2019 Hackettstown Life Forum Bracketology
It's that time again, kids... everyone who was in the group last year should have received an email invite. For potential newcomers, read on:
I've started a group in Yahoo for fans of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament to compete against one another. The tournament begins Thursday, March 21st and all brackets must be filled out before tip-off of the first game (the "play-in" games Tuesday/Wednesday night do not count).
The scoring by round is as follows:
Round 1 - 1 point per correct pick
Round 2 - 2 points
Round 3 - 4 points (Sweet 16)
Round 4 - 8 points (Elite 8)
Round 5 - 16 points (Final Four)
Round 6 - 32 points (Championship game)
In addition, for THE FIRST ROUND ONLY, there are seed difference bonus points awarded for correctly picked upsets. For instance, if you correctly choose a 12-seed to defeat a 5-seed, in addition to the 1 point for correctly picking the winner, you will also get 7 bonus points for the difference in the seedings (12-5=7).
If you would like to participate and have a Yahoo ID (PM me if you don't have one and can't figure out how to get one), follow this link:
https://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/group/61285/invitation?key=8a08b59d47d41731&soc_trk=lnk
Password - forum
Obviously your bracket cannot be filled out until teams are selected, which will be later today. Join up now or wait till the last minute; your choice.
Only one bracket per person and please use your HLF handle as your bracket name so that everyone knows who you are. Thanks and good luck to everyone who chooses to participate.
ianimal I'll just list my picks here … Dayton Round - Prairie View, Belmont, No. Dakota St., Saint John's : First round survivors - Duke, UCF, Mississippi State, Virginia Tech, Maryland, LSU, Louisville, Michigan State, Gonzaga, Syracuse, Murray State, Florida State, Buffalo, Texas Tech, Nevada, Michigan, Virginia, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Kansas State, Villanova, Purdue, Cincinnati, Tennessee, North Carolina, Washington, Auburn, Kansas, Iowa State, Houston, Wofford, Kentucky. Sweet 16 - Duke, Virginia Tech, LSU, Michigan State, Gonzaga, Florida State, Texas Tech, Michigan, Virginia, Kansas State, Purdue, Tennessee, North Carolina, Auburn, Houston, Kentucky. Elite eight - Duke, Michigan State, Florida State, Texas Tech, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky. Final Four - Duke, Florida State, Tennessee, North Carolina. Championship game - North Carolina edges Duke :-D
Andy Loigu I joined the group, made a bracket, listed it, and since I know absolutely nothing about college BB expect to be eliminated quite soon after it starts LOL
MK MK, I've got a feeling you're going to win this LOL … something funny I heard listening to Baltimore radio online this morning … "In the NBA the Utah Jazz thumped our Wizards last night. I was going to play some jazz tunes from Utah, but couldn't find any, so here's some Beatles, instead …"
Mitt Romney could come back with … "I haven't seen many Wizards in Washington, either" … don't know if he's a basketball fan, looks like he could have been a good player back in the day, have to give him credit for staying in shape over the years … hard to do that when you're working the banquet circuit and traveling a lot.
Less than three hours to get your brackets filled out if you haven't done so already...
Andy, since you took the time to list all of your picks for this year's tournament, I used one of my throwaway Yahoo accounts to create a bracket for you called "Andy's Diaper Dandies"... I'll keep you apprised of your status going forward.
We currently have 16 people participating, including Andy. Not a bad turnout, but we've had as many as 18 in the past, so let's see if we can get three or more people to join up this morning.
Thanks and good luck, everybody...
Well, even if I get the entire rest of the bracket correct, I don't think I can beat you, ianimal. Our brackets are nearly identical going forward :o)
Rich 
4catmom I screwed up and wound up in two brackets and not H T Lifes All the Email's did it.
Old Gent My bracket almost got busted -- Tennessee blew a 25-point lead but won in overtime.
Bessie The SEC has four teams in the Sweet 16, a really competitive and quality league! One of my hardest picks was keeping Maryland out of the regionals in DC … I have family and friends down there and could have attended a game or two… but you can't do these brackets with your heart.
Maryland really made a great game of it and should be a top 10 team NEXT year if all their players stick around :-D
Pretty exciting opening weekend, although it's somewhat disappointing that there are no real "Cinderella" stories in the Sweet 16... sure, Oregon made it in as a 12-seed, but UC Irvine at 13 was the real Cinderella in their 2nd round matchup. Beyond Oregon, the lowest seed remaining is 5-seed Auburn.
Due largely to his correct upset pick of #13 UC Irvine over Kansas State, Matt has the early lead with 91 points after 2 rounds. Yours truly is in 2nd place with 86 and Clyde Potts is on the podium with 74.
Andy, you're currently tied for 5th with 64 points.
Rich, you can at the very least make up 4 points if Michigan makes it to the Elite 8 and another 16 if Duke makes it to the Nat'l Championship game. That would leave us tied... didn't scrutinize the rest of our brackets.
What to do until Thursday?
Did anyone have Virginia -- Texas Tech in the final game? I had Texas Tech in the elite 8 but didn't think they had enough offense to go any further, didn't think real highly of Virginia's offense, either. Quite a tournament and dramatic final to be sure :-D
Whip All of my brackets were killed in the first round. And I didn't do well after that either. I don't think any of the teams I picked made it past the sweet 16. I'm afraid to root for my hockey team in the playoffs now.
CJ. Commenting is no longer available.