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April 5, 2008 Sherman, let's get in the wayback machine and travel way back to BABINPC. In that year, an upstart rookie picker named Jammie needed an improbable trio of events, including some miraculous comebacks, in order to claim his first ABINPC trophy. Well, this year Jammie needs a Memphis victory on Monday coupled with the Lady Vols cutting down the nets on Tuesday in order to tie for the ABINPC XVI Crown. Who will he tie with, you ask? It's your beloved Grand Poobah, the Commish, who returns just like the swallows to Capistrano, just like a locust or cicada, to collect an ABINPC title every three years whether he needs it or not. Billy Packer embarrassed himself again in the second semifinal, declaring the game "Over" with 7:32 remaining in the first half. In the first half! I was delighted to see Before I get outta here, one final ABINPC Attaboy goes out to Brian, the ONLY picker this year to correctly set up the Championship Game. Here are the remaining possibilities for ABINPC XVI:
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April 3, 2008 Well, it looks like the Buckeyes are the first champ this year. Tomorrow night, Bradley and Tulsa will square off in the rubber game of the CBI Championship series, then things get really interesting. Our list of potential winners has dwindled down to Fred and three former champs, with Jammie in command of the most winning scenarios. Frankly, I would say that he would be almost a lock if Hansbrough hadn't broken his foot in practice today. Without the big guy, I don't think they can handle the Jayhawks. Oh, all right, April Fool! Here are the remaining possibilities for ABINPC XVI:
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April 1, 2008 Completely off the subject, but I just watched Brian Bocock of Turner Ashby get his first major league hit, followed later in the game by his first major league RBI (bases loaded walk). Here are the remaining possibilities for ABINPC XVI:
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March 29, 2008 Hold on to your armchair, grandpa, because we got us a barnburner in this year's ABINPC! There's a large group bunched near the top, and all of them have their final fours intact. With the NIT Goodie, Women's Champ Goodie, and Best Region Goodie still in play, the plot on this contest is thicker than Aunt Flo's corn chowder. How 'bout them Davidson Wildcats, or Bison, or whatever they are? They ruined a perfect Elite Eight for current leader Commish, and brought a smile to the only picker wise enough to have them in Regional Championship game. That's be you, Brent. Anomaly Department: What the heck's up with pickers whose names start with the letter "B"? Eight of our 22 pickers have names that start with the letter "B", and ALL of them are in the lower half of the standings. Weird! |
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March 26, 2008 My sons and I attended Sean Singletary's last game as a Wahoo this evening. It was sad to see Sean go, but UVA's defensive effort was sadder. My first and hopefully only CBI game ever. Check out the Goodie discussion above. It's kind of interesting that last year's National Championship game could be replayed as this year's NIT Title game, but this time with an ABINPC Goodie riding in the balance. I've got a little withdrawal going. Time for some bracket madness. Enjoy the roundball! |
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March 23, 2008 Lots of movement on the Leaderboard over the past 4 days, as a nice mixture of buzzer beaters, blowouts, and upsets kept coming at us. Last year, we were all bested by a rookie who wasn't old enough to drive, and this year we're all lookin' up the ladder at Troy. He has the savvy of an experienced picker, mixing together strong contenders plus a few intuitive upsets. Troy has earned every Goodie offered so far, and as a result he leads the race. Jammie is right on his heels, behind the strength of his ABINPC-leading 12 outta 16 correct picks in the 2nd round and his ABINPC-leading 27 outta 32 in the 1st round. And in 3rd place is a contender we haven't seen near the top of the list in about a decade -- three time ABINPC champ Doug. All three of the pickers just mentioned have their Final Fours intact, but so do a bunch of others. It's a wide open race at this point, folks, and I think you better keep an eye on the NIT, CBI, and NCAAW. See ya soon! |
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March 23, 2008 It looks like it just wasn't Coack K's year, as Jammie has regained the lead as we head in to the final day of this first flurry. Enjoy the games, folks! |
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March 22, 2008 Yesterday was a great first round day, with two overtime games ending in upsets plus a few other nice little upsets and some close games. Goodie watchers had their eyes on UCLA to see if they would win by more than 41 to deliver the Biggest Blowout Goodie, but their effort fell short at a margin of 39. Your humble Commissioner, orCommish as he's known around here, is enjoying the narrowest of leads over Chuck, at the end of the first round, but ALL pickers are still in good shape. This horse race has only just begun. We added two new pickers in yesterday. Brian had sent his picks in early, but in a cryptic code that I was unable to understand. We've added him to the list, so welcome aboard. I also sent invitations to Hillary, John, and Barack, but only the latter responded, but he forgot to pick his Goodies. |
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March 21, 2008 The inaugural day was lackluster at the start, but picked up the pace with the evening games. I'm sure we all let out a collective sigh of relief when #2 seed Duke was able to hold on for dear life. They'll need to bring a little more to the arena when they face West Virginia. Our first day leaders are Jammie and rookie upstart Justin, who each went 15 outta 16 with identical picks. Teacher, teacher, somebody is copying from another student's paper. But others shouldn't get discouraged, because no first day leader has ever won the ABINPC. Actually, I just made that up, but it makes me feel better. Tune in tomorrow night at about this same time, when we can start to serve up some goodies. Yum yum. |
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March 19, 2008 We're almost ready to tip. We'll have at least a dozen pickers, but I'm expecting another half dozen before everything starts tomorrow. Please welcome Rippie the RPI Clown back for another try. Rippie still believes that the flawed RPI is the perfect prediction tool, so he will once again use the RPI to predict the winner of each game. Pity the fool. Good ol' Joe Lunardi at ESPN, the guy who coined the term "Bracketology", has also picked every game, so we've entered him as a second guest picker this year. Remember to e-mail those picks to either the Commissioner link on this page, or to jeffnjer@embarqmail.com. Thanks, and Good Luck! |
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March 16, 2008 Well, the ol' Geekezer (cross between a Geezer and a Geek) is once again neglecting his family for a few weeks to bring you good folks yet another rendition of the oldest on-line NCAA Pickem Content on the planet. That's right, we're back for our 16th consecutive year, and we have a new name. We're goin' all Super Bowl on you and adopting Roman numerals, so you are officially welcomed to ABINPC XVI. The drill is the same. Check out the rules page if you really want to get confused. There is one new goodie this year: CBI champ. Yes, we know it's kinda pitiful, but if they're going to the trouble to play the games, the least we can do is pick them. So, send along a complete bracket PLUS six goodie picks:
That's all you really need to know, except that I'd like the picks e-mailed to either the Commissioner link on this page, or to jeffnjer@embarqmail.com. Oh, and I would appreciate it if you would at least attempt to use the handy dandy SelectBracket Java application that was mailed out with the Invitation. If you didn't get it, just request by e-mail. Thanks, and Good Luck! |
| ABINPC Goodie Watch |
| The NIT goodie is down to last year's NCAA finalists Florida (held by Wild Bill) and Ohio State (held by a quartet of pickers). |
| First Conference Out Goodie can now be awarded to each picker who selected the |
| Jammie has earned the Best Region Goodie in Houston. If Texas wins tomorrow, he'll have a perfect region, but even if they falter, only the clown can catch him. |
| With the demise of |
| With all four #1 seeds advancing, the lowest seed in Final 4 goodie becomes mostly irrelevant. Still, we will award the points to everyone except poor BJ. |
| Number 12 Seeds Western Kentucky and Villanova have advanced to the Regional semis. Nobody picked the Hilltoppers, but Troy and Doug both took the 'Cats to pick up the 36 Goodie points for Lowest Seed in the Sweet Sixteen. |
| The UCLA Bruins, winning by 41, are the dealers of the biggest first round blowout. Six different pickers earn 18 points each. |
| Two #13 seeds pulled big upsets in the first round: San Diego, and Siena. Congrats to (Wild) Bill for picking the former, and five other pickers for taking the latter. All six contestants collect 30 Goodie points. |
| The UCLA Bruins have set the bar on the 1st round blowout goodie, winning by 41. That's the number you have to beat if your pick plays on Friday. |
| Lowest seed correctly picked to win a first round game so far is #11 Kansas State |
| ABINPC Trivia Time |
| Q: Who is the only individual to win an NIT as both a player and a head coach? In what year(s) was this feat accomplished? |
| A: Jeff Jones, playing with |
| Q: In what year did Army last appear in the NCAA Tournament? Submitted by Billy. |
| A: Army is one of five schools that were NCAA Div 1 prior to 1950 that have never danced. (W&M, Citadel, Northwestern, St. Francis) 3 points to ABINPC Trivia Hound Doug. |
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