New Website!

The 2011-12 Babblemur College B-Ball Challenge has now moved to:

www.babblemur.net

Bookmark it now!

Confirmed Playas for 2011-12

2011-12 Roster of Players

• Jutdog
• Babblemur
• Akaoni
• McGrumps
• Mad Mader
• Gunz
• Musashisan
• The CEO
• Boaris
• Mooseye
• Slake B
• Jaybird
• Some Guy in Illinois
  

Waiting List:

• McGrump's Buddy
• Greendale Thug
• Slake B's Cousin
• Dirk L. Hass One
• Rambis H. Hass Two
  

If you played any of the first four seasons and want in, leave a comment or send an email.

Proposed Rules for 2011-12

Below are the Proposed Rules for 2011-12. There are no substantial changes to the rules, because frankly I think we have gotten this down pretty tight. However there are a few clarifications. I specified more clearly when the expanda-draft teams come into play (first Monday in February), and that you can exceed the 2 teams per conference rule during the expanda-draft. I also added enumeration for the broad categories of the rules (but I was too lazy to enumerate within...) and I rearranged some of the rules so that they made more sense. All changes are noted in highlighting. 

If anyone playing wants to propose any changes do so now.

Rules

I. 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.

II. 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 and videotaped
- Draft will follow snake draft method (team A picks 1 and 10, team B picks 2 and 9, etc depending on the number of players)
- 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)

III. 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 each season, following are the 2010-11 tourneys and points):

Coaches vs. Cancer (November 18-19) - 3 points
CBE Classic (Nov. 22-23) - 3 points
NIT Tip-Off (Nov. 15-26) - 5 points
Charleston Classic (Nov. 18-21) - 3 points
Puerto Rico Tip-Off (Nov. 18-21) - 4 points
Paradise Jam (Nov. 19-22) - 4 points
Cancun Challenge (Nov. 23-24) - 2 points
Legends Classic (Nov. 26-27) - 3 points
Maui Invitational (Nov. 22-24) - 4 points
Great Alaska Shootout (Nov. 24-27) - 3 points
76 Classic (Nov. 25-28) - 4 points
Old Spice Classic (Nov. 25-28) - 4 points
Chicago Invitational (Nov. 26-27) - 2 points
South Padre Invitational (Nov. 26-27) - 2 points
MSG Holiday Festival (Dec. 20-21) - 2 points
Las Vegas Classic (Dec. 22-23) - 2 points
Cancun Governor's Cup (Dec. 22-24) - 3 points
Hawaii Diamond Head Classic (Dec. 22-25) - 4 points
Cable Car Classic (Dec. 29-30) - 2 points

- A team that wins a major conference (6) regular season earns 9 points
- A team that wins a mid-major conference (9) 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 (6) tournament earns 7 points
- A team that wins a mid-major conference (9) tournament earns 5 points
- A team that wins a non-major conference (16) 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 3 points
- Each team earns 2 points for a NCAA tourney play-in game win*
- Each team earns 4 points for a NCAA tourney round 1 win*
- Each team earns 6 points for a NCAA tourney round 2 win*
- Each team earns 8 points for a NCAA tourney round 3 win*
- Each team earns 11 points for a NCAA tourney round 4 win*
- Each team earns 14 points for reaching the NCAA final*
- The team that wins the NCAA tourney earns 17 points.*

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

IV. Mid-season Draft and Release:

- The last week of January, each player must draft 2 additional teams. These teams may exceed the 2 per conference rule above.
- 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 the first Monday in February, and new points will no longer be added for the discarded team effective the first Monday in February.  (In the case of 2011-12, the expanda-draft would begin Monday January 30, with the changes taking affect Monday February 6...)

V. Clarifications

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

- Mid-Major Conferences include: Atl 10, MWC, MVC, CUSA, Horizon, WAC, WCC, MAC & CAA

- 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 or any other post season tourney 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, head to head winner is awarded the points. If still a tie, 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

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

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

2010-2011 Final Standings

Four months late, but here is the Final Standings of the 2010 - 2011 Babblemur-B-Ball Challenge:

• Final Standings 2010-2011
• 1. Mooseye 576 (203-102)
• 2. Gunz 481 (192-108)
• 3. McGrumps 460 (206-95)
• 4. Jutdog 460 (199-97)
• 5. Babblemur 434 (192-100)
• 6. Boaris 412 (194-92)
• 7. Mad Mader 407 (185-104)
• 8. Jaybird 405 (191-105)
• 9. Akaoni 403 (182-110)
• 10. Slake B 370 (171-117)
• 11. The CEO 369 (188-102)
• 12. Some Guy in Illinois 352 (176-111)
• 13. Musashisan 270 (149-138)

After 17 weeks of fluctuation on the leader board, League Rookie Mooseye made his move in Week 18, the Big Conference Championship Week, where he had Kansas win the Big 12, UCONN win 5 straight to take the Big East, and Hampton won the MEAC. Although he went into the NCAA Tournament with only 4 teams, Kansas, Florida and UCONN drove into the Regionals, and in the end, his UCONN won it all and Wichita State won the NIT to boot. Mooseye has assured us he will be back for a Sophmore Slump.

Gunz finished in second place for the second year in a row, led by the power trio of Duke, Georgetown and Wisconsin, but it was VCU that brought home the bacon for Gunz in the end, fighting their way into the Final Four. No doubt Gunz will be back for a Fifth Season.

McGrumps and Jutdog finished tied for third place, with a nudge to McGrumps for a better record. This was McGrumps best season yet led by the risky Kentucky pick, a surprisingly good Richmond team, an aggressive Marquette, and a disappointing Memphis.

Jutdog's gamble with North Carolina and Texas paid off in spades, but BYU (Jimmer!) rounded out his power trio and kept him near the top of the leaderboard for much of the season.

COMING SOON - 2011-2012 BABBLEMUR-B-BALL CHALLENGE

Mooseye Wins, but Mid-Majors are the Real Winners

League Rookie MOOSEYE has unofficially secured the 2010-2011 Babblemur B-Ball Championship despite losing 2 of 3 over the weekend. Mooseye has a 42 point lead over second place Gunz.

Gunz' unlikely heroes VCU, if they beat Butler and go on to beat Kentucky for the National Championship, would pick up 37 points, plus with Santa Clara in the CIT finale another one point, not enough to overcome the difference.

Currently in 3rd place, McGrumps has Kentucky in the Final Four, 62 points out of first, but just 20 points behind Gunz. We have a battle for second place. Babblemur, in 5th now, has Colorado in the NIT but winning it all will not put him in contention for 2nd. Akaoni was redeemed with Butler in the final four but 136 points out of first place is too much. Currently in 9th place he could finish as high as 6th.

This year will mark the first time the (invisible) Trophy goes to the state of Iowa, where it rightfully belongs given the strong tradition of 6 on 6 high school girls basketball in the cornfield state. When informed of his victory, Mooseye said, "I won? Where's my money?"

Last year's winner Jutdog, upon losing his last team on Sunday, said "Fuckin' mother fucker I needed second place in this bitch dammit." Jut intends to now just enjoy the rest of the games instead of stressing out about his teams. He had no comment as to whether he would compete next year after this year's crushing defeat.

But it ain't over yet! We got championship games this week! Lets go!

CIT Championship Game (Wednesday)

Santa Clara (Gunz) vs. Iona (_)

Gunz has a shot at ONE POINT if he can win this nail biter.

CBI Three Game Finale (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)

Oregon (Slake B) vs. Creighton (Jaybird)

Each win here is 3 points, so a 3-0 sweep could net one of these losers 9 points.

NIT Final Four (Tuesday)

Wichita St (Mooseye) vs. Washington St (The CEO)
Colorado (Babblemur) vs. Alabama (Musashisan)

The semis are worth an additional +4, winning the NIT Crown is worth another +7. One of these four players will go home with +17, one will get +7, and nothing for the two losers on Tuesday. If Alabama wins this game Musashisan will compete again next year (with Alabama as his first round pick).

NCAA Final Four (Saturday)

Butler (Akaoni) vs. VCU (Gunz)
UCONN (Mooseye) vs. Kentucky (McGrumps)

Is the story here the absence of Kansas, Ohio State, Duke and Pittsburgh? Or the rise of two strong mid-majors to turn the basketball world on its head? Is this a boon or blow to the expanded tournament field given that VCU started off in a "play in" game?

No, the story is that the Saturday games are worth +14 on top of the 3 points for the win, and the Monday Championship game is worth +17 on top of the 3 points for the win. One of these lucky bastards will go home with +37, one with +17, and two get NOTHING.

No, Mooseye already won the Contest, so this is about redemption and good basketball.

Kentucky, bad boys in blue, one and done rookies, taking on UCONN, who won five games in five days to win the Big East Tournament. Butler, who rocked the brackets last year only to lose to Duke in the Championship, against VCU, you know, they are in the same conference as George Mason. No matter who wins on Saturday, Monday April 4th is going to be a hell of a good game.

Standings after Week 20:

• Current with all Mar 27 (Sunday) Games
• 1. Mooseye 522 (199-102)
• 2. Gunz 480 (191-107)
• 3. McGrumps 460 (206-94)
• *4. Jutdog 460 (199-97)
• 5. Babblemur 434 (192-99)
• *6. Boaris 412 (194-92)
• *7. Mad Mader 407 (185-104)
• 8. Jaybird 402 (190-103)
• 9. Akaoni 386 (181-109)
• 10. The CEO 369 (188-101)
• 11. Slake B 364 (169-116)
• *12. Some Guy in Illinois 352 (176-111)
• 13. Musashisan 263 (148-137)

crazy

now - this is impressive! Other than overestimating UL, and underestimating Arizona and Marquette, this bracket is near perfect!

DWTS: Race for the Mirror Ball

Welcome to the official Dancing With the Stars thread. With the constant pandering of the new team of judges to the lousy crop of contestants this year I simply can't stand to watch American Idol any more. Dancing With the Stars however continues to deliver with train wreck moments on the floor from semi-washed up stars followed inappropriate sexual innuendo and your occasional funny comment from the judges. And the show doesn't take itself all that seriously (most of the time).

I'll recap each of the dancers below.

Contenders & Pretenders

Honestly at this point some of you can't win. And frankly, we have a few Contenders and a handful of Pretenders, clinging to a glimmer of hope.

Lets go straight to the numbers. In the NCAA Tournament, given that every game is now a player-vs-player (and including those points below), this is how many points are at stake:

• National Champion: +62
• Runner Up: +42
• Final Four Losers (x2): +25
• Elite Eight Losers (x6): +11
• The rest of the sweet 16 (x8): +0

Already you can see your magic number after Sunday - if you only have one team in the sweet 16, 62 more points is what you have left.

But we could be close enough now that the NIT may come into play. There are 11 teams still alive in the NIT, 5 have already reached the (nit)elite 8. This is how the potential for points breaks down depending on if a team has already reached the (nit)elite 8:

• NIT Champ: 22 or 25
• NIT runnerup: 12 or 15
• NIT Final 4 (x2): 5 or 8
• NIT Elite 8 (x6): 0 or 3

CBI & CIT? Forget it. Worth no more than 2-3 points total, if it comes down to one of these games I will be shocked.

So now lets break down the players into three categories: Contenders, Pretenders, & Done

Done:

Musashisan - at over 200 points down with no NCAA teams left, Musashisan is unfortunately beyond done. True, he has four teams still alive, including Miami and Alabama in the NIT, UNI in the CIT and Duquesne in the CBI, but he has no more than 30-35 potential points left. Michigan State, his only NCAA Tourney team, finished as his highest scoring team with 43 points, but Alabama with 40 could meet or pass that.

Some Guy in Illinois - with the Illinois loss on Sunday SGII lost his last team in post season play, freezing him at 352 points and securing 12th place for the season. With four teams advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament SGII was looking like he could rise to the level of Contender, but as all four fell over the weekend, it all ended. With 68 points, first round pick Washington was his leading scorer.

Boaris - With a league leading eight teams in the Big Dance, Kansas State's loss eliminated the last of the Mighty Boaris' teams from competition, freezing him at 412 points, in 6th place and dropping. Louisville's fall to Morehead State on Thursday was probably the nail in his coffin, but early falls by Tennessee, UAB, UNLV, Northern Colorado and Princeton didn't help.

The CEO - The CEO's last NCAA team Gonzaga fell on Saturday, ending any chance he has. At 361 points, over 100 out from first place, with only Washington St (possible +25) in the NIT and Buffalo (possible +3?) in the CBI The CEO can finally inscribe his tombstone. Gonzaga at 65 total was his top team.

Mad Mader - With Syracuse and Notre Dame's losses on Sunday Mad Mader, who has been competitive all year in his rookie season, is officially out of contention for the Championship. With 3 teams in the second round he had a chance, but no longer. Only Charleston (potential +22) remains alive in competition. With 74 points Notre Dame was the Mader's lead team, Syracuse close behind at 69.

Pretenders:

Slake B - Ohio State is probably the favorites to win the National Championship. Unfortunately, that is the only Sweet 16 team Slake has. Points out of first: -110. Point potential: +62. But wait - what about Oregon in the CBI? Sorry, not getting 40 points out of the CBI. Slake is as good as done, but has the potential to influence a lot of other potentials as Ohio State marches to the Final Four (Kentucky, Marquette, North Carolina are in the same bracket...)

Jaybird - Pittsburgh OUT! Temple OUT! Only Arizona remains alive in the NCAA, with the potential for +62 if they win the next four and become National Champions. Wait, Jaybird is -81 points out of first place! Can Creighton in the CBI make up the difference? No. Jaybird is done. But Arizona will get the pleasure of trying to deny points to their following Sweet 16 bracket-buddies: Duke, UCONN, San Diego State.

Akaoni - 109 points out of first place, Akaoni stunned the field by putting TWO teams into the Sweet 16 with #8 seed Butler's upset over #1 seed Pitt and #10 seed Florida State's win over #2 seed Notre Dame. Does Akaoni have a chance? If one of these two teams wins it all (+60) and the other makes it to the Final Four (+25) he still sits 24 points behind. But wait! Northwestern is in the Elite 8 of the NIT, where a Title could net +25, and throw in Missouri State in the NIT where another +15 is possible... and Akaoni is technically still in the game!

Babblemur - Purdue's loss leaves Babs relying only on San Diego State in the NCAA (potental +62), Colorado in the NIT (potential +22) and Ohio in the CIT (potential +2 or +3 at best). At 41 points behind, Babblemur "technically" is still in it, but would need to see Mooseye lose at least 2 games in the first round of the sweet 16, and see a lot of other contender teams lose as well. Is it possible? Yes. Will it happen?

Contenders:

Mooseye - Mooseye has taken 3 of his 4 NCAA teams into the Sweet 16, and not just any 3 teams but #1 seed Kansas in the Southwest, #2 seed Florida in the Southeast, and #3 seed UCONN in the West. He enters the week with a 17 point lead, 3 strong teams in the NCAA, plus Wichita State and New Mexico alive in the NIT, not a bad pair of teams. At this point, Mooseye is in the driver's seat.

Gunz - Gunz was on top of the leaderboard for most of the season until a rocky trip through Championship Week knocked him off the top of the mountain. Now, with Duke, Wisconsin, and Virginia Commonwealth in the Sweet 16, Gunz is not only back in it, but in prime position to win it. At only 17 points behind Mooseye, Gunz and Mooseye don't have a single potential matchup until the Elite 8, at which point all six of their teams could be facing off. We got game here!

Jutdog - Jut lost Texas on Sunday but is sitting in third place, 21 points down, with two tough teams in the Sweet 16 with #2 seed North Carolina and #3 seed BYU. Every game counts now, but particularly BYU's next game against Mooseye's Florida, where a loss could end Jut's chances. North Carolina draws 11 seed Marquette but sees 1 seed Ohio State on the horizon. If it gets close we have to watch Kent State (potential +22) in the NIT and Rhode Island in the CBI.

McGrumps - Rising from the depths of the leader board, McGrumps has made a statement by putting three teams (Kentucky, Richmond, Marquette) into the Sweet 16, rising from 6th place to 4th just 35 points out of first place. Unfortunately it gets hard now, as Kentucky faces Ohio State, Marquette takes on North Carolina, and Richmond gets Kansas. McGrumps needs to get at least one of these teams into the Final Four to stay a contender.

Weekly Recap:

• Gunz +57 (9-4)
• Mooseye +53 (9-3)
• Jutdog +51 (9-4)
• McGrumps +49 (7-5)
• Akaoni +39 (7-4)
• Babs +30 (6-4)
• Jaybird +29 (5-5)
• SGII +28 (4-7)
• Mad Mader +26 (6-7)
• Slake B +25 (5-4)
• The CEO +17 (5-7)
• Musashisan +10 (4-2)
• Boaris +5 (1-10)
  

Standings after week 19:

• Current with all Mar 20 (Sunday) Games
• 1. Mooseye 470 (194-99)
• 2. Gunz 453 (185-104)
• 3. Jutdog 449 (198-93)
• 4. McGrumps 435 (204-92)
• 5. Babblemur 429 (191-97)
• 6. Boaris 412 (194-92)
• 7. Mad Mader 407 (185-103)
• 8. Jaybird 389 (187-102)
• 9. The CEO 361 (186-100)
• 10. Akaoni 361 (179-106)
• 11. Slake B 360 (167-115)
• 12. Some Guy in Illinois 352 (176-111)
• 13. Musashisan 254 (145-134)

Elimination Postation

Let the End of Seasons Begin! Here is the list of who is Finished - growing daily now! Last updated through games on 3/19/11.
Red = half of teams gone.
Blue = two or less teams left!
ORANGE = ELIMINATED.

Akaoni:
~ Villanova (pick 6 ) - 42 pts. Lost opening round of NCAA to George Mason
~ Dayton (pick 47) - 42 pts. Lost opening round of NIT
~ Southern Miss (pick 73) - 27 pts
~ Texas Tech (pick 99) - 13 pts
~ Hofstra (expandadraft) - 7 pts. Lost opening round of CIT
~ Colorado St (expandadraft) - 6 pts. Lost in opening round of NIT
~ Denver (expandadraft) - 4 pts

Babs:
~ Georgia (pick 29) - 46 pts. Lost opening round of NCAA to Washington
~ St Johns (pick 50) - 59 pts. Lost opening round of NCAA to Zaga
~ USC (pick 81) - 50 pts. Lost play-in NCAA game to VCU
~ Maine (pick 102) - 16 pts
~ Long Island (expandadraft) - 26 pts. Lost opening round of NCAA to UNC
~ Florida Atlantic (expandadraft) - 13 pts. Lost opening round of NIT

Boaris: (FINAL SCORE: 412)
~ Kansas St (pick 5) - 49 pts. Lost 2nd round of NCAA to Wisconsin
~ Tennessee (pick 22) - 55 pts. Lost opening round of NCAA to Michigan
~ Utah St (Pick 31) - 54 pts. Lost opening round of NCAA to Kansas St
~ Louisville (pick 57) - 62 pts. Lost opening round of NCAA to Morehead St
~ UAB (pick 74) - 40 pts. Lost play-in NCAA game to Clemson
~ Loyola Marymount (pick 93) - 9 pts
~ Princeton (pick 100) - 43 pts. Lost in opening round of NCAA to Kentucky
~ N. Colorado (expandadraft) - 27 pts. Lost opening round of NCAA to San Diego St
~ Bethane-Cookman (expandadraft) -16 pts. Lost opening round of NIT
~ Nebraska (expandadraft) - 12 pts. Lost opening round of NIT

CEO: (No NCAA Teams)
~ Gonzaga (pick 8) - 65 pts. Lost 2nd round of NCAA to BYU
~ Missouri (pick 19) - 40 pts. Lost opening round of NCAA to Cincy
~ Minnesota (pick 34) - 39 pts
~ Vanderbilt (pick 45) - 52 pts. Lost opening round of NCAA to Richmond
~ Wofford (pick 71) - 34 pts. Lost opening round of NCAA to BYU
~ UC Santa Barbara (pick 86) - 13 pts
~ Bucknell (expandadraft) - 23 pts. Lost in opening round of NCAA to UCONN
~ Marshall (expandadraft) - 9 pts. Lost opening round of CIT

GUNZ:
~ Georgetown (pick 25) - 57 pts. Lost opening round of NCAA to VCU
~ Stanford (pick 77) - 25 pts
~ Bradley (pick 103) - 14 pts
~ Harvard (expandadraft) - 18 pts. Lost opening round of NIT
~ Vermont (expandadraft) - 14 pts. Lost opening round of NIT

Jaybird: (Only NCAA team left is Arizona)
~ Pitt (pick 7) - 79 pts. Lost 2nd round of NCAA to Butler
~ Temple (pick 20) - 59 pts. Lost 2nd round of NCAA to San Diego St
~ UTEP (pick 46) - 40 pts. Lost opening round of NIT
~ Mississippi St (pick 59) - 33 pts
~ Morgan St (pick 72) - 23 pts
~ Georgia Tech (pick 98) - 23 pts
~ Valporaiso (expandadraft) - 15 pts. Lost opening round of CIT
~ Austin Peay (expandadraft) - 6 pts. Lost opening round of CIT

Jutdog:
~ Old D (pick 44) - 57 pts. Lost in opening round of NCAA to Butler
~ Seton Hall (pick 61) - 25 pts
~ Weber St (pick 87) - 8 pts
~ Detroit (pick 96) - 22 pts
~ Belmont (expandadraft) - 23 pts. Lost opening round of NCAA to Wisconsin
~ California (expandadraft) - 16 pts. Lost 2nd round of NIT

MadMader:
~ Texas A&M (pick 39) - 42 pts. Lost opening round of NCAA to Florida St
~ UCLA (pick 40) - 58 pts. Lost 2nd round of NCAA to Florida
~ St Louis (pick 66) - 6 pts
~ Penn St (pick 91) - 44 pts. Lost in opening round of NCAA to Temple
~ North Texas (pick 92) - 28 pts
~ Montana (expandadraft) - 7 pts. Lost opening round of CBI
~ UMASS (expandadraft) - 4 pts

McGrumps:
~ Memphis (pick 16) - 51 pts. Lost opening round of NCAA to Arizona
~ St. Marys (pick 63) - 48 pts. Lost opening round of NIT
~ Oakland (pick 68) - 43 pts. Lost opening round of NCAA to Texas
~ Boston College (pick 89) - 37 pts. Lost in 2nd round of NIT
~ Quinnipiac (pick 94) - 26pts. Lost opening round of CIT
~ Ball St (expandadraft) - 10 pts
~ Jackson St (expandadraft) - 5 pts

Mooseye:
~ Wake Forest (pick 69) - 10 pts
~ Charlotte (pick 88) - 20 pts
~ Western Kentucky (pick 95) - 18 pts
~ Texas Southern (expandadraft) - 17 pts. Lost opening round of NIT
~ Coastal Carolina (expandadraft) - 14 pts
~ Hampton (expandadraft) - 16 pts. Lost opening round of NCAA to Duke

Musashisan: (NO NCAA TEAMS LEFT)
~ Michigan St (pick 1) - 43 pts. Lost opening round of NCAA to UCLA
~ Baylor (pick 27) - 31 pts
~ Arizona St (pick 52) - 24 pts
~ Long Beach St (pick 79) - 31 pts
~ Iowa (pick 104) - 8 pts
~ South Carolina (expandadraft) - 4 pts
~ Providence (expandadraft) - 2 pts

Slake B: (Only NCAA team left is Ohio State)
~ West Virginia (pick 23) - 50 pts. Lost in 2nd round of NCAA to Kentucky
~ Xavier (pick 30) - 60 pts. Lost opening round of NCAA to Marquette
~ Maryland (pick 49) - 35 pts
~ Cornell (pick 56) - 12 pts
~ Wright St (pick 75) - 23 pts
~ Miami OH (pick 101) - 21 pts. Lost opening round of CBI
~ Cleveland St (expanadraft) - 18 pts
~ Arkansas (expanadraft) - 6 pts

SGII:
~ NC State (pick 38) - 23 pts
~ Murray St (pick 41) - 33 pts. Lost opening round of NIT
~ Old Miss (pick 34) - 38 pts. Lost opening round of NIT
~ New Mexico St (pick 67) - 14 pts
~ Tulsa (pick 90) - 33 pts
~ Cincy (expandadraft) - 27 pts. Lost 2nd round of NCAA to UCONN
~ McNeese St (expandadraft) - 14 pts. Lost opening round of NIT

NCAA Scoring and Chatter

Number of bids in the NCAA Tournament (57 of 68):

• 8 = Boaris
  
• 6 = Babblemur
• 5 = The CEO, Gunz, Jutdog, Mad Mader, McGrumps,
  
• 4 = Mooseye, SGII,
  
• 3 = Akaoni, Jaybird, Slake B,
  
• 1 = Musashisan

Scoring rules for the NCAA Tournament:

- Each team that makes the NCAA tourney receives 3 points
- Each team earns 2 points for a NCAA tourney play-in game win*
- Each team earns 4 points for a NCAA tourney round 1 win*
- Each team earns 6 points for a NCAA tourney round 2 win*
- Each team earns 8 points for a NCAA tourney round 3 win*
- Each team earns 11 points for a NCAA tourney round 4 win*
- Each team earns 14 points for reaching the NCAA final*
- The team that wins the NCAA tourney earns 17 points.*

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

Unrelated Bracket Group

Per request, a "Group" on ESPN for anyone interested:

http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/en/group?groupID=67117

NIT

Check out the NIT bracket here.

What do we know? All but 3 or 4 of the 32 teams are BabblePlayer squads, making this tourney a game changer for our league.

In total, this year's NIT is probably worth around 100 pts, unless UW Milwaukee or another non-player team takes it all.

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

Champion Week (18) Recap

McGrumps started the week in 8th place. 17 wins later he added +75 to his score, won three conference championships and put five teams in the Big Dance. Now he is in 6th place, but just 31 points out of first place.

Mooseye started the week in fourth place, then he won the MEAC, the Big 12, and the Big East, but only Florida was given an at large bid. Nonetheless, Mooseye holds first place with a 10 point lead and a number one seed.

Boaris was bitching and moaning about Tennessee while in 5th place last Monday. Despite a lack-luster performance during championship week he got two automatic bids and six at-large bids to put a league leading 8 teams in the Big Dance. All in all he added +62 points for the week and put himself in second place.

These three were the big winners of Championship Week, but lets not discount the valiant efforts of Babblemur (+47 and the MWC Title), Gunz (+43 and the ACC Title), The CEO (+42 and the Patriot League Title), Jutdog (+41 and the Colonial Title), and Mad Mader (+41 with five at-large bids).

However there is a thumping in the basement, and with some strong flagship teams leading them in the Big Dance it is time to pay more attention to Slake B (+32 and Ohio St) and SGII (+36 and Washington). On the other hand, I think we can wish a fond farewell to the hopes of Akaoni (+26 with 3 NCAA bids) and Musashisan (+15 with one NCAA bid.)

Standings after Week 18:

• Current with all Mar 13 (Sunday) Games
• 1. Mooseye 417 (185-96)
• 2. Boaris 407 (193-82)
• 4. Babblemur 399 (185-91)
• 3. Jutdog 398 (189-89)
• 5. Gunz 396 (176-100)
• 6. McGrumps 386 (197-87)
• 7. Mad Mader 381 (179-96)
• 8. Jaybird 360 (182-97)
• 9. The CEO 344 (181-93)
• 10. Slake B 335 (162-111)
• 11. Some Guy in Illinois 324 (172-104)
• 12. Akaoni 322 (172-102)
• 13. Musashisan 244 (141-132)

Number of Bids to the NCAA Tournament:

• 8 = Boaris
  
• 6 = Babblemur
• 5 = The CEO, Gunz, Jutdog, Mad Mader, McGrumps,
  
• 4 = Mooseye, SGII,
  
• 3 = Akaoni, Jaybird, Slake B,
  
• 1 = Musashisan
  

Number of Bids to the NIT:

• 4 = Akaoni, Mooseye,
  
• 3 = Gunz, Musashisan, SGII,
  
• 2 = Babblemur, Boaris, CEO, Jut, Mad Mader, McGrumps,
  
• 1 = Jaybird, Slake B,
  

What do you think? Like your seeds? Are you screwed?

Per request, a "Group" on ESPN for anyone interested:

http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/en/group?groupID=67117

Mooseye Dominates Saturday Tourneys

Mooseye was the clear winner on Saturday, going 4-0 and winning the MEAC for +7, Kansas won the Big 12 for +10, and UCONN took 5 games to win the Big East for +10. This resulted in a 41 point DAY for Mooseye, catapulting him into a 22 point first place lead. On top of that, Florida made it to the SEC final today that could further pad his position.


Jutdog dropped 3 games, with only North Carolina advancing to an opportunity for a major conference tournament championship. He fell from first place to third place, as Boaris grabbed the Ivy League automatic bid and Utah State took the WAC for a total of 15 points.

Babblemur dropped to fourth place despite 13 points for San Diego State's affirming and dominating victory over BYU and Jutdog. Gunz held onto the fifth place spot despite Clemson and Harvard losses, but he has Duke facing off for the ACC title today.

Mad Mader got knocked out of the ACC race, but Penn State has risen to the Big Ten final today against Ohio State. Mader holds onto 6th place, 48 points out of first, down but not out.

McGrumps did his best to stay in contention by winning Conference USA and advancing Richmond and Kentucky into Sunday's tournament finales. The 17 points pushed him ahead of Jaybird, who followed a 4-0 Friday with an 0-4 Saturday. The CEO also had a goose egg on Saturday, while Akaoni in 10th place got Dayton into the Sunday A-10 final.

Some Guy in Illinois won the Pac-10 with Washington to pull within a point of 11th place Slake B, who is feeding off Ohio State and looking good for taking the Big 10 today. Musashisan lost 3 games to secure last place.

Four More Tournaments

The last four tournaments are today, giving seven players one last crack and a point boost before the NCAA Tournament kicks off.

SEC
Florida (Mooseye) vs. Kentucky (McGrumps)
Mooseye could really pad his lead going into the Big Dance with a win of the SEC, but McGrumps needs those points badly to remain competitive. At 55 points down, a win by Kentucky would narrow that deficit to 42 and threaten for 5th place.

Atlantic 10
Richmond (McGrumps) vs. Dayton (Akaoni)
McGrumps is the only player with two teams alive today, and a win over slumping Akaoni would add another 11 points to the day, which combined with a Kentucky win would put McG just 31 points down. For Akaoni the 11 points at best will keep him at pace with Slake B.

ACC
North Carolina (Jut) vs. Duke (Gunz)
Jutdog fell 25 points out of first yesterday, Gunz sits 43 points out. This clash of Top 10 teams guarantees the winner a 15 point return, critical for entering the Tournament competitively.

Big 10
Ohio St (Slake) vs. Penn St (Mad Mader)
Mad Mader has the odds stacked against him this game, but Penn State may have proven they are Tourney-worthy after their Big 10 run.

Selection Sunday

Tournament selection begins tonight - every team that receives a bid to the NCAA Tournament will get +3 points.

Saturday Smackdown

Friday was a HUGE day that paid off for some and sunk the rest. Almost every game was a head to head match up, and for Jutdog (4-1), Jaybird (4-1), Mooseye (4-2), and McGrumps (4-3) it paid off.

And for Babblemur (1-4), Some Guy in Illinois (1-4), Slake (1-3), and Akaoni (1-2) dreams were dashed like whiskey across the bar.

Others still cling to home like McGrumps who lost the MAC and SWAC but put three teams into games today, and Musashisan who could give three teams auto-bids this weekend with Michigan State, Alabama and Long Beach State.

Mad Mader lost both his Big East games (Syracuse and Notre Dame) but has the unlikely duo of Virginia Tech and Penn State in the Semis.

Gunz lost the Big 10 last night but went double down for the ACC with Duke and Clemson facing Mad Mader and Jut today.

The CEO lost teams earlier in the week but is still gaining points thanks to Vanderbilt and Bucknell's victory in the Patriot League.

Boaris lost three tourney games but has Louisville in the Big East Finale, Utah State prepared to take the WAC, and Princeton facing off with Harvard for the Ivy auto-bid.

___________

Saturday Smackdown

This is the day that Lord Jut could take an insurmountable lead.

Championships on the Line:

Big 12 (7 points +3 for the auto-bid)
#10 Texas (Jut) vs. #2 Kansas (Mooseye)
This is a big one for both Jut and fourth place Mooseye, who is just 13 points down.

Mountain West (5 points +3 for the auto-bid)
#8 BYU (Jut) vs. #7 San Diego St (Babblemur)
Babblemur's last team playing this week, with smack talk all year about these two teams. Aztecs need payback for two losses, Jimmer needs a date.

Pac 10 (7 points +3 for the auto-bid)
Arizona (Jaybird) vs. Washington (Some Guy in Illinois)
A must win for SGII to avoid being written off.

Big East (7 points +3 for the auto-bid)
UCONN (Mooseye) vs. Louisville (Boaris)
A great match up pitting second place Boaris against fourth place Mooseye for a pile of points.

Ivy (+3 for the auto-bid)
Princeton (Boaris) vs. Harvard (Gunz)
Fifth place Gunz needs another auto-bid to keep up with the pack, Duke can't carry Gunz anymore.

WAC (5 points +3 for the auto-bid)
Utah State (Boaris) vs. Boise St (_)
Second place Boaris needs these uncontested points.

Conference USA (5 points +3 for the auto-bid)
Memphis (McGrumps) vs. UTEP (Jaybird)
Jaybird is contesting four conference championships at this point, McGrumps is contesting three.

Southland (4 points +3 for the auto-bid)
McNeese St (SGII) vs. Texas San Antonio (_)
SGII should lock up these easy points.

Big West (4 points +3 for the auto-bid)
Long Beach St (Musashisan) vs. UC Santa Barbara (_)
Come on, Musa.

MEAC (4 points +3 for the auto-bid)
Hampton (Mooseye) vs. Morgan St (Jaybird)
The Hampton pick totally redeems itself with a win here.

MAC (5 points +3 for the auto-bid)
Kent State (Jut) vs. Akron (_)
Easy points for Lord Jut

Big Ten
Michigan St (Musa) vs. Penn St (Mad Mader)
Ohio St (Slake B) vs. Michigan (_)
No Illinois, no Purdue, no Wisconsin... -yawn-

ACC
North Carolina (Jut) vs. Clemson (Gunz)
Duke (Gunz) vs. Virginia Tech (Mad Mader)
Heading for a big Sunday showdown.

Charts & Graphs

Lunch Break Charts and Graphs

of a most trivial nature

Who is bringing home the bacon so far this week?




OK so you are losing, but are you gaining ground?



Who gets to try and take down Lord Jut today?

Top Teams heading into the Beast of the Season

1. Duke with 74 (Gunz) - pick 2
2. Kansas with 72 (Mooseye) - pick 10
2. Ohio State also with 72 (Slake B) - pick 4
4. Pittsburgh with 71 (Jaybird) - pick 7
5. North Carolina with 65 (Jutdog) - pick 9
5. Florida with 65 (Mooseye) - pick 17

7. Notre Dame with 63 (Mad Mader) - pick 65
8. Arizona with 62 (Jaybird) - pick 33
9. BYU with 60 (Jutdog) - pick 35
10. Gonzaga with 58 (CEO) - pick 8
10. Syracuse with 58 (MadMader) - pick 13

12. Purdue with 57 (Babs) - pick 3
12. Old Dominion with 57 (Jutdog) - pick 44
12. Xavier with 57 (Slake B) - pick 30
15. Butler with 55 (Akaoni) - pick 21
15. St. John's with 55 (Babs) - pick 50

Absent from this list:

Pick 1: Mich St

Pick 5: Kansas St

Pick 11: Kentucky

Pick 12: Washington

Week 17: Jutdog, Jaybird, Boaris, Mooseye and Slake Win Big

As the regular season (mostly) came to a close on Sunday, conference champ points and a few conference tournaments were doled out and the Leader Board was shaken up and stirred. It was a big time week for five players, and a pile of shit for the other 8. Lets recap:

Conference Champs

Mooseye came on strong winning two Major conferences (SEC and Big 12), and thanks to the expanda-draft two minors (BigSouth and SWAC) for 30 points. Jutdog was right behind him also with four conferences: ACC, Mountain West, MAC, and the Atlantic Sun for 29 points. Boaris was the only other player to win four conferences (WAC, CUSA, Big Sky, MEAC) and could make it five with the Ivy. He picked up 26 points for his efforts.

Slake B took 3 conferences (Big10, A-10, Horizon) for 23 points, the CEO took 3 conferences (WCC, MAAC, and Patriot) for 19 points, and Some Guy in Illinois took 3 (Colonial, OVC, Southland) for 19 points. The rest of us had 2 conferences or less, with special notice going to Jaybird who won two majors (Big East and Pac 10) for 18 points.

Who's Dancing and Who Isn't

Belmont (Jutdog) is the only player team that has made it to the Dance so far. Other conference winners have choked in their tournaments leaving their futures in the hands of the Tourneygods, including Missouri St (Akaoni), Florida Atlantic (Babs), Fairfield (The CEO), Vermont (Gunz), Coastal Carolina (Mooseye), Cleveland State (Slake), and Murray State (SGII). Unlike George Mason (SGII), most of these teams will NOT get an at-large bid, despite some impressive seasons. The NIT will be a full boat.

Player Performance Ratings

Here's how everyone did this last week. Note that with all of the conference champ points added in points were quite inflated, but not also that those with the best W-L records were the recipients of those points...

1. Jutdog +61 (15-5)
2. Jaybird +52 (16-5)
3. Boaris +48 (15-4)
4. Mooseye +44 (14-7)
5. Slake B +42 (12-9)
6. SGII +26 (10-9)
7. McGrumps +22 (12-7)
8. Mad Mader +21 (11-7)
9. Gunz +19 (11-8)
10. Babs +18 (10-8)
11. Akaoni +15 (7-11)
12. The CEO +14 (10-10)
13. Musashisan +14 (8-10)

Week 18 Preview

This week is all about winning. The only games scheduled are tournament games, and if you lose, you don't play anymore games and can't get any more points for the week. Duh, right? Consider that almost all of the Major conference teams are player owned - that means possibly 2-4 games this week per team, almost all against other players, with big points for surviving undefeated, plus guarantees for the Big Dance. Here's the points that are important this week:

- A team that wins a major conference (6) tournament earns 7 points
- A team that wins a mid-major conference (9) tournament earns 5 points
- A team that wins a non-major conference (16) tournament earns 4 points

Wait! There's more!

- Each team that makes the NCAA tourney receives 3 points

So Six teams will run the Majors and bring in 10 points each, plus a likely 9 more from 3 wins over other players. The 9 Mid-Majors will have 9 teams bringing home 8 points each plus wins against others. Remaining Minors will bring home 7 points.

Then on Sunday, as the NCAA Selection is announced, all at-large teams selected for the Big Dancey Dance will have their +3 points added up as well.

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN! TREMBLE IN FEAR & HOPE!

Standings After Week 17

• Current with all Mar 6 (Sunday) Games
• 1. Jutdog 357 (179-82)
• 2. Gunz 353 (171-93)
• 3. Babblemur 352 (175-85)
• 4. Mooseye 346 (170-92)
• 5. Boaris 345 (182-75)
• 6. Mad Mader 340 (169-86)
• 7. Jaybird 336 (175-90)
• 8. McGrumps 311 (180-82)
• 9. Slake B 303 (156-105)
• 10. The CEO 302 (173-87)
• 11. Akaoni 296 (166-96)
• 12. Some Guy in Illinois 288 (163-97)
• 13. Musashisan 229 (135-123)

Open Thread for Sunday Trash Talk

Austin Peay and Murray State blew it in the OVC.

Fairfield just bombed out in the MAAC.

Coastal Carolina Caves in the whatever conference.

BYU wins with Virgins.

George Mason loses first in 18 games to VCU in Colonial

Boston College downed by Wake?

Tennessee sucks to Kentucky

Minnesota can't beat anyone

And Jut's in first place???? WTF???????????

Tie for First, Leaderboard Tightens as Conferences Close

Tie for First

Gunz' lead finally eroded after a dismal 9-9 week, netting only 15 points (6 less than Musashisan). Babblemur took advantage of that netting 40 points off a 16-3 record, including two wins over Top 10 teams (USC over Arizona, Colorado over Texas) and 6 points for the Sun Belt Championship. Gunz and Babblemur now sit tied at 334 points, but with more competition nipping at their heels.

Tightening of the Pack

Only 50 points separate 9th place from first place, and Week 17 and 18 coming up can dump 40-50 points on a player with conference champs and conference tournaments.

Mad Mader brought in the most points last week, netting 42 points off a 14-6 record, including two wins over Top 10 teams (Virginia Tech over Duke, UCLA over Arizona) and 6 points for the Southern. On the other hand, Mooseye stumbled, going 11-9 for 25 points, 6 of that from winning the SWAC. Moose needs to try to win the Big 12 with Kansas and the SEC with Florida for 9 points each to stay in the top 4.

Winning is everything now, and Boaris (15-3), Jutdog (16-3) and McGrumps (14-4) have teams that are winning. Boaris picked up 34 points and won the WAC to move into 5th place. He is in a strong position to win the CUSA, the IVY and the Big Sky, so more points are on the way. Jutdog also added 34 points with a huge win over Top 10 San Diego State that will likely also give him the Mountain West. If he keeps winning like this he could add the Big 12, the MAC, and if Duke stumbles, a share of the ACC. McGrumps hit 29 points with a share of the WCC for 7 and big wins over UCONN and Florida, but can he capture any more tournaments? Memphis is a game back in the CUSA, and Ball State is a game back in the MAC...

The CEO got a big win when Gonzaga beat St. Mary's for a share of the WCC making 27 for the week, but 7 losses included Buffalo giving up on the MAC, Vandy giving it up in the SEC, and Minnesota dropping two in the Big 10. The CEO at 46 points down is not out though. Nor is brother Jaybird, although a 10-13 week for a paltry 18 points does not look good. Pitt lost and is clinging to the top of the Big East, Arizona dropped two instead of clinching the PAC 10, UTEP lost two and the lead in the CUSA, and Morgan St fell a game behind Bethune in the MEAC.

What's that noise in the Cellar?

Akaoni isn't in the Cellar yet, but another 6-11 week will put him there. His teams are collapsing all around him, Villanova 0-2, Northwestern 0-2, Dayton 0-1, Colorado St 0-2, Southern Miss 0-1, Denver 0-2 - Jesus, who won? Butler somehow managed to win a share of the Horizon...

But just 20 points below Akaoni lays Some Guy in Illinois, who picked up 31 points on a 12-8 week which included winning the Ohio Valley and the Colonial, a Cincinnati win over Georgetown, and two wins for McNeese State which could pull off the Southland this week. Just below SGII is Slake B, who went 11-8 for 26 points, including winning a share of the Horizon, and a lot of potential as Ohio State is a game up in the Big 10, Xavier is poised to win the A-10, and Miami Ohio is in the hunt for the MAC. Musashisan has cursed every team he has selected, but still managed 21 points thanks to Long Beach State, now if Alabama can manage not to blow the SEC, well, anything's possible?

More Conference Championship Points Distributed (on top of the 42 points distributed last week):

• Big West (6) goes to Long Beach State (Musashisan)
• OVC (6) goes to Murray State (SGII)
• Southern (6) goes to Charleston (Mad Mader), who finished tied with Wofford (CEO) but beat Wofford at both meetings.
• SWAC (6) goes to Texas Southern (Mooseye), with a 3 game lead (and two wins over) Jackson St (McGrumps)
• Sun Belt (6) goes to Florida Atlantic (Babblemur)
• Colonial (7) goes to George Mason (SGII)
• Horizon (7 + 7) with a three way tie, and since Butler swept Cleveland State, and Milwaukee swept Butler, and Milwaukee and Cleveland St split, 7 points for both Butler (Akaoni) and Cleveland St (Slake)
• Missouri Valley (7) goes to Missouri St (Akaoni)
• West Coast (7 + 7) with a tie, and split victories, both St. Mary's (McGrumps) and Gonzaga (CEO) get 7 points each for the West Coast.
  
• WAC (7) goes to Utah State (Boaris)
  

Conference Champ Points Remaining:

• Big Sky: Northern Colorado (Boaris) is one game up on Montana (MM) with two games remaining.
• Ivy: Princeton (Boaris) has a one game lead over Harvard (Gunz) with 3 games remaining.
  
• MEAC: Bethune Cookman (Boaris) has a one game lead over Morgan St (Jaybird) with one game remaining. If they wind up tied, Morgan State wins the tie breaker, and the points.
  
• Southland: Can McNeese St (SGII) hold on for two more games?
• Atlantic 10: Xavier (Slake) 13-1; Temple (Jay) 12-2;
  
• C-USA: UAB (Boaris) one game up but 7 teams in the running...
  
• MAC: 2 games left, 6 teams in contention...
• MWC: BYU (Jut) has a 1 game lead over SDSt (Babs) with 2 games remaining...
• ACC: 3 teams, final week
• Big East: 4 teams, final week
• Big 12: Kansas (Mooseye) or Texas (Jut), final week
• Big 10: 3 teams, final week
• Pac 10: 3 teams, final week
• SEC: 3 teams, final week

Tournament Time! Week 17 Tournaments:

• America East --
• Atlantic Sun --
• Big South --
• Colonial --
• Horizon --
• MAAC --
• Missouri Valley --
• Northeast --
• Ohio Valley --
• Patriot --
• Summit --
• Sun Belt --
• West Coast --

Standings after Week 16

• Current with all Feb 27 (Sunday) Games
• 1. Babblemur 334 (165-77)
• 2. Gunz 334 (160-85)
• 3. Mad Mader 319 (158-79)
• 4. Mooseye 302 (156-85)
• 5. Boaris 297 (167-71)
• 6. Jutdog 296 (164-77)
• 7. McGrumps 289 (168-75)
• 8. The CEO 288 (163-77)
• 9. Jaybird 284 (159-85)
• 10. Akaoni 281 (159-85)
• 11. Some Guy in Illinois 262 (153-88)
• 12. Slake B 261 (144-96)
• 13. Musashisan 215 (127-113)

Bow Before the Mighty Babblemur

Babblemur went to the bank this week, bringing in an un-surmountable +44 points off 14-4 record for the week. How all the points? Purdue knocked off #10 Wisconsin and #2 Ohio State for 10 points alone; St. Johns knocked off #4 Pitt plus Marquette for 8 points, lowly USC beat California and Stanford for 6 points, and Long Island won two to win the Northeastern Conference for 6 points. All in all, Babs went 9-3 against other players.



But Babs wasn't the only one kicking ass. Boaris went on a rampage, and despite a Tennessee loss to Georgia and a Louisville loss to Cincy Boaris went 14-4 for 34 points, including K-State knocking off #1 Kansas on Monday, and Nebraska nipping #3 Texas on Saturday. Boaris shot up from 9th place to 6th.

The CEO turned in 35 points of his own, although 12 of them were for winning the MAAC and the Patriot. But that shouldn't overshadow a 15-4 week including a sweep in the bracket busters.

Breakdown performance chart

Babblemur +44 (14-4)
The CEO +35 (15-4)
Boaris +34 (14-4)
Gunz +27 (9-11)
Mad Mader +26 (12-7)
McGrumps +26 (12-8)
SGII +25 (13-7)
Jutdog +24 (10-8)
Jaybird +23 (13-7)
Akaoni +23 (15-4)
Slake B +23 (11-8)
Mooseye +21 (9-11)
Musashisan +19 (9-10)

Conference Champ Points Allocated (Week 15):

America East = Vermont (Gunz) 6 pts
Atlantic Sun = Belmont (Jut) 6 pts
Big South = Coastal Carolina (Mooseye) 6 pts
MAAC = Fairfield (CEO) 6 pts
NEC = Long Island (Babs) 6 pts
Patriot = Bucknell (CEO) 6 pts
Summit = Oakland (McGrumps) 6 pts

Many more conference championships should be determined this week (Week 16), so expect to see the points flying. Below is a breakdown of the Conferences yet to be determined.

Conference Champ Points TBD:

Minors:

• Big Sky: Montana (MM) or Northern Colorado (Boaris)
  
• Big West: Long Beach St (Musa) or Cal Poly (_)
  
• Ivy: Harvard (Gunz) or Princeton (Boaris)
• MEAC: Beth-Cook (Boaris), Morgan St (Jaybird) or Hampton (Mooseye)
  
• OVC: 4 teams in the running
• Southern: 5 teams in the running
• Southland: 10 teams in the running
• SWAC: 5 teams in the running
• Sun Belt: 4 teams in the running

Mid Majors (7 pts each)

• A-10: Xavier (Slake), Temple (Jaybird), Richmond (McGrumps), Duquesne (Musa), Rhode Island (Jut);
• Colonial: George Mason (SGII), Old D (Jut), VCU (Gunz), Hofstra (Akaoni)
  
• C-USA: 10 teams in the running
  
• Horizon: Cleveland St (Slake), Valpo (Jaybird), Butler (Akaoni), Milwaukee (_)
  
• MAC: 8 teams in the running
  
• MVC: Wichita St (Mooseye) or Missouri St (Akaoni)
  
• MWC: San Diego St (Babs), BYU (Jut) or Colorado St (Akaoni)
  
• WCC: St. Mary's (McGrumps), Gonzaga (The CEO) or San Fran (_)
  
• WAC: Utah St (Boaris) or New Mexico St (SGII)
  

Majors: (9 points each)

• ACC: With three to four games remaining, it is down to Duke (Gunz) at 12-1, North Carolina (Jut) at 10-2, and Florida State (Akaoni) at 9-3. North Carolina travels to Florida State March 2, and Duke travels to North Carolina for a big game March 5th, but for this week all three need to win win win to survive to next week.
  
• Big East: With four games left, 'technically' 10 teams could still tie up for a share of the title, but realistically this is down to Pittsburgh (Jaybird) at 12-2 who could almost lock it up with two wins this week. 2 games back is Notre Dame (Mad Mader) at 10-4, who beat Pitt at their only meeting this year. Others (Georgetown, Villanova, Louisville, St. John's etc.) are longshots at best, needing Pitt to lose the rest of their games to be in contention.
  
• Big 10: With four games remaining the Big 10 is down to Ohio State (Slake) at 12-2, Purdue (Babs) at 11-3, and Wisconsin (Gunz) at 10-4. Purdue split their games with Ohio State and Wisconsin, but Wisconsin is 1-0 vs. Ohio State with one final game coming up March 6 that could determine a share of the Big Ten Title (and points for all!)
  
• Big 12: There are four games remaining, and Texas (Jut) at 11-1 has a slim lead over Kansas (Mooseye) at 10-2, while technically in the hunt is Texas A&M (Mad Mader) at 8-4 and Missouri (The CEO) at 7-5. Texas beat Kansas in their only matchup, meaning Kansas would need to win the Big 12 outright to get those 9 points - a tall order at this point.
  
• Pac 10: It is down to three, and Arizona (Jaybird) is looking to lock it up this week, giving Jaybird potentially two major conference champs. Arizona is 12-2, they play this week UCLA (Mad Mader) at 10-4, while the third contender Washington (SGII) at 10-5 needs a small miracle to pull of the Pac 10 this year.
  
• SEC: The SEC is CrAzY! Four games left - Alabama (Musashisan) at 10-2 and Florida (Mooseye) at 10-2 have a two game lead over a pack that includes Vandy (CEO) at 8-4, Kentucky (McGrumps) at 7-5, Georgia (Babs) at 7-5, Missississippi State (Jaybird) at 6-6 and Tennessee (Boaris) at 6-6. This week should eliminate three or four of those teams, but the Big Show will be March 1 when Alabama heads to Florida for their only matchup this year. Florida has a tough row to hoe given their next four games (Georgia, Kentucky, Alabama, Vandy), as does Vandy (Tenn, LSU, Kentucky, Florida).
  

STANDINGS AFTER WEEK 15:

• Current with all Feb 20 (Sunday) Games
• 1. Gunz 319 (151-76)
• 2. Babblemur 294 (149-74)
• 3. Mad Mader 277 (144-73)
• 4. Mooseye 277 (145-76)
• 5. Jaybird 266 (149-72)
• 6. Boaris 263 (152-68)
• 7. Jutdog 262 (148-74)
• 8. The CEO 261 (151-70)
• 9. McGrumps 260 (154-71)
• 10. Akaoni 257 (153-74)
• 11. Slake B 235 (133-88)
• 12. Some Guy in Illinois 231 (141-80)
• 13. Musashisan 194 (120-100)

Week 14 & 15 Things are getting HOT

Well it is in the 40s in Wisconsin, H-O-T!

The top of the Leader Board showed why they are there last week with the Top 6 players scoring +24 or greater, while the Bottom 7 could barely squeak past +20, if that. There was no change in the Top 4 as Gunz (+30), Mooseye (+26), Mad Mader (+24) and Babblemur (+26) all found reasons to be happy this week, like Wisconsin (Gunz) knocking off Ohio State, or Florida (Mooseye) sweeping two big games to take the SEC Lead, or Notre Dame (Mad Mader) beating Louisville and moving into second place in the Big East, or St. Johns (Babblemur) upsetting UCONN and moving into the top half of the Big East.

However two bad-ass brothers have moved up into the #5 and #6 slots. Jaybird hit +30 for the week with Pittsburgh winning two big games to build a solid lead in the Big East, Arizona moved into first place in the Pac 10, and Valparaiso beat Wright State and Detroit to move into first place in the Horizon. Brother Jut though passed two more players with a +26 week, and more importantly he now has first place in the Big 12 (Texas), MWC (BYU), Atlantic Sun (Belmont), and the MAC (Kent State) and Old Dominion is playing strong two games out of first in the Colonial.

Player Performances for Week 14:

• Gunz +30 (14-5)
• Jaybird +30 (12-5)
• Mooseye +26 (12-5)
• Babblemur +26 (11-8)
• Jutdog +26 (14-5)
• Mad Mader +24 (12-5)
• Akaoni +21 (11-8)
• McGrumps +20 (12-6)
• The CEO +20 (14-6)
• SGII +20 (14-4)
• Boaris +19 (11-9)
• Slake B +17 (11-9)
• Musashisan +12 (7-10)

Bracket Busters

This week we have Bracket Buster Games Friday-Sunday, pitting mid-majors and minors against each other for our amusement. I've highlighted those head-to-head games on the sidebar. Best games?

• VCU (Gunz) vs. Wichita St (Mooseye) - First we have the #1 and #2 players on the leader board facing off, both with exceptionally good teams. Wichita State was the pre-season mid-major darling that failed to stun and is now locked into a first place tie in the MVC. VCU just lost to Old Dominion and is one game out of first place in the Colonial.
  
• Austin Peay (Jaybird) vs. Fairfield (CEO) - a butter brother battle in a bottle, Fairfield has gone 20-5 for the CEO, 13-2 in the MAAC, a three game lead with three games remaining. Austin Peay has gone 2-2 since being drafted, but still sits 2 games back in the Ohio Valley.
  
• Missouri State (Akaoni) at Valparaiso (Jaybird) - Valpo is on a 3 game win streak with 2 wins against other players, they now have a half game lead in the Horizon. At 32 points, Missouri State is the best 7th round draft pick on the board for Akaoni, and is tied up with Wichita State for first place in the MVC.
  
• Cleveland State (Slake) at Old Dominion (Jut) - this is the marquis matchup. Cleveland State came out of nowhere to become the dominant force in the Horizon until two recent losses to Butler and Detroit. Their point guard last game scored 41 points, 20 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals - that's good. Old Dominion at 2 games back in the Colonial might be counting on an at-large bid - a loss here would hurt a LOT. Old D has won 6 of their last 7, the only loss to George Mason (are they ranked in the top 25?)
  

Conference Showdowns

America East - Vermont (Gunz) can seal the America East conference with a win over Maine (Babblemur) on Wednesday.

Atlantic 10 - Temple (Jaybird) and Richmond (McGrumps) are both 9-2 and in second place, half game behind Xavier (Slake). They face off on Thursday.

Atlantic Sun - Belmont (Jut) can lock up the Atlantic Sun with a win over East Tennessee State on Thursday.

Big South - Coastal Carolina (Mooseye) is 15-0 with three conference games remaining. Undefeated in conference would be a bonus +3 points...

Big Ten - There are only 3 teams that can win the Big 10 now: Ohio St (Slake) at 11-1, Purdue (Babs) at 9-3, and Wisconsin (Gunz) at 9-3. Wisconsin heads to Purdue on Wednesday, followed by Ohio State going to Purdue on Sunday. After this week there may be only two contenders remaining.

Colonial - Tuesday - George Mason (SGII) 13-2 takes on VCU (Gunz) 12-3 in a critical game for both. This is their only regular season game together, so it is the tie breaker as well. There are three games remaining for both in the Colonial including this one.

Conference USA - There are four teams within a game of first place in the CUSA, UTEP 7-2, UAB 8-3, Memphis 7-3, Southern Miss 7-4. Every game is a bracket buster for these four, an at-large bid will not come easily. UAB (Boaris) plays Memphis (McGrumps) on Wednesday, while UTEP (Jaybird) takes on Southern Miss (Akaoni) the same day.

MAAC - Fairfield (CEO) could lock up the MAAC with a win over Marist on Wednesday.

MAC - Kent State (Jutdog) at 8-2 holds a slim lead in the conference over Miami Ohio (Slake) at 8-3. They play on Wednesday, its a big game for the MAC. Kent State won their last match up.

MEAC - Saturday Hampton (Mooseye) at 9-2 faces conference rival Bethune-Cookman (Boaris) at 8-3. Hampton won the last match up, a win here could seal the conference.

PAC 10 - Saturday first place Arizona (Jaybird) at 10-2 faces Washington (SGII) at 9-4 in a key conference game for both.

Summit - If Oakland (McGrumps) sweeps the Dakotas this week they will have the Summit all locked up.

Leader Board after Week 14:

• Current with all Feb 13 (Sunday) Games
• 1. Gunz 292 (142-65)
• 2. Mooseye 256 (136-65)
• 3. Mad Mader 251 (132-66)
• 4. Babblemur 250 (135-70)
• 5. Jaybird 243 (136-65)
• 6. Jutdog 238 (138-66)
• 7. McGrumps 234 (142-63)
• 8. Akaoni 234 (138-70)
• 9. Boaris 229 (138-64)
• 10. The CEO 226 (136-66)
• 11. Slake B 212 (122-80)
• 12. Some Guy in Illinois 206 (128-73)
• 13. Musashisan 175 (111-90)

Perspective on the upcoming 8 weeks of Babblemur

Just how huge can end of year point bursts be? Consider conference reg season points, all of the head to heads in league play in a condensed time period, topped with tourney points and more, and you get a scenario in which anyone but Mushasisan can win.

As of Feb 12, 2011, the standings in league play are as follows:
1. Gunz 285 (139-65)
2. Mooseye 253 (135-65)
3. Mad Mader 245 (130-65)
4. Babblemur 244 (133-70)
5. Jaybird 239 (134-64)
6. Jutdog 238 (138-66)
7. McGrumps 234 (142-62)
8. Akaoni 234 (138-69)
9. Boaris 229 (138-64)
10. The CEO 224 (134-66)
11. Slake B 209 (121-80)
12. Some Guy in Illinois 205 (127-71)
13. Musashisan 175 (111-86)


So where were we last year on Feb 15, 2010? The post title of the day was "Jutdog Suffers Worst Performance in Three Year History of Babbleball". Akaoni was the sure lock to win the league, with about a 40 point lead - a 76 point lead over Jutdog!

Standings as of Feb 15, 2010:
•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)


And then, shoot forward several weeks to the conclusion of the league:
Final Standings for 2009-10 (with last team "alive")
•1. Jutdog - 483 (207-90) West Virginia lost to Duke in the Final Four
•2. Gunz - 478 (203-101) Duke as National Champions
•3. Akaoni - 469 (210-89) Baylor lost to Duke in Elite 8
•4. Babblemur - 455 (205-90) Butler lost to Duke in championship game
•5. Boaris - 448 (214-85) Ohio St lost to Tennessee in Sweet 16
•6. Jaybird - 429 (206-94) Dayton won NIT championship
•7. The CEO - 409 (192-104) Michigan St lost to Butler in Final Four
•8. NotaTurtle - 376 (176-113) Purdue lost to Duke in Sweet 16
•9. Phunmunki - 335 (173-110) Xavier lost to Kansas St in Sweet 16
•10. Some Guy in Illinois - 311 (185-112) North Carolina lost to Dayton in NIT finals


So what does that mean? Well, a few things:
1. Bab's and CEO's claims that GUNZ has sealed the league is just foolish. He might even have DUKE win it all and somehow still lose.

2. Less than half of the points available have been distributed. The season is just getting started.

3. Akaoni really sucked down the stretch last year!

4. Gunz is actually doing worse this year than AKAONI was doing last year at this time, considering he has fewer points and we have far more teams this year providing additional head to head opportunities.

5. If a 76 point lead is able to be overcome, that would mean that Slake B is right in contention for the championship along with the other 10 players ahead of him. A comeback from SGII and Musash would be unprecedented.

6. So who is doing better this year (in terms of points) than last year besides the obvious in Gunz (up 38 pts)? Jutdog is up 27 points. Babblemur is up 22 points. McGrumps (player formerly known as Turtle) is up 19 points. Even SGII is up 16 points! And rounding out the batch, the CEO is actually up 8 points. Everyone else is doing worse this year.

7. CEO feels better about his season after reading this.

Gunz Extends his Lead

Gunz won Week 13, scoring 35 points off a 15-5 record, including an 11-2 record against other players. His top four teams went undefeated for 22 of his 35 points. If there is a bright side for the rest of us, Harvard lost to Princeton which may be enough to keep Gunz from winning the Ivy, but otherwise it looks bad as Gunz' lead is now at 32 ahead of second place with Duke, VCU and Vermont poised to win their conference titles.

How did the rest of us fare?

Gunz +35 (15-5)
Mooseye +28 (14-4)
Akaoni +26 (12-8)
Jutdog +24 (14-5)
Slake B +23 (13-7)
Mad Mader +21 (9-10)
Babblemur +19 (11-7)
Jaybird +19 (11-7)
Musashisan +17 (9-9)
Boaris +15 (13-7)
McGrumps +15 (9-8)
SGII +15 (9-8)
The CEO +13 (9-10)

Best Expanda-Draft Squad

In a short week for the expanda-draft teams, Babblemur can brag about the most success so far as Florida Atlantic went 2-0 with a win over North Texas to take a 2 1/2 game lead in the Sun Belt; and Long Island went 2-0 with a win over Quinnipiac to take a 1 game lead in the NEC.

Conference Leaders:

Jutdog (A-Sun, Big 12, MAC, MWC)
Mooseye (Big South, MEAC, MVC, SWAC)
Jaybird (Big East, C-USA, PAC 10)
Gunz (American East, ACC, Colonial)
Musashisan (A-10, Big West, SEC)
Slake B (A-10, Big 10, Horizon)
Boaris (Big Sky, Ivy, WAC)
McGrumps (Summit, West Coast)
SGII (Colonial, OVC)
CEO (MAAC, Patriot)
Babblemur (NEC, Sun Belt)
Mad Mader (Southern)
Akaoni (_)

Standings after Week 13

* Current with all Feb 6 (Sunday) Games
* 1. Gunz 262 (128-60)
* 2. Mooseye 230 (124-60)
* 3. Mad Mader 227 (120-61)
* 4. Babblemur 224 (123-62)
* 5. McGrumps 214 (130-57)
* 6. Jaybird 213 (124-60)
* 7. Akaoni 213 (127-62)
* 8. Jutdog 212 (124-61)
* 9. Boaris 210 (127-55)
* 10. The CEO 206 (122-60)
* 11. Slake B 195 (111-71)
* 12. Some Guy in Illinois 186 (114-69)
* 13. Musashisan 163 (105-80)

Mid Major Standings

The Mid Majors are very competitive this year. A team that wins a mid-major regular season earns 7 points, and the conference tournament is worth 5 points (and an automatic bid to the Big Dance, another 3 points). Plus, if a team should go undefeated in their conference, there is an additional +3 for the super-feat.

That makes a potential 135 points out there for Mid-Majors. There are 42 player teams in these 9 conferences. WINNING GAMES NOW IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER.

Note that in the case of a tie for the conference championship, the tie breaker is head to head matchups. If those are a tie, both teams get full points.

"Official" Babbleball Mid-Majors: Atl 10, CAA, CUSA, Horizon, MAC, MWC, MVC, WAC, & WCC

Standings as of February 4, 2011:

Atlantic 10
1. Duquesne (Musa) 8-0, 16-5
2. Xavier (Slake) 7-1, 15-6
3. Temple (Jaybird) 6-2, 15-6
3. Richmond (McGrumps) 6-2, 17-6
5. UMASS (Mad Mader) 5-3, 13-8
5. Rhode Island (Jut) 5-3, 14-8
7. Dayton (Akaoni) 4-4, 16-7
12. Charlotte (Moose) 2-6, 10-12

Colonial
1. George Mason (SGII) 10-2, 18-5
2. VCU (Gunz) 10-2, 18-6
3. Old Dominion (Jut) 9-3, 18-5
4. Hofstra (Akaoni) 8-4, 14-9

Conference USA
1. UTEP (Jaybird) 5-2, 17-5
2. Southern Miss (Akaoni) 6-3, 17-5
3. Memphis (McGrumps) 5-3, 16-6
3. Tulsa (SGII) 5-3, 12-10
3. UAB (Boaris) 5-3, 15-6
7. Marshall (CEO) 3-4, 15-7

Horizon
1. Cleveland St (Slake) 10-2, 21-3
2. Valparaiso (Jaybird) 8-3, 16-7
3. Wright St (Slake) 8-4, 15-9
5. Butler (Akaoni) 6-5, 14-9
7. Detroit (Jut) 6-6, 12-12

Mid American
1. Buffalo (CEO) 6-2, 14-6
1. Bowling Green (_) 6-2, 11-11
3. Kent State (Jut) 5-2, 14-7
4. Ball State (McGrumps) 5-3, 13-8
4. Miami-Ohio (Slake) 5-3, 10-12
7. Ohio (Babblemur) 3-5, 10-12

Missouri Valley
1. Wichita St (Moose) 10-2, 19-4
2. Northern Iowa (Musa) 9-3, 18-6
2. Missouri St (Akaoni) 9-3, 17-6
6. Creighton (Jaybird) 6-6, 14-10

Mountain West
1. BYU (Jut) 7-1, 21-2
2. San Diego St (Babs) 7-1, 22-1
3. Colorado St (Akaoni) 5-3, 15-7
3. UNLV (Boaris) 5-3, 17-5
5. New Mexico (Moose) 4-4, 16-7

West Coast
1. St. Mary's (McGrumps) 7-1, 19-4
2. Santa Clara (Gunz) 5-2, 15-9
2. San Fran (_) 5-2, 11-11
4. Gonzaga (CEO) 5-3, 15-8

Western Athletic
1. Utah St (Boaris) 10-0, 21-2
2. New Mexico St (SGII) 6-4, 12-12

2011 PowerHouse Trios

As we learned last year, it is important to have the best team in the country (Gunz and his perennial favorite Duke), but possibly more important to have the best trio of teams (Jutdog's West Virginia, Tennessee, and Kansas State, which generated enough points for the win). So, who looks to be in a good position with a dominant trio to challenge for the Hall of Fame spot this year:

1.Moose Eye: This guy has Kansas, UCONN, and Florida. This is a good bunch. Kansas has no faults on the year, and in most places is a lock for a 1 seed in the tourney. UCONN has gone beyond everyone's expectations in reaching 17-3 with a top 10 SOS and no bad losses. This wins list is pretty impressive: Texas, UK, Michigan State (when they were #2), NOVA, and Tennessee. Florida brings in a big question mark. They are 4-3 against sub-100 talent, while going 5-1 against top 50 talent. They are 17-5 though, a top 25 team, and leading the SEC. They are a strong #3 team to have, placing Moose Eye with the best TRIO.

2. Gunz. Things seem good for Gunz, and he has built a decent lead. However, Duke has lost 2 of their last 6 games, and appears to be entering the toughest part of their season. Despite this, they are still elite-8 material. Georgetown has rebounded and is actually 17-5 with the #2 SOS. They have NO bad losses and 7 wins over top 50 teams. That places them as at least a sweet 16 contender. However, isn't this the same Georgetown team that bowed out last year in the opening round (this year's team is far worse inside without Monroe). They appear to be playing far better this year as a team and could contend for a Big East titel. Then you have Wisconsin, who beat Purdue, Minnesota, and Illinois, and has 5 close losses all on the road. He also has Clemson who is 15-6 but with no real impressive wins. So Gunz is most likely a contender, but clearly not a lock for even a top 3 finish. Further, he does not have the best trio in our league.

3. Mad Mader: The Cuse have been slippin, and the XCuse is because they don't play D. 4 Straight losses (note that two were against top 10 talent) has their future in doubt. Thankfully the mad man has a supporting cast of Notre Dame who is 17-4 (!) with a top 10 SOS (!) and 7 (!) wins over top 50 teams including Wisconsin, Georgetown, UCONN, and PITT. Up until meeting Texas, his third team in Texas A&M was looking pretty good. At 17-4 and no losses to terrible teams, they are looking great aside from the losing 3 of their last 4. Mader was probably the most dangerous player 4 games ago, before the Cuse and A&M entered their winter falls.

4. Jutdog: Of course, no list would be complete without the Hall of Fame representation, and Jutdog has again assembled a worthy collection of teams. Texas has proven to be a great pick, giving Kansas their only loss while also picking up wins against Illinois, UNC, Michigan St, A&M (twice), and Mizz. Losses against UCONN and PITT are excusable, but at USC?? They have won 7 straight and play NO additional ranked teams for the remainer of the regular season. BYU comes in at the second spot, with the #12 SOS including wins over San Diego St, Utah St, St Marys, Arizona, and UTEP. They are 6-1 on the road, and have no bad losses. However, they have yet to face a real national contender and may be considered unproven. The final team is UNC, who is tied for first in the ACC with a 16-5 overall record. Somehow, these guys scored 106 last night at Boston College while only producing 58 at Georgia Tech. They are 2nd in the nation in rebounding, and have quietly won 9 of their last 10 games. At only 2-4 against top 50 talent, they have yet to prove themselves.

Honorable Mention:

6. Babs?? Purdue is obviously a contender, but with only two starters and 12 subs, it is a serious stretch to call them a final four lock. San Diego State? They have only one loss (BYU), and have wins over St Marys, Gonzaga, California, UNLV, and New Mexico. All very impressive wins over what will likely be teams that do NOT make the sweet 16. San Diego St is at best an uncertainty - they might dominate, or they may fade against the best in the country.

But even if we give both Purdue and San Diego St tickets to the Sweet Sixteen, who else? Georgia? St Johns? How 'bout Maine? Babs will at best finish 2nd this year, and more likely will be somewhere in the 4 - 8 range, which is not too bad considering his main squad took a serious blow on the first day of practice (See Robbie Hummel).

6. Jaybird?? PITT, Temple, and Arizona. Well.. probably better than Babs, but good enough to win? Temple has been his major let down, while by some accounts Arizona has exceeded expectations. If PITT stays focused, they are well coached and skilled, and are a leading candidate for a 1 seed.

6. Slake B. Ohio State is by almost all accounts the best team in the nation. 7-0 on the road, 5-0 against top 50 teams, and unbeaten. However, they only have played 4 rated teams all year, including Florida and Purdue. If they can win AT Minnesota, AT Wisconsin, and AT Purdue, then I will be sold. Until then, and considering that over half of their wins are from teams outside of the top 100, they are not enough to be considered a lock. Maryland is 1-6 against top 50 teams, and 7 of their wins came from sub-200 teams. West Virginia is only 6-4 in their last 10 games, but they do have 5 wins over top 50 talent including Purdue and Georgetown.

Week 12 Winners & Losers

Week 12 was a roller coaster, with some big winners and some big losers.

Winners & Losers

Jutdog (+30, 12-4) was the big winner, as Seton Hall knocked off #9 Syracuse, BYU defended their home court against #4 San Diego State, and 5 more wins against other players catapulted him out of 10th place and into the running again (although only 8th place...).

Mooseye (+25, 11-4) was the other big winner, with New Mexico picking off #9 BYU, and 5 more wins against other players. Western Kentucky won two, keeping them from getting dropped, Wichita State swept 2 to keep them in the Missouri Valley hunt, and even lowly Wake Forest won a game before being dropped. Mooseye rose from 7th place a week ago to 4th place, just 25 back from the Mighty Gunz.

Other good scores for the week: Boaris is back with +22 off a 12-3 record, Gunz is firing again with +21 despite a 9-7 record, Jaybird picked up +20 off a 10-6 record, and Slake B started winning again picking up +20 off a 10-6 record.

The biggest loser this week was Akaoni, who could only get three of his teams to win a game, and one of them, Texas Tech, he dropped after a 2-0 performance. Villanova, Butler, Florida St, Northwestern, and Dayton all went win-less for the week, netting Akaoni a total of +7 off a depressing 5-9 week.

Teams of the Week

Louisville (Boaris) beat West Virginia (Mad Mader) and #5 UCONN (Mooseye) for 8 points, moving them into second place in the Big East, and moving Boaris from 9th place to 6th place on the leader board.

Georgetown (Gunz) beat St. Johns (Babblemur) and #8 Villanova (Akaoni) for 8 points, giving the Hoyas a winning record (5-4) in the Big East and Gunz some ammo for holding onto first place.

Standings After Week 12

* Current with all Jan 30 (Sunday) Games
* 1. Gunz 227 (113-55)
* 2. Mad Mader 206 (111-51)
* 3. Babblemur 205 (112-55)
* 4. Mooseye 202 (110-56)
* 5. McGrumps 199 (121-49)
* 6. Boaris 195 (114-48)
* 7. Jaybird 194 (113-53)
* 8. The CEO 193 (113-50)
* 9. Jutdog 188 (110-56)
* 10. Akaoni 187 (115-54)
* 11. Slake B 172 (98-64)
* 12. Some Guy in Illinois 161 (105-61)
* 13. Musashisan 146 (96-71)

Expanda Draft: the Rundown

At CEO's request, I thought I'd post the Expanda Draft picks on the front page.

1. Musashisan - Duquesne A10
2. SGII - Cincinnati Big East
3. Slake B - Cleveland State Horizon
4. Jutdog - Belmont Atl Sun
5. Boaris - Northern Colorado Big Sky
6. Jaybird - Valparaiso Horizon
7. Mooseye - Coastal Carolina Big South
8. The CEO - Bucknell Patriot
9. Akaoni - Colorado State Mountain West
10 McGrumps - Ball State MAC
11. Babblemur - Florida Atlantic Sun Belt
12. Mad Mader - Montana Big Sky
13. Gunz - Harvard Ivy

14. Gunz - Vermont American East
15. Mad Mader - Charleston Southern
16. Babblemur - Long Island NEC
17. McGrumps - Jackson State SWAC
18. Akaoni - Hofstra Colonial
19. The CEO - Buffalo MAC
20. Mooseye - Hampton MEAC
21. Jaybird - Austin Peay
22. Boaris - Bethune-Cookman
23. Jutdog - California
24. Slake B - Arkansas
25. SGII - McNeese State
26. Musashisan - Providence Big East

Add / Drop Round (Optional)

27. Musashisan - Drops Iowa, Adds South Carolina
28. SGII - PASS
29. Slake B - PASS
30. Jutdog - Drops Weber St, Adds Kent State
31. Boaris - Drops Loyola Marymount, Adds Nebraska
32. Jaybird - PASS
33. Mooseye - Drops Wake Forest, Adds Texas Southern
34. The CEO - Drops Satan Barbara, Adds Marshall
35. Akaoni - Drops Texas Tech, Adds Denver Sun Belt
36. McGrumps - PASS
37. Babblemur - PASS
38. Mad Mader - Drops St. Louis, Adds UMASS
39. Gunz - Drops Bradley, Adds Santa Clara

Let's Roll!

Parity Marks Week Eleven

The mandatory weekly update - Week Eleven

No standouts this week. Every player picked up between 12 and 19 points, between 6 and 11 wins, between 4 and 10 losses. The CEO topped all in most wins and fewest losses.

Rundown:

• The CEO +19 (11-4) - Vandy wins in and out of conference against Ole Miss and St. Mary's
  
• Akaoni +19 (9-7) - Villanova's win over Syracuse atones for the loss to UCONN
• Mad Mader +18 (10-4) - Syracuse drops two, are they still final four material?
  
• Gunz +18 (8-7) - Duke is back on track (unlike Clemson, Stanford and Bradley = 0-6)
• Slake B +17 (9-5) - Ohio State and Xavier picking up the slack
• Some Guy in Illinois +17 (9-7) - Washington earning their first round draft status
• Jaybird +17 (7-6) - Arizona & Temple stumble, Pitt and UTEP rumble
• Jutdog +16 (8-7) - Two big wins for Texas, BYU ready for the Aztecs this week
• Mooseye +16 (8-8) - at least UCONN is still kicking ass
• Boaris +15 (7-7) - K-State bombs, Utah State looks fine
• Babblemur +15 (7-8) - Takes a beating but still beating most of you
• McGrumps +14 (10-7) - Damn, what happened to Quinnipeac?
  
• Musashisan +12 (6-10) - Bright sides: Northern Iowa and Alabama; Dark sides: everyone else

Standings after Week Eleven:

• Current with all Jan 23 (Sunday) Games
• 1. Gunz 206 (104-48)
• 2. Mad Mader 189 (106-42)
• 3. Babblemur 189 (104-47)
• 4. McGrumps 180 (112-44)
• 5. Akaoni 180 (110-45)
• 6. The CEO 179 (105-44)
• 7. Mooseye 177 (99-52)
• 8. Jaybird 174 (103-47)
• 9. Boaris 173 (102-45)
• 10. Jutdog 158 (98-52)
• 11. Slake B 152 (88-58)
• 12. Some Guy in Illinois 151 (97-55)
• 13. Musashisan 133 (89-63)