The Birds in the Bush.

In looking at the brackets the remaining possible points are what counts most. Maggie has taken the lead but the Pied Picker has a distinct advantage in PPR. The Yankee Interloper kept the top spot warm but panicked upon hearing that the prize was grits. Obama was heard saying he got health care and that is all he needed to win this year. All the selectors of Kansas are toast. Beaux Beaux has made a move and is in 10th place but Kansas is his undoing.
My bracket which was given up for dead is down at 13 but adding total points to PPR is in 3rd place. My prediction is that if Duke goes to the final four, Maggie wins. If Baylor goes it will be the Pied Picker. Of course we should not discount the power of the Chicken Curse.
There are three smack talking points to be made. First, am I the only one to notice that Randolph disappears with Georgia Tech each year? Second, does Chuck think that fake blog about how tough grades are at Roanoke will keep him in beer money? Third, do we have a rule against naming your bracket the Tennesean and then deserting them once they reach the Sweet Sixteen? Tennessee played a great game. They deserved better from one using their name. Finally, is anyone not pulling for Northern Iowa?
Clarkson
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Roanoke into the Sweet 16

Well, Roanoke College is making news outside of the sports world. My alma mater was recently named one of the top 16 toughest grading schools in the nation. To check how you're affiliate did, here's the link (http://www.gradeinflation.com/sweet162010.html) Just a note, there is another contributor's university in the list.

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Phrase of the year

"I'd like to see Cinderella walking her underdogs." That's why mamas like their kids to go to Yale.
Wow! !!! Double OT if you are asleep you are missing a great game. Xavier is making the A-10 proud.
Clarkson.
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Xavier still alive

Going into the second overtime!

Double OT for Xavier

So I didn't quite get to sleep before Xavier made their run. I'm sure Jeff is out there somewhere routing for the A-10. This is setting up like that Big East conference game last year that went to 7 overtimes. I think Syracuse and UConn played that game. Good morning Dode.

OT for Xavier

That was a good end of regulation. It looks like Kentucky will survive. Cornell made a move but came up short.
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I'm Awake, Will

But were the Orangemen? And what about the lovable nerds at Cornell?
The score looks like a football playoff with two god quarterbacks.

I guess I should feel good that another one seed is down, paving the
way more easily for West Virginia, but I'd like to see Cinderella
walking her underdogs.

The Chicken Curse is Back.

This is the year of upsets and Syracuse is the latest victim. No team was a bigger underdog than the health care bill, and none of the tournament thrilled me more.
When Butler was down 54-50, I thought it was over Piers, being a Gamecock fan, I know how you feel. Well, that is not exactly correct because I would die to have my team in the sweet 16 again. Last time the 'Cocks were there I was in a place called Vietnam. Now that I think of it the underdog won that one as well.
The small conferences are holding their own this year. I think Xavier will hold its own with K-State. My guess is that by losing to the 'Cocks, Kentucky gained some immunity against the chicken curse but the curse can strike when least expected.
Don't look back but my once dead bracket is up to 12. Not quite there with Yankee Interloper, The President, Todd, and Maggie and Jeff but getting respectable.
Did anyone tell Yankee Interloper that the winner gets a year's supply of grits and has to write an essay on how grits changed his or her life?
Cornell needs to do better. Our station switched to K-State- Xavier.
My best to all of you. It is amazing how we mellow as our brackets tank.
Clarkson
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A new curse??

Seems the Chicken Curse has given way to the Curse of Cap'n Cuse. Given the current score of UK and Big Red, it's heading towards a bad night for teams that have fans on this blog. Piers I just hope you won't pull for Duke tomorrow night. I assume that's a pretty safe bet. Now, I'm off to bed before Dodie wakes up. Will

Turner is still in it

Besides Cornell (Abs and I are watching on a laptop, fingers crossed), I can also now root for OSU a bit more. Ack. SU blew it. What a bad game. We can't win when Scoop Jardine (our back-up point guard) is taking the most shots. And all the turnovers! Ack.

Ouch

Piers, I can't really compare our situations since you are a true fan and I, in a nod to Raskin, could have named my bracket "Basketball Interloper." You are Captain 'Cuse, whereas I have never claimed to be Lieutenant Husk. But it was tough to see both of our teams go down in flames. It's great to hear from Nell and Charles Stuart. I wanted to blog from a bar as well -- Meredith and I were at a local watering hole for a bit this evening, watching Syracuse and Washington receive their deportation orders. But I couldn't figure out how to post from my BlackBerry. Well, life goes on, Piers. Now is the time for everyone to start rooting for the Ivy League.

Ex-Cuse Syracuse

Sorry Piers

 

Nell

I'm With those Two

Its a slow night at the bar (where I'm working) so there's time to post: Bracket be Damned, C'mon Washington!

T-Bone You're Not Alone

But it does seem like McDows have (for various reasons) disappeared. So: what should we talk about? I think the 'Cuse couldn't have played much worse in the first half, so I'm optimistic, but watching with one hand over my eyes.

Halftime Report

It is a sad, sad state of affairs when I am the only one following college hoops while posting on the blog. Where is everybody? This is one heck of a tournament! Piers, I don't know, man. We'll see. As for my home-state team, they are hanging in there just fine.

Xaviering their best for the sweet sixteen...

... I hope anyway. First Syracuse has to beat Butler. But if we make it to the Elite Eight, then with Syracuse still weakened without their starting center, I'd love to see KSU get knocked out here. But, if I had to pick one team for the Chicken Cursers to focus their energy on, I'd of course have to pick Kentucky. Go Big Red!

The Line

Vegas odds as of this morning: Syracuse by 6 West Virginia by 4 Kansas State by 4.5 Kentucky by 8.5 Anyone have any contrary predictions? Obviously I'd love to see the Huskies do well. There's a great profile of the Cornell team's messy house, here. Reminded me of the aluminum pan full of baked ziti that someone (who shall remain nameless but might be on this blog) stuck to the wall of our sophomore dorm room. Anyone who dwells on the tenuous link between college and NCAA basketball has got to be rooting for Cornell. (Cousins: "We’re here to play basketball. It’s not a spelling bee.") Go Huskies!

Former Kentucky Starter Rides the Bench at Cornell (True Story)

Cornell (12 seed, Ivy) plays Kentucky (1 seed, SEC) Thursday.  One person has played for both teams.  Mark Coury started 29 games at Kentucky when he was a sophomore.  Since he transferred to Cornell, he is an important contributor, but he does not start.  The New York Times has a profile of him you can reach by clicking through the best stat shot of the piece:

The difference between the programs could not be more vast. Cornell (29-4) has played in seven N.C.A.A. tournament games. Kentucky (34-2) has won seven national championships. Cornell spends less than $1 million on its men's basketball budget. Kentucky allocates $8.6 million.

I didn't want to have to go there, but ...

if I were in charge of the United States, I probably would have gotten Healthcare Reform passed 2.9% faster than Obama. - Y.I.

The Long Week

Well, with no news as important as March Madness to entertain us until Thursday, we have no choice but to turn to the Smack-blog (or slogging, as it will be known as in the near future). Here are my predictions for people talking about their past predictions: 1. Greg will flaunt his position as the true 1st Bracket. 2. Lauren will return from the edges of civilization and work some sort of statistical magic predicting the winner of the pool. This will undoubtedly be someone who has chosen Kentucky for the win. 3. Dodie and Piers will continue their word play despite the lack of fresh headline material. 4. Everyone who had Kansas to go all the way will quietly resent people who chose Kentucky (this group also includes Randolph, who's loyal but foolhardy bracket had Tech). 5. People will realize Piers "My Blood Runs Orange" Turner did not, in fact, pick the boys from Upstate to go all the way. And powered by this knowledge, people will begin slogging Piers. Questions for the Coming Week: How does the Chicken Curse apply to Cornell, for whom all of the ex-Kansans will now supporting against Kentucky? Will "Farukmaneshed" become a household (or even blog-hold) word?

North Iowa

An amusing comment from a different NCAA pool: "Until the POWs are freed, we should not let North Iowa compete on the world stage."

Headline Challenge about Sunday March 21

How should the press (satirical or otherwise) write about Sunday's
basketball? Here are my takes. Add yours in the comments.

> Obama Passes Healthcare in the House; Yankee Interloper Passes Obama
> in McDowHoops
>
> Low-Seeded Ivy Scales Heights not Reached since 1979: Cornell's in
> the Sweet Sixteen
>
> Mountain Mama, Show Me the Door State: WVU defeats Missouri, 68-59
>
> Georgia Tech Silences Phones but Not Buckeyes

Get your smack right here

Listen, I have to do this now b/c I am surely going down with Kansas as my top pick, but I'd like to point out that at this very moment, only the President of the United States keeps me from the top of this Southern Fried Bracket competition. Given my low PPR, I'm switching my allegiance to N. Iowa and Cornell. Go Big Red!

How Piers Beat Georgia Tech

Zanzibar Brackets

A quick update from the brackets in our house before any new scores dash hopes.  (Come on Georgia Tech--can you turn your cell phones long enough to get some sound advice?)

First, in the possible points remaining category, no one is setting on a bigger pile of chips than nine-year-old hoopssayer Maggie Lou.  She entered reluctantly, perhaps recalling her misfortune last year when I put the wrongs teams down for her.  She took heart, however, when she recalled that when Franklin was 2 and she was 5, they placed 2nd and 5th respectively.  And now she may be in 14th place, but that's a fine place to be now, drafting off her elders.  She picked Cornell to win this one, and who isn't pulling for the Ivy League?

And while we're pulling for Cornell, let me give special mention to a first time McDowHoops participant Bryna Harr!ngton who has the Big Red winning the whole enchilada.  Bryna is a recent graduate of everyone's favorite four-letter school and is living with us this year in Zanzibar and working as a research assistant for Alison.  She is a proud resident of Maine, and her choices were generally governed by which school was closer to her home state.  Thus a highly unlikely (and now impossible) Final Four of Maryland, Vermont, Louisville, and Cornell.  And in that match up, with the way Cornell is playing, they could win the national championship.

Luckily, I had the foresight of entering Obma's bracket under my name to keep Greg, the Yankee Interloper, from crowing at the top of the list.  Otherwise, both my real-ish bracket and my graduation rate bracket have been Farokmaneshed.  My only hope is West Virginia going all the way because I'm the only one in our group who picked them.  

Go 'Cuse!

Now let's see if the Buckeyes can hold off those pesky Yellowjackets. "OSU's other Turner" -- as Evan is known around here -- is a pretty good player.

Headline contest: Saturday March 20

What should today's (satirical) hoop headlines read? Put your best
takes in the comments...

My contributions:

New Mexico Looks Slim Next to Huskies

Iranian Bomber Injuries Millions' Brackets

Yowzer

Nell's right, but I'm so happy to see my bracket tank if it means Syracuse has a better shot at the title. It always looked daunting, but with Kansas gone, it looks a little less so. Knock wood, fingers crossed, no jinxes. Clarkson, if this was somehow due to the Chicken Curse, call me a believer.

WOW

A lot of folks just got their possible remaining points cut in half. Go Kentucky.

Nell

Obama has 25 of 32 teams remaining and Leads Hoopsmcdow - from Clarkson

See the story below.  President Obama is managing health care and still manages to beat everyone of us.  Let's hope he does as well with Congress.

 

Updated: March 20, 2010, 2:43 AM ET

Obama has 25 of 32 teams remaining

.

NEW YORK -- The presidential bracket is looking pretty good after the first round.

President Barack Obama correctly predicted 13 of 16 winners Friday, the second day of the NCAA tournament. That came after he went 12 for 16 on Thursday.

Obama's only blemishes Friday were 13th-seeded Siena, which lost to fourth-seeded Purdue 72-64; ninth-seeded Florida State, which fell to No. 8 seed Gonzaga 67-60; and No. 9 seed Louisville, which was defeated by eighth-seeded California 77-62.

The Big East has been a big bummer for The First Fan. Four of his seven losses have been by teams from the conference that received a tournament-high eight bids.

Obama took a few chances in his bracket, which he filled out for ESPN for the second straight year. Siena was the second No. 13 seed he picked; he correctly chose Murray State to upset fourth-seeded Vanderbilt on Thursday.

Obama also had 12th-seeded Cornell topping No. 5 seed Temple -- and the Big Red came through with a 78-65 victory Friday.

And how's this for some presidential prognostication? He also has his Final Four still intact with Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky and Villanova. Obama predicted North Carolina's national championship victory last year, when his bracket ranked 903,125th overall -- just above the 80th percentile in ESPN's online contest.

His biggest miss so far was Georgetown, which he predicted would reach the round of eight. The Hoyas, the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Regional, were stunned by 14th-seeded Ohio 97-83 on Thursday.

Marquette was his only other pick for the round of 16 that has lost. The sixth-seeded Golden Eagles were edged by No. 11 seed Washington 80-78 on Thursday night.

Obama has only one team eliminated in each of the Midwest (Georgetown) and West (Florida State) Regionals. He's down two teams in the East Regional, and three in the South Regional.

 

 

georgia TECH employees - currently TECH-less

Randolph is working this weekend, reading scholarship applications at a hotel in downtown Atlanta. A hotel that apparently does not have Wi-fi. Randolph (and Lauren and Eston) are feeling very out of the loop on the status of McDowHoops and sorry to be missing out on the smack-talk. Randolph (who has called me several times for updates - apparently he does not have a cell phone number for Will, Piers, or Clarkson) assures me that he will be back in the game tomorrow afternoon.

-Mook

Obama BaROCKS his bracket

I hope the health care vote goes as well as Obama's bracket. He
picked up a super majority in the first round (25 out of 32), and I
can only hope he doesn't get Stupaked in this round.

Chicken Curse Homie Dooms 'Nova

        Though the Chicken Curse bracket had Richmond winning this one, Chuck's post doomed 'Nova.  Guess where Chuck lives?  Right.  He lives in Columbia, the home of the Chicken Curse. Of course, Nellie, our Richmond student lives there too.  Remember Richmond?  They could have been the team beating 'Nova today but for the curse. The theory of the curse dooming Wofford and Clemson is also sound.  The Curse bracket also had both of those teams.  Wofford by the way is the only school in the Big Dance with a higher average SAT than the number of male students.  Thomas doesn't mention it much but he graduated from Wofford as did our Daddy.  They played a great game  and could easily be the team wearing the glass slipper.  I enjoyed watching St. Mary's. Chuck made a good point about the announcers fawning all over themselves over St. Mary's.  Someone should remind them that in the opening minutes while 'Nova was winning they mentioned how ready to play they were today.  Never form an opinion about an announcer until you hear them announcing a game in which your team is being blown out. I have had much practice

        Dodie may have a point about God loving Syracuse. If so, it is the only Big East team God loves this week.  The Big East has had a tough time.  Piers is a great guy and if he loves Syracuse, we ought to all love them.  I am definitely pulling for the Orangeman. Chuck, how about you?  

 

                                                                                                                                        Clarkson

 

Good press for George Mason

With a win by St. Mary's the press will use the phrases "Cinderella"
and "George Mason" in a roughly 2:1 ratio from now until St. Mary's is
eliminated. GMU also beat a Big Least team (UConn), but that was in
moving from the Elite Eight to the Final Four. The boost in
applicants (20%) after that year still has people talking on campus.

Duke Blue Devils say...

"THANK YOU St. Marys!!" Now let's go Old Dominion. Or as I used to say Old Domino. Go ODU.

Surprise Big East Fan

I don't often find myself pulling for a Big East team, and I'm usually for the underdog, but I'm loving the Wildcats right now. Or perhaps more to the point I'm hating on the love-fest that the commentators are putting on for Omar " The Mutant" (Mom's word) Samhan. I really hope 'Nova can pull through against these Aussie goons.

Evidence that God loves Syracuse?

Year's Biggest Sandstorm Turns Beijing Sky Orange

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: March 20, 2010

Filed at 2:23 a.m. ET

BEIJING (AP) -- China's capital woke up to orange-tinted skies Saturday as the strongest sandstorm so far this year hit the country's north, delaying some flights at Beijing's airport and prompting a dust warning for Seoul. more...

I'm impressed

....With Todd and Obama

....With Wofford's ability to hang close the whole game

....With the power of the Chicken Curse.  Who knew it would effect all SC teams, including USC's biggest rival?  And was that the reason Wofford couldn't find a buzzer beater shot in the final seconds?

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):