The Parents' Basement » Bo

Mock Bracket

Bo — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 22:04:09 +0000

Long layoff here at TPB, and no one will read this before the real bracket comes out, but have to post my mock just so it’s on the record. Worst bubble in years, going to be interesting to see what criteria they use to separate the bubble. My last four in are Illinois, Penn St., USC and VCU.

Newark region

1. Kansas (No. 1 overall) vs. 16 ARK-Little Rock/San Antonio
8. George Mason vs. 9. Florida St.
5. Syracuse vs. 12. Memphis
4. Arizona vs. 13. Princeton
3. Florida vs. 14. Wofford
6. Xavier vs. 11. Clemson
7. Georgetown vs. 10. Butler
2. Texas vs. 15. Akron

Anaheim

1. Duke (No. 4 overall) vs. 16. UC-SB
8. UNLV vs. 9. Michigan St.
5. Washington vs. 12. Colorado
4. Louisville vs. 13. Oakland
3. BYU vs. 14. Long Island
6. Texas A&M vs. 11. Michigan
7. UCLA vs. 10. Missouri
2. Notre Dame vs. 15. Boston U.

San Antonio

1. Kansas vs. 16. Hampton/Alabama St.
8. Utah St. vs. 9. Old Dominion
5. St. John’s vs. 12. Illinois/USC
4. Purdue vs. 13. Belmont
3. Kentucky vs. 14. Indiana St.
6. Cincinnati vs. 11. Richmond
7. Kansas St. vs. 10. Villanova
2. North Carolina vs. 15. Northern Colorado

New Orleans

1. Pittsburgh vs. 16. NC-Asheville
8. Tennessee vs. 9. Gonzaga
5. West Virginia vs. 12. Penn St./VCU
4. Wisconsin vs. 13. Morehead St.
3. Connecticut vs. 14. Bucknell
6. Venderbilt vs. 11. Va. Tech
7. Temple vs. 10. Marquette
2. San Diego St. vs. 15. St. Peter’s

Scoreboard

Bo — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:01:39 +0000

Well, it looks like the UCTPE championship belt is going to be changing hands come Sunday afternoon, as I’m sitting on a sizable 341-293 lead, with a lot of seeds still with a chance to sprout. The biggest swing in my favor yesterday was the Minnesota win over Michigan St. in the Big Ten tourney, as I have Minnesota in the finals and Pat had Michigan St. winning the tourney, so he can’t get that coveted 9-point bonus.

I’m pretty sure that even if every game goes Pat’s way that I’ll still come out on top, but I’m aiming to set the all-time high score mark.

Of the tournaments still to be decided …

America East – Pat’s done since he picked Stony Brook, I can pick up another champion if Sorrentine and Coppenrath pull it out.

ACC – We both picked Duke to win, so that means we can both root against them without any second thoughts.

Atlantic 10 – One of the bigger games in our matchup is the semifinal between Xavier and Richmond. Pat tabbed Xavier to win the tourney and I went with the Spiders. As an aside, the technical foul at the end of the Dayton-Xavier game was just an absurd way for a game to end.

Big East – Pat’s got no one, I’ve got West Virginia winning it all, so if Gansey comes through there it’s definitely all over.

Big Ten – We actually both lost our champs yesterday because I picked Wisconsin. I can get another 3 from Tubby and Pat’s done here.

Big 12 – We both have Kansas.

Big West – No blood left, we both lost on Pacific.

C-USA – I’ve got UTEP, Pat’s done.

MAC – Pat can get a HUGE 6 points with an Akron win here.

MEAC – Morgan St. baby, serves you right for dissing the Bears Pat.

MWC – Both blew it with the Mormons.

SEC – Big Kentucky/Tennessee game as Pat has the Vols winning that one and then losing to Vandy in the champ. game, which is still possible. I, on the other hand, made the wise decision to pick the better team to win.

Southland – We both took Sam Houston, forsaking our roots two days before Stone Cold’s return to RAW.

SWAC – I can pick up another champion if Pine Bluff pulls it out.

WAC – We both picked Utah St.

Finally, just wanted to reiterate the notion from last year that the results rely too much on the higher conferences. It is indeed a little ridiculous that correctly picking the winner of the SWAC tournament is worth the same as picking the winner of the play-in game in the PAC 10, so perhaps we need to re-work the rules a bit for next year’s edition. Until then, we’re only a day away from my coronation.

Score Update and Bo’s Final Picks

Bo — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:34:52 +0000

Pat chipped away at the lead a little bit yesterday and added another champion to his belt when Robert Morris beat Quinnipiac in the NEC final. The score now stands at 206-179 with the majority of the points available still to be awarded. And the performance by Montana’s Anthony Johnson last night was awesome and I only saw the highlights and the last 2 minutes. Way to make Pat pay for picking Weber.

WAC (2-pointer)

Quarters: #1 Utah St. over #8 Boise St., #4 La. Tech over #5 Fresno St., #6 San Jose St. over #3 New Mexico St., #2 Nevada over Idaho

Semis: Utah St. over La. Tech, Nevada over SJ St.

Champion: Utah St.

Utah St. is just better than everyone else, but Nevada does have home court advantage.

Mountain West (3-pointer)

Quarters: #1 New Mexico over #9 Air Force, #4 San Diego St. over #5 Colorado St., #3 UNLV over #6 Utah, #2 BYU over #7 TCU

Semis: San Diego St. over New Mexico, BYU over UNLV

Champion: BYU

Have a feeling that New Mexico slips up. Every year I think UNLV can steal this tourney because it’s in Vegas but I’m not falling for it this time.

SEC (3-pointer)

1st round: #5 South Carolina over #4 Alabama, #3 Tennessee over #6 LSU, #4 Florida over #5 Auburn, #6 Georgia over #3 Arkansas

Quarters: #1 Kentucky over South Carolina, Tennessee over #2 Mississippi, Florida over #1 Mississippi St., #2 Vanderbilt over Georgia

Semis: Kentucky over Tennessee, Vanderbilt over Florida

Champion: Kentucky

I understand Pat’s point that UK could be disinterested by this tournament, but I still think they win it. Also notice that I picked the SEC East in every head-to-head game with a west team because I think the disparity is that great.

Big Ten (3-pointer)

1st round: #8 Michigan over #9 Iowa, #6 Minnesota over #11 Penn St., #7 Northwestern over #10 Indiana

Quarters: #1 Ohio St. over Michigan, #4 Wisconsin over #5 Illinois, Minnesota over #3 Michigan St., #2 Purdue over Northwestern

Semis: Wisconsin over Ohio State, Minnesota over Purdue

Champion: Wisconsin

Like Pat, I’m a huge Izzo fan come March but I think they’re going to make their run in the real tournament and Minnesota is a bit underrated. I also think Ohio State will do very well in the big dance, but I can see them slipping up here.

ACC (3-pointer)

1st round: #8 Boston College over #9 Virginia, #5 Wake Forest over #12 Miami, #10 UNC over #7 Georgia Tech, #6 Clemson over #11 NC State

Quarters: #1 Duke over BC, #4 Virginia Tech over Wake, #2 Maryland over UNC, Clemson over #3 Florida State

Semis: Duke over Va Tech, Maryland over Clemson

Champion: Duke

Also think that Duke wins the tournament and it hurt to pick against Wake in the second round but I just don’t think they’re disciplined enough to win two games in a row right now. I’m calling you out Aminu, prove me wrong.

Bo’s 3-10 Picks And Score Update

Bo — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:32:15 +0000

Three championships were decided last night, with Butler winning the Horizon league, Oakland winning the Summit and North Texas beating Troy in the Sun Belt. Pat and I both got bonus points for picking Butler, but Pat lost an opportunity in the Sun Belt after selling his soul to Troy for the second straight year. He did win the head-to-head matchup in the Summit championship though, when his chalk Oakland pick beat my IUPUI pick. The points standings are currently
Bo – 182 points (7 champions picked)
Pat – 143 points (4 champions picked)

Onto the picks …

SWAC (1-pointer)

1st round: #1 Jackson St. over #8 Grambling, #5 Texas Southern over #4 Prairie View, #3 Alabama St. over #6 Alabama A&M, #2 Arkansas Pine Bluff over #7 Misississippi Valley St.

Semis: Jackson St. over Texas Southern, Pine Bluff over Alabama St.

Champion: Pine Bluff

Southland (1-pointer)

1st round: #1 Sam Houston St. over #8 Nicholls St., #4 SE Louisiana over #5 Texas St., #6 UT-San Antonio over #3 Texas A&M-CC, #2 Stephen F. Austin over #7 UT-Arlington

Semis: Sam Houston over SE LA, Stephen F. Austin over UT-SA

Champion: Sam Houston

Big West (2-pointer) - Re-seeder

1st round: #8 Cal St. Northridge over #5 Cal St. Fullerton, #7 UC-Irvine over #6 Cal-Poly

Quarters: #3 Long Beach St. over CS-Northridge, #4 UC-Davis over UC-Irvine

Semis: #1 UC-Santa Barbara over UC-Davis, #2 Pacific over Long Beach St.

Champion: Pacific

Conference USA (3-pointer)

1st round: #8 SMU over #9 UCF, #5 Tulsa over #12 Rice, #6 Southern Miss over #11 Tulane, #7 Houston over #10 ECU

Quarters: #1 UTEP over SMU, #4 Marshall over Tulsa, #3 UAB over So. Miss, #2 Memphis over Houston

Semis: UTEP over Marshall, Memphis over UAB

Champion: UTEP

Didn’t intend to go all chalk there but that’s exactly what’s going to happen so I don’t feel bad about it.

Pac-10 (3-pointer)

1st round: #9 Washington St. over #8 Oregon

Quarters: #1 Cal over Wash. St., #5 UCLA over #4 Arizona, #3 Washington over #6 Oregon St., #2 Arizona State over #7 Stanford

Semis: Cal over UCLA, Washington over Arizona St.

Champion: Washington

I have a feeling the winner of the semi between ASU and Washington wins the tourney, so take that for the nothing it’s worth.

Big XII (3-pointer)

1st round: #8 Colorado over #9 Texas Tech, #5 Missouri over #12 Nebraska, #6 Texas over #11 Baylor, #7 Oklahoma St. over #10 Oklahoma

Quarters: #1 Kansas over Colorado, Missouri over #4 Texas A&M, Texas over #3 Baylor, #2 Kansas St. over Oklahoma St.

Semis: Kansas over Missouri, Kansas St. over Texas

Champion: Kansas

Sherron Collins is just tremendous, but seriously, what the hell happened to Willie Warren?

SWAC (1-pointer)

Scoreboard Update

Bo — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:53:42 +0000

Well this has definitely been a less enthusiastic edition of the UCTPE but that’s alright because we renewed the domain name yesterday so all is well at The Basement. Before I get to the standings update, I just wanted to point out that as much as Pat pretends to hate picking against Troy, there’s this too.

Onto the results so far.

Patriot League: Bo – 2 points ; Pat – 4 points … We both have Lehigh in the championship game so no more separation here.
Atlantic Sun: Bo – 2 points ; Pat – 6 points … Pat’s rewarded for sticking with Tim Smith and correctly picking an ETSU championship.
Big South: Bo – 2 points ; Pat – 1 point … Not including missed points for not picking the first round games.
NEC: Bo – 5 points ; Pat – 4 points … Big championship game with me having Quinnipiac and Pat having Robert Morris.
Missouri Valley: Bo – 30 points ; Pat – 15 points … pretty much just beasted this one.
Southern: Bo – 18 points ; Pat – 12 points … Correctly picked Wofford
CAA: Bo – 12 points ; Pat – 12 points … Pat missed a chance for 6 points when William & Mary lost last night.
OVC: Bo – 10 points ; Pat – 4 points … Murray State bonus for me.
WCC: Bo – 18 points ; Pat – 10 points … I had a perfect WCC bracket, and that is definitely resume material.
Horizon: Bo – 8 points ; Pat – 2 points … We both still have a possible Butler bonus if they win the champ. game.
MAAC – Bo – 18 points ; Pat – 18 points … Both picked Siena
America East - Bo – 5 points ; Pat – 4 points … I correctly tabbed Vermont.
Summit: Bo – 6 points ; Pat – 5 points … 3 point swing tonight in the Champ. game as I have IUPUI and pat has Oakland.
Sun Belt: Bo – 6 points ; Pat – 8 points … Pat’s got a 3-point bonus coming to him if Troy wins.
Big Sky: Bo – 4 points ; Pat – 2 points … Still ongoing although we missed the knowledge that this is a re-seeder.
MAC: Bo – 8 points ; Pat – 6 points … Only in the quarters.

Current Tally:

Bo – 154 points (6 champs so far)

Pat – 113 points (2 champs so far)

Bo’s 3/9 Picks

Bo — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:30:58 +0000

The next round of tourneys start today, including the Big East, and with the slew of 3-point conferences opening up soon, the picks get more important. A standings update will follow this post, but I’ve got a sizable lead over Pat that is by no means insurmountable with the vast majority of points still up for grabs.

MEAC (1-point)

1st round: #9 North Carolina A&T over #8 Howard, #11 Coppin St. over #6 Maryland Eastern Shore, #7 Bethune Cookman over #10 Florida A&M

Quarters: #1 Morgan St. over NC A&T, #5 Hampton over #4 Norfolk St., #3 South Carolina St. over Coppin St., #2 Delaware St. over Bethune Cookman

Semis: Morgan St. over Hampton, Del St. over SCST

Champion: Morgan St.

Tourney’s taking place at the Joel again, what’s the over/under on Wake students that attend? 9.5?

Atlantic 10 (3-pointer)

1st round: #8 St. Bonaventure over #9 Duquesne, #5 Rhode Island over #12 St. Joe’s, #6 Charlotte over #11 UMASS, #7 Dayton over #10 George Washington

Quarters: #1 Temple over St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island over #4 Saint Louis, #3 Richmond over Charlotte, Dayton over #2 Xavier

Semis: Rhode Island over Temple, Richmond over Dayton

Champion: Richmond

Taking a risk here that neither of the two favorite wins the tournament. A-10 is a pretty packed conference and I just get the feeling that the teams with something to play for (Rhode Island, Dayton) will pull a couple upsets.

Big East (3-pointer)

1st round: #9 South Florida over #16 DePaul, #12 UConn over #13 St. John’s, #10 Seton Hall over #15 Providence, #11 Cincinnati over #14 Rutgers

2nd round: #8 Georgetown over South Florida, UConn over #5 Marquette, Seton Hall over #7 Notre Dame, #6 Louisville over Cincinnati

Quarters: #1 Syracuse over Georgetown, #4 Villanova over UConn, #2 Pittsburgh over Seton Hall, #3 West Virginia over Louisville

Semis: Syracuse over Villanova, West Virginia over Pittsburgh

Champion: West Virginia

Wide open tourney of course, and even though I really don’t like Jim Calhoun I think he’ll get his two wins.

Bo’s MAC Picks

Bo — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:15:52 +0000

MAC (1-pointer)

1st Round: #7 Western Michigan over #10 Bowling Green, #6 Eastern Michigan over #11 Northern Illinois, #9 Ohio over #8 Ball St., #5 Buffalo over #12 Toledo

Quarters: Western Michigan over #2 Central Michigan, #3 Akron over E. Michigan, #1 Kent St. over Ohio, #4 Miami (OH) over Buffalo

Semis: Akron over Western Michigan, Kent St. over Miami (OH)

Champion: Kent State

Bo’s 3/6 Picks

Bo — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 23:09:54 +0000

America East (1-pointer)

1st round – #1 Stony Brook over #8 Albany, #4 Boston U. over #5 Hartford, #3 Maine over #6 New Hampshire, #2 Vermont over #7 UMBC.

Semis: BU over Stony Brook, Vermont over Maine

Champion: Vermont

Once a Coppenrath fan, always a Coppenrath fan.

Summit (1-pointer)

First round: #1 Oakland over #8 UMKC, #5 IPFW over #4 South Dakota St., #3 Oral Roberts over #6 North Dakota St., #2 IUPUI over #7 Western Illinois

Semis: Oakland over IPFW, IUPUI over Oral Roberts

Champion: IUPUI

If you think I have anything to say about this conference then you’ve got another thing coming.

Sun Belt (1-pointer)

First round: #8 Florida Atlantic over #9 So. Alabama, #4 Western Kentucky over #13 New Orleans, #5 Arkansas St. over #12 Arkansas-Little Rock, #6 Denver over #11 FIU, #7 La.-Lafayette over #10 La.-Monroe

Quarters: #1 Troy over FAU, Western Kentucky over Arkansas St., #3 Middle Tennessee over Denver, #2 North Texas over ULL

Semis: Western Kentucky over Troy, Middle Tennessee over North Texas

Champion: Western Kentucky

I said it last year and I’ll say it again, this is the most ludicrous conference in the country and something needs to be done about it.

Big Sky (2-pointer)

1st round: #6 Portland St. over #3 Middle Tennessee St., #4 Montana over #5 Northern Arizona

Semis: #2 Northern Colorado over Portland St., Montana over #1 Weber St.

Champion: Northern Colorado

Nothing to say here, but one more conference (MAC) starts tomorrow and we’ll check in with the first full scoring update. Pat’s got E. Tennessee St. in a championship game tonight – I’m assuming Tim Smith will be in attendance, he’s got nothing better to do – and we both missed our first chance at a champ when Coastal Carolina lost to Winthrop in the Big South final.

Bo’s Picks

Bo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:18:43 +0000

Four more conferences to pick before tonight, all 2-point conferences.

Ohio Valley (2-pointer)

Semis: #1 Murray State over #4 Eastern Illinois, #2 Morehead St. over #6 Tennessee Tech

Champion: Murray State

We missed the first round of this tourney, but don’t worry about it, you didn’t miss anything. Looks to me like Murray State is the clear class of this conference.

West Coast Conference (2-pointer)

1st round: #5 Loyola Marymount over #8 Pepperdine, #6 San Diego over #7 Santa Clara

2nd round: Loyola Marymount over #4 San Francisco, #3 Portland over San Diego

Semis: #1 Gonzaga over Loyola, #2 Saint Mary’s over Portland

Champion: Saint Mary’s

I actually like how the WCC structures their tourney. For a conference that’s generally looking to get two teams in, it makes sense to protect the best two until the semi’s.

Horizon (2-pointer)

2nd round: #7 Detroit over #3 Green Bay, #4 Milwaukee over #5 Cleveland St.

Semis: #2 Wright State over Detroit, #1 Butler over Milwaukee

Champion: Butler

We missed the first round of this one too, but it was only two games. Fuck Cleveland State and their former crackhead coach.

MAAC (2-pointer)

1st round: #9 Manhattan over #8 Loyola (MD), #7 Canisius over #10 Marist

2nd round: #1 Siena over Manhattan, #5 Rider over #4 St. Peter’s, #3 Iona over #6 Niagara, #2 Fairfield over Canisius

Semis: Siena over Rider, Iona over Fairfield

Champion: Siena

My love for the MAAC is well documented and I really wanted to side with the Gaels for my facebook friend Ricky Soliver but Siena is just better than everyone else in the league, they’re experienced and they have no way to get into the tourney with an at-large.

Bo’s CAA And Southern Picks

Bo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:40:22 +0000

Southern (2-pointer)

Opening round: #3 Davidson over #6 Elon, #4 UNC-Greensboro over #5 Furman, #4 Citadel over #5 Samford, #3 Chattanooga over #6 Georgia Southern

Quarters: Davdison over #2 WCU, #1 Wofford over UNC-G, Citadel over #1 Appalachian State, #2 College of Charleston over Chattanooga

Semis: Wofford over Davdison, C of C over Citadel

Champion: Wofford

You wanna know something pathetic? This broad is Wofford’s most famous alumnus.

CAA (2-Pointer)

Opening Round: #9 UNC-Wilmington over #8 Towson, #5 VCU over #12 Delaware, #6 Drexel over #11 JMU, #7 Hofstra over #10 Georgia State

Quarters: #1 Old Dominion over UNC-W, VCU over #4 George Mason, #3 William & Mary over Drexel, #2 Northeastern over Hofstra

Semis: VCU over ODU, Northeastern over Bill & That Lamb Girl

Champion: VCU

As Pat said, this league is loaded 1-7 and should make for one of the more interesting tourneys in the country. I’m sticking with the Larry Sanders show.