March Madness 2017

[knock it close]

So I guess its March again so I figured I might as well fire up a new thread after some success last year. Some interesting matchups and seedings but I think they got the teams more right this year.

 

Re-uped the bracket challenge from last year http://games.espn.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/2017/en_CA/group?groupID=1175254&successType=join password is march, feel free to join anyone.

[devinh821]

March is the best time of the year!!!!!

[1puttTUT]

Sweet! I love March Madness. Let's go KU Jayhawks!

[altess27]

Thanks for creating this. I'm in.

[NV825]

Lets go Nevada Wolf Pack!

[devinh821]

Lets go Nevada Wolf Pack!

 

Played against a guy in high school who went to Nevada!

[Ayoung19]

Top 5 sporting events of the year

[Loomis13]

The bracket this year is very hard to pick. Going to be a very intriguing Thursday/Friday! Best two sports days of the year( followed closely by The master's).

[LoopersUTD]

Thanks for setting up! All I know, once "hello friends" calls the championship game on Monday night, it's Masters Week!

[deadsolid...shank]

I've given up filling out a bracket. I still run a fairly sizable pool (I get blackmailed into every year) but decided I would rather just watch and try to enjoy the games.

[knock it close]

First play-in game was fun, still don't understand what the UNO coach was thinking not fouling

[moegolfer11]

The south bracket is about to WILD

[knock it close]

The south bracket is about to WILD

It's bananaland, the committee said UK was the best 2 yet they end up with the best 7, 10, and 3 IMO, screw job but I hope Witchy gets their revenge

[devinh821]

What's the name of the group? I can't get the link to work ok my phone.

 

Sweet! I love March Madness. Let's go KU Jayhawks!

 

Tut a rock chalk Jayhawk?? Hinrich is still to the day my favorite player ever

[Yanki01]

just missed this bracket but WTF CBS! tried to edit about an hour before tip off and it was down.

[1puttTUT]

What's the name of the group? I can't get the link to work ok my phone.

 

Sweet! I love March Madness. Let's go KU Jayhawks!

 

Tut a rock chalk Jayhawk?? Hinrich is still to the day my favorite player ever

 

I was in school there when he was on the team. I ran into him and Collison a couple times out at the bars.

[thug the bunny]

Well, I'm 7-1 so far in a really large private pool, and the remaining games tonight look good. I nailed one of my 12/5s - Mid Tenn over Minn.

 

Lot of good games so far.

[knock it close]

I find it hilarious that Middle Tenn closed as favs over the 5 seed Minn, nice job committee

[thug the bunny]

I find it hilarious that Middle Tenn closed as favs over the 5 seed Minn, nice job committee

 

OK so that one wasn't too hard...

[1puttTUT]

I find it hilarious that Middle Tenn closed as favs over the 5 seed Minn, nice job committee

 

OK so that one wasn't too hard...

 

I picked them to win in all 7 of my brackets lol.

[knock it close]

I find it hilarious that Middle Tenn closed as favs over the 5 seed Minn, nice job committee

 

OK so that one wasn't too hard...

Lol, I picked UNCW in mine cause I thought I was smart, apparently not. What a chalky day, even X was basically a pickem. I got Nevada +6 and a little on the ML so maybe we break that

[1puttTUT]

I've got FGCU +12.5

[thug the bunny]

Are you guys talking about side bets or brackets?

[knock it close]

Are you guys talking about side bets or brackets?

Side I'm in 4 brackets, 3 regular, 1 against the spread, and then just making side bets too cause I have issues

[1puttTUT]

I'm in a pool where you buy in for $40 and receive 200 "points". You can bet on any games of your choosing as long as you bet at least half your points each round. There's a lot of strategy to it based on where you sit in the posted standings at the end of each round. I always do terrible but it's still fun.

[knock it close]

I'm in a pool where you buy in for $40 and receive 200 "points". You can bet on any games of your choosing as long as you bet at least half your points each round. There's a lot of strategy to it based on where you sit in the posted standings at the end of each round. I always do terrible but it's still fun.

That's a cool idea. Do you guys just do full ats or do you do over/under and half time lines too?

 

 

My favorite game I've ever done was called Cover5. You pick up to 5 games each round ATS and your score is based off how much they cover by. So if you take a 8 pt dog that wins by 2 you get 10 points. Obviously you can adjust how many games you have to take each round but I really enjoyed the format

[thug the bunny]

Are you guys talking about side bets or brackets?

Side I'm in 4 brackets, 3 regular, 1 against the spread, and then just making side bets too cause I have issues

 

A bracket against the spread? That's nuts, like flipping coins. But yes, you have issues my friend. Happy March Madness! I think it's gonna be a good one.

[knock it close]

Are you guys talking about side bets or brackets?

Side I'm in 4 brackets, 3 regular, 1 against the spread, and then just making side bets too cause I have issues

 

A bracket against the spread? That's nuts, like flipping coins. But yes, you have issues my friend. Happy March Madness! I think it's gonna be a good one.

The good thing about it is your bracket isn't toast if the 3 seed you have going to the f4 loses on day 1 because it resets after each round. I'm doing alright I'm 7-3-2 right now, got good lines on my 2 pushes which helps and lost 2 of the one seeds which I wouldn't of bet so it evens out I guess

[thug the bunny]

Are you guys talking about side bets or brackets?

Side I'm in 4 brackets, 3 regular, 1 against the spread, and then just making side bets too cause I have issues

 

A bracket against the spread? That's nuts, like flipping coins. But yes, you have issues my friend. Happy March Madness! I think it's gonna be a good one.

The good thing about it is your bracket isn't toast if the 3 seed you have going to the f4 loses on day 1 because it resets after each round. I'm doing alright I'm 7-3-2 right now, got good lines on my 2 pushes which helps and lost 2 of the one seeds which I wouldn't of bet so it evens out I guess

 

Looks like you might make good on Nev +6, I just need Iowa to win.

[glk]

Big thanks to Henry porter of Athens high school in Illinois, way back in 1939 (-and to the Ihsa for licensing its use) here is his essay that launched the phrase.

 

March Madness

h*** of the Hardwood Court is a hardy specie. There are millions of him. He exists through summer and fall, shows signs of animation through the winter and lives to the utmost during March when a hundred thousand pairs of rubber soled shoes slap the hardwood in a whirlwind of stops and pivots and dashes on the trail to the state basketball championships. He is a glutton for punishment. When the March madness is on him, midnight jaunts of a hundred miles on successive nights make him even more alert the next day. He will polish his pants on sixteen inches of bleacher seat through two games or three and take offense if asked to leave during the intermission between sessions. He is happy only when the floor shimmers with reflections of fast moving streaks of color, when the players swarm at each end and the air is full of leather. For the duration of the endemic he is a statistical expert who knows the record of each contender, a game strategist who spots the weak points in a given system of offense or defense, a rules technician who instructs the officials without cost or request. Every canine has his day and this is h***'s month.

 

He is a doodler who, while conversing, scribbles free throw lanes with a hundred radiating alleys. In May the three symbols of the New York Fair will take on their intended meaning but in March the helicline is a ramp to the balcony, the trylon is the pyramid of hundreds of teams being narrowed down to the one at the state championship pinnacle and the perisphere has the traditional four panel basketball markings.

 

In everyday life he is a sane and serious individual trying to earn enough to pay his taxes. But he does a Jekyll-Hyde act when the spell is on him. He likes his coffee black and his basketball highly spiced. He despises the stall — unless his team is ahead. It is a major crime for the official to call a foul on the dribbler — unless the opponent was dribbling. His moods are as changeable as the March wind. He flies into a frenzy at some trivial happening on the court and before his vocal expression of disapproval is half completed he howls in delight at the humorous twist of a comment from a bleacher wit. He is part of the mass mind and is subject to its whims. He berates the center for attempting a long shot and lauds him when it goes in the basket. He is consistent only in his inconsistencies.

 

The thud of the ball on the floor, the slap of hands on leather, the swish of the net are music in his ears. He is a connoisseur in matters pertaining to team coordination and artistry in action. The shifting zone, the screen and the spot pass are an open book to him. He speaks the language.

 

He is biased, noisy, fidgety, boastful and unreasonable — but we love him for his imperfections. His lack of inhibitions adds a spontaneity that colors the tournaments. Without darkness there would be no light. A little March madness may complement and contribute to sanity and help keep society on an even keel.

 

The writer's temperature is rising. The thing is catching. It's got me! Gimme that playing schedule!

 

Basketball Ides of March

The gym lights gleam like a beacon beam

And a million motors hum

In a good will flight on a Friday night;

For basketball beckons, "Come!"

A sharp-shooting mite is king tonight.

The Madness of March is running.

The winged feet fly, the ball sails high

And field goal hunters are gunning.

 

The colors clash as silk suits flash

And race on a shimmering floor.

Repressions die, and partisans vie

In a goal acclaiming roar.

On a Championship Trail toward a holy grail,

All fans are birds of a feather.

It's fiesta night and cares lie light

When the air is full of leather.

 

Since time began, the instincts of man

Prove cave and current men kin.

On tournament night the sage and the wight

Are relatives under the skin.

It's festival time, sans reason or rhyme

But with nation-wide appeal.

In a cyclone of hate, our ship of state

Rides high on an even keel.

 

With war nerves tense, the final defense

Is the courage, strength and will

In a million lives where freedom thrives

And liberty lingers still.

Now eagles fly and heroes die

Beneath some foreign arch

Let their sons tread where hate is dead

In a happy Madness of March.