Go Red Rams!

Tonight the Orange play. I bleed Orange, as you know. But what's more, this year, two of their starting 5 also went to Jamesville-DeWitt High School, my alma mater. The JD Red Rams (see pic). I wonder how many top teams have 2/5 starters from local high schools. For those who haven't been following them, this team also plays a very unselfish brand of basketball, leading the country for much of the season in team assists. And tonight, without their starting center, they'll be playing with a mere 6-man rotation. So it should be a fun and interesting game. And if you still aren't sure why you should watch SU play, let me just remind you about this guy (the pic is a little out of date):

Stat of the Day: Possible Points Remaining

SO some of you hot shots picked some good ones.  And others have the chicken curse fever.  But the scores across McDowHoops are only separated by a max of 50 points.  The real number to watch is the Possible Points Remaining to see who has the potential to dance the big dance.  Here are our entries top to bottom on possible points remaining.

ENTRY, OWNER	PPR	TOTAL
BIG BAD BRIAN 53 1, B. Richards	1760	100
Maggie, M. Gumbinner	1740	80
meine.gewinner, L. McDow	1740	90
Rugby Scrum, D. Rincon	1740	110
Tennessean, L. McDow	1740	100
GT takes it all, R. McDow	1720	100
High Seed Wins, W. McDow	1720	90
Luis "El Monstruo" Rincon, D. Rincon	1720	90
Maggie Lou's Quidditch, D. McDow	1720	100
Southbound Train, G. Raskin	1720	110
Yankee Interloper, G. Raskin	1720	110
Devastated in Durham, W. McDow	1700	90
Dreamin in Durham, W. McDow	1700	90
expert testimony, E. Fitzpatrick	1700	110
ToyotaAcceleration, D. McDow	1700	90
crawfordb11, L. Crawford	1680	80
Grad Rate / Seed, D. McDow	1680	100
Most Wins, N. Jenkins	1680	90
Obama's Picks, D. McDow	1680	120
Skyhook Keithley, T. Keithley	1680	120
Abby, A. Norris Turner	1660	100
KelleyR314 1, K. Ragland	1640	90
The Pied Picker, M. Jenkins	1640	110
Beaux Beaux JAS 2, J. Sadler	1620	80
Bea's picks, J. Gumbinner	1600	70
Ella's picks, J. Gumbinner	1600	70
Fran Dunphy's Mustache, R. Jaffe	1600	110
L Mishler Picks, L. McDow	1600	80
Lauren's picks, L. McDow	1600	90
Where's the CBI bracket? , J. Gumbinner	1600	90
Big [B]East, P. Turner	1560	90
Clarkson McDow 1, C. McDow	1560	90
Nellie, N. Jenkins	1560	110
Ithaca or bust, B. Harrington	1520	70
Slim Pickins, N. Jenkins	1500	90
Captain Cuse, P. Turner	1380	90
The Chicken Curse Lives, C. McDow	1260	90
MookMcD 1, m. rincon	1140	100
bryzzard 1, B. Harrington	1120	90
Go Vandy!, S. Igo	1120	100
It's In the Name, m. rincon	920	110

Method to March Madness

After a day of results, I'm hoping that with some of your entries there is a method to your March madness.  Otherwise, you have chosen poorly.  As an attempt to let those who see themselves teetering on the brink of elimination, I would like to ask you to explain the way that you have chosen teams if you have entered a method bracket.  Please respond in the comments here, so we can have all of these excuses explanations together.

It's in the Name (Mary)

"I...made a bracket choosing schools whose names had the most letters in common with mine (Mary McDow Rincon). In the case of a tie, I chose the higher-seeded team.  Note: I did this without using any scratch paper to tally letters, and based on the abbreviated name on the ESPN website. I concede that there are a couple of mistakes, but I'm done with the bracket part and eager to move on the the smack-talking part."  You can get the greater context for these choices here

Grad Rate / Seed (Dodie)

This bracket takes the graduation rate of all of the teams in the tournament and divides it by their seed number to get there grade-rated seed (GSR).  In every matchup, the team with the higher GSR was declared the victor.  I wanted to congratulation those with a high graduation rate, but take the team's ability into account.  (Utah State, seeded 12, and Wofford, seeded 13, both have 100% grad rates, but I could not see them in the final four.)  The numbers on graduation rates for basketball players have a rwide range.  You can see the full report here.  It has also gotten some decent media coverage, including a defense by Maryland Coach Gary Williams of their 8% graduation rate, the lowest in the 65 field team.  The top ten for graduation rate have more than 905 success.  These include BYU, Marquette, Notre Dame, Utah State, Wake Forest, Wofford, Duke, Lehigh, Vermont and Villanova.  The bottom ten are, in descending order, Clemson (37%), Missouri, New Mexico State, Baylor, Kentucky (and I'm sure it will only go down next year), Tennessee, Washington, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, California (20%), and Maryland (8%).

By this method Duke beats Kansas in the final, and as the tie breaker I entered their GSRs: 92 and 73.

High Seed Wins (Will)

Ever a respecter of authority, Will has entered a bracket that thinks the tournament selection committee knew what they were talking about when they seeded the teams.  We'll have to see what the final four looks like.

Obama's Picks (POTUS)

This blog takes some satirical inspiration from the now-president's book title, so it only seemed natural to let him join us.  I imported his bracket from ESPN, and he, among others, had Murray State winning the first round.

President Obama

Has anyone noticed that President Obama has a quite impressive bracket so far?  For those of you who are disparaging  Beaux Beaux's bracket I will remind you that he  is 20 points ahead of Ella. 

Keithley!

Todd - you've jumped out to an impressive lead with your Washington pick. And you're probably the northernmost native!

Hey Piers...

You should change your entry to the Big Least.

 

 

Marquette/GTown/ND FAIL

But... I think Syracuse/West Virginia/Louisville/Pittsburgh will all make it to the round of 32, so the BE should still have 5 of 32 (with Villanova squeaking through). And then 4 of 16, I'd guess. But really what do I know.... don't answer that. Can't say I was sorry to see Richmond die. They once drove Syracuse out of the tournament early. Grudges are meant to be held, right?

Devastated

It's fitting that my Devastated in Durham bracket is beating my Dreamin bracket. After 11 games, I've only picked 5 correctly. Worse yet, I already have lost 3 of the Sweet 16 teams in my bracket. Check out LEHIGH. Up 9-4 on Kansas. Let's go #16.

Go Pac-10

We west coasters get no respect, and perhaps deservedly so. But it's nice to see the Huskies squeak out a win! Also, I have finally pulled ahead of the President. Though he may have bigger problems on his mind.

Big lEast Conference

What's up with the not so Big East?? I thought they were the best conference in the land. They've lost 2 teams already. Their only win was in OT. And now Marquette down 2 with a last second shot opportunity. The PAC 10 may have more teams left after day one than the Big East. Will

Richmond and Georgetown Refuse to Buy Chicken Curse Insurance

        There is still time for fans of Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Duke and Syracuse to cut a deal with the Chicken Curse.  The CC bracket has Tennessee going to the final four and Syracuse going deep.  Any takers?

 

Didn't sign that last post

Should have signed it, "My second favorite team is whoever is playing Georgetown."

 

Go Bobcats!

I don't care about my bracket, I just want Georgetown to lose. 

Ouch!

I don't think I've ever started off this badly. It is something to be tied
with the likes of the Chicken Curse Lives and Devastated in Durham. But, I
guess the good part is that there isn't any way to go but up.
Am I missing something? Did Thomas and Charlie not enter the tourney?

I am blaming Clarkson and the curse.

Nell

 

Sorry, Editor Piers

This is Nell and how do I post so that my identity is known? 

 

I am not enjoying these CBS announcers for the Richmond-St Mary's game.  They have spent most of  the game chattering about how great St Mary's is.  It would bother me less if the Spiders weren't down by 7.  What the heck is a Gael??

 

Nell

Yes!

I have to talk smack now, because I'm away all weekend. I'm liking my picks so far. Who even knew there was a state called Murray?

Great start

to March Madness. Two of the three games completed go into overtime. Old Dominion knocks out ND and Robert Morris did themselves proud, a 15 seed coming mighty close to knocking out a 2 seed. And now Murray State leads at half. It is a good afternoon to be home from work!!

[Editor's note: Please sign your name to posts if you are not posting in a way that will automatically generate your particular name. Otherwise we won't know whom to smack with our talk. -Piers]

This is what a collapsed Catholic gets...

... for picking Notre Dame to go far. A loss to Old Dominion! They seemed to be on a roll. Best player back from injury, the rest of the team playing well. I've always despised the (Fighting) Irish. This is what I get for not letting my deep-seated animosities guide my picks. Now I can't even be happy that they lost. I'm a mess. What a disaster.

The Chicken Curse Also Plays Basketball

        The lowlight reel on Piers' post is some of the worst moments is Carolina football history. The curse also plays basketball as demonstrated by a beating we took as a # 2 seed by Copin State.  To prove it was no fluke the mighty Gamecocks returned the following year as a #3 seed and lost to # 13 Richmond.  Nell and Nellie, this is a commercial venture and not a family love feast. On my regular bracket I have Richmond winning the opening game. On My Chicken Curse lives bracket I have them going to the final four. I love the Spiders and hope that they win it all, however, for a modest fee I could change allegiances.  Meanwhile my cry is "Go Spiders!"  I really like that Richmond team.

 

        To prove the curse lives there are three games going on. My team is losing all three. I could be out of this thing by nightfall and will get my talk in while I am able.

 

                                                                                Clarkson

 

Richmond!

Glad to see everyones picking up with the smack talk already.  Hopefully I'll be able to do a little myself this year, with Richmond in the tournament!  Chuck will be here in Richmond this weekend so we will definitely be watching lots of basketball.

On another note, the Spiders may not take home the National Championships in basketball, at least noone can beat us in this bracket:

http://www.theawl.com/2010/03/real-america-march-tuition-madness?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAwl+%28The+Awl%29

Nellie

Chicken Curse - Big Dance = Chicken Dance

It may not be enough to get USC into the Tourney this year, but I think the above equation suggests what must be done for next year. Bend your elbows and dance, Clarkson, dance. For more on the chicken curse, visit: http://chickencurse.com/Worst_of_the_Curse.html I believe GT is peaking alright, peaking at the belles of the ball through a hole in the wall, wondering how to get invited in. -Piers PS Glad to hear Barbie has infected someone else's house, too. [UPDATE] PPS it would help my smack talk if I knew how to spell "peek"

Aggie rhymes with Maggie

Ella and Bea both have their picks in.  Each is going with the Aggies to the Final 4 (although different Aggies).  Hard to resist a team that's practically named after your mom.

 

Ella surprised me with the Wildcats winning it all, while Bea went with the Muskateers because she likes the commercial for the Oscar Winning film "Barbie and the Three Muskateers."

 

 

 

Don't forget the Spiders

 McDow's and associates have an addition to Pier's list and a new team to pull for this year. They will be fun to watch--The Richmond Spiders.  Clarkson, don't put them as winners on your Chicken Curse bracket.  I think Nellie is the only current college student in our group and I think she and the Spiders need the support from the rest of us.

 

And Randolph, if you had wanted to meet Andie McDowell, who was known to us as Rose McDowell, you should have hung around the stable more. She was in my riding class.  However, I believe you were about 5 or 6 years old at the time.

 

Let the games, and especially the smacktalk, begin!!

Nell

 

An Offer You Can't Refuse

        I have returned from our nation's capital where in less than one week I demolished all thoughts of March Madness turning into March Gladness by  bringing with me the only curse longer lived and more dangerous than the previous curse known as "The Curse of the Bambino."  Of course I refer to that most infamous of curses, the one known to South Carolinians as "The Chicken Curse."  In my week of basketball in DC I witnessed the mighty Gamecocks go up by 18 points in the second half only to blow the game to the Alabama Crimson Tide.  I attended a live game in which GW lost to VCU in a tournament for those who don't get in the NIT.  It was worth the price of admission to hear Jeff yell at the Ref that he would never get a chance to referee the real tourney with calls like that. My final humiliation was to go home from the GW game to watch Winthrop (the school that brought my mother to Rock Hill and started all of this), our beloved Eagles who produced in my brain visions of being the first 16 to beat a number one seed.  We had Duke in our sights, but instead got blown out in the play in game.  Some students were heard partying after the game and chanting, "We are number 65."  My only consolation is that Winthrop was the first of the 65 teams to learn its fate.  Being in the Big Dance is great even if one is asked to leave while the band is still tuning their instruments. By the way The Citadel had a winning record this year and won their opening game in the Southern Conference Tournament, but they may have the record for most years in the NCAA without a tournament appearance.  Their record and their honor are intact. 

 

        The above is just a long winded way of saying, "The Chicken Curse lives."  It not only lives but it follows me whenever I pull for a team. Now that Gamecock fans do not have a team playing even in the NIT, we have started a new business. For a slight fee that can be negotiated, I will agree to place your teams opponent as the winner in my bracket entitled "The Chicken Curse Lives" and cheer for that team avidly, thereby guaranteeing victory to your team.  I have discovered that I have the rare power to transfer the Chicken Curse to other teams.  I can not let such power go to waste.  If you want to help your bracket contact me before noon. Due to the fact that some people have real money bet on these games, (unlike McDow Hoops in which the loss of pride is sufficient incentive) I am only permitted by federal authorities to accept one game per customer.  I will be open for business until noon today. Check my bracket the Chicken Curse Lives. 

 

        Once the business end of this is concluded I plan on joining Randolph in raising my smack talking to a new level. 

 

        I have enticed a new entrant, my old roommate Bo Bo who now goes by the much more dignified Beaux Beaux.  Watch for his entry. 

 

                                                                                                                                                Clarkson

 

There's a new dress code this year

The best sign of the ACC Tourney:

Deadline approaching

Be sure to get your brackets entered into ESPN before noon on Thursday. I noticed this evening that a number of brackets list a total of 0 PPRs (Possible Points Remaining). If that is yours, it means you probably didn't save your entry correctly. And kudos to the person who created the scoreboard on the side panel. Now the blog is finally useful.

GT: Great Tournament

My guys are peaking at the right time, and the loss to Duke in the ACC tourney (lucky shots, bad calls) will inspire them to even great heights.

Must say: watching UNC fans cheer like crazy in the NIT when they were merely hanging on against W&M's Tribe was amusing. How the mighty have fallen.

And don't knock Andie McDowell. She was one of my first movie crushes after her amazing portrayal of Jane in "Greystoke", co-starring with the consummate method actor, Christopher Lambert. Only later did I find out that her voice had been dubbed over by Glenn Close. And to think she was in Rock Hill for several years going to Winthrop! Can't believe I missed the chance to meet her.

Looking forward to a great tournament and even better smack talk!

Randolph

Who are we?

Maybe it's just because I'm forgetful, but I like to be reminded of who the relevant teams are this year... No BC, Davidson, Memphis, GW, USC, or (cough cough) Citadel this year. For just the 38th straight year, Yale missed out, too. Winthrop's tournament run sadly followed the same trajectory as Andie McDowell's recent career. But we've got: Syracuse Washington Georgia Polytech Tennessee Pittsburgh Dook Any others we need to be acutely aware of (i.e. not counting secondary allegiances and temporary crushes)? I am still developing my Buckeye love, and would be glad to see them do well, but they come second to Syracuse. Please add to the list.

Looking for Inspiration

With my team (BC) not in the running this year and not having watched a single b-ball game all season, I was lacking in inspiration when I went to fill in my bracket. The fact that I wanted two brackets this year only exacerbated this feeling. So I filled out one semi-serious bracket (MookMcD) based on, well, I'm not really sure what. Then, I went back and made a bracket choosing schools whose names had the most letters in common with mine (Mary McDow Rincon). In the case of a tie, I chose the higher-seeded team.

Note: I did this without using any scratch paper to tally letters, and based on the abbreviated name on the ESPN website. I concede that there are a couple of mistakes, but I'm done with the bracket part and eager to move on the the smack-talking part.

-Mook

Hello McDowHoops 2010

If everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day, then everyone is Southern Scotch-Irish Presbyterian for March Madness.  That's right, McDowHoops is back.  But the clock is winding down, so it is time to heave your game winning three pointer before the buzzer sounds. 

Have you followed basketball at all this year?  I surely have not.  I am living in Zanzibar, and the whole island did not have electricity from December 10 until March 8, a twelve-plus week period that coincided with basketball season.  I have heard something the Ohio State University is making waves with a new guy named Turner, and that's just the Philosophy Department.  It turns out that basketball knowledge is useless in office pools, as the New York TImes explains (based on a recent article in The Journal of Applied Social Psychology).  So please enter not to show off your knowledge, but to prance a little on the smack-walk.  All you need to do is complete your entry on the ESPN site and you're on the way.  

Last year's big winner was Maggie Gumb!nner whose humility and restraint in blog posting is to be deprecated.  While we admire her soothsaying, we'd like more smacksaying.

A Little Confused

I know it's way past my bedtime, and I'm a little bit sleep-deprived, and trying to work through "pregnancy brain", but I just can't seem to find Boston College on the bracket. Any chance someone at ESPN made a mistake?

-Mook

Partaaayy!

Let the Eagles soar! For all you Rock (n Roll) Hillians... From heraldonline.com: "Winthrop will hold another party Sunday at the Winthrop Coliseum to celebrate where the team will play its next game.

Want to go?

Find out where the Winthrop Eagles will play during a selection show celebration Sunday at the Winthrop Coliseum.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. There will be refreshments.

The NCAA Basketball Championship Selection Show starts at 6 p.m. CBS plans to broadcast from the coliseum."

Anticlimactic

Despite the fact that I did very little posting here this year (only in part because I did very little proper predicting), I do check the blog every day to see what others have to say.  March (and April) Madness is one of my favorite times because of McDowhoops and sMaCkDOWn.

All that being said, I am more than a little disappointed that there was no victory smack from the winner (Maggie!).  Has anyone ever come close to 98% in this thing?  Well, except for Lauren, who had 92%!!  Besides beating people who spent a serious amount of hypothesizing about conferences, photo-shopping cereal boxes, posting pictures of other college campuses, and searching YouTube for pertinent videos, (and that guy who didn't spend enough time entering his daughter's picks) your percentages alone are impressive on their own.

How about a little recap?

Mook

Clark Kellogg is annoying

He just said that UNC is "the epitome of the spurtability team". Who says things like that? Earlier he said he expected a competitive, hard fought contest. No kidding, Clark. He was also oblivious in the UNC-Villanova game, never mentioning just how important the foul trouble on Scottie Reynolds was for the Wildcats in the first half. Clark didn't seem to realize that Reynolds went out of the game for 4 minutes in the first half, during which time UNC's lead doubled. And so forth. Where's Raftery when you need him? UPDATE! The New York Times agrees!

On this plan even the Citadel might get in the tourney

That's from The Onion.

Let's Rumble

Once again, I am promoting a comment to a post. This is from Nell: Margaret, let's rumble. It is actually my second bracket that I call my impulse bracket in which I choose Mich State to win it all. I chose UNC on my original bracket that I actually put a bit of thought into. But now I am really pulling for Michigan and for all those in the only state with a higher unemployment rate than South Carolina. (Of course their governor will actually accept the stimulus money and those folks might someday see some relief.) So if the underdog wins, will it help to feed any families? Maybe not, but what reason could anyone have to actually pull for UNC except for the selfish aspect of seeing our name at the top of the list. So come on Margaret and admit that you really want Michigan to take it all.

Nell vs. Margaret

We enjoyed watching the UNC-Villanova game, though Meredith's dad did not enjoy it in the least. (There was some swearing involved.) My quick estimate of the standings is that Margaret will win if UNC wins, but if Michigan wins, Nell will pull off a stunning upset, leaping into first place. I'll continue unburying comments that I'd like to see as posts. Here's Ron's response to Piers's comment that Ron's a moral reprobate for choosing UConn: ----- If somebody came to me in August 1939 and said "Hitler's planning on invading Poland - wanna make a gentlemen's bet on who wins?" am I a Nazi if I call it right? Or if Todd Keithley challenges Mike Tyson to a fight, am I a rapist if pick Tyson? Am I a lawyer if I pick Todd? At day's end the scoreboard does all the smack-talking that needs to be talked. I refer you all to my bracket and the standings for "comment." SCOREBOARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ----- The scoreboard is telling a different story now, Ron, but at least you bragged once while you could. I'd like to see Margaret and Nell start trading insults but I think the odds of that happening are pretty low.

Jonah, Felix, and Lauren

Just a small point, but Lauren's (wonderful) rankings have Jonah the Whale ahead of Felix the Cat by one spot, when I think in the real rankings they are (and will remain, with 0 ppr each) tied. Felix picked Wake Forest to win it all, while Jonah picked Duke, so I do like to think of Felix as first among equals (in 18th place).

What if college basketball had a bowl system?

For our mid-week slow-down, a nice attempt to follow through on a thought suggested by The Onion (click here): a listing of all the basketball 'bowl' match-ups we might have seen if there were no NCAA tournament. At least the not very Gamecocks would have gotten a bid! Outback Bowl, Tampa, Fla. Penn State (26-11) vs. South Caroliona (21-10)