BCI Tournament Pool: Sweet 16 Recap

... and then there were 16. A bit dry and chalky for my tastes, but it is what it is. After the craziness from Friday's opening round upsets, the weekend was surprisingly calm with the No. 1 through No. 3 seeds all advancing to the Sweet 16. Two of the No. 4 seeds advanced in Xavier and Gonzaga. And in the West regional, the No. 5 seeded Purdue Boilermakers bounced the third No. 4 seed Washington Huskies (and Left Coast Chris's National Champion pick). I guess I spoke too soon about the West Coasters owning this pool.

The one surprise of the weekend is the No. 12 seed Arizona Wildcats advancing to the Sweet 16. When the field of 65 was announced, some thought that Zona didn't even deserve to be in the tournament. But they quietly knocked off the Mountain West champs Utah in the first round, and dispatched the 13th seeded Horizon League Champ Cleveland St. Vikings today.

Our new leaderboard (top 10):

1	West Coast Bias	26	30	-	-	-	North Carolina	56	184
2	Coach Handsome	25	26	-	-	-	Pittsburgh	51	175
2	bobble24	27	24	-	-	-	North Carolina	51	167
4	Adam Garcia	24	26	-	-	-	Pittsburgh	50	178
4	Furb	20	30	-	-	-	North Carolina	50	150
6	Omar	25	24	-	-	-	Louisville	49	177
6	Coach Handsome and T-Rice Show	25	24	-	-	-	Pittsburgh	49	177
6	Der Springer	25	24	-	-	-	Pittsburgh	49	173
6	Bracketological Beats	21	28	-	-	-	Pittsburgh	49	165
6	Doug Flutie Likes Guacamole	21	28	-	-	-	Pittsburgh	49	165

The Leader

Our new leader this week is West Coast Bias. West Coast Bias correctly picked 15 of 16 Sweet 16 teams which is quite an impressive accomplishment. The only incorrect Sweet 16 pick was surprising Arizona (this bracket picked Wake Forest). West Coast Bias has a comfortable 6 point lead in the possible points column, and will only relinquish the top spot if this tournament gets a lot less chalky (Bias has all No. 1s and No. 2s in the Elite 8). Way to go out on a limb! I guess I don't have much room to talk though.

Newcomers to the Top 10 include Adam Garcia, Furb, Bracketology Beats and Doug Flutie Likes Guacamole, who turned it on in the second round - probably because I made fun of this bracket on Saturday.

Scenario Planning

If all the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds win next Thursday and Friday, West Coast Bias will increase its lead from 5 points to 13 points.

If you are a fan of chaos and all the lower seeds advance to the 8s, Coach Handsome and T-Rice Show will be your new leader going into the Regional finals.

Straight Bangin' Award

This round's Straight Bangin' Award goes to Furb. After only picking 20 of 32 picks correctly in the first round, Furb turned it around and successfully picked 15 of 16 Sweet 16 teams correctly, only getting tripped up by Arizona.

Speaking of Arizona, BC'10412, Andy's Picks and my bracket were the only ones to have the Wildcats in the Sweet 16. Correctly picking the right 12 seed to advance to the 16s earns these three brackets this round's Straight Bangin' runner up award.

Perfect Regionals

After Friday's games, there were only 15 perfect regionals left in the pool. Now, after the second round of games, we are down to only 2. Congrats to West Coast Bias and BC Billy 1979 who both still have perfect West regionals.

Bracket FAIL Award

Fear the Stache takes the award for the second straight round, after only picking 7 of 16 Sweet 16 teams correctly. That was the lowest point total of the second round. Got a little crazy with the Sweet 16 this year with (12) Western Kentucky, (7) Clemson, (7) Boston College, (6) Marquette, (6) West Virginia and (5) Florida State all penciled into the second weekend. Fear the Stache is currently in last place.

Although not in last place, BC Mike has the lowest possible point total left (103 points). BC Mike lost his National Champion on Friday (a team from Chestnut Hill) and only batted .333 in the Midwest regional (5 of 15 picks correct). Although his Midwest regional is a disaster, BC Mike still managed to pick 10 of 16 teams correctly in the second round, including a perfect 4-for-4 in both the West and South regionals.

Jeff vs. Brian

Jeff correctly picked 25 of 32 games correctly in the first round, and backed that up by correctly picking 11 of 16 Sweet 16 teams. Jeff's possible point total sits at 139, however, as he lost a Final Four and National Championship game participant in Wake Forest.

I picked 24 of 32 games correctly in the first round, and 10 of 16 Sweet 16 teams and am 3 points behind Jeff. Possible point total is much higher as all four of my Final Four teams are still in play - (1) Louisville, (2) Memphis, (1) Pittsburgh and (4) Gonzaga.


We'll be back with an update after the Regional semifinals.