What a crazy last few days. A health care bill of some sort passed in the House, Chris Cohan hired Georges St-Pierre (sorry, wrong GSP) to help sell the Warriors, Tiger Woods gave two interviews that somehow made him look even less human than before, the Scot McCloughan saga will only get messier, and I have my first fantasy baseball draft tonight.
And yes, my bracket got absolutely toasted in a 3-hour span on Saturday, as Villanova got a full dose of Omar Samhan bravado and Kansas got upset by Cal State East Bay. But enough about me. No, really. This is the last I’m going to talk about my bracket selections on this or any other platform. I’m officially rooting for a Final Four that consists of Northern Iowa, Xavier, Saint Mary’s and Washington (or Cornell, if the Huskies come up short).
And I’m happy with that. In terms of exciting games, Cinderella stories and brackets going up in flames throughout the country
I know the deal, you’re all reading this because you are doing well in the BASG March Madness Pool, and you’re dreaming of delectable cookies and truffles right now as you struggle through a bad case of the Mondays. Here’s the top 10 to this point:
1. The Baptized Beavers (46 points, 166 possible)
This is my buddy Ra, otherwise known in the comments as Top Ra Man. So obviously, this guy knows about fine cuisine and is well on his way to enjoying a warm batch of liver cookies along with some delicious anchovy truffles (just kidding, there’s no truth to the rumor that after this last weekend I decided to sabotage the grand prize).
Best pick: (tie) No. 6 Xavier and No. 6 Tennessee to make the Sweet 16 — ahead of No. 3 seeds Georgetown and Pitt, looks like Ra didn’t overrate the Big East like a certain blogger who shall remain nameless.
Final Four: Ohio St., Kansas St., Kentucky, Duke (champs)
2. Demarcus’s Cousin (46 points, 130 possible)
If the contest was best team name, Dave would win the cookies/truffles right now. Unfortunately, he also picked ‘Nova and Kansas to make the Final Four, so expect this Cousin to drop down the standings as the Tourney rolls on. He should be docked a couple points for going against his alma mater (Washington) in Round 1, but he should be congratulated for being the last person who believed in Purdue after they lost Robbie Hummel.
Best pick: No. 6 Tennessee to make the Sweet 16
Final Four: Kansas, Butler, Kentucky (champs), Villanova
3. Is CR Playing? (45 points, 141 possible)
The CR that Carp is referencing stands for “College of the Redwoods,” a junior college that has more students than St. Mary’s, a squad that knocked out one of this entrant’s Final Four teams. Even CR would have probably done better against Cornell than Wisconsin did.
Best pick: No. 12 Cornell over Temple in the first round
Final Four: Ohio St., Pittsburgh, Kentucky (champs), Villanova
4. Max Zhang Tourney MVP (44 points, 140 possible)
Gotta love this team name as well, since I spent the better part of Friday night’s Cal win over Louisville yelling “MAX ZHANG” at the TV, something that probably got on my girlfriend’s fiance’s nerves after a while. The man behind this team has a similarity with me, as his significant other is the one supplying the truffles. So he might win the truffles legitimately, as opposed to some people who will be left to steal cookies after finishing in second-to-last place in his own pool.
Best pick: No. 10 St. Mary’s to make the Sweet 16 over ‘Nova. Wow, I have nothing to say there. That’s an awesome pick, one that I had nowhere near the stones to make.
Final Four: Kansas, Kansas St., Kentucky (champs), Baylor (Big 12 much?)
5. b-ball winners (44 points, 80 possible)
My aunt Marian was really looking forward to an explosive National Championship game (Kansas 118, Villanova 112). She won’t get her wish there, but she enjoyed a pretty successful opening weekend, besides losing both of those squads.
Best pick: No. 13 Murray St. over Vandy (she even picked the Racers to make it to the Sweet 16 over Butler, which almost happened).
Final Four: Kansas (champs), Kansas St., Kentucky, Villanova
6. Truffle Shuffle (43 points, 131 possible)
The owner of this bracket is the truffle maker herself, so all she’s really playing for is cookies. She played it safe, picking all four No. 1 and No. 2 seeds to make the Elite Eight. She also has the same Final Four team as I do, only without the horrendous first and second round picks I had. Ugggh.
Best pick: No. 4 seed Purdue to make the Sweet 16. Shouldn’t be an upset, but Purdue was garbage at the end of the regular season and during the Big-10 tournament.
Final Four: Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky (champs), Villanova
7. Reigning Champ Meatballs (43 points, 107 possible)
SGL’s mom, once again beating the odds and hanging around in the top 10. You may not know this, but “Meatballs” was the winner of last year’s inaugural BASG March Madness Pool, and convinced SGL to switch the prize from cookies to meatballs, which for some reason was an extremely trendy food item last year. Unfortunately she picked Kansas to win the whole thing, so like me, she’s going to have to hope for a few cookies on the side.
Best pick: Her entire West Region. Perfect so far, including Murray St. in the first round and Xavier in the Sweet 16.
Final Four: Kansas (champs), Syracuse, Kentucky, Baylor
8. Ev-Dog (42 points, 150 possible)
This Celtics fan is having a lot more luck in the BASG Pool than he will in the NBA Playoffs (zing!). If you take out what he did in the South Region (where he has nobody left), he’s done better than everyone I know.
Best pick: (tie) No. 12 Cornell and No.11 UW to make the Sweet 16 (he even has the Huskies making the Elite Eight — must be trying to impress UW-alum SGL).
Final Four: Ohio St. (champs), Syracuse, Kentucky, Louisville
9. Rose’s March Madness (42 points, 146 possible)
One of only two squads to pick Syracuse to win the National Championship (a pick that looks pretty good after watching the Orange throttle yet another overrated Gonzaga team), Rose could sneak up on everyone and raise the trophy truffles in a couple weeks.
Best pick: No. 6 Tennessee to make the Sweet 16 (and Elite Eight…we’ll see).
Final Four: Kansas, Syracuse (champs), Kentucky, Duke
10. (tie) Axel Rose and Kristin Stewart’s Glass Eye (42 points, 126 possible)
Both of these squads have the same number of points as well as possible points, and both picked Kentucky to win it all. Both of them have also been friends of mine for over a decade, they both misspelled the first names of the celebs they were referencing in their team names and I’m pretty sure they both owe me $20.
Best pick(s): Hmmmm….neither guy really went against the chalk with great success. Pass.
Final Four(s): Axel: Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky (champs), Villanova; Kristin: Georgetown, Kansas St., Kentucky (champs), Villanova
And, because the only reason she entered the pool was because I promised to give her a shout-out…
Last Place: In it for the Chocolate (18 points, 78 possible)
Oh, Julia. Let your brother explain how the NCAA Tournament works as quickly as I can: The lower the number in front of the team, the better that team usually is. However, I have to give you credit for taking three No. 16 seeds to win in the first round. That takes moxie.
Best pick: Cornell. Can’t really mock someone too much when their choice to win the title is still in it.
Final Four: Georgia Tech, Oakland, Sam Houston St., Cornell