Jutdog Clinches 2010 Babbleball Championship

Rhode Island's loss in the NIT Semis last night eliminated the last player capable of surpassing Jutdog's score, clinching the championship for Jutdog.

Four players have teams alive in the Final Four: Jutdog (West Virginia) with 483 points, Babblemur (Butler) with 436 points, Gunz (Duke) also with 436 points, and The CEO (Michigan State) with 409 points. Winning the national championship would net 42 points between the semi-final game and the championship, not enough to surpass Jut's 47 point lead over Babs and Gunz.

Akaoni at 469 and Boaris at 448 have both been eliminated from further post season play.

Jutdog's success this year can be attributed to a number of factors. First his teams performed very well against other players, his 152 points in this category was second only to Akaoni's 162. Secondly his teams powered up in post season play - 7 teams made the NCAA Tournament, 4 reaching the Sweet 16, 3 the Elite 8, and one in the Final Four, for 92 points so far, 34 more than the next closest. And credit must be given to fine basketball by West Virginia (112 pts), Tennessee and Kansas State (75 pts each), Cornell (50 pts) as well as Utah State (48 pts) and Minnesota (47 pts).

Jutdog's victory this year will add to his braggery as it is his first championship that will not be accompanied by an asterisk.

Second Place is still up in the air. Akaoni stands in second place now with 469, and can hang on as long as either Michigan State or West Virginia win the National Championship. Babblemur and Gunz could finish in second place with a National Championship for Butler or Duke respectively.

Best and Worst of 09/10 - Part 1 of 3

Part 1 of a 3 part look at this past season's draft, who was brilliant and who was an idiot.

Expandadraft:

~ Best: Temple by SGII. Pick 81 (first in expansion) bringing in 33 pts. Not too much thinking involved in this pick.
~ runner-up: Murray St by Jaybird. And. UTEP by Notaturtle - both bringing in 31 points.
~ Note: Gunz's Rhode Island is still alive, and could bring in a solind number of points from the NIT.

~ Worst: Virginia by Gunz. Pick 93 bringing in only 4 pts.
~ runner-up: Charlotte by CEO - dropped a shitty team to pick up an even worse one worth only 3 pts.


Round 8:

~ Best: Baylor by Akaoni, bringing in a huge 66 points from pick 66. This almost doubles the closest competitor from this round. This was one of the top 5 picks of the year.
~ runner-up: Northwestern by Jaybird and Houston by Boaris. The last picks in the regular draft, both teams brought in 36 points.

~ Worst: Radford by Jutdog. Despite preseason hype to win the league again, Radford only generated 17 wins all season, and produced no other bonuses. Pick 73
~ runner-up: Penn State by Notaturtle. Only 17 points. This team could not win a game. Pick 74.


Round 7:

~ Best: St Marys by Boaris, bringing in 56 points from the 61st pick. This team's points were significantly boosted by a strong and surprising run into the sweet 16.
~ runner-up: Cornell by Jutdog, bringing in 50 pts from the 69th pick. This is the third year that Jutdog snagged Cornell, and is likely the last, as this strong run into the sweet 16 was led by 6 seniors.

~ Worst: Niagara by Phunmunki, bringing in only 22 points from the 65th overall pick.
~ runner-up: Long Beach State by Notaturtle, with only 21 points scored by the 68th overall pick.

The Departed (updated 3.28.10)

There have been some changes in the last week, in case anyone missed it. Some folks are out and teamless, while others have no chance at winning the league. Let's see:

Update: Akaoni: The giant has fallen, ending a season in which Akaoni was the league leader for an estimated 80% of the weeks. Akaoni's strategy this year was simple: No mid majors till exandadraft. It paid off huge for him, bringing in late round picks like Baylor, Virginia Tech, and Pittsburgh. In fact, his last 4 picks were almost worth double what his first 4 picks were, thanks to the unexpected performaces by Syracuse and Baylor this year. Akaoni's draft mentality appears to be a winner - had any one of Texas, Illinois, or South Carolina lived up to their hype and potential, Akaoni would have walked away with the league after the second round of the NCAA tourney. In the end though, he was shut out of the Final Four, and sits in 2nd place with no remaining teams. Should Michigan State or West Virginia win the NCAA tourney, Aka would finish with a solid 2nd place standing. However, a Butler (Babs) or Duke (Gunz) win would push Aka out down the ladder.

Jaybird: Following the Kansas loss, Jaybird's Kentucky was considered by most to be the top team remaining. Even with Kentucky nabbing a national title, Jaybird would have needed some magic to occur. This ended quicker than expected, with West Virginia taking down Kentucky in the Elite 8. Jaybird still has Dayton left, which could be a significant player in determining the babblemur champ with Gunz and Akaoni both benefiting greatly from NIT points. Overall, Jaybird did a decent job drafting, with Kentucky, Georgetown, Florida State, and Murray State. The excessive emphasis on mid-to-low majors really hurt Jaybird, as none of them produced up to the hype. This may have been Jaybird's last run in the contest.

Babblemur: Babs still has Butler, who is making a very impressive run to the Final Four. Butler has brought in 100 points, and could snag another 42 points. Congrats on Babs for making this risky pick, which has earned a Best Pick of the Year award. Even with Babs winning the whole thing, he won't be able to top Jutdog's 483. Babs didn't really have a bad pick this year, although California greatly underproduced and really cost him the league. It was a tough choice at pick 10 for Babs. Last year's last pick was Oklahoma, followed by Pitt, which were huge for Boaris. Babs will be back next year, and should again contend.

Boaris: He was unexpectedly and suddenly teamless, having his two remaining squads shut down in the sweet 16. With no teams left, Boaris is stuck at 448. This should be good enough to secure a top-half finish, which should in turn be enough to motivate Boaris to return for yet another year of the challenge. His late pick of St Marys was an excellent one, and the surprising exits of Kansas and Ohio State left this one time favorite with nothing.

NotaTurtle: Purdue was crushed last night, ending his hopes at a title. Even with the win, Turtle was so far behind it would only have helped his pride. Turtle was hurt this year with UCONN's poor season, as well as the gamble of Arizona not paying off. Of course, it didn't help that Long Beach State couldn't finish a game, while Penn State returned most of their 27 win squad only to snag 11 wins this year for turtle. Of particular note is that Turtle snagged zero points in the conference tourney area (one of only 2 to go pointless), while finishing second to last in post season points (only SGII did worse).

Phunmunki: Phunmunki was plaugued all season with two of the worst picks of the year in Michigan (rd 2) and Oregon State (only 11 pts). Somehow, though, Munki managed to get 5 teams past the first round of the NCAAs - good teams too, in Texas A&M, Xavier, Villanova, Wake Forest, and New Mexico. However, even an amazing NCAA finish wouldn't have produced enough for Phun to contend, as she only reached the low 300s while the leaderboard was in the mid 400s. Villanova never really produced, which really hurt. Xavier was a bit of a surprise, and should be excellent next year if Phun can snag them yet another year. Phun has no remaining teams.

SGII: He was a rookie, so this year was a good learning experience for him. UNC received one of the worst pick of the year awards, but could actually salvage a little with an NIT championship. SGII's rounds 3-5 never really produced. He didn't win much in any of the extra categories (0 opening season pts, only one reg season champ and conf tourney champ with expandadraft Temple, and a dismal 18 pts in post season pts). However, SGII does have two squads left in the NIT, and these wins could influence the leaderboard a bit should Jaybird's Kentucky or Gunz's Duke make a run, as both players still have NIT teams at play. Even if SGII had the national champ, he'd likely finish 5th at best. SGII's first year is remeniscent of Bab's first year (finished with negative points).

CEO: He claims to have figured this league out for next year, and we all hope he has figured something out following such a dismal season this year. Should Michigan State make another run into the final, CEO will finish on a high note, and will end in the top 5 in the league. Northern Iowa was a good snag, although this wasn't a surprise. Oklahoma was also awarded a worst pick of the season award, generating only 23 pts for the 23 overall pick. CEO's point distribution was pretty balanced, with only his head to head point bonus lacking a bit.

The Odds on Favorites

Approaching the final wire, who still has a shot at this?

At this point it may be down to 3 players: Akaoni, Boaris, and Jutdog. These three have a huge advantage going into the Sweet 16, and with just 20 points separating the three it is safe to say that they are neck and neck.

But don't count out yet those clinging to NCAA championship hopes: Babblemur, Gunz, Jaybird, The CEO and NotaTurtle. At this point I claim that these five are longshots but technically still in it.

The Leaders

Akaoni

Akaoni built a strong lead early this season and held it almost all the way through, but now he must pull off the big finish to claim the title. Syracuse is key to his success, and he may need them to win it all depending on what happens with Boaris and Jutdog's teams. Having Baylor and Washington in the Sweet 16 helps as both back ups in case Syracuse gets stunned by Butler or the following game. Baylor should pick up the win over St. Mary's, but Washington has a tough game against a very good West Virginia. I would put Akaoni's odds at 1:4 now, with a few extra points possible from Virginia Tech in the NIT and Charleston good for a point or two in the CBI.

Boaris

Boaris' stock went way down with Kansas on Saturday. His back up, Ohio State, are no slouches though, consider that they won the Big 10 regular season, the Big 10 Tournament, ranked 5th in the nation, and are now the top seed in the Midwest Bracket. The Buckeyes do not have an easy road to the Final Four though, facing a critical game with Tennessee on Friday and if they win, either Michigan State or Northern Iowa. St. Mary's, on the other hand, is a long shot against Baylor, and if they win, they face either Duke or Purdue. Louisiana Tech in the CIT is only good for a few points at best. Boaris' Championship hopes depend on Ohio State getting not only to the Final Four but the championship game. I would put his odds at 1:8.

Jutdog

Somehow this bastard managed to get 4 teams in the Sweet 16, in 3 of the 4 brackets to boot. This makes Jutdog a strong contender to win the championship based on numbers alone. His teams are no pushovers though, and if he makes enough noise this week he may not even need to win the championship. Kansas State has good odds against Xavier, and will likely face off with Syracuse on Saturday. Tennessee can match up with Ohio State and knock Boaris out with a win on Thursday. Conference underdogs Cornell are going to be everyone's favorite against Kentucky, but West Virginia is likely Jut's best bet to reach the Final Four. They face Akaoni's Washington on Thursday, and unless Cornell got lucky they have their toughest contest to date with Kentucky on Saturday. I put Jutdog at 1:4 odds to win the Babbleball championship at this point.

The Long Shots

Gunz

Gunz is 8 points below Babs, but in much better shape, because he has Duke instead of Butler, and Rhode Island instead of UAB. Gunz needs Rhode Island to roll some more games in the NIT, but like Babs, he needs Duke in the Final Four, in the Championship game, and likely needs them to win it all. Duke faces a tough Purdue on Friday, and if they win they take on either Boaris' St. Mary's or Akaoni's Baylor. Like Babs, Gunz needs The CEO to get into the Final Four out of the Midwest Region, and Jaybird's Kentucky from the East, again to deny the Top 3 players more points. Gunz should be rooting for Phunmunki's Xavier to mess things up for Jut and Akaoni as well in the West. Gunz has the benefit of Duke being a strong choice to win the National Championship, which greatly helps his cause, but he needs Akaoni, Boaris and Jut to lose some big games along the way. Odds for Gunz: 1:12

Jaybird

Same situation for Jaybird, but it is Kentucky that holds the cards for reigning Babbleball Champ Jaybird. Kentucky is a damn good team to have holding the cards however, #1 seed for good reason, and West Virginia is about the only real challenge to keep them out of the Final Four. With Kansas out, Kentucky has become that much closer to sailing in for a National Championship. Jaybird also will pick up needed points along the way from Nevada and Dayton in the NIT, but its all about Kentucky winning and Boaris, Akaoni and Jut losing big games. Odds for Jaybird: 1:16

Babblemur

The CEO put the dagger in Babblemur's chances when Michigan State took down Maryland. Left now with Butler in the Sweet 16, and UAB in the NIT, it doesn't look good for Babs. If UAB were to somehow win the NIT, that's a total of about 20-25 points. But to win the Babbleball championship Butler is going to have to go all the way, National Champions. He would have to destroy Akaoni's dreams by knocking off Syracuse on Thursday, defeat Jut's Kansas State on Saturday, and still hope to meet up with one of The CEO's teams in the Final Four, Gunz's Duke, and Jaybird's Kentucky, just to stop Boaris, Akaoni, and Jut from picking up more points. Odds for Babblemur: 1:50

The CEO

The good news is two teams in the Sweet 16. The bad news is they play each other on Friday. The good news is The CEO will have one team for sure in the Elite 8, and their opponent will either be #2 seed Ohio State (Boaris) or #6 seed Tennessee (Jutdog). It goes without saying that The CEO needs to put either Northern Iowa or Michigan State in the Final Four. They also need to see Boaris, Jutdog, and Akaoni kept out of the Final Four. And if one gets in, The CEO needs to beat them. Cincinnati in the NIT could bring critical points to keep the CEO competitive, Pacific is good for 1-3 points at best in the CIT. Odds for The CEO: 1:75

NotaTurtle

Purdue and UCONN remain for the one who is not a turtle. UCONN may be favorites to win the NIT for 25 points when it is all said and done, and if Purdue wins the National Championship that is another 68 points. Can 93 points win it for NAT? He's 78 points down... He needs a perfect storm. He needs: 1. Win the NIT, 2. Purdue to win the National Championship, AND: 3. Butler over Akaoni's Syracuse, AND 4. Xavier over Jut's K-State, AND 5. Kentucky in the Final Four, AND 6. St. Mary's over Akaoni's Baylor OR West Virginia over over Akaoni's Washington. So yes, it is possible, NotaTurtle, but highly improbable. Odds for NotaTurtle: 1:200.

Out

Phunmunki - down to Xavier in the sweet 16. If the X were to win the National Championship, they would pick up 68 points along the way. Unfortunately she is 130 points out from first place right now. She's out.

Some Guy in Illinois - With two teams in the NIT and one in the CIT, the best he can do for the remainder of the season is 39 points, a far cry from the 160 he needs to vie for the championship. He's out.

Looking at Next Year's BabbleImprovements

Time to start considering rule improvements, if any, to the league. I'll start by offering a few reflections on a few changes from the past two years:

Wins over AP top 10 teams (rule implemented two seasons ago): Akaoni dominated this field this field this year, capturing twice as many points (24) as other players, except for his fellow Iowan Turtle (16). This added significant interest to games against top teams, and appropriately rewarded teams for these big wins. I think this is a great addition to the league.

Undefeated regular season conference play: Only Babs snagged this 3 point bonus with Butler going undefeated. This is a nice perk that adds a little interest as conference play concludes, and appropriately rewards a team that acheives this significantly challenging feat. I would not be opposed to making this a 4 point bonus for next year.


Some early thoughts on potential improvements to the league:

This year's MWC and Atl10 proved to be significant players, with a combined 7 teams making the NCAA cut. The Atl10 also had three 20+ win teams that didn't make the cut in Rhode Island, Dayton, and St Louis. Meanwhile, the Pac10 obviously had a down year, with only two squads making the cut. Even the Big 10 only had 5, with Minnesota just making the chopping block. This leads me to again offer the following simple creation of a three tier conference system that I believe more appropriately reflects the state of college basketball:

Conf Grouping & Point Restructuring - Create 3 conference tiers: Major, Mid-Major, and Minor.

~ Major conferences (6 confs) would not change.
~ Mid-Major (9 confs) would consist of Atl 10, Mountain West, Miss Valley, CUSA, Horizon, WAC, West Coast, MAC, & CAA.
~ Minor would consist of the rest (16 confs).

~ Regular Season Champ Points: Tier one reg season championship: 10 pts; Tier two reg season championship: 8 pts; Tier three reg season championship: 6 pts.

~ Conference Tourney Champ Points: A conf tourney champion would receive: 8, 6, and 4.

At current, there is no mid-major tier, a team that wins a major conference regular season earns 7 points and a non-major conference regular season earns 6 points; A team that wins a major conference tournament earns 5 points and a non-major 4 points.


Additional potential changes:

Last years rule change discussion happened here.

Restructure NCAA Tourney Points:

~ Reduce the point reward for "making the NCAA" from 4pts to 3 pts. For many teams, there is already a significant boost from winning their league tourney.
~ Increase round 1 win from 2pts to 3 pts
~ Reduce round 3 win from 8 pts to 7 pts
~ Reduce round 4 win from 12 pts to 10 pts
~ Reduce Final Four win from 16 pts to 13 pts
~ Reduce Final win from 20pts to 17 pts.

This basically gives the NCAA winner 55 pts, plus 3 for making the tourney, plus 6 for each win, and plus a few 2's for wins vs other players. It is only a slight reduction of 8 total points, but I believe produces a more even and balanced point system. As our initial point system (and this proposal) was arbitrary, this is obviously wide open to discussion.

And finally: I thought the league was a bit more entertaining with 12 players as opposed to this year's 10. Even with the increased number of picks a round, we still saw numerous quality selections throughout ( SEE HERE ). Jaybird still pulled it off with the #1 and #24 picks, but Babs stormed into 2nd with the 10th and 15th picks. Overall I felt that this season's picks were much more informed and researched.

On to the 2nd Round

A harrowing first round!

You have to be in it to win it, and here's who is still in it:

• Boaris, 432 points, 4 teams in the NCAA, 1 in the CIT. Kansas and Ohio State are definite contenders, and BYU has potential.
• Akaoni, 430 points, 4 teams in the NCAA, 2 in the NIT, 1 in the CBI. With Syracuse, Baylor, and Pitt he's looking solid.
• Jutdog, 405 points, 4 teams in the NCAA. West Virginia and Kansas State are tough, Tennessee and Cornell could make the Sweet 16.
• Babblemur, 401 points, 3 teams in the NCAA, 2 in the NIT. How long can Maryland, Butler and California carry - likely not much further.
• Gunz, 394 points, 3 teams in the NCAA, 2 in the NIT. As long as Duke is in, Gunz is a contender.
• Jaybird, 385 points, 2 teams in the NCAA, 2 in the NIT. Murray St is only going so far, its all about Kentucky now for Jaybird.
• NotaTurtle, 368 points, 3 teams in the NCAA, 1 in the NIT. Turtle is still in it if he can keep Purdue, Gonzaga and Georgia Tech winning two more rounds, with UCONN as the clear favorite in the NIT.
• The CEO, 367 points, 2 teams in the NCAA, 1 in the NIT, one in the CIT. With only Michigan State and Northern Iowa to rely on The CEO's days are numbered.
• Phunmunki, 327 points, 5 teams in the NCAA. Say WHAT? If all five (Villanova, Xavier, Texas A&M, Wake Forest, New Mexico) win their round two games that is 40 points this weekend. Phunmunki is still in this. Thems some good teams.
  
• Some Guy In Illinois, 292 points, 1 in the NCAA (Missouri), 2 in the NIT, 1 in the CIT. Not gonna happen.

ESPN Bracket Group for Babblemur B-Ball

You can put as many entries as you want into this group:

http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/en/group?groupID=72313

After all, its just the tournament, not the whole she-bang like we have here!

Tournament Time!

It is anyone's game! In theory...

Championship Week proved that the Endgame is worth as much as the rest of the season, as in one week Boaris shot into first place, Jutdog and Babblemur replaced Gunz and Jaybird in the #3 and #4 slots, and NotaTurtle slipped back down into 8th place.

Lets get right to it - the NCAA Tournament

Jutdog and Boaris lead the pack with 7 bids a piece. Babblemur and The CEO follow with 6 each, Phunmunki, Gunz, and Akaoni got 5 bids each, 4 for Jaybird and NotaTurtle, and 3 for struggling Some Guy in Illinois.

Quality vs. Quantity?

#1 and #2 seeds are at a decided advantage.
Boaris: Kansas (#1), Ohio St (#2),
Akaoni: Syracuse (#1),
Gunz: Duke (#1),
Jaybird: Kentucky (#1),
Jutdog: West Virginia (#2), Kansas St (#2)
Phunmunki: Villanova (#2),

Distribution

Unlike last year, when the match ups put the bulk of Jut's teams in the same bracket-branch, this year sees player teams pretty well distributed. Boaris has BYU vs. Florida in round one, Babblemur has Butler and Vandy potentially facing off in round two, The CEO has both Clemson and Morgan St in the same group of 4, but otherwise all players have the potential to see all their teams in the Sweet 16.

NIT

There is a direct correlation between how many NCAA bids a player got versus how many NIT bids a player got. Whose in the running for the NIT? Some Guy in Illinois: 5, followed by Jaybird with 4.

The NIT may be as much fun to follow as the NCAA Tourney. Its the WCS - the "woulda coulda shoulda" tournament, featuring top seeds Illinois, Virginia Tech, Mississippi St, and Arizona St.

NCAA Scoring:

From the rules:
- A team that makes the post-season NIT final 4 receives 2 points*
- A team that makes the post-season NIT championship receives 4 points*
- The team that wins the post-season NIT championship receives 7 points*

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

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

Boaris Takes Lead Position!

Boaris continued his romp through Championship Week on Saturday with 28 points, passing Akaoni and moving into first place. Akaoni has held the #1 spot for the entire season. Boaris' big day was led with Kansas' win over #9 Kansas State taking the Big 12 Tourney, along with Houston's stunning upset of UTEP to take the Conference USA Tourney. Ohio State fought their way into the Big Ten finals tomorrow with a win over Illinois. This follows earlier captures of the West Coast with St. Mary's and the MAAC with Siena.

Sunday closes out the last four championship tournaments, with more points on the line:
Temple (SGII) vs. Richmond (Babs)
#4 Duke (Gunz) vs. Georgia Tech (NAT)
#5 Ohio St (Boaris) vs. Minnesota (Jutdog)
#2 Kentucky (Jaybird) vs. Miss St (Gunz)

Following these games, the NCAA Tournament Selection begins - and every team that gets a bid gets 4 points.

Championship Week II

Almost every game now in Championship Week is against other players, points are rolling in, more points when the tournaments are ended, and 4 points for every team that gets a bid to the NCAA Tournament - SUNDAY bracket day!

ACC:
Duke (Gunz) vs. Virginia (Gunz)
Virginia Tech (Akaoni) vs. Miami (NAT)
Maryland (Babs) vs. Georgia Tech (NAT)
Florida St (Jay) vs. NC State

Big East:
Marquette (Jut) vs. Georgetown (Jay)
West Virginia (Jut) vs. Notre Dame (Babs)

Big Ten:
Ohio St (Boaris) vs. Michigan (Phun)
Wisconsin (Gunz) vs. Illinois (Akaoni)
Purdue (NAT) vs. Northwestern (Jay)
Michigan St (CEO) vs. Minnesota (Jut)

Big 12
Kansas (Boaris) vs. Texas A&M (Phun)
Kansas St (Jut) vs. Baylor (Akaoni)

Pac 10
California (Babs) vs UCLA (Gunz)
Washington (Akaoni) vs. Stanford

SEC
Kentucky (Jay) vs. Alabama (Phun)
Tennessee (Jut) vs. Ole Miss (SGII)
Miss St (Gunz) vs. Florida (Boaris)
Vanderbilt (Babs) vs. Georgia

Atlantic 10
Temple (SGII) vs. St. Bonnies
Rhode Island (Gunz) vs. St. Louis
Dayton (Jay) vs. Xavier (Phun)
Richmond (Babs) vs. UMASS

Mountain West
New Mexico (Phun) vs. San Diego St (CEO)
BYU (Boaris) vs. UNLV (Gunz)

Conference USA
Houston (Boaris) vs. Southern Miss
UTEP (NAT) vs. Tulsa (SGII)

Western Athletic Conference
Utah St (Jut) vs. Louisiana Tech (Boaris)
Nevada (Jay) vs. New Mexico St

MAC
Akron (Jay) vs. Western Michigan
Ohio vs. Miami-Ohio

Big West
Pacific (CEO) vs. Long Beach St (NAT)
Davis vs. Santa Barbara

MEAC
Morgan St (CEO) vs. Hampton
SC St vs. Delaware St

Championship Week I

The regular season games wrap up with the end of Week 17. All regular season conference champions have been determined and scored. Conference Tournaments are underway, some already complete.

Regular Season Conference Champs

The following points were awarded this week for the 14 remaining conferences (12 others shelled out last week):

Majors

• ACC: Duke (Gunz) and Maryland (Babblemur) tied up at the top and split their games against each other. +7 for Gunz and +7 for Babblemur.
  
• Big 12: Kansas (Boaris) won this hands down. +7 for Boaris.
  
• Big East: Syracuse (Akaoni) survived to win. +7 for Akaoni
  
• Big Ten: Ohio St (Boaris), Purdue (NotaTurtle) and Michigan St (The CEO) all finished on top. +7 for Boaris, +7 for NotaTurtle, and +7 for The CEO.
  
• Pac 10: California (Babblemur) survived to win. +7 for Babblemur.
  
• SEC: Kentucky (Jaybird) finishes +7 for Jaybird.
  

Non-Majors

• A-10: Temple (SGII) and Xavier (Phun) finished in first, but Temple won their only meeting this year. +6 for Some Guy In Illinois!
• Big West: Pacific (CEO) tied it up at the top but lost both games this year against UC Santa Barbara. NO points.
  
• C-USA: UTEP (Turtle) takes it. +6 for NotaTurtle.
  
• Ivy: Cornell got what they deserved. +6 for Jutdog.
  
• MAC: Akron couldn't cut it. NO points.
  
• MEAC: Morgan St (The CEO) hands down. +6 for The CEO.
• Mountain West: New Mexico (Phun) clinched it. +6 for Phunmunki!
• WAC: Utah St takes it. +6 for Jutdog.
  

Conference Tournaments

Conference Tournaments are underway, and we will be allocating points now to teams when they win their tourneys. So far we have:

• MVC: Northern Iowa (CEO) wins it, +4 for The CEO.
• OVC: Murray St (Jaybird) wins it, +4 for Jaybird.
  
• Big South: Winthrop knocked off Coastal, sorry Akaoni
• A-Sun: E. Tenn St won it, sorry Babblemur

The rest will be determined in the next 7 days...

Weekly Score

Babblemur was the big winner this week, going 13-4 for 31 points, not including winning four regular season championships.

Babblemur +31
Jutdog +25
Phunmunki +25
Jaybird +24
Akaoni +22
Boaris +22
The CEO +21
Some Guy in Illinois +20
NotaTurtle +19
Gunz +15

Standings after Week 17

• 1. Akaoni - 374 (191-73)
• 2. Babblemur - 334 (187-73)
• 3. Boaris - 333 (191-71)
• 4. Jaybird - 327 (185-79)
• 5. Gunz - 319 (178-87)
• 6. Jutdog - 312 (181-76)
• 7. NotaTurtle - 307 (160-97)
• 8. The CEO - 303 (172-90)
• 9. Phunmunki - 277 (162-95)
• 10. Some Guy in Illinois - 251 (169-96)

Open Thread - Conferences wrapping up, end of reg season

Saturday and Sunday finishes off the regular season and wraps up some loose ends, such as who will win the Big 10, who will win the ACC, and perhaps other drama.

Also a dozen or so conferences have already gotten their conference tournaments underway, and some players have already suffered casualties in that battle. For some, that is the end of the road unless they can make the NIT.

• Radford (Jut) got knocked out in the Big South Semis, won't even get a chance to face Coastal (Akaoni) for the auto-bid.
• Creighton (SGII) left early in the MVC round, I'm not sure they are NIT material.
• Jacksonville (Babs) eliminated in the semis of the A-Sun, but if there is a bright side, they have dibs on a NIT bid as regular season champs in the A-Sun. Right? Right?
  

What else is new -

• Cornell (Jutdog) has clinched the Ivy regular season, and by doing so clinches the first bid into the NCAA Tournament. Congrats!
• Akron's loss to Kent State Friday lost Jaybird the MAC and the 6 points that would have come with a win.
• ACC is on the line Saturday: Duke (Gunz) plays North Carolina, Maryland (Babs) takes on Virginia. If both teams win (or if both lose), they both get +7 for the ACC. If one wins and the other loses...
  
• BIG 10 is on the line Saturday: Purdue (Turtle) at Penn St, Mich St (CEO) has Michigan
• Atlantic 10 is on the line - if Temple (SGII) wins, they get the +6. If Temple loses and Xavier wins, Xavier gets the +6. If both lose, and Richmond wins, ALL THREE get +6. If all three lose, Temple gets +6.
  
• Other conferences should be locked up by now: UTEP (Turtle) got the CUSA; Morgan St (CEO) got the MEAC; New Mexico (Phun) got the MWC; Utah St (Jut) got the WAC.