAAC - Siena (Boaris) also met pre-season expectations and handily won the MAAC, their only loss in conference to the Purple Eagles of Niagara (Phunmunki). +6 for Boaris
• Missouri Valley (MVC) - Northern Iowa (The CEO) dominated a weakened MVC to lock the MVC down weeks ago. +6 to The CEO
  
• NEC - Quinnipiac (Phunmunki) had to work for it, but defeated Robert Morris to win the Northeastern Conference. +6 for Phunmunki
  
• Ohio Valley (OVC) - Murray St (Jaybird) lost this week to rival Morehead St, ruining their undefeated conference record, but they still won the OVC. +6 for Jaybird
  
• Southern (SoCon) - Charleston (Akaoni) lost to Wofford on Thursday, costing them the regular season champs for the SoCon. Jutdog's Western Carolina's five losses in February lost it for them. No Points for the SoCon.
  
• Summit - Oakland (The CEO) clinched the Summit weeks ago, finishing with a 17-1 record. Nicely done. +6 for The CEO
  
• Sun Belt - Western Kentucky (Jaybird) couldn't pull it off, while Middle Tennessee, Troy, and North Texas finished a game up on the Hilltoppers. No points for the Sun Belt.
  
• West Coast (WCC) - Gonzaga (NotaTurtle) at 12-2 beat out St. Mary's (Boaris) 11-3 and Portland (Babs) 10-4 to win the West Coast Conference, as usual. +6 for NotaTurtle

There are 5 conferences with no player-teams involved, so we will ignore them: America East, Big Sky, Patriot, Southland, and the SWAC.

Points for the Week (not including conference winners above):
Jutdog +31
Akaoni +27
Babblemur +27
Boaris +25
NotaTurtle +24
Gunz +21
Some Guy in IL +20
The CEO +19
Jaybird +18
Phunmunki +15

Standings after Week 16

• 1. Akaoni - 345 (177-66)
• 2. Boaris - 297 (179-65)
• 3. Gunz - 297 (169-77)
• 4. Jaybird - 292 (171-73)
• 5. Babblemur - 289 (174-68)
• 6. Jutdog - 275 (168-69)
• 7. NotaTurtle - 275 (149-89)
• 8. The CEO - 265 (159-83)
• 9. Phunmunki - 246 (149-89)
• 10. Some Guy in Illinois - 225 (157-90)

Basketball for a Basketball Site

Nothing in particular - just getting the ADD back on track.

American Idol Open Thread

Go!

Jutdog Rebounds, Turtle Scores

Well Jutdog bounced back after that scathing score last week to lead the pack this week with an astounding 33 points off 17-3 record. All 8 of his original teams won every game, only his expansion teams tripped up although Marquette came through against Cincy on Sunday. Jut can now claim to be "back init" just 68 points down from first place.

NotaTurtle dished out some damage as well this week - 30 points, 12-5 record, BIG wins for Purdue, UCONN, UTEP, and even Penn State won two games over other players to supply 6 points to the cause.

Points rundown for Week 15:
Jutdog +33
NotaTurtle +30
Babblemur +25
Akaoni +25
Gunz +22
Boaris +21
Jaybird +19
The CEO +18
Some Guy in Illinois +16
Phunmunki +11

Standings after Week 15:

• 1. Akaoni - 312 (166-58)
• 2. Gunz - 269 (157-71)
• 3. Jaybird - 268 (159-65)
• 4. Boaris - 266 (166-58)
• 5. Babblemur - 247 (159-65)
• 6. NotaTurtle - 245 (137-82)
• 7. Jutdog - 244 (153-65)
• 8. The CEO - 234 (150-75)
• 9. Phunmunki - 225 (140-80)
• 10. Some Guy in Illinois - 205 (145-82)

HOT GAMES FOR WEEK 16:

• Monday: Turtle's hot UCONN faces off with Jutdog's West Virginia. UCONN needs a good show to keep their conference hopes alive.
  
• Tuesday: Some Guy in Illinois may be wondering if he'll have ANY at large bids to the Big Dance! Louisville might be his best shot - and a win over Georgetown (Jaybird) would help.
  
• Wednesday: San Diego St (The CEO) needs to beat BYU (Boaris) to prove they are worthy.
  
• Thursday: Jacksonville (Babs) locks up 6 points IF they can beat Campbell...
  
• Thursday: Charleston (Akaoni) locks up 6 points IF they can beat Wofford...
• Saturday: Syracuse (Akaoni) vs. Villanova (Phun) = Big East
• Sunday: Richmond (Babs) vs. Xavier (Phun) = A-10
  

Upcoming Conference Points in Week 16

Recapping the rules for Conference Champs and Tourneys:

- 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.

Points for conference regular season champs and undefeated records will be allocated on Sunday Feb 28 for 12 conferences, and Sunday March 7 for 14 more conferences. 5 conferences have no player teams involved.

Conference Tournament points will be allocated on the night the champ is determined.

Here are the 12 Conferences that will be determined at the end of Week 16, Feb 28. All are worth 6 points for the winners of each conference.

Atlantic Sun - Jacksonville (Babs) is 13-5, tied with Campbell. Campbell won their first meeting, and they play each other on Thursday. This is a must win for Jacksonville - if they win, they will get the 6 points, if they lose, they won't.

Big South - Coastal Carolina (Akaoni) is 13-3 with two games remaining. Radford (Jut) is 11-5 with two games remaining. Winthrop is 11-4 with three games remaining. Coastal can lock it up with a single win (they split with Winthrop). Radford needs to win both games AND see Coastal lose both games to pick up a share of the Big South.

Colonial - Northeastern (Jaybird) is 13-3, Old Dominion (Gunz) is 13-3, William & Mary (Babs) is 11-5 - all with two games remaining. W&M is a long shot, both the others would have to lose both games to make a 3 way tie possible. Northeastern beat Old Dominion in their only match up this year, which means OD will have to win both remaining games AND see Northeastern lose. Long odds.

Horizon - Butler (Babs) has secured the 6 points for the Horizon with a 17-0 record, and could be getting 3 more if they stay undefeated with one game remaining. Wright St (SGII) at 11-5 has to hope for a conference tournament miracle to go to the Big Dance.

MAAC - Siena (Boaris) may have had their undefeated conference record snapped by Niagara (Phunmunki) but at 15-1 with 2 games remaining, the MAAC is theirs.

Missouri Valley (MVC) - With two games remaining, Northern Iowa (The CEO) has won the MVC regular season with a 14-2 record. Wichita St (Boaris) is 11-5, Illinois St (Gunz) is 10-6, and Creighton (SGII) is 8-8. It isn't likely that any one of these three will get an at-large bid, so conference tourney is their last chance or face the NIT.

NEC - Quinnipiac (Phunmunki) is one game back from Robert Morris with two games remaining. All they need to do is tie this up - Quin beat RM in their only meeting, earlier this week.

Ohio Valley (OVC) - Murray State (Jaybird) has clinched the OVC with 2 games remaining. At 16-0 in conference, two more wins will net them 3 more points.

Southern (SoCon) - Jutdog's gamble with Western Carolina failed as they lost 5 of their last 6 to play themselves out of contention. Akaoni's Charleston however sits at 13-3, tied with Wofford, with 2 games left. Charleston won the last match up with Wofford, and play them again on Feb 25.

Summit - Oakland (The CEO) has clinched the Summit with a 16-1 record.

Sun Belt - Western Kentucky (Jaybird) is the only player team in the Sun Belt. At 10-6, they are one game behind 3 other teams at 11-5, and tied with 3 other teams also at 10-6. Tough odds for the Hilltoppers.

West Coast (WCC) - Gonzaga (Turtle) is 10-2 with 2 conference games remaining. St. Mary's (Boaris) follows at 9-3 with 2 games remaining. Portland (Babs) is in 3rd at 8-4. Gonzaga beat both St. Mary's and Portland twice this year, meaning Portland is out, and St. Mary's only chance is if the Zags lose their next two and St. Mary's wins their two.

There are 5 conferences with no player-teams involved, so we will ignore them: America East, Big Sky, Patriot, Southland, and the SWAC.

Jutdog Suffers Worst Performance in Three Year History of Babbleball

The Top News this week was the horrendous performance of Jutdog's teams, who managed to lose 12 of 18 games, earning a mere 6 points. While the Babbleball Archivist is still reviewing last year's performance by Musashisan to verify that Jutdog has set a record, for now we are reporting that it was the worst one week performance ever in history. The result was Jut plummeting from a solid 5th place at the beginning of the week to 9th place by the close of Sunday, just 22 points ahead of a resurgent Some Guy In Illinois, who went 12-7 for 20 points, including a big win over #2 Syracuse.

Phunmunki Tops All

The other surprise this week was a 30 point performance by the typically invisible Phunmunki, who went 14-4, led by a Villanova win over Jut's West Virginia, and a surprise Niagara Purple Eagles upset over Siena (Boaris). Phun's phantastic week moved her from 9th place to 8th place.

Rounding out the bottom 6, NotaTurtle went 11-8 for 19 points, falling from 6th to 7th, and The CEO hit 22 off a fine 12-6 week to move from 8th place to 6th place. Babblemur put up an unusually strong performance, going 15-4 and taking 27 points to pull into 5th place.

Akaoni Back on Track

Akaoni stretched his lead out nine more points this week, hitting 29 points off 13 wins. The 2nd through 4th positions flipped and flopped all week, with Jaybird ending up on top by Sunday off 25 points from 15 wins. Gunz finished 2 points behind him off 20 points from 10 wins, and Boaris ended 2 points behind Gunz off 21 points from 13 wins. All three remain poised to move on Akaoni at the first sign of weakness.

Standings after Week 14

• 1. Akaoni - 287 (155-51)
• 2. Jaybird - 249 (148-58)
• 2. Gunz - 247 (145-62)
• 4. Boaris - 245 (155-51)
• 5. Babblemur - 222 (144-60)
• 6. The CEO - 216 (140-65)
• 7. NotaTurtle - 215 (125-77)
• 8. Phunmunki - 214 (131-71)
• 9. Jutdog - 211 (136-62)
• 10. Some Guy in Illinois - 189 (135-73)

Close Conference Showdowns

Atlantic 10
3 teams tied for first place, 4 more are within a game and a half. 6 points go to any team that finishes the season in first place here.
Status Report:
Xavier (Phunmunki) 8-2, they go out of conference to play Florida Saturday, then they have: St. Joes, @Charlotte, @St. Louis, Richmond, @Fordham, St. Bonnies;
Charlotte (The CEO) 8-2, in good position with four of their last six at home: Duquesne, Xavier, St. Joes, @George Washington, @Rhode Island, Richmond;
Richmond (Babblemur) 8-2, four of last six are on the road, only two easy games: @Temple, @St. Louis, Fordham, @St. Bonnies, Charlotte, @UMASS;
Temple (Some Guy) 7-2, four of seven left on the road, with two of the toughest at home: Rhode Island, @St. Bonnies, @St. Joes, Dayton, @LaSalle, @St. Louis, George Washington;
Rhode Island (Gunz) 7-3, a tough road schedule left: @Temple, @St. Louis, Fordham, @St. Bonnies, Charlotte, @UMASS;
Dayton (Jaybird) 6-3, coming off two big home wins over Xavier and Charlotte, they face: @St. Louis, LaSalle, @Duquesne, @Temple, UMass, @Richmond, St. Louis;
St. Louis (No one) 6-3, have to be considered potential contenders - 3 game winning streak, 5 of their last 7 are at home.

Big East
Syracuse (Akaoni) 11-1
Villanova (Phunmunki) 10-1
Their only scheduled meeting this year is Feb 27, at Syracuse.

Big South
Coastal Carolina 11-3
Radford 10-4
Coastal Carolina (Akaoni) and Radford (Jutdog) play Saturday in a must win for both. Radford won their last match up at Coastal. Saturday is at Radford.

Big Ten
Michigan State 9-3 (The CEO)
Illinois 9-3 (Akaoni)
Ohio State 9-3 (Boaris)
Purdue 8-3 (Turtle)
Wisconsin 8-4 (Gunz)
Michigan State's last tough match up is at Purdue on the 27th, other wise they are looking at a solid finish. Purdue has been streaky and has some tough road games against Ohio St and Minn, but host MSU and Illinois at home. Ohio State is on a five game winning streak (two vs. Iowa though) and now face Illinois twice, Purdue, Penn St and Michigan. Illinois is also on a five game winning steak, but now face OSU (x2), Purdue, Minn, Mich, and finish with Wisconsin. Ouch. Wisconsin's last six are considerably easier (Indiana, Minn, Northwestern, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois), so they are definitely in the running.

Pac 10
California (Babblemur) with a one game lead over... Arizona (Turtle) and Arizona St (SGII)? USC and UCLA 1.5 games back? What a messed up conference. Arizona is the one to keep an eye on.

West Coast
Gonzaga 8-1 (NotaTurtle)
St. Mary's 8-2 (Boaris)
Portland 6-3 (Babblemur)
Portland probably isn't in the running here, but I included them because I felt like it. Gonzaga's win over St. Mary's yesterday may have sealed this up for NotaTurtle. They beat St. Mary's on both meetings, beat Portland on both meetings, and their five remaining conference games are not challenging. St. Mary's faces Portland tomorrow, but otherwise shouldn't have a problem. If Zaga slips, St. Mary's could get a piece of the pie.

Week 13 Recap: Points Coming Down Like Honey From The Mountain

Points Coming Down Like Honey From The Mountain

...but who's getting them? Lets run it down:

• Akaoni +33 - turned around a bad week to go 15-4, including an Illinois win over #5 Michigan State. Virginia Tech nailed two big ACC wins, Washington won 2 in the Pac 10, and newbies Charleston and Coastal went 2-0 a piece. Lead extended to 31 points.
  
• Gunz +26 - pulled into second place past Boaris off 12 wins (coupled with 8 losses). Duke over Georgetown was worth 5, as was Wisconsin over Michigan St. UNLV won two big games in the Mountain West, and newbie Temple is keeping in the A-10 race with a 2-0 record.
  
• Jaybird +26 - went 14-5, capped by a huge Georgetown win over Villanova on Saturday, and an important Dayton win over Xavier in the A-10. Newbies Northeastern and Murray St went undefeated as well. Jaybird is back in the hunt.
  
• Jutdog +26 - The 26 points isn't as telling as the mere TWO losses that came with his 16 wins. Jut's teams won the big games and the little games and he is trying to make the case he is a contenda. Its easier to do when your teams win all their games.
  
• Babblemur +26 - enough to put him ahead of The CEO, Babs could have done more given the 12-7 record for the week. Maryland, Notre Dame and Richmond all stepped up to keep Babs in the hunt.
  
• Phunmunki +25 - The 11 wins netted enough points to cover up the 7 losses, all 7 of which were to other players. The bright points have to be Texas A&M winning 2 biggies, Wake winning two more in the ACC, and New Mexico's win over San Diego St.
  
• Boaris +18 - The mighty Boaris went 3-5 against other players, versus a 12-6 record for the week. I can't say any of those 6 losses were upsets, but Boaris' success so far has been from winning the big games, and he didn't win them this week. Kudos to Florida though for two big SEC wins to keep in the hunt, and check out St. Mary's who is now 20-3 after 2 wins this week.
  
• NotaTurtle +17 - One of two players with a losing record for the week (9-10) we have to give a rose to Gonzaga for wins over Portland and Memphis this week, and a thistle to Miami for dropping both of their games. Newby UTEP is going to make the CUSA interesting.
  
• The CEO +17 - CEO couldn't win the head to head games, but Oklahoma's win over Texas salvaged the week and made up for Michigan State's choke. CEO went 11-7 for the week. Charlotte is looking like a promising draft choice...
  
• Some Guy in Illinois +15 - 9-11 record for the week. 3-9 against other players. Louisville is the only team of 10 that didn't lose a game.
  

90 points now separate last place from first place. Still anyone's game?

Standings

• 1. Akaoni - 258 (142-44)
• 2. Gunz - 227 (135-55)
• 3. Boaris - 224 (142-44)
• 4. Jaybird - 224 (133-52)
• 5. Jutdog - 205 (130-50)
• 6. NotaTurtle - 196 (114-69)
• 7. Babblemur - 195 (129-56)
• 8. The CEO - 194 (128-59)
• 9. Phunmunki - 184 (117-67)
• 10. Some Guy in Illinois - 169 (123-67)

Friday Lunch Talk

Akaoni - Best (but not really)

Akaoni is at it again, 8-1 for the week bringing home the bacon, but can he win any conferences? His best teams (which are really damn good) are NOT in first place in their conferences, Texas is 2 games back from Kansas, Syracuse is a half game back from Villanova... How can he keep winning game after game and still not be winning conferences? Lucky bastard I say.

The REALLY exciting race

As I update the leaderboard every day, the "race" that has been fascinating me the most is the race for SECOND PLACE. Boaris, Gunz, and until recently Jaybird have been jockeying back and forth between 2nd and 4th, with every day one leaping the other. Jaybird finally tanked two weeks ago and is struggling this week, but Gunz and Boaris are neck and neck and keeping pace just 20 or so points behind Akaoni.

Wednesday Gunz went 3-2 for 5 points to pull ahead of Boaris (2-2 for 4 pts). Last night Boaris nailed 5 points (3-0) tying up Gunz (2-0 for 4 pts). On Saturday they have two head to head games against each other:

• Miss St (Gunz) vs. Florida (Boaris) in the SEC. Both teams are 16-6 with 3 losses a piece in conference.
  
• BYU (Boaris) vs. UNLV (Gunz) in the Mountain West. UNLV at 18-4 has managed to stay just a game behind red hot BYU (22-2), and BYU won the last meeting, but this one is in Vegas.
  

PAC 10

We now have a four way tie for first place - at 6-4! Including Arizona (Turtle), UCLA (Gunz), California (Babs) and Arizona St (Illinois Guy). Seriously, WTF? Some are suggesting that the Pac 10 could be a single bid conference this year. I'm guessing two bids - who ever wins the tournament, and who ever finishes with the best conference record.

CONFERENCES

If it were all over today, who would be winning the conferences?

1. The CEO (37 pts) - Big 10, Big West, MEAC, MVC, OVC, Summit,
   
2. Boaris (31 pts) - Big 12, MAAC, MWC, WCC(tie), WAC(tie),
   
3. Babblemur (26 pts) - SEC(tie), Pac 10(tie), Atl Sun, Horizon,
   
4. Gunz (20 pts) - ACC, Pac 10(tie), Colonial
5. NotaTurtle (19 pts) - Pac 10(tie), CUSA(tie), WCC(tie)
6. Phunmunki (13 pts) Big East, Atl 10,
   
7. Jaybird (13 pts) - SEC(tie), Colonial(tie)
8. Some Guy in Illinois (13 pts) - Pac 10(tie), CUSA(tie)
9. Akaoni (12 pts) - Big South, SoCon
10. Jutdog (12 pts) - Ivy, WAC(tie)

FYI - if the CEO had those 37 points now he would be in second place.

NINETY SIX

Lastly, what do you think about a 96 Team Tournament???

Babblemur Bracket Feb 5

1. Kansas
1. Kentucky
1. Syracuse
1. Duke

2. Villanova
2. Purdue
2. Texas
2. Wisconsin +

3. Michigan St -
3. Kansas State
3. West Virginia +
3. Ohio State +

4. Georgetown
4. BYU +
4. Vanderbilt -
4. Gonzaga

5. Florida State -
5. Tennessee +
5. Clemson
5. Northern Iowa +

6. Temple
6. Georgia Tech -
6. New Mexico
6. Baylor

7. Florida -
7. Butler
7. Illinois +
7. Wake Forest

8. Texas A&M +
8. Virginia Tech
8. Mississippi St
8. UNLV

9. Pittsburgh -
9. Missouri +
9. Rhode Island +
9. Louisville +

10. St Marys +
10. Northwestern +
10. Notre Dame
10. Cincinnati -

11. Richmond +
11. Washington +
11. Marquette
11. Xavier +

12. Cornell
12. Sienna
12. Arizona State +
12. Maryland +

13. Utah State
13. Tulsa
13. Murray State
13. Old Dominion

14. Akron
14. Weber State
14. Pacific
14. Oakland

15. Coastal Carolina
15. Western Carolina
15. Jacksonville
15. Middle Tennessee

16. Sam Houston State
16. Stoney Brook
16. Morgan State
16.5. Quinnipiac
16.5. Jackson State


If they allowed 3 more teams in:
-North Carolina
-South Carolina
-Charlotte