2010 - 11 Babblemurball Challengers

The challenge is just about set. Draft order will be determined in about 3-4 weeks. To view last years episode, click here.

1. Jutdog, Oshkosh, WI (defending champion, hall of fame)

2. Gunz, Menasha, WI (last year's runner-up)

3. Akaoni, Iowa City, Iowa

4. Babblemur, Oshkosh, WI

5. Boaris, New Berlin, WI

6. Jaybird, Las Vegas (hall of fame)

7. The CEO, Brookfield, WI

8. NotaTurtle, Iowa City, Iowa (waiting on confirmation but almost certainly in)

9. Some Guy In Illinois (SGII), Somewhere in Illinois

10. Musashisan, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

11. MadMader, Appleton, WI (Newcomer)

12. Samic the Hawk, Miami, OH, waiting for confirmation (Newcomer)

13. Mooseye, Cornfield, Iowa, waiting for confirmation (Newcomer)

Jutdog Suffers Worst Performance in Three Year History of Babbleball

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

Phunmunki Tops All

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

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

Akaoni Back on Track

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

Standings after Week 14

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

Annual Idol Post

Pants on the Ground Edition.

General Larry Platt


Neil Young



You're welcome!

Edit: It appears that the embed isn't working properly, until I figure it out here's the link.

Babs Grabs Wins, Some Guy Flies High

Week Nine was a week of big upsets, and although the top four on the leader board didn't change, there was action in the bottom six.

Babblemur hit the big points this week, scoring 22 points off a 12-3 turnout. This was helped by a big Notre Dame upset over #8 West Virginia, along with Butler, Maryland and Vanderbilt having solid conference weeks. Babs moved from last to 8th place.

Some Guy in Illinois finished second in points with 20, doing it the old fashioned way going 4-2 over other players and 12-4 over all. Notable: Arizona St went 2-0 in the Pac 10, Louisville went 2-0 in the Big East, and Missouri knocked off a hot K-State team in the Big 12.

Teams that took a beatin'

Jutdog and NotaTurtle's squads took a beatin' this week, both went 7-7, worst records for the week. The difference though is that Jutdog took a league low 13 points from his thrashing, but Turtle nabbed 19 off Georgia Tech's upset over #5 Duke and four other wins over other players. Jutdog's Tennessee Gunslingers upset #1 Kansas on Sunday, but was 2-5 against other players for the week.

Props to the Giant Killers

Props to Tennesse (Jut) for knocking off #1 Kansas;
Props to Wisconsin (Gunz) for knocking off #4 Purdue;
Props to Georgia Tech (Turtle) for knocking off #5 Duke;
Props to Notre Dame (Babs) for knocking off #8 West Virginia;

Week Ten Preview:

Look forward to Saturday Jan 16, on which 70 of the 80 teams will be in play.

WAC battle brewing Wed: Nevada (Jaybird) vs. Utah St (Jutdog); Mountain West battle on Wed: UNLV (Gunz) vs. San Diego St (CEO);

Saturday has too many great games to mention them all, what a day! I will note the Pac10 contest California (Babs) vs. Washington (Akaoni) for best of the worst; Georgia Tech (Turtle) gets another shot to prove they are legit against North Carolina (Some Guy); Syracuse (Akaoni) vs. West Virginia (Jutdog) could be a big Top 10 showdown in the Big East; and finally Dayton (Jaybird) vs. Xavier (Phun) could be a conference breaker in the A-10 (look out for Rhode Island, bitches...)

Standings at the end of Week Nine:

# 1. AKaoni - 166 (98-21)
# 2. Jaybird - 144 (93-26)
# 3. Gunz - 143 (95-31)
# 4. Boaris - 140 (94-29)
# 5. NotaTurtle - 130 (80-39)
# 6. Jutdog - 126 (85-31)
# 7. Some Guy in Illinois - 122 (90-37)
# 8. Babblemur - 122 (82-38)
# 9. The CEO - 120 (86-37)
# 10. Phunmunki - 114 (81-38)

Week Two Recap

Winners:

Akaoni - who has managed to go (almost) undefeated! With an amazing 25-1 record, Syracuse's surprising win of the Coaches Versus Cancer Tourney over powerhouses California and North Carolina, he deserves the first place position.

Phunmunki - went 15-2, led by Villanova stomping through the Puerto Rico Tip-off over Dayton and Mississippi, bouncing back from a lackluster 5-4 start.

Some Guy in Illinois - sure, Mississippi lost the Puerto Rico, and North Carolina lost the CVC, but a 16-2 record this week shot him up into second place. Nice job!

Losers:

The CEO - five losses, three against other players, dropped The CEO into last place. Oklahoma's loss to VCU is a bad sign, UNI, Oakland, San Diego St, and Arkansas are showing signs of dragging The CEO down. Can Michigan State carry him through...

NotaTurtle - okay some of his six losses were underdog fights that he wasn't likely to win anyway, but still, pretty sucky.

Jutdog - no excuses here - six losses are medals of "crap" around the neck of this squad. Utah State dropped two games, Kansas State fell to Mississippi, and Boston College's loss to St. Joes is inexcusable (unlike Cornell and Radford's losses, which are natural.)

Standings:

# 1. AKaoni - 35 (25-1)
# 2. Some Guy in Illinois - 30 (24-4)
# 3. Boaris - 28 (20-4)
# 4. Phunmunki - 27 (20-6)
# 5. Jaybird - 27 (19-7)
# 6. Gunz - 26 (20-2)
# 7. Babblemur - 26 (20-4)
# 8. Jutdog - 23 (19-6)
# 9. NotaTurtle - 20 (20-6)
# 10. The CEO - 18 (16-6)

2008-09 Season Recap

I was too bitter to do this last spring, but in an effort to bring closure to last season here it is.

The Second Annual contest came down to the final week, the Final Four, and the Final Game. Entering the Final Four were North Carolina (Jaybird), Villanova (The CEO), Michigan State (Babblemur), and Connecticut (HippieD). Of these four, Jaybird, The CEO, and Babblemur all could potentially win this season's contest by winning the NCAA Tournament. The other 9 players had all been essentially eliminated. In the semis, Michigan St (Babs) knocked off UCONN (HippieD) putting their fate in their own hands. North Carolina (Jaybird) knocked off brother Villanova (The CEO) setting up a showdown for the Championship. A Michigan State win would make Babblemur the undisputed winner of the 2nd Annual Babblemur Basketball Challenge. A North Carolina win would push Jaybird past Babblemur by a single point stealing the championship. (Detecting media bias?)

As it happened, North Carolina spanked Michigan State hard, really hard, it was over before half time, with no chance of a come back. Jaybird became the winner of the Second Annual Babblemur Basketball Challenge, joining his cheatin' brother Jutdog who won the first year as the only two winners of this insane contest!

The final standings:
1. Jaybird (202-88) - 476 points
2. Babblemur (208-94) - 475 points
3. Jutdog (192-82) - 442 points
4. Boaris (196-101) - 437 points
5. The CEO (200-91) - 433 points
6. Akaoni (198-100) - 431 points
7. Phunmunki (195-91) - 383 points
8. ProgressMedia (199-92) - 382 points
9. Gunz (181-108) - 370 points
10. NotaTurtle (172-117) - 348 points
11. Musashisan (167-126) - 340 points
12. HippieD (176-108) - 332 points

Highest scoring Teams from 2008-09 season:
1. North Carolina (Jaybird) 159 points (#1 pick overall)
2. Michigan State (Babblemur) 127 points (#10 pick overall)
3. Louisville (Jutdog) 106 points (#4 pick overall)
4. UCONN (HippieD) 100 points (#2 pick overall)
5. Pittsburgh (Boaris) 93 points (#11 pick overall)
6. Villanova (The CEO) 90 points (#19 pick overall)
7. Oklahoma (Boaris) 89 points (#14 pick overall)
8. Duke (The CEO) 88 points (#6 pick overall)
9. Washington (Akaoni) 75 points (#41 pick overall)
10. Memphis (Gunz) 74 points (#12 pick overall)


2008-09 season spreadsheet

Good season, all! Looking forward to Season 3!!!

Battling Brothers Bang the Boards

Last week went to the Battling Brothers - which set? Both!

Iowa Brothers Akaoni & NotaTurtle brought in 22 points a piece to top the field, which moved Akaoni solidly into second place and pulled NotaTurtle out of the basement and into 11th place. Akaoni's points came off a weak 10-6 record for the week, but some key wins by Dayton, Purdue and Texas A&M. NotaTurtle might have had his first winning week ever going 12-4. Ole Miss stepped up and beat both Kentucky & Miss St, both Boaris' teams. In fact 6 of Turtle's eight teams went 2-0 while Miami & Baylor went 0-2. Nice job, Turtle!

Wisconsin Brothers slugged away, with Jaybird & The CEO taking in 21 points each, and Jutdog hit 20. Jut has moved just 4 points behind Babblemur, and the other two moved into 5th & 6th place. Jaybird was 13-3, undefeated on Saturday, with some important wins from Northeastern and ND St. who are trying to lock up their minor conferences. Marquette is looking bad-ass, too. The CEO did even better, 13-2, also undefeated on Saturday. Villanova knocked off Pitt, and LSU knocked off Tennessee and Arkansas. Jut's 20 points was on 12-4 play, Wake lost after topping #1 Duke, and San Diego dropped two games before being dropped by the j-dog.

Others?
Gunz = 17; Phunmunki = 16; ProgressMedia = 16; Babblemur = 13; Boaris = 11; Musashisan = 10; HippieD = 7;

Boaris holds onto first place despite going 5-9 overall, and with 8 of those losses against other players. Boaris holds a 19 point lead on Akaoni.

Team of the Week:
Ole Miss (NotaTurtle) for finally pulling their heads out of their asses and beating some good basketball teams.

Bracketology
If you like to check out the odds of making the Big Dance, there is a new Bracketology out today on ESPN. (It would have been nice to see this new one before the draft, that South Carolina pick by Akaoni may be paying off...)

If these projections (including projected automatic bids from the minor conferences) come through then...

• Boaris - 5 teams
• Akaoni - 5 teams
• Babblemur - 6 teams
• Jutdog - 7 teams
• Jaybird - 8 teams
• The CEO - 5 teams
  
• Gunz - 4 teams
• ProgressMedia - 6 teams
• Phunmunki - 5 teams
• HippieD - 4 teams
• NotaTurtle - 3 teams
• Musashisan - 5 teams

That left only 2 teams on drafted - Morehead St. and Long Beach.

Games to Watch:
You can't overlook the UCONN - Louisville game Monday night, but don't overlook the Butler-Green Bay game for the lead in the Horizon...

On Tuesday UNLV (HippieD) and San Diego St (Babs) fight it out for first place in the Mountain West.

Wednesday's Michigan St - Minnesota should determine if Michigan St. actually sucks, or if they are going to run away with the Big 10 title. And Clemson has a chance to even things out on top of the ACC with a big game against Duke.

Thursday has UCLA vs. USC, which will make a big difference in the Pac 10 standings.

Saturday is even bigger than before thanks to the 24 new teams! Inter-conference play alert: Gonzaga-Memphis has potential to be a fun game to watch, and UCLA takes on struggling Notre Dame, and UCONN faces rising Michigan. Green Bay vs. Milwaukee in the Horizon could be critical for both, Austin Peay (Boaris) faces Murray St. (Progress) in the OVC, and New Mexico (Akaoni) can fight their way back up in the Mountain West against UNLV (HippieD).

Sunday's Purdue - Illinois game in the Big 10 is big for both, and Creighton (Babs) goes after first place UNI (CEO) in the MVC.

Babblemur Bulletin Week 1 preview

The first few weeks of college basketball are like light appetizers for the meal to come. This year is no different. A scattering of games before us before things begin to pick up for real on Friday Nov. 14. The CEO, as he predicted, took the lead on the first day with a Duke thumping of Presbyterian as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer event, that will later see Southern Illinois (Gunz), Miami Ohio (Gunz), Northeastern (Jaybird) and UCLA (Notaturtle) in play for this four point tourney. Congratulations, CEO, you are winning 1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.

But coming up this first week we have some head to head match ups that may set the tone for the contest, especially for Akaoni who has 3 head to head games already and Boaris, Babblemur, HippieD, and ProgressMedia, who have 2 each. Of the seven head to head games this week, each are early first tests for a number of mid-major picks with Oklahoma the only major conference team to face some stiff competition from mid-major favorite American. The best two games on the board (in my opinion) are Jutdog's San Diego, the ugly step-sister of the WCC, facing off with the touted UNLV of HippieD; Also New Mexico (Akaoni) vs. Creighton (Babblemur) is a great showcase that could set the tone between these two player nemeses.

11/14 - American U. (ProgressMedia) v. Oklahoma (Boaris)
11/15 - George Mason (HippieD) v. Vermont (Phunmunki)
11/15 - San Diego (Jutdog) v. UNLV (HippieD)
11/15 - Illinois State (ProgressMedia) v. Wright State (Akaoni)
11/15 - Butler (Boaris) v. Drake (Akaoni)
11/16 - New Mexico (Akaoni) v. Creighton (Babblemur)
11/16 - Old Dominion (Gunz) v. Charlotte (Babblemur)

However every player has games this week, and each game is worth one point per win, as long as it is against a Division I opponent. Many of these early games are against Div. II patsies, which give no points for winning but count for minus 2 for losing. Careful, Southern Illinois! Watch out, Ohio State!

There is one tournament that isn't worth any bonus points, partially because it is a new 'in-season' tournament, and partially because Jutgod doesn't seem to appreciate these early season showdowns as much as I do. If he did he would have advocated more points for the winners, and recognized showdowns like the Charleston Classic taking place this weekend in the city I just visited, Charleston, SC. This puppy will feature Western Michigan (HippieD), Temple (Jutdog), and Clemson (Musashisan) in an 8 team tourney starting Friday.

But I like to focus on the "positive", so given this weeks games, this is what each player could potentially take in as points:

Akaoni: 16 (3 head to head games)
Babblemur: 11 (2 h2h)
Boaris: 12 (2 h2h)
Gunz: 14 (1 h2h with a possible Miami-ohio vs. UCLA showdown on the 13th)
HippieD: 16 (2 h2h with potentially more with Western Michigan in the Charleston Classic)
Jaybird: 8 (slow start for the pre-season favorite)
Jutdog: 11 (depends on how Temple does in the Charleston Classic)
Musashisan: 12 (depends on how Clemson does in the Charleston Classic)
Notaturtle: 7 (keepin' a low profile for the first week, but we get a sneak peak at UCLA)
Phunmunki: 9 (Vermont's big first test against George Mason)
ProgressMedia: 8 (2 h2h, American and Illinois State put to early tests on this mid-major heavy squad)
The CEO: 9 (Duke put to an early test)

So while The CEO is leading on day one by one point, don't be surprised to see Akaoni or HippieD out in front by next Monday morning!

Keep up with the game status here:
http://www.geocities.com/babblemurbball/

Our Official Spreadsheet of Basketball Love here


Scoreboard (ESPN) here:
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/scoreboard?confId=50