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Defense Dominates
There is a saying in sports that “offense sells tickets but defense wins championships.” This year’s tournament would be a prime example. Two of the top three ranked defenses will square off Monday night to crown a new National Champion as neither school has previously won it.
Texas Tech won led by their trademark stingy defense to a rather easy 61-51 victory over Michigan State.
Virginia rallied to a 62-61 win over Auburn that will forever be remembered by the ending.
After last year’s historic loss, Virginia has the opportunity tonight for the ultimate redemption story. I will always remember the perspective of Virginia head coach Tony Bennett after the loss.
Class act.
There are spots on the line tonight in regards to the pool. Tie-breaker will determine the official order. The closest to tonight’s total wins.
Virginia wins …
| Rank | Name | Points | Champion | Winnings |
| 1 | Matt Lapensee #3 | 141 | Virginia | $310 |
| 2 | T.H., Tom Kakaris | 136 | Virginia | $150 |
| 3 | Aaron Thompson #3 | 133 | Virginia | $100 |
| 4 | Chip Lindon #1 | 132 | Virginia | $75 |
| 5/6 | Chris Matthews (133) | 131 | Virginia | $50 |
| 5/6 | Scott Fiasco #2 (150) | 131 | Virginia | $25 |
Texas Tech wins …
| Rank | Name | Points | Champion | Winnings |
| 1 | Matt Lapensee #3 | 109 | Virginia | $310 |
| 2 | T.H., Tom Kakaris | 104 | Virginia | $150 |
| 3/4 | Tim Weber #4 | 103 | Duke | $100 |
| 3/4 | Aaron Thompson #3 | 101 | Virginia | $75 |
| 5 | Chip Lindon #1 | 100 | Virginia | $50 |
| 6 | Chris Matthews (133) Scott Fiasco #2 (150) | 99 | Virginia | $25 |
Good luck to all that have a chance to bring home some money tonight.
Blue Bloods Out
Favorites and true “blue-bloods” Kentucky and Duke were both upset in their bids to advance to the Final 4.
Auburn needed OT to knock off SEC rival Kentucky to secure the school’s first trip. It was a remarkable performance for a team that lost their best player, Chuma Okeke, Friday to a brutal knee injury. The Tigers were able to harness the emotion and use as motivation.
Meanwhile Michigan State was able to close out Duke 68-67. It marked the third straight game for the Blue Devils that came down to the last possession. However this time it did not go their way.
So the Final 4 is set and it consists of two schools making their first trips (Texas Tech & Auburn), one school making their first trip in 35 years and Michigan State – an upper echelon program.
As for the pool, someone named Matt Lapensee stands atop the standings going into the Final 4.
I selected three of the four teams (missed Auburn) to jump to the lead. Because no one selected Auburn or Texas Tech to win the National Championship, the number of brackets that can win it all is down to two – Edward Lapensee (my uncle) and myself.
If Michigan State wins it all, Ed wins. If any other teams wins, I win. However the other payout spots will come into better focus after Saturday’s games.
Good luck to everyone.
Two Tickets Punched, Two More To Go
Virginia and Texas Tech punched their tickets Saturday to Minneapolis. Virginia used some March magic to outlast Purdue in OT.
This is the Cavaliers first Final Four since 1984.
Texas Tech stunned 1-seed Gonzaga to reach the Final Four, the first trip in school history. The Red Raiders are known for their tough defense but their offense helped them in their historic win.
Two more tickets will be earned today. Auburn and Kentucky tip-off in a SEC Elite 8 matchup while basketball elite’s Duke and Michigan State will battle for the last ticket.
The final tally of paid entries 142 with five disqualified for non-payment.
Here’s the official prize breakdown:
| Rank | Winnings |
| 1 | $310 |
| 2 | $150 |
| 3 | $100 |
| 4 | $75 |
| 5 | $50 |
| 6 | $25 |
Check out PickHoops.com’s What If to see how well your bracket(s) will finish.
Good luck to everyone.
Chalk Rules Part II
Day four produced the same chalky taste but almost had the upset of the tournament. Duke survived UCF and a last-second tip-in to advance to the Sweet 16. In the process saved thousands of brackets nationwide including over 38% (56 brackets) from our pool.
The only double-digit seed to advance to the Sweet 16 was Oregon. The Ducks easily downed the UC-Irvine Anteaters late Sunday night. Chalk ruled the remaining teams that advanced which includes the top three seeds from each region, two four seeds and one five seed.
The PickHoops.com Pick Counts By Game gives a great picture of which team was selected for each game.
Joe Schulte leads after day four. However 34 entries are within 4 points of first which is the same amount each winner is worth for the next round so there is plenty of time to make a move.
Reminder that payment deadline is Wednesday. If you have not paid, please do so. Good luck to everyone once the action resumes Thursday night.
Chalk Rules
The game of the day was the first of the day. The LSU Tigers staved off a Maryland rally and scored the game winner with 1.1 second punching the first ticket to the Sweet 16 this year.
The other close game of the day had the UK Wildcats survive, 62-56, against Wofford as the Terriers’s star Fletcher Magee went 0-12 from three. He became the NCAA career leader in three-point shots during Thursday’s win. A very tough way for the senior to end his collegiate career.
Ava Corcoran and Carol Smith are tied atop the HoopsHysteria pool standings after day three. Only two brackets have busted with the elimination of Cincinnati and Kansas State.
Good luck to everyone.
The Madness Begins
Chalk ruled day one of the tourney with one big upset as 12-seed Murray State dominated Marquette en route to a 83-64 win. The Racers were led by phenom and soon-to-be-NBA star Ja Morant who recorded the first triple double in the tournament since 2012 with a 17 point, 16 assist and 10 rebound performance. He was simply spectacular.
Day one also saw two minor upsets with two 10-seeds advancing. Florida held off a late charge from Nevada while Minnesota controlled their game against Louisville as both teams advanced to Saturday.
Day one also had a couple of near upsets. SEC tournament champion and 5-seed Auburn escaped with a 78-77 win over 12-seed New Mexico State in a “hold my beer” on how to lose a game.
6-seed Maryland literally stole away the game against 11-seed Belmont when this happened.
As for our pool, we have 147 submitted brackets. An increase of 23 brackets over last year. Awesome! Welcome and thank you to all of the new participants. As always I will announce the payout once I have verified payment for each bracket. Payment deadline is next Wednesday.
Here’s the link for the standings after day one. Alex Wimmers, Carol Smith and your truly are currently tied atop. (I also have two brackets at the bottom too.)
Also here’s the list of selected champions. Duke is the over whelming top choice. You can find this data on the PickHoops site under the Stats menu.
I’m looking forward to a fun day two. Good luck to everyone.
‘Nova in Doubt
Led by Donte DiVincenzo’s 31 the Villanova Wildcats claimed their second National Championship in three seasons by defeating the Mchigan Wolverines 79-62 in impressive fashion. Villanova is the fourth team in tourney history to win all of their games by double digits. Congrats to the Wildcats!
As for the Hoopshysteria.net pool, congrats to these winners! Joe finishes third through tie-breaker. Joe had 143 total points while Allison had 148. The total was 141 points. Both very close but Joe was closer.
| Rank | Name | Points | Champion | Winnings |
| 1 | David Hawkins | 122 | Villanova | $300 |
| 2 | Larissa Casebolt | 121 | Villanova | $150 |
| 3 | Joe Schulte #2 | 118 | Villanova | $95 |
| 4 | Allison Corcoran #1 | 118 | Villanova | $50 |
| 5 | Craig Elsass #2 | 117 | Villanova | $25 |
I would like to thank everyone for participating this year. We increased by 13 entries over the past two years. My goal next year is 150 submitted brackets.
As this tournament and pool wraps up, it’s time for this year’s One Shining Moment.
One Game to Decide It All
We finally have some clarity on how this pool will be decided.
Villanova ranked 2nd in most selected champion with 22 while Michigan ranked 10th with 3. Thus here is how the pool payout will look like after tonight.
Michigan wins …
| Rank | Name | Points | Champion | Winnings |
| 1 | Jon Schulte | 137 | Michigan | $300 |
| 2 | Jeffrey Warren | 128 | Michigan | $150 |
| 3 | Jeff Thompson #3 | 118 | Michigan | $95 |
| 4/5 | David Hawkins | 90 | Villanova | $50 |
| 4/5 | Joe Schulte | 90 | Villanova | $25 |
Villanova wins …
| Rank | Name | Points | Champion | Winnings |
| 1 | David Hawkins | 122 | Villanova | $300 |
| 2 | Larissa Casebolt | 121 | Villanova | $150 |
| 3/4 | Allison Corcoran #1 | 118 | Villanova | $95 |
| 3/4 | Joe Schulte #2 | 118 | Villanova | $50 |
| 5 | Craig Elsass #2 | 117 | Villanova | $25 |
Good luck to all that have a chance to bring home some money tonight.
Rambling to San Antonio
The action does not pick up until Saturday so lets relive how each team punched their ticket to the Final 4 in San Antonio.
LOYOLA CHICAGO
MICHIGAN
VILLANOVA
KANSAS
The final tally of paid entries 124 with one disqualified for non-payment.
Here’s the official prize breakdown:
| Rank | Winnings |
| 1 | $300 |
| 2 | $150 |
| 3 | $95 |
| 4 | $50 |
| 5 | $25 |
Check out PickHoops.com’s What If to see how well your bracket(s) will finish.
Good luck to everyone.
A Tale of Two Sides
8 teams. 7 games. 1 champion to be determined.
A wild tournament has resulted in a Jekyll and Hyde bracket. On one side it’s chaos and anarchy. On the other side is calm and order. On one side we have one team seeded 3 or lower (Michigan), two 9 seeds and an 11 seed. On the other side all four teams are seeded 3 or lower including both number 1’s.
12 brackets still have a chance to win this pool. Some with better chances than others since their champion is still alive (Villanova (22), Kansas (9), Duke (7) and Michigan (3)).
We had only one entry disqualified for non-payment which means the total prize pool is $620 (124*5). I will have the payout breakdown after this weekend’s games. Good luck to everyone.