8 replies to this topic

[David Hatfield]

Welcome to the 2022 NCAA basketball bracket challenge!!  We will again be using ESPN.

Directions to join the group:
 

• Go to this link: https://fantasy.espn...racket/2022/en/
• Click on [Log In] (in the upper right-hand corner) to create an account, if you haven't already, and to login.  (After signing up, a popup asks you to enter your preferred ESPN name.  Since this is global, you may need to get creative to find a unique name.)  Then..
• Click on [Create a Bracket] to make your picks: https://fantasy.espn...t/2022/en/entry.  (You may need to make your picks before you can join our group.)  Next..
• Under [My Groups] drop down menu, click on [Create or Join a Group] to join our group: https://fantasy.espn...22/en/groupfind.  In the SEARCH GROUPS field enter "Team Red Lizard" and click [Search Groups] button.  Click on the Team Red Lizard group name, and then click on [Join Group] (a little below the Team Red Lizard logo) or [Rejoin], if you participated last year.  Use the Group Password: running.
• To edit your name as it appears in our group (i.e. the name of your bracket), use the My Bracket drop down menu to select you bracket.  Then click on the gear icon.

 

Your picks need to be made before tip-off Thursday 9AM, March 17th.  The scoring is similar to previous years.

 

Any questions, problems...?

 

 

 

[David Hatfield]

After two rounds, ralovett (despite losing Baylor, his pick for Champion), vaults into the lead by correctly forecasting 11th-seeded Michigan's passage into the Sweet 16.

 

ralovett 430

susanl 410

hatfield 410

brianh 400

shanson 380

andicamp 350

 

In the random realm, the chances of winning (not including tie-breaker) going forward are remarkably balanced (according to the program, but I don't have time to check my work  whoops, fixed a bug.)  No one has been eliminated and no one even starts round 3 with a must-win game:

 

ralovett 26%  %27

hatfield 21%  %23

susanl 17%  18%

brianh 16%

shansen 14%

andicamp 10%  %5

[David Hatfield]

Congrats to Brian for correctly picking Arkansas over Gonzaga.  He jumped into the lead... only to relinquish it back to Rick when Villanova won.  But Rick isn't in a mood to celebrate because he's lost all of his Final Four teams.  We might set a new all-time low this year.

 

Steve and Andi have packed their bags, and it's down to the final four:

hatfield 44%

ralovett 28%

brainh 17%

susanl 13%

 

And the must-win games as of now are:

susanl - Purdue must reach Final Four

brianh - Kansas must reach Final Four

ralovett - Arkansas must beat Duke

[David Hatfield]

Saint Peter's did it again, and the Big Ten and Susan are done.  Not a single Big Ten team makes it to the Elite 8.  I wonder when that last happened?

 

And it's down to three:

hatfield 42%

ralovett 37.5%

brainh 20%

 

And the must-win games as of now are:

brianh - Kansas must reach Final Four

ralovett - Arkansas must beat Duke

hatfield - Duke must beat Arkansas

[David Hatfield]

Kansas and Brain hold on.

 

Random odds:

brainh 41%

hatfield 34%

ralovett 25%

 

And the must-win games as of now are:

brianh - Kansas must reach Final Four

ralovett - Arkansas must beat Duke

hatfield - Duke must beat Arkansas

[David Hatfield]

Villanova was ranked 4th preseason.  Fell back early in the season, but returns to the Final Four.

 

And in the women's tourney, Creighton, like Saint Peter's, is a Cinderella.  Both went through #2, #3, and #7 seeds to reach the Elite 8..., and both are Jesuit schools.  Saint Peter's, at #15, is the highest men's seed ever to reach Elite 8, and Creighton at #10, is tied for 2nd highest among women (Gonzaga, another Jesuit school, reached quarters in 2011 from the #11 seed).

[David Hatfield]

Rick and Arkansas are knocked off by David, Duke.   (That didn't come out quite right.)

 

And it's down to two:

hatfield 68.75%

brianh 31.75%

 

and the winning scenarios:

brianh wins if Kansas advances at least as far as Duke

hatfield wins otherwise

[David Hatfield]

brianh scored an insurance run in the top of the 5th round (Kansas beat Villanova), hatfield whiffed in the bottom of the 5th (Duke fell to North Carolina), and the game was called on account of no one having any picks left.

 

Congrats to Brian Hansen, our 2022 champion...

[Rick Lovett]

OK, so I think I'm in. Confirm, please.