There are six teams still standing in the men’s NCAA Tournament, and six contestants left with a chance to win the 11th annual Living Room Times men’s NCAA pool: an Irish Bruin, a Trojan, a Trojan Husky, a Yellowjacket Tiger, a Duke, and a Husky Cavalier.
Kirby Bullard, Matt “LaundraMatt” Scarborough and Jay “DrawingDead” Johnson were mathematically eliminated when UCLA beat Memphis, leaving Mike Tran, Andrew Long, David Kreutz, Matt Wiser, Ben Eng and Logan Pugh as the “Stupendous Six” (hat tip: Matt’s brother Mike :) who still have a chance to win the pool.
Tran, a UCLA grad and Notre Dame 2L, is the undisputed leader at the moment, with 301 points out of a possible 382 thus far, and a 56.2% chance of winning the pool (assuming all individual game outcomes are equally likely). Tran is 9-for-10 in the tournament’s second weekend so far, and he would win in 18 of the 32 remaining scenarios. In two of those scenarios, he would ultimately score 381 points and break Brian Kiolbasa’s all-time men’s pool record of 368 points, set last year.
In second place, both points-wise and scenario-wise, is 2002 USC grad Andrew Long, who has 289 points and would win in 5 of the 32 scenarios (15.6%).
Ben Eng, who graduated from James Madison University (home of the Dukes), is third with 282 points, but he would only win in one scenario (3.1%). His odds of winning are less than Logan Pugh, a Virginia student and Connecticut native who roots for UConn, in fourth place with 272 points; David Kreutz, a Washington grad who attended USC for a year, in fifth with 267; and Matt Wiser, a Rochester grad and current LSU student, in 15th with 250 points. Pugh, Kreutz and Wiser all have a 9.4% chance of winning, owning 3 of the 32 scenarios.
Long and Kreutz are the “Great Trojan Hopes” in this pool. No USC-affiliated contestant has ever won a Living Room Times pool, though numerous Trojans have competed in the pools since 2000, and several have come very close to winning. Long would have won last year’s men’s pool if Illinois had beaten North Carolina in the title game. Mike Wiser, Matt’s brother, would have won the 2001 women’s pool if Purdue had beaten Notre Dame in the title game.
Complete standings here and after the jump. Scenario info to follow soon.
* = mathematically eliminated from winning pool
1. Mike Tran 301
2. Andrew Long 289
3. Ben E. Eng 282
4. Logan Pugh 272
5. David Kreutz 267
6. Andrew Kreutz 264*
7. Kirby Bullard 262*
8. Adam DeGuire 260*
9. Ryan Dalidowitz 257*
9. Kathleen McCormack 257*
11. Drew Harrison 253*
12. Matt Scarborough 252*
12. Kevin Hauschulz 252*
14. M.T. Swanson 251*
15. Matt Wiser 250
16. Don LaPlante 247*
17. Hannah McLaughlin 245*
18. Michael Walsh 243*
19. Kendra Krauss 242*
19. Charles Fenwick 242*
21. Bob Lutts 240*
22. Paul Lucht 239*
23. Tim Huffman 237*
23. Conor Sullivan 237*
23. Dennis Chow 237*
26. George Heidkamp 236*
27. Seth Graber 235*
27. Jay Johnson 235*
27. Josh Britton 235*
27. Jim Wall 235*
27. Edward Jackson 235*
27. Brian Richmond 235*
33. Chris Hummel 233*
33. Tom Greca 233*
35. Greg Shtraks 232*
35. Brian Dupuis 232*
37. Paul Zak 230*
37. Jack Strayer 230*
37. Laurel Van 230*
37. Ryan McBride 230*
37. Jeff Vaca 230*
37. Carolyn Blessing 230*
43. Mike Smoragiewicz 229*
43. Chris Bossman 229*
43. Jay Barasch 229*
46. Andy Wendeln 228*
46. Scott Loomer 228*
46. Melanie Dickson 228*
46. Peter Timbrell 228*
50. Rick Boeckler 227*
50. Matt Thomsen 227*
50. Kristy LaPlante 227*
53. Soren Hammerschmidt 225*
53. Josh Krause 225*
53. Ted Zak 225*
53. Jason Cowans 225*
57. William Gardner 223*
57. Ginny Zak 223*
59. John Chung 222*
59. Sarah Wake 222*
59. Chris Aemisegger 222*
59. Chris Horn 222*
59. Danny Pilz 222*
64. Matt Fairchild 221*
64. Stanley Zak 221*
64. Karen Cultrera 221*
67. Randy Styles 220*
67. Brad Miller 220*
67. Chris McLemore 220*
67. Tristin Clow 220*
71. Jeffrey Blum 217*
71. Lisa Velte 217*
71. Mike Quinn 217*
71. Brian Newbold 217*
75. Sandy Pilz 216*
76. Lindsey Green 215*
76. Shaun Sullivan 215*
76. Kim Stone 215*
76. David Watkins 215*
76. Ed Joyce 215*
76. Trevor Gasper 215*
76. Jessica Stolte 215*
76. Jason McMahon 215*
84. Jennifer Elam 214*
84. Jamie McGinnis 214*
84. Michael Russo 214*
87. Tim White 213*
87. Em Merkler 213*
87. Michael Watkins 213*
87. Greg Kagan 213*
87. Frank Nolan 213*
87. Shari Long 213*
87. Derek Walden 213*
94. Tim Wendling 211*
94. Jon Schoenwetter 211*
96. Mike Wiser 210*
96. Elizabeth Janelle 210*
96. Brendan Loy 210*
96. Steve Copenhaver 210*
96. Andrew Hunter 210*
101. James Devine 208*
101. Brian Kiolbasa 208*
101. Sean Sullivan 208*
101. Drew Wagner 208*
101. Kay Torg 208*
101. Scott Fort 208*
101. Bridget Saviola 208*
101. Drew Wildak 208*
101. Robert Dokes 208*
101. Garrett Loomer 208*
111. Danielle Thomsen 207*
111. Dan O’Hara 207*
111. Esteban Coca 207*
111. John Presper 207*
111. Carol LaPlante 207*
111. A.J. St. John 207*
117. Kelleigh L. Domaingue 206*
117. Ken Stern 206*
117. Rachel Wetherill 206*
117. David Whelan 206*
117. Tom K. 206*
117. Craig Frizzell 206*
117. Kristen Wall 206*
117. Scott Schmidt 206*
125. Dan Port 205*
125. Brian Paine 205*
125. Diane Huffman 205*
125. Brandon Minich 205*
125. Eddie Domaingue 205*
125. Todd Stigliano 205*
131. Patrick Cullen 204*
131. Dan Burke 204*
133. Dmytro Aponte 203*
133. Chris Evans 203*
133. Justin Vale 203*
133. Matt Kagan 203*
133. Nick Genco 203*
138. Wilson Loftis 201*
139. Clayton Bassett 200*
139. Shireen Garcia 200*
139. Terry Jones 200*
139. John McCaffrey 200*
143. Bernie Williams 199*
143. Courtney Tawresey 199*
145. Kristy McCray 198*
145. Jeff Dickens 198*
145. Earl Baker 198*
145. Keith Wood 198*
145. Victoria Lopez 198*
150. Sasha Zak Loy 197*
151. Vicki Huffman 196*
152. Nick Surmacz 195*
152. Brenden Roche 195*
152. Nathan Evangelista 195*
152. Joe Loy 195*
156. Joey Serfass 193*
156. John Knowles 193*
156. Larry Caplin 193*
156. Chris Pearsall 193*
156. Johanna Cummings 193*
156. Jackie Wilson, II 193*
162. Bryan Rudolph 191*
162. Jessica Cowans 191*
162. Steve Hartranft 191*
165. Rob Atherton 190*
165. Danny Bogue 190*
167. Josh Rubin 189*
167. Gary Kirby 189*
167. Marissa Modica 189*
170. Lisa Caplin 188*
170. Ricardo Valenzuela 188*
170. Gerry deSimas, Jr. 188*
170. Lauren Fowler 188*
170. Alex Ho 188*
175. Tony Badger 186*
175. Justin Stolte 186*
175. Barry McGinnis 186*
175. Roger Snyder 186*
179. Rick Garnett 185*
180. Cam McLachlan 184*
180. Andrew Leyden 184*
180. Joe McDade 184*
183. Scott Robertson 183*
183. Jenn Castelhano 183*
183. Dan DInunzio 183*
186. Sergio Lopez 182*
187. Tara Stuckey 181*
187. Marc LaPlante 181*
187. Jay Aldridge 181*
187. David Downes 181*
187. Cody Groeber 181*
187. Pat Caplin 181*
193. Kevin Pilz 179*
193. Jon Caplin 179*
193. Krista Zorilla 179*
196. Russell Caplin 176*
196. Kevin Curran 176*
198. Greg Plank 174*
199. Lisa Zarubick 173*
200. Kate Spitz 172*
200. Colin Pedicini 172*
202. Khalil Abou-khaled 169*
203. Mark Gardner 166*
204. Barry Lehman 165*
205. Greg Rauen 164*
205. Beth Milewski 164*
207. Rosalie Town 161*
207. Joshua Carpenter 161*
209. Marel Nasinnyk 160*
210. Toby Zak Loy 155*
211. Robbie Zak Loy 154*
211. Bonnie Stone 154*
213. Scott Pollock 150*
214. Buttercup Zak Loy 148*
215. Victoria Wags 142*
216. Rebecca Loy 132*
217. Toni and Jim Namnath 74*
218. Casey Zak 45*
|
Categories: NCAA Basketball & Pools
|
March 25th, 2006 at 11:20:46 pm
Hey..I’m a Trojan, and I have a pretty good chance at the NIT pool.
March 25th, 2006 at 11:27:27 pm
Doesn’t count, sorry. :) A Trojan won the NIT pool last year (Tom “Scientizzle” K.), but the NIT pool is not a Living Room Times pool. Doesn’t have the same history or, uh, gravitas. :)
March 26th, 2006 at 1:50:37 am
Heh. I just checked, and it turns out that you labeled my only prediction contest win of yours a Brendanloy.com pool, rather than a Living Room Times one. Drat. Oh, well. There are still Trojan threats alive in the women’s bracket, you know…
March 26th, 2006 at 2:06:58 am
The only contests that are Living Room Times pools are the men’s and women’s NCAA pools. It’s not an arbitrary labeling decision by me — it’s because those pools were started in 1996 and 1997, respectively, and were sponsored by The Living Room Times (my unofficial high-school newspaper, for the uninitiated). The NIT Pool, the Oscar Pool, the Electoral College Contest, etc. — none of those go back to the LRT days; they were all invented in the era of BrendanLoy.com.
At some point, it could be argued that continuing to call the NCAA pools “Living Room Times pools” is a bit silly, since the LRT hasn’t been in publication for nearly seven years now. It would make more sense, from a “branding” perspective, to just call them all “BrendanLoy.com pools” (perhaps declaring BrendanLoy.com to be the successor to the LRT — which is not an altogether illogical position, though there was a nearly three-year gap in there) and be done with it. But I like the continuity and the sense of history that the pools get by maintaining the tradition year after year, with the “__th annual” tag and the same name.
This also explains why I draw a distinction between whether a Trojan has won a LRT pool vs. the other pools… the LRT pools are, in my mind, more “important,” because they have a much longer history. They are the ultimate Brendan Loy contests, if you will. They’re, like, historic, and stuff. :)