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 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.

So you picked Gonzaga to win it all in this year’s tournament. You, and almost 50% of the other entries did just that. About as original as picking Harry and Megan as couple of the year.

We have am impressive 87 entries for the 2021 tournament – not bad after a very late start in getting things together here at headquarters. We can all agree that tournament play was sorely missed.

The various reports are now available for you to mull over. Feel free to check your entries, in the likely event that you forgot whether or not you picked Iowa to beat Grand Canyon. In the distribution report, you will see that of the 87 entries, 41 of them have Gonzaga taking it all, with Illinois the second most popular choice at 18. Evidently Ayo Dosunmu’s mother is quite a fan of the EQE March Madness Tournament. After that, we have Michigan with 7 picks and Baylor with six picks. If Gonzaga somehow gets upset along the way, look for things to get very interesting.

To view the reports, click here.

We’ll be back with periodic updates and commentary. How good is it to have March Madness back?!?

Congratulations. Everyone is currently tied for FIRST PLACE. Enjoy it while it lasts. (Good Luck!)
Reports will be updated periodically in the NAV BAR by looking under REPORTS or by going directly to the Hoopness Site.

2021 Dynamic Status Report for Pool: EQE March Madness (Hoopsmadness) Results as of 2021-03-19 12:44:05 AM EDT

# Correct     |<--------- Final 8 --------->|Curr. Poss.--by Round---- |<--Final 4-->|
Rank  Entry Name           Score Score  2  3 4 5 6 7 1st 2nd                         tie
---  --------------------- ----- ----- -- -- - - - - --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

  1 TKC2..................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 OkS Iow Tx  Bay Gon LSU Ark SDS 135
  1 TKC1..................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon OhS FlS Ill USC Ala Bay WVU 135
  1 Ren...................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Ill Gon Tx  Bay Iow FlS TxT HOU 150
  1 SisterJeansNurse......     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Bay Ala HOU Kan FlS VaT Ill 145
  1 shizcity 1............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Ill Mic Bay Kan Tx  OhS WVU 136
  1 DWG1..................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Ill Ala Ark Iow Mic Pur HOU 142
  1 DWG2..................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon HOU Ala Pur Iow Mic Ark Ill 149
  1 DWG3..................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Ill Gon Ala Bay Iow FlS OhS HOU 152
  1 DWG4..................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Iow Ill Ala OhS Gon Mic Bay HOU 148
  1 dfs...................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Ill Gon Mic OhS Iow Con Bay HOU 140
  1 Big Gay Al............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Mic Ill Gon Pur Iow Tx  OhS WVU 141
  1 LimpingTiger..........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Pur Mic Ill Kan Ala OhS WVU 129
  1 King Thomas...........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Pur Gon Mic WVU Iow Ala Ark Ill 128
  1 ThunderSnowGod........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon OhS Mic OkS Iow BYU Bay WVU 132
  1 Petey1................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Pur Ala Ill Iow Mic TxT HOU 142
  1 Petey2................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Ill Mic Iow Bay Gon Ala OhS HOU 142
  1 ThunderSnowGod2.......     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Mic Bay Iow WVU UVA Tx  OhS Ill 139
  1 Pad Rat...............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon HOU FlS Bay Iow MD  OhS Ill 154
  1 ThunderSnowGod3.......     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Bay Iow Ala HOU Gon Mic Ark OkS 156
  1 Brinkley500...........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Bay Mic Ill Iow Ala OhS HOU 130
  1 Kid Bro Sweets........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Ill Mic OhS Kan P4  Vil SDS 127
  1 Mandalorian1..........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 HOU CSB Tx  Wis Kan Geo OhS GaT  99
  1 Boilermania...........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Ill Mic Pur Iow Ala OhS HOU 158
  1 Boilermania2..........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Ill Gon Ala Bay USC FlS OhS WVU 164
  1 Time to get ILL.......     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Ill Iow CO  OhS Gon BYU Bay SDS 138
  1 Making Me ILL.........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Ill Gon Ala Bay Iow CO  OhS WVU 138
  1 Tyrone Shoelaces......     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Bay Mic WVU Iow Tx  OhS Ill 143
  1 B1G n B0LD............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Ill Mic Gon OhS Iow P4  Pur Rut 144
  1 My Dogs Picks.........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon OhS Mic HOU Iow Ala Bay Ill 149
  1 My Cats Picks.........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon TxT Ala OkS Iow Mic Bay SDS 149
  1 Da....................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Ill Ala Bay Iow Mic OhS WVU 175
  1 Big 10 Love...........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Ill Gon Mic OhS Iow Ala Pur HOU 168
  1 Sailor C..............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon HOU Mic Pur Kan Ala OhS Ill 135
  1 Hudson C..............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Bay FlS Ill Kan P4  OhS HOU 132
  1 donn stout............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Bay Ala OkS Iow Mic TxT SDS 151
  1 Madness4..............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Mic UNC Gon WVU Kan Tx  OhS Ten 155
  1 UNCLE JOE.............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Ill Iow Mic OhS Gon BYU Pur WVU 169
  1 Junior GMan...........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Ill Gon Ala Bay Iow Mic OhS HOU 132
  1 WayneO................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Ill Cre Mic Bay Kan Tx  UtS WVU 150
  1 Beast Mode 24.........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Bay Tx  HOU Kan Mic OhS OkS 141
  1 Rawdog................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Bay Mic Clm Iow Con OhS Ill 131
  1 FreeBritney...........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Ill Tx  OhS Iow Mic Bay WVU 158
  1 Ragged Again..........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Ill Ala Iow Bay Gon Mic Ark WVU 156
  1 klahc.................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Bay Mic Ill Iow Ala OhS HOU 160
  1 FitzMagic.............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Ill Mic Pur Iow Ala OhS HOU 160
  1 FitzTragic............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Ill Mic Iow Bay Gon Ala OhS HOU 160
  1 Gerald 23.............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Ill Iow Mic TxT Gon BYU Pur WVU 188
  1 BCG1..................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Ill Mic Bay Iow Ala OhS HOU 150
  1 BCG2..................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Bay Gon Mic HOU Kan Tx  Ark Ill 150
  1 Jeanne................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 OhS USC CO  SDS UVA Ala Bay OkS 138
  1 N8DaGr8...............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Bay FlS Gon WVU USC Tx  Ark Ill 131
  1 Bruins1...............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Bay Gon Mic WVU Iow Tx  Clg Ten 136
  1 LA Al.................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Mic HOU UVA Bay Kan Tx  TxT Ill 143
  1 LA Al 2...............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Mic HOU UVA Bay Ore Tx  OhS Ill 143
  1 maluri fernandez......     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 UNC Con UVA Clm VCU Mic VaT Ten 142
  1 Stimpy................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Ill Tx  Bay Iow FlS TxT HOU 150
  1 Johnno Blotto.........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Ill Mic Bay USC Tx  OhS HOU 176
  1 Eyebrian1 ............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Ill Mic Bay Iow Tx  Ark HOU 137
  1 Eyebrian2.............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon UNC Tx  HOU Kan LSU TxT Ten 142
  1 Boiler Ball...........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Pur Gon Ala HOU Iow FlS OhS Ill 140
  1 Eyebrian3.............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Ark Tx  Ore HOU Gon Mic Bay OkS 162
  1 DD1...................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Ill Gon Tx  Bay Iow Mic Ark SDS 159
  1 DD2...................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Mic Ill Iow Bay Gon Tx  OhS SDS 159
  1 DD3...................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon OkS FlS Ark Iow Ala Bay WVU 159
  1 Nathan Detroit........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Bay Mic Ill Iow Ala OhS HOU 128
  1 Everlovin Adelaide....     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 OhS Gon Mic HOU Iow Ala Bay Ill 128
  1 TRR1..................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon HOU Mic OhS Iow Tx  Bay OkS  68
  1 TRR2..................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Ill BYU Ark Iow Mic Bay HOU  78
  1 ZoeY..................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 UNC Con Okl Ill USC Mic VaT Clm 114
  1 KAOS Picks............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Ill FlS Bay Iow Ala OhS HOU 145
  1 KAOS Agent............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Ill Tx  Bay Iow FlS OhS HOU 142
  1 KAOS and CONTROL......     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Ill Gon FlS Bay Iow Ala OhS HOU 142
  1 Newman1...............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Mic OhS Iow Ill Gon Ala Bay Syr 126
  1 Newman2...............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Ill Mic Gon Ark Kan Tx  Bay HOU 122
  1 snorkelgal............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Ill Mic OhS Iow Ala Pur HOU 165
  1 BottomBracket.........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon WVU Mic OhS Kan Tx  Bay Ill 127
  1 English Bulldog ......     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 OhU Drx BYU NTx Iow FlS OrR WVU 186
  1 Fightin Fomites.......     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Pur Gon Mic SDS USC MD  Ark LyI 142
  1 Sidecar Stanley.......     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon OhS Ala Ill Iow Mic Bay HOU 143
  1 LTaylor1..............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Ill FlS OhS Iow Ala UNC WVU 161
  1 Stealth Entry.........     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Bay Gon Ala HOU Iow Mic OhS Ill 150
  1 DERPS.................     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon Ill Mic OhS Iow Ala Bay SDS 180
  1 shizcity 2............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 OhS Kan Mic Ill Gon Ala Bay HOU 143
  1 shizcity 3............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Bay Gon Con HOU Kan Mic Fla Ill 143
  1 Shizcity 4............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 UVA Ill Ala Ark Kan Mic Vil HOU 143
  1 n8DAgr8ist............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 Gon WVU Tx  OhS USC FlS Bay Ill 143
  1 Shizcity 5............     0   247  0  0 0 0 0 0 FlS OkS UVA OhS Kan Ala Vil HOU 143

With less than twelve hours before the first tip-off, it’s encouraging to see the return of old friends and their tournament entries.  62 submissions as of this writing, and the promise of 62 so more just minutes before the deadline.

So it seems we gave players a bad payment link in the original email that we sent out.  Huge apologies for that.  The correct link is below.  You should see a form that asks for your quantity of entries, your name, email, and spaces for the entry names for which you are paying.  Click at the bottom on the “Next” button, and you’ll be taken to a payment choice, either PayPal or good ol’ paper check.

The proper link to use for payments : https://fs12.formsite.com/straymutt/form9/index.html?1616127471585

Big time apologies for the confusion.  Any questions, hit us up on the hoopsmaster email address: hoopsmaster@eqemarchmadness.com

We are under way with a total of 116 entries in the tournament this year. That’s our best showing in many years, and the winner (obviously we all think it will be our own entry that will win it all) stands to come away with a substantial profit – maybe not enough to get your kid into Stanford, but plenty enough to pay that kid’s phone bill for a month or so.

We want to advise you that some reports are now available for you to look over and browse at this point. The “Pool Choice” and “Pool Distribution” reports display all of the picks for each entry and summarize the picks by school. Just click on the Quick Reports link above and peruse to your heart’s content. You might note that 47 entries have Duke winning it all and then there is a substantial drop off to the second favorite pick, Gonzaga, with a mere 16 picks as the champion. Interestingly, 89 of the entries, 77%, have one of the four Number One seeds taking the title. Our league statistician Numlock MacGeek has informed us that four number one seeds have all graduated to the finals only once in the entire history of the tournament and furthermore, in the tournament’s 56 year existence only 21 number one seeds have come away with the title.  Good luck!

Games have been close and exciting up to this point, but no huge upsets. Still, with six games complete only 10 entries are perfect, so don’t fret if you’ve got a few clunkers at this point…..well, maybe except for Tripstersmatilda, who has managed only one correct pick so far.

March Madness explained before we start…

As of 8:30 PM PDT on March 19, 2019, we’ve tallied a total of 38 entries. While this is typical of entry patterns of years past, recent events have raised concerns here at pool headquarters that a public service announcement is in order:

THERE IS NO “SIDE DOOR” to EQE Hoops madness glory. If “Side Door Singer” has been telling you otherwise, you may wish to reconsider your choice of consultants. Or perhaps you are mistaking this pool for an education at USC. To which we reply: we’re better than that.

We would ALSO counsel all prospective entrants to keep your eye on the clock – the pool clangs shut right before tip-off of the first game. According to THIS website, that first tip is scheduled for 12:00 PM EDT, March 21, 2019. If you are in other time zones, continents, hemispheres, or states of mind we leave it to you to figure it out.

Best of luck, enter often, and remember that everybody’s fake SAT scores are ignored equally and without prejudice here!

At the completion of today’s games we’re down to the final four teams in the tourney, and 21 viable entries in the pool.  Both games today were exciting, with the Kansas victory over Duke being decided late in OT.  The excitement in the first game was much more short lived (mid first half?).

In our pool all of the possible remaining outcomes can be viewed in the Final Four report .  Of the 8 possible outcomes remaining, KirkWho comes in first in 3, DD1 and Petey2 come in first in two scenarios each, and hailphire wins it all only if Kansas beats Michigan in the final.  KirkWho is in the nice position of finishing in the money in 7 of 8 outcomes remaining.

In a shocking display of poor outcome picking, Gerald 1 has come out of anonymity (bad, but not bad enough to be mentioned before) to grab hold of the Brandy Award.  Gerald 1’s score of 60 is not historically horrible, but is considerably worse than last year’s winner (76).

Hey, if we can have the Elite Eight and Final Four, we might as well slap an appropriate name of the tweeners, and thus we christen those teams remaining as of Saturday night the Studly Six.

With Michigan and Loyola of Chicago moving on to the Final Four we are down to 36 entries that can finish in the money, only nine of which have a chance of finishing in first place.  At this point, KirkWho is looking pretty strong with a 69% chance of finishing in the money and a 28% chance of a first place finish.  Should Villanova and Duke win tomorrow, those odds go up even more.

Looking at the current points, Worst Nightmare leads the way with a score of 109.  Should Texas Tech slide by Villanova on Sunday, the Nightmare could become very real.  Speaking of Worst Nightmare, much will depend on this lovable soul.

Of course if he wasn’t already America’s most despised college basketball player, followed closely by Grayson Allen, he could become even more disliked if he ends up beating America’s favorite 98 year old sweetheart, Sister Jean.  That just ain’t right.

Some clarity is coming to the Brandy Award winner too.  If Villanova wins, New Name is almost a sure lock.  However, if Villanova loses, Big East Final will complete a clean sweep of no Final Four and only one Elite Eight picks.  That’s harder to do than you might realize.

Friday’s action followed the seeder’s expectations much more closely than Thursday’s games:  3/4 games went to the top seed, with the only seeding “upset” being (close your eyes, Ron) the marginally lower seeded #3 Texas Tech Red Raiders defeating the #2 seed Purdue Boilermakers.

Looking at the brackets, the East ended up relatively true to form (#1 vs. #3), the South is upset city (#9 vs. #11), the West is moderately upset (#3 vs. #9), while only the Midwest played true to form (#1 vs. #2).

What does that mean to YOU?  If you are among the 45 remaining entries with a chance, you’ve got more to root for than the rest of us.  The current leader is “Worst Nightmare” with 99 points, but picking UVA to win it all.  “Worst Nightmare” does finish in first place in 24 of the remaining 128 outcomes (check out the possibilities report).  Leading the odds for a first place finish is KirkWho who is first in possible score ranking, and 3rd in the current point ranking.

Things are still roiled at the bottom of the sediment heap, with the lowest current point total (“Big East Final”) currently with only 55 points, but with the potential for 105 points.  There are a number of entries who have already reached their potential, with the lowest scoring of those being “New name” at 66 points.

In what might be the worst title suggestion for a potentially HORRIBLE Agatha Christie rewrite there are now only 62 entries left in our pool without the dreaded “mark of the asterisk”.  Leading the charge are Soupy and DERPS tied with 83 points.  At the bottom end of those with still a shot (current score) is DD3.  The entry remaining with the highest possible score is KirkWho who has Villanova defeating Michigan in the finals (there are 3 entries with this championship matchup).  Playing a familiar tune, assuming that all remaining game outcomes are equally probable Soupy has the highest chance of coming in first (17% chance of landing in the money).  Because all outcomes AREN’T equally probable we put our best (only) guy on the case and determined that if Loyola Illinois wins out things are pretty tough to figure out.  Leave it to be said that no-one in our pool makes any further points on the backs of the fightin’ Ramblers as only 8 entries had them winning 3 games, none at 4.

We’ve had a big shakeup at the bottom of the pool (turbidity is high – google THAT you non-CEs) with JM now having the worst performing entry (49 points to date), but with both Kansas (winning it all) and Villanova (final four) still alive.  Keep in mind that Beau Blakey is the lowest in possible score 71 points.  So we know that the Brandy award will go to an entry scoring between 49 and 71 points (inclusive).  Spellbinding.

Speaking of spellbinding the tournament this year continues to produce thrilling games with unexpected outcomes.  Today’s action had the #11 Ramblers beating the #7 Runnin’ Rebels (Ramblers Wreck Running Rebels??), #9 KState defeating #5 Kentucky and #9 FSU beating the favorite #4 Zags.  In the non-upset bracket Michigan defeated TAMU.

We are hoping to have them up and running at the “quick reports” link above (NOW POSTED. -Admin), but should the torrential rain preclude the necessary work from occurring, please hop on over to hoopness.com to access all the latest and greatest.  The “Possibilities” report has Soupy in a good position finishing in first place in 22% of the remaining possible outcomes, followed by DERPS and “Rather be knitting”.  2 of those entries have a familiar ring to them…

There are a relatively few number of entries with the dreaded * by them – so you should all be well motivated to get your outstanding fees addressed before tomorrow…

“Beau Blakey”, with a current score of 51 and a possible score of 76, is the current favorite to bring home the Brandy award this year.  There ARE a number of entries with current scores in that range, though, so the action in the floculation basin should remain interesting until everything settles out.  (non-civil engineers are encouraged to google that)…

Two number one seeds are gone, two number eleven seeds are in, and the first four seeds in the South bracket are gone.  Just another weekend of March Madness living up to its name.

So three of your Final Four selections are gone?  Not a problem!  You’re in good company.  There isn’t a single entry among the 106 participants that hasn’t lost at least one Final Four choice and most have lost two.  Yet they’re all still alive…..well, except for those entries that are accompanied by those pesky asterisks.  Sadly, if there is a little star in front of your entry name, your pick is no longer among those in the running…..for anything.  Don’t feel too bad, as reportedly every one of the 17.3 million brackets submitted in ESPN’s perfection contest is out of the running after only two rounds.

If you are among the lucky 79 still in the running, the Status Reports now list your highest possible finish.  And it may be higher than you think – and we’re talking about you, Conjilmom.  Though three of your Final Four choices have been bounced and five of your Elite Eight choices are gone, you still have a chance of finishing as high as second.  Let that sink in.

As we enter the Sweet Sixteen, Soupy still leads the way with a five point lead as sorted by Current Points.  But KirkWho has the lead in Possible Points, having lost only two Elite Eight teams among the many upsets.

At the other end of things, Beau Blakely holds the current lead in the race for the Brandy Award, but special recognition goes to Big East Final with only four correct picks among the sixteen second round games.  Impressive!

If you had not submitted your fees by the end of Sunday’s games you should have received our friendly reminder to pay.  To those who promptly paid up subsequently, thank you very much.  Hopefully we’ll have all debts settled before the Sweet Sixteen begins this Thursday.

Hoopsmaster hasn’t chimed in yet, but the Current Score Report now lists your BEST POSSIBLE FINISH… So if you have a NUMBER after your name and NOT A * [BLANK], you are still in the running for a TOP FIVE finish. Congrats!