Category Archives: 2021

2021 Posts

BCG2 Wins It All!!

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Congratulations are extended to long time EQE March Madness participant, Brian Gunter, who takes first place for the 2021 contest with his entry, BCG2. Brian was one of  only six who picked Baylor to win it all. In fact, if you picked Baylor and your name isn’t Bruins1 (rather fitting), you finished on the podium. In hindsight, given the dominance of Baylor throughout the tournament, it’s rather shocking that so few picked them. If only AT&T’s Lily could have offered her valuable insight on Baylor, maybe we’d have seen a better showing.

Finishing second was Sean Carline with his shizcity3 entry, with contest co-administrator Shin taking third place with his Stealth Entry. Fourth was Jonathan Riley and Jeff Baum basically recouped his investment with a fifth place showing.

And let’s not forget Brandy Award winner, maluri fernandez, who finished with an overall score of 47, a respectable showing that would have been better had Mal’s championship contenders, Connecticut and North Carolina (yes, you read that right), not been ousted in their first games of the tournament.

Thanks for the awesome showing in this year’s tournament despite a rather bumbling start by your administrators this year. We hope you had fun, and we hope to be back at it in a little more orderly fashion next season. Winners, we’ll be in touch with you regarding your winnings in short order.

See below for the overall final standings.

 

Four Equals Three

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With only the Final Four games and the Championship to play, the winner of the EQE March Madness tourney comes down to three possible winners, Beast Mode 24, BCG2, and Pad Rat. To see the various scenarios, go to the Reports and choose “Final Four Possibilities.” All possible outcomes are spelled out for you there.

It’s a real free for all at second through fifth, where 13 other entries still have a chance to finish in the money, while tie-breakers are a factor in five of the eight possible combinations. The possibilities are almost as endless as those pondered by that wolf girl mulling the possible combinations of Cherry, Vanilla, and Coke.

The upset win by UCLA over Michigan did more than knock a host of entries out of the tournament, it also cemented the Brandy Award for Maluri Fernandez with 47 points, still 17 points higher than Brandy’s 25 year old record low. Pending another pandemic disaster, Mal gets a free entry in next year’s tournament.

37 Entries Still Alive After Sweet Sixteen

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With the Sweet Sixteen now complete, of the eight teams remaining in the tournament, seven of them are located west of the Mississippi, while the one that is east of the Mississippi proclaims itself to be the “Champions of the West.” Fitting for this tournament where virtually nothing makes sense.

For a west coast based contest, the popularity of west coast teams is on a par with that of Tom Brady dessert recipes. Only five entries had Oregon State getting to the Sweet Sixteen, and none of those had them advancing to the Elite Eight. Meanwhile, only three contestants predicted UCLA getting to the Sweet Sixteen, and none of those had them advancing further. The best performance for the Sweet Sixteen was five correct picks, and only eight entries pulled that off.

But that has not greatly affected the 37 entries still alive as we approach the Elite Eight. The leader in the Current Points sort is Eyebrian3, with a solid 97 points. But with two Final Four teams gone, one of them Brian’s finalist pick, the likelihood of winning it all could be considered slim. The strongest looking entry at this point is BCG2, the leader in the “Possible Score” sort and second in the “Current Score” sort. Most of the possibilities seem to center around some combination of Gonzaga, Baylor, Michigan, and Houston in the Final Four.  But a “favorite” in this year’s tournament is really more of a subjective choice than logic might predict.

But why speculate? The Reports on our home page now have the “Dynamic Possibilities” feature active. Just plug in your predicted scenario and see instant results! The Reports also show best possible finishes for each of the surviving picks. Unfortunately only 17 entries have any possibility of finishing in first place, but there’s still pride (and a little profit) in finishing in the money.

At the other end of the standings the race for the Brandy Award has become very interesting. The hold that heavy favorite Mulari Fernadez’s had on the title slipped a bit when supposed long shot, Michigan, survived. Should Michigan overcome UCLA in the Elite Eight matchup, Mal will vault out of last place, likely to be replaced by either English Bulldog, the earliest leader or Mandalorian1. Hey, you don’t see coverage like this from Barkley and pals.

Highlights from Monday’s Games

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(Note that the BEST FINISH Column has now appeared on the Leaderboard. This report column notes that while most players still have a shot at First Place, some unfortunate few still not mathematically eliminated do not.)

(Been there… Got the T-Shirt.)

 

 

 

Crying Is Allowed in EQE March Madness

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Luka, like all EQE March Madness participants, expressing disappointment over tournament performance. 

If you feel like crying, like our sad friend Luka here, feel free.  Kenny Smith and Tom Hanks may not allow crying in their sports, but this year, of the 16 top seeds in the NCAA Tournament, ten have fallen by the wayside. And those results are reflected in the standings of the EQE March Madness Tournament where all but one entry has seen at least three Elite Eight choices get eliminated. Things are looking pretty good (at the moment) for N8DaGr8, who sits in first place in current points and in second place in possible points. But his choice of Baylor over Florida State in the Championship game goes against the grain of most of the other top entries, most of which have some combination of Gonzaga and Baylor. The way things are going, the chances for those two teams to advance in the tournament could legitimately be considered questionable.

Oddly, BCG2, who picked only half of the second round games correctly, sits atop the Possible Points standings, but sits in a six-way tie for eighth in Current Points. Only five entries bettered .500 in the Round of 32, the best showing coming from long time participant, EyeBrian, the only one to pick ten correct Round 2 games. Yeah, it’s been that kind of tournament.

Unfortunately, the dreaded asterisks have made their first appearance. 16 entries have been deemed to have no chance of finishing in the money. However, the race for the Brandy Award is far from settled. Maluri Fernandez has a commanding lead with 42 points and four teams still alive, but if Michigan can overcome the Big Ten curse and advance, look for Mal to climb out of the basement to salvage some small bit of dignity.

All Shook Up

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“Please don’t ask me what’s on my mind,
I’m a little mixed up but I’m feelin’ fine”

Elvis sang it, but it could easily apply to anyone who’s submitted an entry in this year’s tournament.  Yours and everyone else’s entry is certainly mixed up, but you have to be feeling fine after one of the most entertaining days of March Madness ever! Every game had either an upset win or came down to the final few seconds. And it is truly anyone’s tournament to win here at EQE March Madness. Of the eight games played today, only one entry fared better than .500, Shizcity3. Junior Gman still sits atop the standings….for current points. But change that sorting to best possible showing and Junior drops down to a tie for 40th.

All but four entries have lost at least one of their Final Four picks, and not surprisingly, those four lead in the Possible Standings sort, Pad Rat, BCG2, ThunderSnowGod3, and fittingly, SisterJeansNurse, in that order.

Should Gonzaga and/or Baylor falter, the standing will be thrown into such a tizzy that last place Maluri Fernandez could take it all. Indeed, the dreaded asterisks have failed to appear, so take heart – even though one entire side of your bracket displays those little red X’s, you still have a chance to place on the podium!

All Brackets Busted!!

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The shocking loss handed to top seeded Illinois by Loyola of Chicago has had a devastating effect on the EQE March Madness Tournament.  No less than 50 entries had the Illini going all the way to the Final Four, with 39 of them going all the way to the Championship game.  Yesterday’s leader, Junior GMan, still shows as the overall leader in points, but having picked Illinois to win it all means that in reality Junior GMan may actually see the dreaded asterisk next to his entry in the near future.  Oddly, SisterJean’sNurse picked Illinois to make the Elite Eight, but the good karma from the world’s most famous 102 year old tourney fan seems to have rubbed off as she sits in sixth place when sorted by possible points.  Something tells us the surprises are not yet complete.

Round One is Complete, Carnage is Not

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With the round of 64 now complete we see confusion and disarray on a par with that of the new Taco Bell menu. Another three seed, Texas, was eliminated and similarly seeded Kansas came perilously close to dropping their game. Fourth seeded Kansas also fell, resulting in a two, a pair of threes and a pair of four seeds having now been eliminated. That’ll mess up anyone’s bracket.

And Madness Entries show no exceptions. The best performance at this point comes from Junior GMan, having picked 26 of the 32 games correctly. Following our leader is a nine-way tie for second among entries that nabbed 24 of 32 games, a batting average of .750. Just about every entry has seen at least one of their Elite Eight teams get eliminated. Only three still show an unblemished Elite Eight selection.

Early strong Brandy Award candidate, Maluri Fernandez, saw three more Elite Eight selections go down to defeat, leaving only one team still in the running. Yet surprisingly Mal has made 15 correct picks. It seems that Brandy’s 24 year old unintentionally remarkable low score record remains unthreatened.

More Upsets, More Despair After Day One

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After the first half of the round of 64, picks and possibilities are all over the map. We haven’t seen this many upsets since Milli Vanilli’s got the Grammy. Another huge upset saw fourth seeded Purdue go down to the North Texas Mean Green, while a fifth seed, Tennessee, and sixth seeded San Diego State also came up short. The result was a slew of wrong picks among tournament contestants, with the best showing coming from none other than defending Champion, Gerald Eggink, who was the only individual to have fewer than three wrong picks.

Bracket Busters wreaked havoc on just Day One such that only 14 entries have not seen at least one Elite Eight or better team eliminated. So do not despair if your Ohio State or Purdue late round pick is already gone. You have lots of company. However, if you are one of the 18 who had for reasons unknown either the Buckeyes, Boilermakers or Tar Heels going all the way to the Championship game, well, you might want to start pulling very hard for an upset of Gonzaga.

And if you still are feeling hopeless, just be glad you are not Maluri Fernadez, who has already lost four teams of the projected Elite Eight on top of going 6 and 10 on Day One. And there’s more to come tomorrow!

The First Big Upset Shuffles Early Standings

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The first big upset of the tournament is in with Ohio State, a number two seed, going down like Biden trying to board Air Force One. Bad news for the three picks that had the Buckeyes going all the way and the five who had them making it to the Championship match. Great news, however, for two entries that picked Oral Roberts to pull off the upset!

The upset leaves us with just one entry showing a perfect record after six games, TRR2, whose name we suspect symbolizes either a love for the sauce he puts on his fried fish or a struggle to properly enunciate the work turtle.

Trailing badly already, and early favorite for the Brandy Award, is English Bulldog, who saw projected Championship Game contender, Drexel, lose in their first round game. But should Oral Roberts continue their hot play and make it into the Elite Eight, English Bulldog will be looking prettier than French Poodle.