Jayhawks’ Self Out-Smarted By VCU
The most impossibly unpredictable Elite Eight in a decade came to a dramatic conclusion today with the ouster of the last of this year’s four Kings, the mighty Kansas Jayhawks. I could hardly believe my eyes as the VCU Rams torched Kansas for an 18 point lead, and then held off every furious comeback attempt to dismiss the tournament’s final #1 seed by an apocryphal 10 points. VC Who? Southwest regional champs, that’s who. With the exception of a short stretch toward the beginning of the second half, this game was nearly a no-contest. Kansas did very little well and very little right. They were slow on defense. They didn’t cover the shooters. They couldn’t make free throws. They couldn’t throw the ball in the Rio Grande, for that matter. They shot 21 three-pointers and made TWO for less than 10%, and their two-point shooting percentage wasn’t much better. Shaka Smart said before the game his main concern with Florida State was figuring out how to score, but his main concern with Kansas was figuring out how to keep them from scoring. Mission accomplished. Get the big guys in foul trouble. Frustrate the guards into bombing contested threes. Incredible. With this win, VCU became just the third #11 seed to advance to the Final Four (LSU and George Mason are the other two).
Cat Scratch Fever
I’ll admit I did not watch the battle between Kentucky and North Carolina as closely due to other commitments this evening, but it is clear that Kentucky continued its unlikely dominance of strong programs in this year’s tournament. North Carolina made this one close, but only briefly, and the outcome was never really in question. Perhaps the most notable observation from this game is that it was the third out of the four regional finals won by the lower seeded team. With upset points a-plenty being distributed this afternoon, our standings have shuffled considerably. More on that in a moment.
By The Numbers
There may be too many “firsts” to count accurately in this year’s tournament:
- The sum of all the seeds in this year’s Final Four, 26, is the highest ever, surpassing the previous record of 22 set in 2000.
- Since team seeding began in 1979, this is the first time none of the top eight seeds (the 1’s and 2’s) have advanced to the Final Four.
- The VCU-Butler matchup is the highest seed total (19) ever in a national semifinal.
- The average number of upsets in the 60 games leading to the Final Four is 16.5. This year’s total was 20, meaning a full one-third of all games were won by the lower seed.
By natural extension, the craziness of this year’s tournament has led to some interesting consequences in the contest:
- 415 of the 514 contestants have already lost all remaining games, meaning they cannot score any more points in the contest. This includes both contestants currently in 1st and 2nd place.
- No one picked the Final Four correctly, with or without re-picks.
- Typically, huge Scategories bonuses for the three final games of the tournament are only available to long shot picks that don’t pan out. Not this year.
In fact, VCU is the only national champion that would not give someone a 96-point Scategories bonus!- A Butler semifinal win is a Scategories bonus for 11 contestants worth 48 total points.
- A Connecticut semifinal win is a Scategories bonus for 20 contestants worth 48 total points.
- A Kentucky national championship is a Scategories bonus for 20 contestants worth 96 total points.
- A Connecticut national championship is a Scategories bonus for 9 contestants worth 96 total points.
- A Butler national championship is a Scategories bonus for 8 contestants worth 96 total points.
In short, the final standings are going to look very different than they do now, so stay tuned!
Elite Eight Awards
We’re coming to the point in the contest where the awards are very prestigious. If you’re receiving award consideration this far into the contest, you’re either doing something very right, or your ‘re doing something so wrong, it cannot be ignored.
- The Beast of the East award goes to Jim Bringham who was a perfect 15-0 in the East region with original picks.
- The Wild, Wild West award goes to Rick Morgan, Shane Vaiskauskas, and Marc Hazel for going a near-perfect 14-1 in the West region with original picks.
- The I Got Spurs, They Go Jingle, Jangle, Jingle award goes to Matthew Hand who went 13-2 in the very difficult Southwest region with original picks.
- The Smooth Jazz And Jumbalaya award goes to Ben McCann who was a perfect 15-0 in the Southeast region with original picks.
- The Upset Stomach award goes to contest leader Jane “Go Urbana” Gomez and Margaret Dean, who each picked 14 of the 20 upsets correctly. This certainly explains their positions at or near the top of the leader board.
- The Mark Twain award goes to the unflappable, unsinkable Jeff Cardwell, who has risen from near dead last – 512th – all the way to 35th! Rumors of his death have been greatly exaggerated.
- The No One Is Going To Believe THAT Line award goes to Jon “I let Amber win” Blair. Jon’s rank – 253. Amber Blair’s rank – 103.
- The You’re Still Number One In My Book award goes to my beloved youngster Ashlyn “Basketball Girl” Little, who climbed as high as 5th before suffering the same fate as most of the rest of us as the favored teams she picked all lost this weekend. Ashlyn was watching the women’s tournament on TV at the restaurant this afternoon and said, “I want to play in that some day.” I’ll go to every game.
- The Leader Of The Pack award goes to 11 contestants who can still win all three remaining games: Eric Shelton, Julia Harper, Janae Dailey, Beth Ann Fairchild, Jeffery Cardwell (son of the aforementioned Jeff Cardwell), Scott Whitlow, Lucas Drone, Jamie Fairchild, Allen Davidson, Christy Bowen, and Ben McCann.
- The You No Make-a The Game, You No Make-a The Rules award also goes to Ben McCann for doing what at least one contestant does every year without fail – suggest that he deserves a special bonus for some feat he considers exemplary. This year’s justification was going 15-0 in the Southeast region. Perfection is its own reward, Mr. McCann. Don’t get greedy.
- The Fear Factor Award For Most Revolting Alias goes to Sam “Brauen Droppings” Brauen. For the uninformed, Sam’s last name is a homophone with Brown. Ewwwwwww. Sam’s score, by the way, is equally revolting – 42 points, which is good enough for 511th place.
- The Go Home, Snoopy, Go Home award goes to my namesake, Jeff “Snoopy 24” Dahl, currently in 487th place.
- The Nice Shootin’, Tex award goes to Josh “SharpSHOOTER” Lewis, who shot his way to 4th place but won’t go any higher. He has no winnable games remaining.
- The Always A Bride’s Maid award goes to Greg “Wants a break for once” Schweizer who has been in 2nd place for most of the contest. He also has no winnable games remaining and, thus, will not climb any higher.
- The I Hope I Never Run Into You In A Medical Facility…Ever award goes to the catheter-slinging Wendy “Better Stick To Nursing School” Cooper who climbed as high as 3rd, is now in 10th, and also has no winnable games remaining.
- Finally, the Swan Song award goes to contest leader Jane “Go Urbana” Gomez. Jane has led the contest for several rounds but will not win. She has no winnable games remaining and pursuers close enough to beat her depending on the outcome of the final three games. Enjoy your one shining moment, Jane. You deserve it.
With that, the Wizard shall step behind the curtain for another week. Check back next weekend for the exciting conclusion of March Madness and our fun little contest. If anyone has a line on tickets to Houston, drop me a note.
Pay no attention to the miserable prognosticator behind the curtain.
The Wizard of Whiteland