The art of making one’s March Madness picks is one fraught with choices that often require some very unique thinking. Sure, it’s easy -and tempting- to go with Number One seeds. After all they’re supposed to be the best in the field. Well, that turned out to be errant thinking as not one top seed made it out of the Sweet Sixteen. Same with the Number Two seeds………oh, and the Number Three seeds too. In this season of upsets it came down the point where a Number Four seed, Connecticut, ended up winning the NCAA Championship.

But no way did anyone in the EQE March Madness pool actually pick Connecticut to win, right? Uh, wrong. Actually, four entries had UConn winning it all. And those four entries all ended up in the money. Led by the entry entitled Bruininthedark (who interestingly had the Bruins bowing out in the Sweet Sixteen) those bold enough to pick a Number Four seed saw their creative thinking pay off. Or was it creative thinking? Well, we at headquarters through some intensive investigation found that the name “Bruininthedark” who we can now reveal was Lesley Pope, is in fact not a rabid UConn fan, but rather a UCLA grad and a massive Bruin fan. The entry came from her unique strategy of making completely random guesses in the dark when the power failed during one of those pesky atmospheric rivers. Take that all of you “experts” who spent hour upon hour studying matchups, team tendencies, and records while drinking Jack Daniels until Sean Davis made sense! Take a tip from Lesley – turn out the lights, click on random winners and then sit back and collect your winnings. Hope you learned something.

Finishing Number Two in the pool was the entry named “Connba Walker,” submitted by the wife of two-time pool champion, Tom Chan, who in fact did attend UConn and probably did not make wild guesses during a power failure. Loyalty does have its benefits.

Third place was taken by another UConn loyalist, “U CONN DO IT,” Todd Shoentrup. Evidently, he yells this phrase loudly at opportune moments.

Fourth was taken by the only entry that displayed faith in San Diego State, and the only entry that did not pick UConn to win it, EQE Sedan. Our own tournament director, Kent David, deftly and correctly predicted the Aztecs losing in the Championship game. Unfortunately, he had them losing to Texas, but still managed to finish in the money.

And you’re not going to believe who the fifth-place finisher was. Remember our old friends, the Badger family? The wildly entertaining and astonishingly misguided series of entries, three of which were contenders for the Brandy Award? The ones who placed three entries in the bottom five? Oh, and won the Brandy Award with Badger04? Yeah, that Badger. Well Jeff Baum came out of the tournament a winner in the end, snagging fifth place with an entry, Badger05, that correctly had UConn winning it all. A bit of a silver lining among an otherwise horrific series of entries. Thanks for providing us with some awesome entertainment, Jeff!

After fourteen days the NCAA Championship has been whittled down from 68 teams to four and the EQE March Madness Tournament has been thrashed and abused by so many surprises and twists that only nine entries stand any chance at all of finishing in the money.  Of those, only two, EQE Sedan and Bruininthedark, have a chance of winning it all.  Among the rest it’s a contest to see who can grab the remaining four paying places.

The various possibilities can be accessed by clicking on the Status Reports link on the menu above and choosing the Final Four report (or click on the link provided to save time and energy).  On there you will find that EQE Sedan will walk away with it all under the majority of combinations, most of them involving any team but UConn taking title, but if UConn or the ninth seeded Florida Atlantic win it all, Bruininthedark will grab bragging rights.  Good luck to both!

We can now report that the race for the Brandy Award has finally been decided with Bruin04 snatching “victory” away from Bruin03 thanks to the thrashing than Connecticut laid on Gonzaga (also knocking out eight entries for the pool title, for that matter).  With a score of 49, it can now be revealed that long time and enthusiastic participant, Jeff Baum, gets a free entry in next years tournament – and really there should be some kind of recognition for also garnering the next to last place finish, don’t ya think?

Our entrance fee collectors have by now contacted everyone regarding getting their payments in.  Most of you have settled up and we thank you for those prompt payments.  For the few stragglers out there, let this serve as a friendly reminder that we’ll need everyone to pay up in order to get our prize winners their due rewards.  If you have not been contacted or have any questions, please drop us an email at hoopsmaster@eqemarchmadness.com and we’ll help you out.

OK, we predicted more upsets in the second round of the Sweet Sixteen. But we didn’t predict the loss of all four top seeds before reaching the Elite Eight. And neither did anyone else, for that matter. With the loss of all of the numbers ones plus all but one of the number two seeds, it’s pretty much a certainty that we will have our lowest winning score in the history of the pool. In fact, only four entries have a possible score greater than the previous record low winning score of 135, set way back in 1989, the second year of our existence – and that was when we had only a couple of dozen entries at best.

All but 26 entries are gonzo, believed to be a record level of elimination following the Sweet Sixteen rounds. Of those 26 that survive at this stage, only six entries are in line for a first place finish. You can check on the Status Reports link above to see if yours is one of the possibilities. Hint: Yours probably isn’t one of those.

With the Junior Man entries falling into that morass of losing entries a surprise new leader has emerged, the only entry to top .500 for the Sweet Sixteen. You might translate that as the only entry insane enough to pick teams such as San Diego State, Miami and Kansas State to win their third round matches. We prefer to interpret it as the only one with the foresight and wisdom to see the potential that such teams possessed. Or maybe it was destiny as the entry utilized the name EQE Sedan, a tribute to the Mercedes auto manufacturer who seems to have embraced our tournament by naming their electric vehicles after us.  Thanks, Mercedes – and we await our royalties!

At the other end of those who have managed to outsmart the majority of predictions, the competition for the Brandy Award was intense. A grand total of ten entries went winless in the Sweet Sixteen, a stunning demonstration of inept picking, errr, surprise results.  None of the entries, however, were able to match the bad picking power of our winner. The odd thing is, we still don’t know who that particular winner is.  But we do know it will be a Badger. Huh?  Yes, there are only two possible Brandy Award winners, Badger04, the current leader, with 49 points, or Badger03, currently sitting at next to last place with 52 points.  The uncertainty is due to Badger04 actually having one pick, Gonzaga, still alive.  Should Gonzaga win tomorrow, Badger04 will zoom all the way up to……….well, something above dead last. In which case Badger03 will cash in on a free entry next year.  The excitement and anticipation for the Brandy Award has never reached such heights.  Good luck to both Badger entries.

The first round of the Sweet Sixteen saw a number 2 seed, UCLA and a number 4 seed, Tennessee go down and with them went another 21 entries in the EQE March Madness pool. The UCLA loss was especially hurtful to the previous leaders, the Junior GMan picks, both of which had UCLA as part of their Final Four picks. However, that’s not necessarily a death sentence for Junior GMan or anyone else, as there remain only two entries that have not seen at least one of their Final Four picks suffer a loss.

One of those is the new Possible Score leader, CONNba Walker, one of only two entries batting more than .500 for Thursday. The other entry with all four surviving Final Four picks is DERPS, but because the other four Elite Eight picks are out, DERPS stands at sixth presently in the Possible Score sort and 27th in Current Points.

In the Current Points sort, a new name, Longshot, has shot to the top, sharing the lead with MF1, each of which has 90 points. But if the higher seeds keep falling like they have – and probably will – look for more upheaval (and new pool leaders) as the second half of the Sweet Sixteen gets under way tomorrow.

In the much more interesting battle among Badgers for the Brandy Award, Badger04 one-upped Badger03 by picking one of the Sweet Sixteen games correctly, shooting way up to 64th place (presently – and actually surpassing Badger02) but stubbornly handing onto last place in the Possible Points sort. Maintaining some of that Badger command, however, is indeed Badger 03, solidly in last place with only four teams remaining in tournament contention.

Ah, it’s that time of year when little hints can be seen regarding things soon to come. A flower beginning to bloom, a happy robin chirping away in the morning, as well as the appearance of…………….the dreaded asterisks in the EQE March Madness pool. Yes, with Round 2 of March Madness having now been completed, some entries sadly have been relegated to “No Chance in Hell” status. 22 entries fell into that category today, and to those we say thanks for participating…and we still need you to pay. About that we will be in touch shortly.

Round 2 produced so many unexpected results that if you’re batting better than 50% you can rightfully consider yourself to be among the elite pickers. A mere third of entries did that well, the best being 11 correct picks (out of 16), a mark that only our three current leaders, MF1, snorkelgal and Kid Bro Sweets achieved.

The more realistic situation is the standings as shown by Possible Points, where the lead remains unchanged with Junior GMan snagging the two top spots. However there are more than a few entries for which all four Final Four picks remain alive so really, it’s anybody’s chance at this point……unless, of course, you have an asterisk next to your entry.

A reminder here again (in case you missed it previously) you can view the various standings and sort them and peruse them to your heart’s content by clicking on the “Status Reports” menu selection above.

A bit of clarity is provided now with a display of each entry’s best possible finish now available. For instance, that wildly entertaining set of Badger entries (more to come on that momentarily) has an entry, Badger02, who currently sits in a six-way tie for 58th place, but whose best possible finish is fifth place – worth approximately $3.25. Interestingly, immediately behind Badger02 is Badger05 in 66th place, whose best possible finish is first place. Yeah, doesn’t make much sense to us either.

Speaking of the wildly entertaining Badger family, it’s time to zero in on the Brandy Award possibilities. It should surprise nobody that one of the Badger entries looks to be zeroing in on a free entry next year. But which one? In what looks to be a consolidated effort, the Badger03 and Badger04 appear to have joined forces, accomplishing together what no other entry was able to do, that is, miss on 12 of Round 2’s 16 games. With only four correct picks each, the two entries are solidly at the bottom of pile. But there is still plenty of competition given the number of entries that have seen 3/4 of their picks falling by the wayside. You’ll just have to wait until later this week for things to become more clear.

And down goes another 2 seed. Halfway through the early games of the remaining second round games, the brackets have suffered another massive aftershock with Michigan State taking down Marquette. The team formerly known as the Warriors was a very popular choice with 66 pool entries having them making the Elite Eight or better. Oddly, though, the leaders have not changed much as MF1 sits alone atop the Current Points sort.

Sneaking into contention is a most intriguing entry, snorkegal – intriguing because snorkelgal’s tiebreaker is a grand total of three points. OK, so maybe the college game doesn’t feature the kind of scoring that the NBA does, but to think that possibly only one basket might be scored seems to be a bit dismissive…..unless we’re talking about Kansas, that is.

Both entries, however, tumble deep into the mix when we sort by Possible Score where the resilient Junior GMan reigns supreme with all Final Four picks still alive…….for now.

The latter half of the Day 3 games did not feature quite as many shakeups as the early games, but there was indeed a shakeup in the pool standings. Our historical leader, Big Lumber1 suffered the loss of another Elite Eight team as Maryland was sent packing. This dropped Big Lumber1 down to 13th in current points, but still in play at number 8 in Possible Points. Assuming control at this point is Junior Man, one of only five entries to hit on six of the day’s eight picks. Hot on the heels of Junior GMan is ……….Junior Gman2 – apparently G-men like to stash all of their G eggs in one G basket.

In a show of “15 minutes of fame” MF1 owns sole possession of first place in Current Points. But MF1 also has Duke winning it all, meaning that we see an asterisk in MF1’s near future and soon disappearing from the top of the order – and that’s not coming from Miss Cleo.

As we start to ponder the other end of the standings, once again Brandy’s historically near unattainably minimal points total can now be considered to be safe as the worst score at present is 38 points. That score was posted by Badger04, who had quite a day, guessing incorrectly on six of today’s eight games. Remarkably, though, Badger04 still has six Elite Eight teams alive and possibly advancing. The more impressive performance and the current leading candidate for the Brandy Award with four Final Four teams having already packed their bags is ……….Badger03!!! This sudden dominance of Taxidea Taxus, the official scientific classification of the furry little Mustelidae, implies that there are at least two other Badger picks, and on the plus side, none of them have any asterisks next to their names. Having said that, we’ll just let you come to your own conclusions when it comes to the ability of a Badger to pick March Madness winners.

It’s looking like 2023 might go down as the year of the double digit teams as top seeds get shredded like Silicon Valley Bank shareholders. So far on Day 3, the only higher seeded team to win was San Diego State, and they’re a five seed! Another number one seed, Kansas, bit the dust and the number 15 Princeton Tigers found their way to the Sweet Sixteen with a win over Missouri. The opportunities for the cameras to feature crying cheerleaders and piccolo players are endless!

Staying the course in this maelstrom of madness, though, is Big Lumber1, still sitting solidly atop the standings in both the Current Points sort and the Possible Points sort. At the other end is a fight for the Brandy Award with no less than nine teams whose Championship teams have both been eliminated. Encouragement may be taken, though, by noting that there are no asterisks yet!!

With some great opportunities up and down the pool.  At the top of the pool “Big Lumber1” is sitting pretty smug, having missed only 5 games (and only Iowa State making BL1’s final 8) in round 1.  However, BL1 DOES have Tennessee winning it all – one of two such entries in our pool.  Tied for 2nd are two entries, one of whose entry name will not be repeated here out of respect to one of our pool masters who’s on temporary hiatus from his post.

In the “sorted by possible score” view of the status report (which pool stalwarts will recall a certain amount of verbiage having been spent over the years by pool staff extolling this view of the status early in the pool), we see the pool so ranked being lead by MF1 (Duke as their pick for winner).  Good luck MF1!!  In 2nd place in this view is the aforementioned BL1, and in 3rd is Junior GMan (Ala).

Where things get really exciting in the early rounds is the competition for the Brandy award.  Here we  see a bunch of entries with their choice for pool winner already having been eliminated.  Lots of red at that end of the pool.  The Brandy Award looks to be highly contested this year.

Enjoy Round 2.  And those of you that have suffered disappointment already, please stay the course and remember that there are plenty of Cal fans out there who have great experience in supporting disappointing sports teams that can help you through these times.

It was all going so well. Big Lumber1 was dominating EQE March Madness in much the same way that Tom Izzo dominates clipboards.

Seemingly able to predict every outcome, be it a favorite or an upset, this entry stood out among the rest and no matter how you sorted the standings, Big Lumber1 was on top. And then……….the University of Pittsburgh happened. The upstart, having gotten into the tournament only on account of winning a play-in game notched the only upset of the early Day 2 games, taking down the sixth seeded Iowa State. And with that, Big Lumber1’s Elite Eight pick was eliminated.

And with that, everyone……..well, many more, suddenly have a chance again in this year’s March Madness tournament. Now don’t get us wrong, Big Lumber1 still leads in total points so far, and still has the most correct picks, but when sorted by Possible Score, a herd of contenders are suddenly in the picture.

Look for more clarity when we provide the next update at the end of Day 2.

Day One certainly featured its share of surprises. However, the second half of the Thursday games did not quite live up to the shock and awe that the first games demonstrated. Although Houston and Tennessee had their fans – and those who picked them in the pool – a bit concerned, each came through in the end and except for Penn State’s not-all-that-shocking win over Texas A & M, all of the higher seeded second half teams won.

At present, as scored by Current Points, three entries, Big Lumber1, Sound Garden, and dfs, lead the way with 28 points, meaning these three missed on only two contests. Ah, but therein lies the fallacy of looking only at the Current Points sort, because when sorting by Possible Score, dfs tumbles down to a tie for 75th in the standings, and Sound Garden drops into a tie for 12th place, but significantly, ol’ Big Lumber1 still claims the number one spot. Before you start resigning yourself to Big Lumber1 taking it all, though, check out those Elite Eight picks, including Miami playing in the Championship and Creighton being part of the Final Four, and you might have a little more faith in your overall picks. Of course we’re not saying those are unlikely picks…….well, OK, yes we really are saying that.

Between the surprises and the not so surprising results, even the worst guesses hit at a 50% success rate, while other than the top eight spots, nobody is picking any better than a 75% win rate. All of which suggests that it is truly anyone’s pool to take at this point. Things will become a bit more clear tomorrow where we look forward to more upsets……

more Barkley………

and more Cheeto’s…..

It looks like it’s going to be another one of those years. With two major upsets in the first two games brackets are getting blown up like Russia’s entire tank force. With the number two seed Arizona going down to Princeton, the hopes for three picks that had the Wildcats winning it all are looking dim indeed. Same for Badger04, who had the fourth seeded Virginia Cavaliers in the Championship game – so much for cavalier picks. But given how things seem to be going so far, there’s hope for even these horrible picks!

Every entry has at least one loss at this point, and only five have fewer than one loss. The Arizona loss did hit pretty much every entry, so from a relative pool competition standpoint, it could be argued that it had little effect on the overall standings. Yeah, try telling that to No Beauty Sleep, Chat EQE, and One More – Under the Wire as they seethe seeing their projected champion head home.

A reminder that you can always see where your picks stand by clicking on the “Status Reports” link above. That takes you directly to our master scorekeeper and you can select from a variety of reports to see how things stand at any given moment in the tournament.

Next update after the second half of the Day 1 games.