CommunityBuzz! - Flyertalk NCAA Basketball Tournament Pool

We've set up a private league for Flyertalkers for the upcoming NCAA hoops championship. To register and join the fun, go to http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/frontpage

Our group name is Flyertalk.

The password is: miles.

http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/Forum44/HTML/004411.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/Forum44/HTML/004425.html

bump for selection Sunday

Anyone up for tossing some small goodies (drink coupons, lounge passes, small vouchers, etc.) into a pot for the top finishers?

I'm in. FWIW, we used Yahoo! last year, and it was a LOT easier to register and select picks. The flash applet that EPSN uses kept hanging for me.

Chexfan set up a Yahoo one, I think the info is in one of those threads I linked in my original post.

Also, in ESPN when the Flash program is loading, there is a link to make picks using a non-flash version.

[This message has been edited by whlinder (edited 03-10-2002).]

OK, I joined with the Long Beach winner. The game I'm most struggling with is Southern Illinois versus Texas Tech. Tech is heavily favored, but maybe people are placing too much faith in Bobby Knight. Plus I'm a SIU alumni. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Fight On!!!! as the Trojans march on to Atlanta

some might say I had too many drinks at the Pac 10 tourney.. and I probably wouldn't argue!!!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by stimpy:
OK, I joined with the Long Beach winner. The game I'm most struggling with is Southern Illinois versus Texas Tech. Tech is heavily favored, but maybe people are placing too much faith in Bobby Knight. Plus I'm a SIU alumni. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>

Oh COME ON... that one is a no brainer IMHO. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by whlinder:
Chexfan set up a Yahoo one, I think the info is in one of those threads I linked in my original post.</font>http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/men

GroupID: 11711
Password: flyertalk

We have TEN FTers in the Yahoo pool. Feel free to still join us!

You can make and change your picks as often as you like, but your final picks must be submitted by five minutes before the first game tips off on Thursday, March 14.

In order to join the group, just go to http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/men, sign up and choose to Join a Private Group. Then, when prompted, enter the following information...

Group ID#: 11711
Password: flyertalk

Make that Eleven

Fight On all the way to ATL

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TrojanHorse:
Make that Eleven

Fight On all the way to ATL</font>

Add me to the list! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I'm quite excited about this year's tournament. Being a Cincy Alum, it's nice to see that they had such a great season and a first seeding!

And, thanks for setting up the FT group! For the first time, nobody at the office wanted to run the Basketball pool, and I always like to see how my picks fare aginst other people. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

CVG better be real careful, UCLA could knock them off in Rd 2. UCLA has the talent and with the right push can beat anyone in the tourney. Mind you this is coming from a USC alum who despises the Bruins. I'm just glad that UCLA isn't in the SC bracket. If UCLA can get by CVG, they have a clear path to ATL

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by NickyD:
I'm quite excited about this year's tournament. Being a Cincy Alum, it's nice to see that they had such a great season and a first seeding!

And, thanks for setting up the FT group! For the first time, nobody at the office wanted to run the Basketball pool, and I always like to see how my picks fare aginst other people. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

</font>

I screwed it up. I created a name called ncaa. You can all wonder who that is.

I've signed up as well on ESPN and Yahoo.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TrojanHorse:
CVG better be real careful...</font>Only on FT can someone refer to the University of Cincinnatti Bearcats as "CVG" and everyone else knows what they are talking about! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I guess, that leaves the door waaaay open for TUL, CLT, ILM, PIT, BOS, and MIA too! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Swag is in! (yahoo)

And on account of being in the land of curling for January and February, I din't see any regular season games after Xmas, so my mind is not clouded with facts and accurate impressions. So y'all better look out.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by chexfan:

I guess, that leaves the door waaaay open for TUL, CLT, ILM, PIT, BOS, and MIA too! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

</font>

LBB! LBB! LBB!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by swag:
Swag is in! (yahoo)

And on account of being in the land of curling for January and February, I din't see any regular season games after Xmas, so my mind is not clouded with facts and accurate impressions. So y'all better look out.

</font>

HollyHP is in and since I (admitting it here in public) LOATHE basketball, my mind is likewise "not clouded with facts and accurate impressions." http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif As a CURRENT UC student, I think I made homer calls all the way. If a team ain't from OH, KY, IN or MI, they aren't getting very far in my bracket. It's UC and KY in the final (don't even ASK me how that happened -- I did this in like 3 minutes very late last night!) and guess who I've picked to win it all? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Don't laugh at me TOO loudly, sportsfans, y'all have to have SOMEONE do bad in the thing so you can have good bragging rights. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

HollyHP... you ratinonale behind your picks is m uch better than a friend I have who did an entire paying pool based on the that Institution's rowing program! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif

With Wisco, Stanford, Cal and BU in the Final 4.

By the way, the Yahoo pool has 24 teams! Thanks for playing guys!

[This message has been edited by chexfan (edited 03-14-2002).]

HollyHP- the funniest thing about your picks is, that Cincinnati and Kentucy have legitimately good chances to make it into the Final Four, and the Finals! (If only somebody can knock out those pesky teams from Duke and Kansas.)

I can't believe it, I'm already wrong on two games! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Darn, my UCSB Gauchos were so close to beating the Wildcats!

Man! Tough day. I bet the tears were flowing in Vegas. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I got six wrong. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

I didn't get into the Yahoo pool in time. But I see that Sean Mendis is leading the ESPN Flyertalk pool. What is Sean's Flyertalk handle?

Vegas!!!, the tears are Still Flowing here in my office... all they had to do was hit their d*** free throws

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by stimpy:
Man! Tough day. I bet the tears were flowing in Vegas. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I got six wrong. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

I didn't get into the Yahoo pool in time. But I see that Sean Mendis is leading the ESPN Flyertalk pool. What is Sean's Flyertalk handle?</font>

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by stimpy:
What is Sean's Flyertalk handle?</font>He's leading the Yahoo group too!

AKA- B747-434B8675309...

You know what makes me laugh? Everybody and their brother was complaining how Gonzaga got shafted by the Selection Committee. And they lose in the First Round... Maybe there's more to this RPI thing than people were saying?

But, man oh man, yesterday wrecked my brackets...all of them! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by NickyD:
But, man oh man, yesterday wrecked my brackets...all of them! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif</font>

Today isn't helping, either!

At least I got Creighton right. That was a spectacular game.

HollyHP - I also have Kentucky going to the Finals, but it's a slightly different result for me. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Cheers,
Lawrence (St. Losers)

I snuck a peek when I got tired of studying for my stats final (all the studying is done now, but the lack of sleep I'm gonna have before the actual test probably means it was all for naught). I can't believe I'm in the middle of our little pack!

Some of my brackets don't look bad, but some of them have little redline teams almost all the way to the semis. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Thanks for the encouragement from folks though. I appreciate it. I usually play the buck-to-enter pool at work (but missed it this year) because I figure like I'm contributing to the prize more than actually participating. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

P.S. to chexfan I'm gonna start calling Sean Jenny now in my head. And you thought that went right on past everybody!

P.P.S. to whlinder: I tried to join yours first, but I couldn't get it to let me join. I wasn't playing favorites or anything; I was just too stoopid at that hour of the morning to make the ESPN signup work. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

[This message has been edited by HollyHP (edited 03-15-2002).]

YES! My Dawg's did it! We upset Bobby Knight and the MVC ruled yesterday.

Oh well, we still have a long way to go.

The Top 10 in the Yahoo! Group going into the Final Four are:
1 moondog 84
2 NickyD's 81
3 wharvey 78
4 tudorcity 76
5 doc 72
6 markbach 70
6 chexfan 70
8 howie's picks 69
8 PlaneSpotter 69
10 Vunder31

Here are the rankings from the ESPN game:

1 IAD2LAX TrojanHorse, 890
2 nyc howie picks, 800
3 lmlinder, 790
4 Fighton Entry, 740
5 ORD AndrewShih, 730
6 mark bach, 700
7 whlinder, 690
8 Long Beach winner, 680
9 SEA Flyer, 660
10 BoSoxFan45, 630
11 DFW techgirl 600
12 New York tudorcity, 590
13 Atlanta NOP Squad, 550
14 Blujaay's Picks, 530
15 baraboo dish, 490
16 nako entry, 480


[This message has been edited by bLuJaay (edited 03-26-2002).]

Oh wow...second place? I would have to guess there were some very poor picks this year. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

The funny thing is, the only team I missed in the Final Four was Duke...who would have guessed?? Of course, I have Duke winning the finals; so I imagine I'm out of the running. :P

I'm trying to get into the ESPN site and am having problems, I'm using Flyertalk/miles for a user/pw

any ideas?

TrojanHorse,

If you log in under your ESPN login name, the 'flyertalk' private group should show up beside your name.

All I have to say after tonight is lets go terps!!!!!!!!1.The end of the game sure did bring back memories of years ago when a certain sacrmento king called a time out when UM didnt have any left.
-howie

moondog's current point total and everyone's picks for the championship game have ensured that moondog has won the Yahoo! Pool.

Congrats, and thanks eveyrone for playing!

(current standings going into Monday's Championship game):
1 moondog 100
2 wharvey 94
3 markbach 86
4 howie's picks 85
5 whlinder 82
6 NickyD's 81
7 B747-437B 80
8 tudorcity 76
8 TrojanHorse 76
10 doc 72
11 chexfan 70
12 PlaneSpotter 69
13 Vunder31 68
14 Happymob 66
15 Dugernaut 65
15 swag 65
17 rminione 61
18 rmccamy 59
19 St. Losers (pseudoswede) 56
20 techgirl 55
21 bLuJaay 54
22 ncaa 48
23 HollyHP 46
23 baraboodish picks 46

The graduation rate of the University of Maryland men's varsity basketball program is 0%. And now this:

COLLEGE PARK, Maryland (AP) -- Police in riot gear and riding horseback fired pellets into a crowd of hundreds of celebrating Maryland basketball fans early Sunday, hours after the Terrapins advanced to the national championship game.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/03/31/maryland.fans.ap/index.html

Did anyone Pick Indiana to win it?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by 0524:
The graduation rate of the University of Maryland men's varsity basketball program is 0%. </font>

Could you post a link to the 0% graduation rate for MD players? What year was that for?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28371-2002Mar27.html

whilinder! Thanks for posting that Wilbon column! That was the first thing I thought of when I saw somebody post about Graduation Rates. Being a Cincinnati alumnus, I hear the same thing about Cincinnati Bearcat ballplayers too. So many transfers, so many people graduate later than the "traditional four years"...those statistics are crap. The entire Engineering College at University of Cincinnati is on a 5 year program, and the Architecture College is on a 6 year program. According to NCAA statistics, both programs would have a 0% graduation rate...

Oh come on (I'm not picking on you NickyD, just that your post is where I came in)

These stats are still all relative.. I mean all schools are measured using the same measuring sticks.. Harvard is not measured differently than UMd. I'm not sticking up for my school (USC) either... they are not a credit to the academic side of the institution.

How many Engineers are on the Bearcat team??? Thugs maybe, Engineers not..

I don't know this for a fact but these statistics are not who graduates in FOUR years but graduates with a six or seven year period.

just my one mile worth


<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by NickyD:
whilinder! Thanks for posting that Wilbon column! That was the first thing I thought of when I saw somebody post about Graduation Rates. Being a Cincinnati alumnus, I hear the same thing about Cincinnati Bearcat ballplayers too. So many transfers, so many people graduate later than the "traditional four years"...those statistics are crap. The entire Engineering College at University of Cincinnati is on a 5 year program, and the Architecture College is on a 6 year program. According to NCAA statistics, both programs would have a 0% graduation rate...</font>

Final Standings for both pools out yet????

1 nyc howie picks 1080
2 lmlinder 1070
3 mark bach 980
4 whlinder 970
5 Long Beach winner 960
6 SEA Flyer 940
7 IAD2LAX TrojanHorse 890
8 ORD AndrewShih 850
9 Fighton Entry 740
10 Atlanta NOP Squad 670
11 BoSoxFan45 630
12 DFW techgirl 600
13 New York tudorcity 590
14 Blujaay's Picks 530
15 baraboo dish 490
16 nako entry 480

I was in the top 10% of all ESPN pools and I think lmlinder was top 3%. It gives a pretty good idea of how we fared vs. the rest of the world.

One other interesting thing was how only .59% of all the ESPN brackets had Indiana in the Sweet 16.

Oops


[This message has been edited by lmlinder (edited 04-02-2002).]

Yahoo!

1 moondog 132
2 markbach 118
3 howie's picks 117
4 whlinder 114
5 B747-437B 112
6 wharvey 94
7 NickyD's 81
8 TrojanHorse 76
8 tudorcity 76
10 doc 72
11 chexfan 70
12 PlaneSpotter 69
13 Vunder31 68
14 Happymob 66
15 swag 65
15 Dugernaut 65
17 rminione 61
18 rmccamy 59
19 St. Losers (pseudoswede) 56
20 techgirl 55
21 bLuJaay 54
22 ncaa 48
23 baraboodish picks 46
23 HollyHP 46

I hope I can be in a contest someday with that "baraboodish" person.... he/she REALLY knows how to pick 'em!

I believe HollyHP was the only one in the Yahoo! pool to pick Indiana over Duke...

And to make things a little more fair...there was rioting in Bloomington as well.

College kids these days...

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by pseudoswede:
I believe HollyHP was the only one in the Yahoo! pool to pick Indiana over Duke...
</font>

Didn't help me much, though, did it? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

I really can't believe I'm (Long Beach winner) in the top 10% too. 86,000th place out of nearly 1,000,000 without doing the slightest bit of research. I recall a couple of years ago when I was actually in the top 10 on the ESPN after the Sweet 16, but that year I put a lot of effort into it.

But hey, I actually picked Maryland to win it all, so I guess I'm not so dumb after all. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif But I see that the top 6 Flyertalk winners also picked Maryland. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Stimpy
Most years I put alot of work into my pool and bomb out.This yr I didnt do any research and won the espn flyertalk pool http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif.Strange how that works.
-howie
ps.congrats to everyone who played http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif