Division 2 news ... Fairmont State, which is just down the road from me about 30 minutes, has advanced to the championship game on Saturday.

whassup with the 2nd chance bracket not giving any points...did we all pick michigan??????/

and whassdouble up with my other national champ pick in trouble against west virginia of all people ... i blame zoom!!!

Hey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 My second second chance bracket isn't there.

Of course, my first second chance bracket is in first place. Even though, unjustly, FS's is listed above mine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Holding down #12 and #15 on the original game. Fixin to make my move to the top any time now.

Second chance standings after the first day

faithfulservant hook 'em 3-1 120 points
gherkin 3-1 120 points
speed racer #1 2-2 80 points
faithfulservant hornsfanforever 2-2 80 points
deMontfort goblue 2-2 80 points
deMontfort wolverinefan 2-2 80 points
speed racer country roads 2-2 80 points

Sorry your second bracket didn't make it in, gherkin. I assure you, I didn't ban you. Maybe a technical glitch?

My Country Roads bracket is toast for the obvious reason. WVU couldn't get the three point shot off to tie as time expired last night.

At least Fairmont State has a chance at the Division 2 title tomorrow. They're even the #1 seed.

My coworker Erik was commenting that he caught some of FSU's semifinal game last night, and he said they use the same press defense that WVU uses.

I just hate it when I forget to click the "save" button, don't you?

Reminds me of the joke about Jesus and Satan in a computer contest ...

I had forgotten that one, but it took me only half a moment to remember the punch line.

my picks tonight need a lotta saving ...i'm getting waxed in both of them ... hopefully, the next two will work out a little better

sorry...forgot to provide this after last night's games ... based on what i've seen so far, i'm going to go ahead and predict the winner of the kansas / carolina game will be the next national champ... so in other words, the real vegas or the real gherkin will reign supreme this year ... that's my story and i'm sticking to it

lele 13-3 15-1 6-2 5-3 3-1 42-10 620
arky1 11-5 13-3 6-2 5-3 2-2 37-15 540
vincenzo 14-2 10-6 4-4 5-3 3-1 36-16 540
fs2 13-3 11-5 6-2 4-4 2-2 36-16 520
fs1 13-3 11-5 5-3 5-3 2-2 36-16 520
tcaggie 13-3 12-4 2-6 7-1 2-2 36-16 510
vegas1 16-0 12-4 4-4 5-3 1-3 38-14 500
speedracer2 15-1 14-2 4-4 6-2 0-4 39-13 490
speedracer1 12-4 13-3 3-5 5-3 2-2 35-17 490
vegas2 14-2 12-4 2-6 5-3 1-3 34-18 440
arky2 9-7 12-4 2-6 7-1 1-3 31-21 430
gherkin1 13-3 7-9 1-7 4-4 3-1 28-24 420
lote2 10-6 11-5 2-6 5-3 1-3 29-23 390
lote1 11-5 11-5 2-6 5-3 0-4 29-23 360
gherkin2 8-8 9-7 2-6 5-3 1-3 25-27 350

latest standings going into the elite 8 games of today

lele 13-3 15-1 6-2 5-3 3-1 2-2 44-12 700
arky1 11-5 13-3 6-2 5-3 2-2 2-2 39-17 620
fs1 13-3 11-5 5-3 5-3 2-2 2-2 38-18 600
tcaggie 13-3 12-4 2-6 7-1 2-2 2-2 38-18 590
vegas1 16-0 12-4 4-4 5-3 1-3 2-2 40-16 580
fs2 13-3 11-5 6-2 4-4 2-2 1-3 37-19 560
vincenzo 14-2 10-6 4-4 5-3 3-1 39-17 540
speedracer2 15-1 14-2 4-4 6-2 0-4 1-3 40-16 530
speedracer1 12-4 13-3 3-5 5-3 2-2 1-3 36-20 530
arky2 9-7 12-4 2-6 7-1 1-3 1-3 32-24 470
lote2 10-6 11-5 2-6 5-3 1-3 2-2 31-25 470
gherkin2 8-8 9-7 2-6 5-3 1-3 3-1 28-28 470
gherkin1 13-3 7-9 1-7 4-4 3-1 1-3 29-27 460
vegas2 14-2 12-4 2-6 5-3 1-30-4 34-22 440
lote1 11-5 11-5 2-6 5-3 0-4 2-2 31-25 440

Second chance standings going into tonight:

deMontfortdevotee "go blue" 6-2 240 pts
deMontfortdevotee "WolverineFan" 5-3 200
faithfulservant "hook 'em" 5-3 200
Speed Racer 4-4 160
gherkin 4-4 160
faithfulservant "hornsfan4ever" 3-5 120
Speed Racer "Country Roads" 3-5 120

deMontfortdevotee picked Michigan to win it all in both of his brackets, though, so he's set for a fall.

NW Missouri State defeated Fairmont State for the Division II championship this afternoon, 71-61. It wasn't close - NW MO controlled the tempo for the entire game, and FSU never got closer than 8 points down in the second half.

Fairmont State had averaged something like 95 points per game on the season; this was their lowest points output all year.

NW MO also won the Division II football championship a couple of months ago, so they become the first Division II school to win both in the same academic year.

so much for my previous prognostication regarding kansas/unc at least my remaining natl champ pick is still in...and looking pretty salty tonight .. the bad news is that lele also picked my other choice

lele 13-3 15-1 6-2 5-3 3-1 2-2 1-1 45-13 780
fs1 13-3 11-5 5-3 5-3 2-2 2-2 1-1 39-19 680
tcaggie 13-3 12-4 2-6 7-1 2-2 2-2 1-1 39-19 670
fs2 13-3 11-5 6-2 4-4 2-2 1-3 1-1 38-20 640
vincenzo 14-2 10-6 4-4 5-3 3-1 1-1 40-18 620
arky1 11-5 13-3 6-2 5-3 2-2 2-2 0-2 39-19 620
speedracer1 12-4 13-3 3-5 5-3 2-2 1-3 1-1 37-21 610
vegas1 16-0 12-4 4-4 5-3 1-3 2-2 0-2 40-18 580
gherkin2 8-8 9-7 2-6 5-3 1-3 3-1 1-1 29-29 550
gherkin1 13-3 7-9 1-7 4-4 3-1 1-3 1-1 30-28 540
speedracer2 15-1 14-2 4-4 6-2 0-4 1-3 0-2 40-18 530
vegas2 14-2 12-4 2-6 5-3 1-3 0-4 1-1 35-23 520
arky2 9-7 12-4 2-6 7-1 1-3 1-3 0-2 32-26 470
lote2 10-6 11-5 2-6 5-3 1-3 2-2 0-2 31-27 470
lote1 11-5 11-5 2-6 5-3 0-4 2-2 0-2 31-27 440

How crazy is it that Oregon won the very first Final Four back in 1939, and this is their first time back in it since then?

They basically went both of my parents' entire lifetimes without appearing in a Final Four. OK, my dad was gestating in the womb (first trimester) when they won in '39, but close enough.

Second chance standings after the Elite 8

columns are sweet 16 record, elite 8 record, overall record, points, (ppr)

deMontfortdevotee "go blue" 6-2 2-2 8-4 400 points (0 PPR remaining)
deMontfortdevotee "WolverineFan" 5-3 2-2 7-5 360 (160)
gherkin 4-4 2-2 6-6 320 (480)
Speed Racer 4-4 1-3 5-7 240 (480)
faithfulservant "hornsfan4ever" 3-5 1-3 4-8 200 (160)
faithfulservant "hook 'em" 5-3 0-4 5-7 200 (0)
Speed Racer "Country Roads" 3-5 0-4 3-9 120 (0)

deMontfortdevotee picked two teams correctly in the final four in his "go blue" bracket -- Gonzaga and UNC -- but he picked both to lose in the national semifinal, which is why he has 0 PPR remaining.

None of us picked Oregon or South Carolina.

It will likely come down to me and gherkin. He picked UNC to win it all, and I picked Gonzaga (in my Speed Racer entry).

Since my first days participating in pools, I have thought that PPR is the only reasonable means of giving scores.

my bad... just now realized i did not update the remaining elite 8 games... 4 teams, 3 games, national championship: priceless go zags!!!!!! i'd love 2nd place in a guessing contest

lele 13-3 15-1 6-2 5-3 3-1 2-2 1-1 0-2 45-15 780
tcaggie 13-3 12-4 2-6 7-1 2-2 2-2 1-1 1-1 40-20 750
fs1 13-3 11-5 5-3 5-3 2-2 2-2 1-1 0-2 39-21 680
fs2 13-3 11-5 6-2 4-4 2-2 1-3 1-1 0-2 38-22 640
gherkin1 13-3 7-9 1-7 4-4 3-1 1-3 1-1 1-1 31-29 620
vincenzo 14-2 10-6 4-4 5-3 3-1 1-1 0-2 40-20 620
arky1 11-5 13-3 6-2 5-3 2-2 2-2 0-2 0-2 39-21 620
speedracer1 12-4 13-3 3-5 5-3 2-2 1-3 1-1 0-2 37-23 610
vegas1 16-0 12-4 4-4 5-3 1-3 2-2 0-2 0-2 40-20 580
gherkin2 8-8 9-7 2-6 5-3 1-3 3-1 1-1 0-2 29-31 550
speedracer2 15-1 14-2 4-4 6-2 0-4 1-3 0-2 0-2 40-20 530
lote1 11-5 11-5 2-6 5-3 0-4 2-2 0-2 1-1 32-28 520
vegas2 14-2 12-4 2-6 5-3 1-3 0-4 1-1 0-2 35-25 520
arky2 9-7 12-4 2-6 7-1 1-3 1-3 0-2 0-2 32-28 470
lote2 10-6 11-5 2-6 5-3 1-3 2-2 0-2 0-2 31-29 470