Mission WSOP

• 0-2 in my last NBA picks - I’m now 38-37-4 (51%).
• My bracket is completely busted.  I only had Carolina advance to the Final Four.  So much for upsets… four #1 seeds in the Final Four.
• I’m irritated with my cash game play and continue a down turn.  I want to take a break from the $0.25/$0.50 NL game but I don’t want to lose my Iron Man status. 
• The Phillies lost.  It was wall-to-wall baseball on Monday as I watched all or part of 7 games.  I’m thoroughly enjoyed the Braves 2 losses even if one of them was at the expense of one of my fantasy team pitchers.

Other than that, nothing new.

1-1 to move to 38-35-4 (52%) in the NBA.

New York/Toronto OVER 195.5 (WIN)
Washington/Sacramento UNDER 204.5 (LOSS)

I finally lost a Final Four team when Stephen Curry kept up his end of the bargain in helping his team to their 25th straight win.  I still have Carolina, Texas and Xavier remaining.  I’m still in good shape.

MIDWEST: (10) Davidson 73, (3) Wisconsin 56
MIDWEST: (1) Kansas 72, (12) Villanova 57
SOUTH: (2) Texas 82, (3) Stanford 62
SOUTH: (1) Memphis 92, (5) Michigan State 74

Conference-By-Conference

Southern (1): 3-0
Conference USA (1): 3-0
Big 12 (2): 9-4
Big East (1): 11-7
Pac-10 (1): 7-5
ACC (1): 5-3
Big Ten: 5-4
Atlantic 10 (1): 3-2
Sun Belt: 2-2
Horizon: 1-1
Metro Atlantic: 1-1
SEC: 4-6 <— OUT - 6 Teams In And None To Elite 8
Mountain West: 1-2
West Coast: 1-3
America East: 0-1 
Atlantic Sun: 0-1
Big Sky: 0-1
Big South: 0-1
Big West: 0-1
Colonial Athletic: 0-1
Ivy: 0-1
Mid-American: 0-1
Mid-Continent: 0-1
Missouri Valley: 0-1
Northeast: 0-1 
Ohio Valley: 0-1
Patriot: 0-1
Southland: 0-1
Southwestern Athletic: 0-1
Western Athletic: 0-1

Stephen… you busted my bracket but I don’t care!  Stephen Curry lit up Wisconsin for 33 points as Davidson, a 10 seed, is just one game away from the Final Four!  And he had 4 steals and 6 threes, too!  22 points in the 2nd half.  If Stephen Curry were a stock, Jim Cramer would be shouting BUY! BUY! BUY!

Currently, I’m 37-34-4 (52.1%) and took a little time off from picking… but I’m back!

Friday’s Picks
New York/Toronto OVER 195.5
Washington/Sacramento UNDER 204.5

Last night, I nailed 4 of 4 in the NCAA and am sitting pretty to have a respectable finish with all 4 of my NCAA Final Four remaining… PLUS I’m perfect on my 2nd Chance Bracket on Yahoo.  Carolina looked excellent again.  Three wins away from the National Championship.

East: (1) UNC 68, (4) Washington State 47
East: (3) Louisville 79, (2) Tennessee 60
West: (1) UCLA 88, (12) Western Kentucky 78
West: (3) Xavier 79, (7) West Virginia 75 OT

Conference-By-Conference

Southern (1): 2-0
Conference USA (1): 2-0
Big Ten (2): 5-2
Big East (2): 11-6
Pac-10 (2): 7-4
Big 12 (2): 7-4
ACC (1): 5-3
Atlantic 10 (1): 3-2
Sun Belt: 2-2
Horizon: 1-1
Metro Atlantic: 1-1
SEC: 4-6 <— OUT - 6 Teams In And None To Elite 8
Mountain West: 1-2
West Coast: 1-3
America East: 0-1 
Atlantic Sun: 0-1
Big Sky: 0-1
Big South: 0-1
Big West: 0-1
Colonial Athletic: 0-1
Ivy: 0-1
Mid-American: 0-1
Mid-Continent: 0-1
Missouri Valley: 0-1
Northeast: 0-1 
Ohio Valley: 0-1
Patriot: 0-1
Southland: 0-1
Southwestern Athletic: 0-1
Western Athletic: 0-1

What a weekend!  The last three games were pretty normal (although Memphis had to squeak by) and Carolina looked amazing again.  100 points plus times two… nice job Heels!  They are 1/3 of the way there.  Only one of the four ACC teams made it to the Sweet 16 but it’s the only one that matters.  ESPN is dogging the ACC and patting the Big East and the Pac-10 on the back for their multiple teams remaining.  I’ll give the Pac-10 some minor props but when you get 8 teams into the dance and there’s less than half left, let’s not get carried away.  And the SEC has a losing record and ESPN took no shots at that lame conference!

East: (1) UNC 108, (9) Arkansas 77
East: (3) Louisville 78, (6) Oklahoma 48 <— OUCH!
South: (1) Memphis 77, (8) Mississippi State 74

Conference-By-Conference

Southern: 2-0
Conference USA: 2-0
Big Ten: 5-2
Big East: 10-5
Pac-10: 6-3
Sun Belt: 2-1
Big 12: 7-4
ACC: 4-3
Atlantic 10: 2-2
Horizon: 1-1
Metro Atlantic: 1-1
SEC: 4-5
Mountain West: 1-2
West Coast: 1-3
America East: 0-1 
Atlantic Sun: 0-1
Big Sky: 0-1
Big South: 0-1
Big West: 0-1
Colonial Athletic: 0-1
Ivy: 0-1
Mid-American: 0-1
Mid-Continent: 0-1
Missouri Valley: 0-1
Northeast: 0-1 
Ohio Valley: 0-1
Patriot: 0-1
Southland: 0-1
Southwestern Athletic: 0-1
Western Athletic: 0-1

Out goes Georgetown thanks to Del Curry’s little boy and the Davidson Wildcats!  A 6′3" sophomore has just established himself as the Iceman of the ‘08 NCAA tournament.  If he stays hot, Davidson could be scary.  Two other #10 or higher seeds moved into the Final Four with ‘Nova over Siena and Western Kentucky over San Diego.  8 of the 13 tickets punched so far have been to form, though with two more #1s and a #3 in action right now.  (So far, the #1s and #3s are 13-0). 

East: (2) Tennessee 76, (7) Butler 71 OT
Midwest: (12) Villanova 84, (13) Siena 72
Midwest: (10) Davidson 74, (2) Georgetown 70
South: (2) Texas 75, (7) Miami (FL) 72
West: (12) Western Kentucky 72, (13) San Diego 63

Conference-By-Conference

Southern: 2-0
Conference USA: 1-0
Big Ten: 5-2
Big 12: 7-3
Pac-10: 6-3
Sun Belt: 2-1
Big East: 9-5
ACC: 3-3
SEC: 4-3
Atlantic 10: 2-2
Horizon: 1-1
Metro Atlantic: 1-1
Mountain West: 1-2
West Coast: 1-3
America East: 0-1 
Atlantic Sun: 0-1
Big Sky: 0-1
Big South: 0-1
Big West: 0-1
Colonial Athletic: 0-1
Ivy: 0-1
Mid-American: 0-1
Mid-Continent: 0-1
Missouri Valley: 0-1
Northeast: 0-1 
Ohio Valley: 0-1
Patriot: 0-1
Southland: 0-1
Southwestern Athletic: 0-1
Western Athletic: 0-1

First, it was Stanford escaping Marquette’s upset bid.  Then, Kansas smashed UNLV.  Drew Nietzel bounced back from his poor performance against Temple to upset Pitt.  Finally, UCLA bounced back from 10 down to escape a near upset by Texas A&M… March Madness, do you ever have to end?

 Can someone explain to me why there are so many empty seats???

The Stanford finish was amazing.  And they did it without their coach.  Maybe they should strip him of his Pac-10 coach of the year award. 

 Another empty seat?  You needed popcorn now?

I was torn in the UCLA game… every time I thought about rooting for Texas A&M, they’d throw those hot UCLA cheerleaders up on the screen and I’d switch my allegiance right back to the Bruins. 

Midwest: (1) Kansas 75, (8) UNLV 56
South: (3) Stanford 82, (6) Marquette 81 OT
South: (5) Michigan State 65, (4) Pitt 54
West: (1) UCLA 53, (9) Texas A&M 49

Conference-By-Conference

Conference USA: 1-0
Horizon: 1-0
Metro Atlantic: 1-0
Southern: 1-0
Big Ten: 5-2
Big East: 8-4
Big 12: 6-3
Pac-10: 6-3
ACC: 3-2
SEC: 3-3
Sun Belt: 1-1
Atlantic 10: 2-2
Mountain West: 1-2
West Coast: 1-2
America East: 0-1 
Atlantic Sun: 0-1
Big Sky: 0-1
Big South: 0-1
Big West: 0-1
Colonial Athletic: 0-1
Ivy: 0-1
Mid-American: 0-1
Mid-Continent: 0-1
Missouri Valley: 0-1
Northeast: 0-1 
Ohio Valley: 0-1
Patriot: 0-1
Southland: 0-1
Southwestern Athletic: 0-1
Western Athletic: 0-1

Beasley’s out!  A bunch of white kids from Wisconsin are in.  Man, they bomb the 3-ball.  Wisconsin was 9-22 on threes while K-State was 0-13.  Next stop for Wisconsin is the winner of the Georgetown-Davidson game.  Next stop for Kansas State’s Michael Beasley might be Miami or somewhere in the NBA lottery mix.  Xavier knocked off Purdue after falling behind in the first half again.  Washington State throttled Notre Dame… so much for Notre Dame looking amazing in the first round.

East: (4) Washington State 61, (5) Notre Dame 41
Midwest: (3) Wisconsin 72, (11) Kansas State 55
West: (3) Xavier 85, (6) Purdue 78

Conference-By-Conference

Conference USA: 1-0
Horizon: 1-0
Metro Atlantic: 1-0
Southern: 1-0
Big East: 8-2
Big 12: 5-2
Big Ten: 4-2
ACC: 3-2
Pac-10: 4-3
SEC: 3-3
Mountain West: 1-1
Sun Belt: 1-1
Atlantic 10: 2-2
West Coast: 1-2
America East: 0-1 
Atlantic Sun: 0-1
Big Sky: 0-1
Big South: 0-1
Big West: 0-1
Colonial Athletic: 0-1
Ivy: 0-1
Mid-American: 0-1
Mid-Continent: 0-1
Missouri Valley: 0-1
Northeast: 0-1 
Ohio Valley: 0-1
Patriot: 0-1
Southland: 0-1
Southwestern Athletic: 0-1
Western Athletic: 0-1

My day is complete… Dook is dead!  Bye bye Coach K!  Bye bye Gerald Henderson!  Bye bye to the dirtiest college team in the game!

West Virginia moves on and I’m 1-0 for the day.  Sometimes it helps to pick with your heart.

 BYE BYE COACH K!

I was running well and despite a few losses here and there, I was sitting well enough to make a strong run at a nice pick’em record to a big dent to most of my brackets as I had Clemson going fairly deep.

It looked so good, too… Clemson was up 36-18!  And then they just tanked.  Terrence Oglesby had an awful game, shooting 1-11 and 1-8 on threes for Clemson.  I think I found out why.  He was shooting with his eyes closed:

Now that I’m on the edge of elimination from any type of contest with 22 wins on Yahoo and ESPN and 20 wins on the McCain contest, I am still rooting for Texas and Carolina but I’m adding UCLA into the mix and here’s why:

East: (9) Arkansas 86, (8) Indiana 72
East: (3) Louisville 79, (14) Boise State 61
Midwest: (12) Villanova 75, (5) Clemson 69
South: (1) Memphis 87, (16) Texas-Arlington 63

The St. Petersburg location was magical as four favorites lost in four match-ups.  I think they said that was an NCAA first.  Now, we have to look forward to two 12 vs. 13 matches in Round 2.  Some 45-year-old administrative assistant will be winning her office pool when she correctly put Siena and Western Kentucky in the Sweet 16 despite Hal from Accounting’s snickers. 

Conference-By-Conference

Conference USA: 1-0
Horizon: 1-0
Metro Atlantic: 1-0
Southern: 1-0
Big East: 7-1
Big 12: 5-1
Big Ten: 3-1
ACC: 3-1
Pac-10: 3-3
SEC: 3-3
Mountain West: 1-1
Sun Belt: 1-1
Atlantic 10: 1-2
West Coast: 1-2
America East: 0-1 
Atlantic Sun: 0-1
Big Sky: 0-1
Big South: 0-1
Big West: 0-1
Colonial Athletic: 0-1
Ivy: 0-1
Mid-American: 0-1
Mid-Continent: 0-1
Missouri Valley: 0-1
Northeast: 0-1 
Ohio Valley: 0-1
Patriot: 0-1
Southland: 0-1
Southwestern Athletic: 0-1
Western Athletic: 0-1