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.