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31 Mar 2014

The Confidential Bracket Update: March 30, 2014

Just three games left to decide it all.  But YOUR big question is… who is winning the Confidential bracket contest?

Well, see below:

Standings

Rank
Owner
Bracket
Correct Picks
(winner)
Points
Bonus Pts
Total Pts
1
41 (Florida)
114
27
141
2
43 (Florida)
116
22
138
3
42 (Creighton)
113
22
135
4
40 (Louisville)
108
26
134
5
42 (Florida)
115
18
133
6
39 (Florida)
106
26
132
7
39 (Louisville)
99
26
125
8
38 (Louisville)
102
22
124
9
38 (Louisville)
104
18
122
10
36 (Wisconsin)
98
23
121
11
39 (Florida)
106
14
120
12
38 (Florida)
101
18
119
13
40 (Wichita St)
108
10
118
14
39 (Duke)
102
14
116
15
37 (Louisville)
94
20
114
16
35 (Florida)
98
14
112
17
36 (Arizona)
91
20
111
18
35 (Florida)
92
18
110
19
38 (Michigan)
101
8
109
20
36 (Florida)
96
12
108
Posted by acaffrey in Basketball, Bracket Contest and tagged
29 Mar 2014

The Confidential Bracket Update: March 29, 2014

The ACC is done as we hit the Elite Eight.  Kudos to Dayton, Kentucky, UConn, and the 5 seeded teams that are still alive.  But who is winning the Confidential bracket contest?  See below:

Rank
Owner
Bracket
Correct Picks
Points
Bonus Pts
Total Pts
1
42
108
22
130
2
41
105
22
127
3
39
100
26
126
4
41
107
18
125
4
39
99
26
125
6
39
98
26
124
6
38
98
26
124
8
39
102
14
116
8
37
94
22
116
10
37
96
18
114
11
38
98
14
112
11
35
90
22
112
13
37
93
18
111
13
36
91
20
111
15
39
100
10
110
16
36
86
20
106
17
34
90
14
104
18
36
89
14
103
19
34
84
18
102
20
37
93
8
101

 

Posted by acaffrey in Basketball, Bracket Contest
28 Mar 2014

Syracuse’s Offensive Struggles–Sharing the Ball

The 2013-2014 version of the Syracuse Orange was not supposed to be a #1 team.  Nobody thought that.  To be sure, some Syracuse fans naively bemoan AP voters and bracketology projections.  But those are the same kids (either in age or maturity) that tempt karma by trolling other programs.  Anyone who has been around a while could sense that this team was “capable of winning a Final Four,” but only because the rest of college basketball was not that good.  This team was not ready, compared to prior iterations, and never was.  The offense never gelled.  Why?  A dearth of assists.

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in Basketball and tagged
27 Mar 2014
4 Comments

Mike Hopkins and South Florida–Why Not?

There has been some discussion of Mike Hopkins, long-time Syracuse assistant, being a candidate at Boston College.  The Confidential wonders why Hopkins would consider leaving Jim Boeheim’s side to take over a clear rebuilding project in Boston College.  While Boston College is an underrated athletic program in both basketball and football, mostly due to its recent woes, this job simply does not seem like a wise move for Hopkins.  Instead, the Confidential posits that Hopkins and South Florida would be a good match.  Here is why.

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in Basketball and tagged , , , ,
24 Mar 2014

The Confidential Bracket Update: March 24, 2014

Duke… gone.  NC State… gone.   Pittsburgh… gone.   Syracuse… gone.   North Carolina… gone.   Louisville?  Not ours yet.   Virginia… still alive.  There is a reason why Virginia was #1 in the ACC regular season and a conference tourney champ.

With the ACC reeling, here are the Confidential bracket standings:

Rank
Owner
Bracket
Correct Picks
Points
Bonus Pts
Total Pts
1
38
88
20
108
2
36
83
24
107
3
37
85
20
105
4
35
80
24
104
5
35
79
24
103
6
34
78
24
102
7
34
79
20
99
8
36
82
16
98
9
34
76
20
96
9
33
76
20
96
11
35
82
12
94
11
34
78
16
94
13
33
76
16
92
14
34
78
12
90
14
31
70
20
90
16
34
77
12
89
17
32
72
16
88
17
35
80
8
88
19
34
78
8
86
19
33
74
12
86

 

Posted by acaffrey in Basketball, Bracket Contest
22 Mar 2014
3 Comments

The Confidential Bracket Update: March 22, 2014

Congratulations to Pittsburgh, Syracuse, North Carolina, and Virginia for winning their first round second round games.  Also, these are interesting times in the ACC, with Buzz Williams on board at Virginia Tech and Jim Calhoun expressing interest at Boston College.  In a game where coaches are very important, the ACC is stepping up.  Your move, Wake Forest.

Anyway, here is the leaderboard update for the Confidential’s Bracketology contest after Round 1:

Rank
Bracket
1
2
3
4
Finals
Bonus Pts
Total Pts
1
52
–
–
–
Louisville
20
72
1
52
–
–
–
Louisville
20
72
3
50
–
–
–
Florida
20
70
4
52
–
–
–
Florida
16
68
4
48
–
–
–
Florida
20
68
6
50
–
–
–
Louisville
16
66
7
52
–
–
–
Florida
12
64
7
48
–
–
–
Florida
16
64
7
52
–
–
–
Creighton
12
64
7
48
–
–
–
Virginia
16
64
11
46
–
–
–
Louisville
16
62
11
46
–
–
–
Wisconsin
16
62
13
48
–
–
–
Florida
12
60
13
44
–
–
–
Michigan
16
60
15
46
–
–
–
Arizona
12
58
15
46
–
–
–
Virginia
12
58
15
46
–
–
–
Louisville
12
58
15
50
–
–
–
Florida
8
58
15
50
–
–
–
Wichita St.
8
58
15
50
–
–
–
Wichita St.
8
58
21
48
–
–
–
Florida
8
56
21
44
–
–
–
Virginia
12
56
23
42
–
–
–
Syracuse
12
54
23
46
–
–
–
Villanova
8
54
23
50
–
–
–
Florida
4
54
Posted by acaffrey in Bracket Contest and tagged , ,
21 Mar 2014

Confidential Bracket Update: March 21, 2014

Here is the top 20 for the Confidential Bracket Contest.

Place…. bracket entry name… round points… projected champion… bonus points… total points

10
26
–
–
–
–
Florida
8
34
10
26
–
–
–
–
Virginia
8
34
13
24
–
–
–
–
Louisville
8
32
13
24
–
–
–
–
Florida
8
32
13
24
–
–
–
–
Louisville
8
32
13
24
–
–
–
–
Syracuse
8
32
13
24
–
–
–
–
Wisconsin
8
32
18
26
–
–
–
–
Duke
4
30
18
22
–
–
–
–
Villanova
8
30
18
22
–
–
–
–
Virginia
8
30
18
22
–
–
–
–
N. Carolina
8
30
18
22
–
–
–
–
Virginia
8
30
18
26
–
–
–
–
Florida
4
30
18
22
–
–
–
–
Louisville
8
30
18
26
–
–
–
–
Wichita St.
4
30

 

 

Based on the participation level, the prize for winning the bracket will be $25.00.

Posted by acaffrey in Basketball, Bracket Contest, Results and tagged ,
19 Mar 2014

The Confidential’s Bracket Contest: 2014 (only hours left to register)

In what is now an annual tradition, the Confidential will have another bracket contest in 2014.  We will give out a prize (at least one) to the winner!   The prize(s) will be announced later.  The more people that fill out brackets, the bigger the prize!

If you think you know basketball, and as a fan of the ACC you SHOULD know basketball, let’s see how well you can do against other fans of ACC schools.  Go here:

Oh, and good luck.  You’ll need it.

 

Posted by acaffrey in Basketball, Bracket Contest and tagged , , ,
18 Mar 2014
7 Comments

Louisville a #4 Seed? The Top 10 Reasons It Makes Sense

One would think that seeding Louisville a #4 was a crime against humanity.   But before digging out your copy of the Geneva Convention or looking up travel information to the Hague, consider that the NCAA committee has long used RPI as a guide.  This is not a secret.  Just like the committee stopped looking at recency, it is what the committee is supposed to do.  The RPI helps gauge schedule strength.  In any event, here are the top 10 reasons the Committee got it right in deeming the Cards a 4 seed:

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Opinion and tagged , , ,
18 Mar 2014
5 Comments

Quick Thoughts on the Bracket

With 24-hours to digest it, and less than that until play-in games start, here are the Confidential’s quick thoughts on the bracket:

The NCAA did Wichita State a favor.  Suppose that the Midwest bracket was changed to make Louisville the 2-seed, and UCLA the 4-seed, with Kentucky swapping with UMass as the 6th/8th seeds.  With Louisville a 2-seed and Kentucky a 6-seed, everyone could step in off the ledge and stop looking for further signs of the apocalypse.  Not suppose Wichita State runs that table to get to the Final Four: (a) Game 1, a victory over a 16th seed; (b) Game 2… win over the winner of Kansas State/UMass…yawn; (c) Game 3… win over the winner of UCLA/St. Louis/Cinderella…still not impressing anyone; and (d) Game 4… win over Louisville or Duke.  With one win over an impressive, name opponent… Wichita State would still be somewhat of an question mark heading into the Final Four.  NOW, if Wichita State gets to the Final Four, it will have beaten good names AND good teams.  This is much better than if Louisville was a #2, Duke was a #3, and Creighton was a #4.  The casual fan will want to see Wichita State up against the best before deeming the season historical.  Mission accomplished.

As for Louisville, chillax.  The committee was instructed to look at the whole season.  If the committee was to look at just the last 6 weeks, it would be violating that directive.  In the not-so-distant past, momentum heading into the tournament was relevant.  Now, it is has been formally deemed a lesser variable.  Maybe it should be changed back.  Fair enough.  But to do so in this bracket would have been to violate the current rules.  Moreover, imagine if the bracket was this: 1. Michigan, 2. Wichita State, 3. Louisville, 4. Duke.  Would moving up one seed have mattered?  No!  Same basic opponents.  OK, just switch Louisville and Duke, without switching Wichita State and Michigan–still have to beat two of the three anyway.  The order is insignificant.  Just go win the darn games.

While the Midwest bracket is tough at the seeded level, are St. Louis, UMass, and Texas scaring anyone more than Kentucky?  No.  And is Kentucky really scaring anyone?  It is a perfect matchup for Wichita State–let the country root for the #1 seed against the collection of one-and-dones.  Great way to get fans rooting for a #1 seed for a change.

The East bracket is sneaky tough, with Virginia, Villanova, Iowa State, and Michigan State.  Villanova is a 28-4 team, but seems like the worst of these four teams right now.  Does that make sense?  Actually, it does.  The South is not horrible either.  If Syracuse gets is mojo back, that is three teams that might have been #1’s a month ago.  Throw in UCLA, VCU, Ohio State, and New Mexico… and that is a deep region.  The West.  Sigh.

What do you think?

P.S. Still time to get into the Confidential’s bracket contest @ https://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/quickenloansbracket/group/9921/invitation?key=8777f32b05a883ef

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball and tagged , ,

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