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)

Tennessee Leads Boaris to Top of Boring Week of Basketball

Week Five Recap

Week Five resulted in little to no change to the Leader Board, as players saw an average of 12.3 games and a total of 25 head to head match ups (averaging 3.8 each). Given these meaningless statistics, an average "perfect week" for week five would result in 20 points.

Boaris was the only player this week to reach this target, going 12-1 and 3-0 against other players, with an additional 2 points for popping Top 10 Pittsburgh. #6 Kansas State, #7 Tennessee, #21 Louisville, and #22 UNLV are testament to his success. He narrowed the gap between himself and Gunz by 3 points to 17.

Gunz held onto the top spot with 17 pts (9-4) thanks to a 4-3 performance against other players (i.e. it could have been worse for the rest of us). Mad Mader held onto the #3 position with 17 of his own.

In the "Cluster" McGrumps held onto 4th place with 17 pts, Jut flipped into 5th place with 18 points, Mooseye stayed in 6th with 13 points, The CEO tumbled into 7th with 9 pts, Babblemur and Jaybird stayed at 8th and 9th with 12 points each.

No change in the Cellar where Slake B's 8-1 record gave him 10 pts, SGII matched that with 10 off an 8-4 week, Akaoni squeeked out 8 pts (6-4) and Musashisan struggled for 7 pts (5-6).

Week Six Preview

It is Finals Week on many campuses, another week of fewer games and fewer point opportunities. Players will average only 9.8 games this week, with 21 head to head matchups (3.2 average per player) so an average "perfect" week this week will result in 16 points, not a lot of room to move up and down the Leader Board.

At the top of the Leader Board, Gunz has only 8 games with 2 head to heads, and assuming Stanford beats struggling Butler he is looking at 12 points. Boaris can gain more ground with 11 games including 5 head-to-head matchups, 4 of which are winnable, but Kansas State vs. Florida (Mooseye) is the important one.

Down in the Cellar, Musashisan has some big opportunities as Baylor takes on struggling Gonzaga (The CEO), but Alabama will need a Crimson Miracle to beat Oklahoma State (Gunz). A 10 point week won't do much toward catching Akaoni, who could get 3 from Florida St vs. Loyola Marymount (Boaris) and Texas Tech vs. UTEP (Jaybird) and don't be too surprised if Missouri State knocks off St. Louis (Mad Mader). Slake B and Some Guy in Illinois won't be caught by those two yet though, but won't climb out of the Cellar, either.

Also, watch out for Mooseye who has a potential 24 points, but that includes Charlotte playing a red-hot Tennessee team so lets call it 19 potential points.

Standings After Week Five

• Current with all Dec 12 (Sunday) Games
• 1. Gunz 119 (55-18)
• 2. Boaris 102 (57-14)
• 3. Mad Mader 91 (52-19)
• 4. McGrumps 88 (54-19)
• 5. Jutdog 87 (51-23)
• 6. Mooseye 83 (49-20)
• 7. The CEO 80 (50-22)
• 8. Babblemur 79 (48-22)
• 9. Jaybird 78 (49-21)
• 10. Slake B 68 (42-27)
• 11. Some Guy in Illinois 67 (43-27)
• 12. Akaoni 59 (47-19)
• 13. Musashisan 52 (40-28)

Tournaments Shake Up Leader Board

Feast Week Tournaments turned into Feast or Famine for players, with five of them feasting and the rest of us starving for points.

Gunz held onto the top spot for the second week in a row, picking up 31 points this was off a 12-6 record. #1 Duke's win over #4 Kansas State in the CBE on Tuesday netted 8 points alone, and while he didn't win any other tournaments this week he was competitive in several, picking up points off other players with Wisconsin over Boston College, Clemson over Seton Hall, and VCU over UCLA.

But the big winner of Week Three was Boaris who went 16-4 for 41 points, vaulting him from 8th place a week ago to just 12 points back from rival Gunz. Even though K-State lost to Gunz's Duke, Boaris had Tennessee take out VCU in the NIT then upset Top 10 Villanova to take the Tournament (and ten points with it). Then there was UNLV in the 76 Classic that won three straight against player teams (Tulsa, Murray State, Virginia Tech) to win that puppy. Utah State, UAB and Louisville all did their jobs as well.

A 35 point week shot league rookie Mad Mader from 7th place to 3rd. He went 16-5, led by four big wins by Notre Dame over Maine, Georgia, California and Wisconsin and the Old Spice tClassic Title. Syracuse beat down Michigan and Georgia Tech to win the Legends Classic on Saturday. Virginia Tech and Texas A&M both went 2-1 in tournaments, and St. Louis managed to win both their games this week.

Pulling into 4th place this week is McGrumps, up from 9th place the week before. Despite losing titles at Maui, CBE, South Padre, and the Old Spice, he scooped up 29 points off a 15-6 record, led by the Richmond Spiders who upset Top 10 Purdue to win the less glamorous Chicago Invitational. Memphis remained undefeated, St. Mary's went 2-1, Boston College 3-1, Oakland 2-1, and Quinnipiac 1-0 getting ready for one of their last player v. player games tonight against the Maine Black Bears.

Also feasting this week was Mooseye, who pulled himself out of the cellar and into 6th place with 30 points off a 12-4 performance. Kansas went 3-0 for 7 points, Florida 2-0 for 4, and UCONN went down to Maui and beat Wichita State, #2 Michigan State, and #9 Kentucky for a 3 day total of 15 points.

Jaybird fell one spot to 5th place off 18 points, The CEO added 14 points to fall from 3rd to 7th, and Jutdog despite losing only 3 games and adding 24 points dropped two spots from 6th to 8th. Slake B had the honor of the worst performance of the week going 7-9 for 11 points and dropping from 2nd place to 9th. Babblemur fell five spots to 10th place from a disappointing 11-7 week, Akaoni's 10-6 week dropped him into 12th, allowing Some Guy in Illinois to climb to 11th place with 16 points. Musashisan went 11-5 for 15 points, putting SGII, Akaoni and Babblemur on notice that he's getting closer...

Final Standings after Week Three:

• 1. Gunz 79 (37-9)
• 2. Boaris 67 (32-10)
• 3. Mad Mader 61 (34-9)
• 4. McGrumps 54 (34-11)
• 5. Jaybird 54 (33-12)
• 6. Mooseye 54 (30-13)
• 7. The CEO 51 (29-14)
• 8. Jutdog 51 (31-15)
• 9. Slake B 49 (29-17)
• 10. Babblemur 46 (29-14)
• 11. Some Guy in Illinois 39 (27-16)
• 12. Akaoni 38 (32-10)
• 13. Musashisan 31 (25-16)

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.

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.

Friday Lunch Talk

Akaoni - Best (but not really)

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

The REALLY exciting race

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

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

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

PAC 10

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

CONFERENCES

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

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

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

NINETY SIX

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

Week 11 Recap: Boaris & Gunz Capitalize on Akaoni's Crash

A 30 point lead at the beginning of the week has been slashed to a 14 point lead as Akaoni suffered his worst losses of the season. Lets look closer:

Akaoni won only five of his 15 games this week, with a 2-10 record against other players. #1 Texas took their first two losses of the season. #9 Pittsburgh dropped two games against other players. Washington lost to UCLA. Illinois 0-2. South Carolina 0-2. If there was a bright side for Akaoni it was Syracuse holding out and Virginia Tech winning two to go to 15-3. Akaoni netted nine points total - but this was bound to happen sooner or later.

The very competitive positioning all season between Gunz, Boaris, and Jaybird for second place may now carry over into a skirmish for first place.

Boaris was the big winner this week. He slammed in 29 points off of 13 wins, 7-2 against other players, including 5 points off the Seton Hall win over Pitt. Kansas, BYU, Florida and Seton Hall are all turning it on for Boaris, who slid from fourth place to second.

Gunz held on to third place by taking 26 points, winning 12 games to 3 losses, 6-1 against other players. Wisconsin and UNLV and Oklahoma St are peaking, and even the "big mistake" UCLA is turning into an advantage, whacking Washington and Wash St this week. (Did you know UCLA has more points than 5 of Jutdog's teams...)

Jaybird slipped into fourth place off mediocre 8-7 for 18 points, but NotaTurtle shot up into fifth off 23 points, Purdue and UCONN seem to have turned their games around. Jutdog held onto 6th place, The CEO dropped to seventh thanks to 9 losses and 9 points for the week. Babblemur's 13-2 record for the week netted him a mere 15 points. Phun took 15 and Illinois Guy's 12 kept him in the basement for another week.

Standings after Week 11:

• 1. AKaoni - 203 (115-36)
• 2. Boaris - 189 (119-35)
• 3. Gunz - 188 (116-40)
• 4. Jaybird - 182 (111-39)
• 5. NotaTurtle - 164 (96-53)
• 6. Jutdog - 159 (104-42)
• 7. The CEO - 156 (106-49)
• 8. Babblemur - 154 (106-44)
• 9. Phunmunki - 149 (98-54)
• 10. Some Guy in Illinois - 144 (106-49)

Boaris and The CEO Sweep Super Saturday

Super Saturday saw seventy teams in play. Every one had a chance to take advantage of the opportunity, but only Boaris and The CEO managed to win every game.

The CEO went 8-0, including some surprising wins from Arkansas over Alabama, and Oklahoma over Missouri, and two other wins over other players. This 16 point performance launched The CEO past NotaTurtle and Jutdog and into 5th place.

Boaris pulled off a 7-0 day, but with few surprises unless Ohio St over Wisconsin caught you off guard. As most games were not against other players, the 11 points only allowed him to keep up with Jaybird (11 pts, 5-1) and skip past Gunz, whose dismal 2-4 showing landed him 2 points and a fall to fourth place.

The Accursed Akaoni had all 8 of his games against other players, and he won 5 of them, including a very close Syracuse over West Virginia win for 5 points, netting him 17 points and 30 points of breathing room between himself and his closest competition. Damn you, Akaoni! Damn you to HELL!

At the bottom of the board, Jutdog went 4-3 for 6 points, falling to sixth place (142 pts) just a hair above 7th (141 pts) and 8th (139 pts). NotaTurtle suffered another Purdue loss, this time to Northwestern, but Georgia Tech put down the Tar Heels salvaging the day with a 4-3 record and six points. Babblemur climbed closer to the two of them with 9 pts off 5-3 record for the day.

Some Guy in Illinois was crushed, going 3-5 for 5 pts, and Phunmunki's Xavier win over Dayton proved to be all she could take, losing her other four games and holding solidly in last place.

Akaoni Hangs On, Boaris & Phunmunki Rising

Akaoni managed to hang on to the number one spot for the fourth straight week off of a 11-2 record and 18 points for the week. Illinois and Baylor had big wins, while Texas and Syracuse maintained their undefeated records. Week 5 will pit Illinois vs. Vanderbilt, Syracuse vs. Florida, and Washington vs. Georgetown for some tough battles.

Meanwhile Boaris pulled from fourth place to second off 21 points, only Siena and BYU losing games. With five head to head matchups in week 5 (including Florida vs. Akaoni's Syracuse) Boaris could be making a play for the #1 spot.

Phunmunki made the biggest jump from 8th place to 5th place off 13 wins for 19 points, her only two losses to Boston College and Purdue. Week 5 will be a challenge though as Xavier faces Kansas St and Cincinnati, Alabama takes on Purdue and the Purple Eagles face red hot Illinois St.

Gunz pulled down the fewest points of the week (11) dropping from 2nd place to 3rd, while Babblemur had the crappiest record as his merry band of losers went 9-6 (Portland 0-2, Jacksonville 0-2, California lost to New Mexico, Maryland lost to Villanova). Babs fell from 5th to 7th but remains two points up on rival Jutdog.

Some Guy in Illinois (+17 pts) and The CEO (+14 pts) both turned it up but still hold down the Cellar in the #9 and #10 spots.

Week 5 Games of the Week:
W: Kentucky (Jaybird) vs. UCONN (Turtle)
W: Kansas (Boaris) vs. Radford (Jut)
TH: Syracuse (Akaoni) vs. Florida (Boaris) TWO OF THE HOTTEST TEAMS RIGHT NOW
SA: Ohio St (Boaris) vs. Butler (Babs)
SA: Washington (Akaoni) vs. Georgetown (Jaybird)

After Week Four Standings:

* 1. AKaoni - 75 (51-8)
* 2. Boaris - 73 (47-8)
* 3. Gunz - 67 (45-13)
* 4. Jaybird - 66 (41-15)
* 5. Phunmunki - 66 (43-16)
* 6. NotaTurtle - 63 (41-15)
* 7. Babblemur - 62 (40-19)
* 8. Jutdog - 61 (42-14)
* 9. Some Guy in Illinois - 60 (44-16)
* 10. The CEO - 55 (39-20)

TEAM WITH MOST POINTS: Syracuse (Akaoni) 18 points

Boaris Cracks, Musa Blast Off, Aka Rising

Points are stacking up as we approacheth the end of regular season and beginning of tournaments, and the big winners last week were...

1. MUSASHISAN! That's right, cellar dweller Musa nailed 36 points to shoot from last to 10th place, and that was without any of the four conference champs dolled out to others. How did he achieve this amazing feat? Lowly Oregon St beat California and Stanford (Boaris)... Lowly St. Louis beat St. Joes (Boaris) & Dayton (Akaoni)... Florida St beat Miami (Turtle) and Virginia Tech (Boaris)... Iowa over Michigan (Akaoni), Wash St over UCLA (Turtle), Penn St over Illinois, even Western Kentucky beat conference rival Arkansas Little Rock (Progress) to lead to the only decent week Musashisan has had all year. Congrats!

2. AKAONI! No conference champs here, he took 34 points the hard way: Purdue over Mich St (Babs), Texas A&M over Texas (Progress), Florida over Alabama and Vandy, Drake over UNI and Austin Peay... Akaoni is likely the one player that doesn't stand a chance of winning a conference so he needs the points. These 34 points put him just 7 points behind first place Boaris, who turned in a second slumpy week of play.

In fact, lets take a closer look at Boaris' week, since he is the team to beat: Oklahoma lost to Texas, Kentucky lost to Vandy, Virginia Tech dropped two games, Stanford lost to both Oregon and Oregon St which is really sucky, Butler lost to Milwaukee, St. Joes lost two straight in the A-10, Miss St fell to Alabama, Providence dropped two in the Big East, and Austin Peay lost to Drake in the Bracket Buster. Boaris' 6-13 record would make even last place NotaTurtle cringe (Turtle went 10-9 last week). But... can anyone beat Pitt?

The rest of us:
Phunmunki - 30 points to jump from 9th to 6th place
The CEO - 28 points to climb to 5th place
ProgressMedia - 26 points moves into 7th place
Jutdog Millionaire - 23 points
Jaybird - 22 points
Notaturtle - 20 points
HippieD - 18 points falls into 11th place
Babblemur - 17 points falls from 2nd to 3rd place
Boaris - 16 points to show signs of weakness and vulnerability
Gunz - 11 points to drop from 5th place to 9th place

Team of the Week: Morgan State (ProgressMedia) who won 3 games this week to seal the conference championship of the MEAC, nice job!

Conference Champs:
So far 4 conference championship points have been doled out so far. Champs get 7 points for Majors, 6 for Minors. We have:
Big Sky - Weber St (Jutdog)
MAAC - Siena (The CEO)
MEAC - Morgan St (Progress Media)
West Coast - Gonzaga (Phunmunki)

This week we will likely see a dozen or more conferences sealed up, which is a lot of bonus points flying around. Look for the leader board to shake up even more.

BOARIS MUST DIE!!!

Boaris breathed fire on everyone this week and proved that he is the one to beat. Going 14-2 he picked up 34 points, with only Jaybird coming close at 27 pts (13-1, not bad!). Not only is Boaris running away in the points category to take a 30 point lead over Akaoni and Babblemur, his teams are stepping it up in league play and turning out to be the best spread out there. Check this out:

• #4 Pittsburgh (6-1, 18-1) - proving to be in contention for the best team in the best conference, they are beating everyone up, with their only loss at Louisville.
• #6 Oklahoma (5-0, 19-1) - stomping all over the Big 12 led by potential player of the year Blake Griffen, their only loss at giant killer (and current loser) Arkansas.
  
• #16 Butler (9-0, 18-1) - destroying the competition in the Horizon but sure to get an at-large bid even if they lose the conference tourney. Wins over Xavier and UAB, their only loss at Ohio St.
  
• Kentucky (5-0, 16-4) - making a strong play for SEC champs, winning big games on the road.
  
• Virginia Tech (4-1, 14-5) - sitting in second place in the ACC is a BIG deal. They beat both Miami and Wake on the road, and have won 9 of their last 10.
  
• Stanford (3-4, 13-4) - Stanford went into Pac-10 play 10-0, but have finally found some competition. A tough schedule this week (at USC and UCLA) should put them in their place.
  
• St. Joseph's (4-0, 11-7) - they struggled early but have hit their stride in conference play. They've lost against some of the best (Texas, Alabama, Creighton, Villanova, Siena).
  
• Miss St. (4-1, 14-6) - so far holding their own in the SEC.
  

As for the rest of us... Jaybird had a great week going 13-1 and netting 27 points. Akaoni and HippieD picked up 20 points each, Babs and the CEO took in 17, Jut 16, Phun 15, ProgressMedia 14, Gunz only 10 and Musashisan and Notaturtle seemed lucky to get the 8 points a piece they did.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Virginia Tech (Boaris) dealt #1 Wake Forest their first loss of the season and followed it up with a gritty win in overtime at Miami. Nice job, VT! Bastards!

COMING UP THIS WEEK: Wake v. Duke on Wednesday. Tennessee v. LSU might be good on Wednesday as well. Gonzaga v. St. Marys on Thursday is a must see game. Many others look interesting but is the Big East starting to separate into the top dogs and the mutts?

Week 3 Recap: Boaris & Babs

Boaris & Babblemur both brought in 31 points a piece during week three to lead the field, putting Boaris back in first place and Babblemur in third right behind Musashisan. The CEO had the worst week, bringing home to his hungry family only 13 points, falling from 4th place at the beginning of the week to 9th place.

Boaris was carried by Oklahoma, who took the NIT on Friday beating Purdue and UAB earlier; Pittsburgh who knocked off Washington State and Belmont; and Kentucky went 3-0 including a win over West Virginia.

Babblemur picked up two tourney wins - Syracuse took the CBE over Florida and Kansas and San Diego State won the Great (sic) Alaska Shootout.

The CEO's poor performance can be chalked up to Siena going 0-3 with losses to both Tennessee and Oklahoma State; and losses by VCU, Middle Tenn State, and Mount St. Mary's. In fact, The CEO would have done even worse if he hadn't had the opportunity to play himself, assuring that at least one of his teams would win. The shareholders will be discussing The CEO's performance.

Tourney Totals:
Alaska: San Diego St. (Babblemur)
Anaheim: Wake Forest (Jutdog)
Old Spice: Gonzaga (Phunmunki)
CBE: Syracuse (Babblemur)
Maui: North Carolina (Jaybird)
Paradise: UCONN (HippieD)
Puerto Rico: Xavier (Phunmunki)
NIT: Oklahoma (Boaris)
CVC: Duke (The CEO)

Team of the Week:
Wake Forest (Jutdog): 4-0, 11 points, wins over Baylor & UTEP.

Biggest Upset:
Dayton (Akaoni) over #15 Marquette (Jaybird)

Top Picks Knocked Off:
Louisville (Jutdog) lost to Western Kentucky
Tennessee (Musashisan) lost to Gonzaga (Phunmunki)
Purdue (Akaoni) lost to Oklahoma (Boaris)
Texas (ProgressMedia) lost to Notre Dame (Gunz)
Michigan State (Babblemur) lost to Maryland

Best "Last Round" Pick:
Illinois State (ProgressMedia) - 3-0 this week, 11 points to date.

Week One Recap: Gunz a blazzin'

Gunz and Boaris defied pre-season polls and leaped to the front of the standings in the first week led largely by the fact that their teams played a lot of games. But not only that, they won games.

Gunz went 9-1, with all eight of his teams scoring a victory, and his only loss was Miami-Ohio to #5 UCLA, and they stayed in the whole game. Old Dominion picked off Babblemur's Charlotte and Southern Illinois played their way into the Coaches vs. Cancer finals next week. Gunz finished with 11 points.

Boaris had the highest pick team picked off when Kentucky fell to VMI, and St. Joseph's dropped one to Holy Cross, but his Oklahoma team beat down Progress's American U., and Butler beat Akaoni's Drake, giving him 11 points all in all next to Gunz.

Two players managed to remain undefeated, both Iowans. Musashisan went 8-0 and took 10 points led by Clemson's sweep in the Charleston Classic, taking out Jut's Temple in the final game. NotaTurtle went 5-0 including UCLA beating off Miami-Ohio to head to the Coaches Cancer Classic finals.

The CEO and Babblemur finished the week with 8 points a piece. The CEO was 8-1 led by Duke's three wins. Babblemur went 6-1, with Creighton knocking off New Mexico (Akaoni), but Charlotte falling to Old Dominion (Gunz).

HippieD became the first punching bag as their eighth pick Western Michigan got beat up 3 games straight in the Charleston Classic, including an embarassing loss to Div. II SIU-Edwardsville, costing HippieD 2 points. He finished with 7 thanks to wins by George Mason over Vermont (Phun) and UNLV over San Diego (Jut).

Phunmunki, Jutdog, Jaybird and Akaoni all finished the week with 6 points a piece. Three lost every head-to-head match up they had, while Jaybird faced no one. ProgressMedia brought up the rear with 5 points.

CORRECTION: JUTDOG FINISHED WITH ONLY 3 POINTS, LAST PLACE. PROGRESS MEDIA IS NOT THE WORST TEAM, JUTDOG IS.

Head to Head Matchups:
Thursday Nov. 13
#4 UCLA (Turtle) defeats Miami-Ohio (Gunz)

Friday Nov. 14
Oklahoma (Boaris) defeats American (Progress)

Saturday Nov. 15
Illinois St. (Progress) defeats Wright St. (Akaoni)
George Mason (HippieD) defeats Vermont (P-munk)
UNLV (HippieD) defeats San Diego (Jutdog)
Butler (Boaris) defeats Drake (Akaoni)

Sunday Nov. 16
Creighton (Babs) defeats New Mexico (Akaoni)
Old Dominion (Gunz) defeats Charlotte (Babs)
Clemson (Musa) defeats Temple (Jutdog)