Thursday, March 23, 2006
NCAA Picks - Part II
I am defending champ in two NCAA pools this year. I manage one, and the other is made up mostly of employees of a local large company. I am tied for the lead in the latter, but I do not like my chances to repeat. It is a pool where players pick the entire tourney in advance, and I will have to get some breaks along the way.
I am tied for 16th out of 53 in the pool I manage. That pool allows players to pick the first two rounds, then pick the next two rounds with a fresh sweet 16 bracket, then pick the final four. That system keeps everyone interested and competitive. In other words, if you had Carolina or Kansas going deep in my pool, you are not sunk.
Since I run the pool and there is the opportunity for impropriety, I always give my picks to other participants before the picks are due. Here are my third and fourth round picks on my #1 sheet.
Atlanta: Duke squeaks by LSU, and Texas handles West Virginia. Duke advances over Texas.
Oakland: Memphis beats Bradley, and UCLA has too much for Gonzaga. UCLA avenges an earlier loss to Memphis and goes to Indy.
Washington, D.C.: Wichita St edges George Mason, but Connecticut wakes up and beats Washington and Wichita State by double digits each.
Minneapolis: Boston College upsets Villanova, and Florida just gets by Georgetown. BC advances.
I am tied for 16th out of 53 in the pool I manage. That pool allows players to pick the first two rounds, then pick the next two rounds with a fresh sweet 16 bracket, then pick the final four. That system keeps everyone interested and competitive. In other words, if you had Carolina or Kansas going deep in my pool, you are not sunk.
Since I run the pool and there is the opportunity for impropriety, I always give my picks to other participants before the picks are due. Here are my third and fourth round picks on my #1 sheet.
Atlanta: Duke squeaks by LSU, and Texas handles West Virginia. Duke advances over Texas.
Oakland: Memphis beats Bradley, and UCLA has too much for Gonzaga. UCLA avenges an earlier loss to Memphis and goes to Indy.
Washington, D.C.: Wichita St edges George Mason, but Connecticut wakes up and beats Washington and Wichita State by double digits each.
Minneapolis: Boston College upsets Villanova, and Florida just gets by Georgetown. BC advances.
