Tip-Off

Hey gamblers -

Post your grievances here. For example, Andy O. might be cursing Villanova's coach for benching 2 starters for a "learning moment". Fine for the team, but lousy for Andy who looses Nova to Joe in a steal.

Cheers to Old D. Anyone who beats Notre Dame at anything is tops in my book.

Follow on Twitter @LastContingent\ncaa-elimination-2010

The Way it Should Be

So everyone complained last year when all four number ones made it to the Final 4. That is ridiculous. In the age of a BS NCAA football BCS and general corruption everywhere in college athletics, to see the NCAA do something right is great. I will give them 2 for 2 including this year considering that with the exception of an underrated Zona team, the Elite 8 and Final 4 show no massive upsets.

However, the betting public and handicappers did not quite get this right. Who knew American and Robert Morris would get you to the Final 4? Congrats to Lindsey and Daniel for capitalizing on terrible first round spreads and having gutsy teams carry them in. Beware of the big dogs though. Andy and Mark bring powerhouses in with UConn and UNC. I think we are in for some good basketball. Early spread put UConn and Mich St. close (2) while UNC is a solid favorite at 7.

Twitter Next Year?

So are you kids technophobic or what. I had at least 500 emails last year with 15 other people in the address list. So I think to myself, "a blog would have been a good idea so no one's inbox at work is filled with taunting subject lines such as "They stunk worse than an elephant's taint last night." Apparently not.

Mass emails good, blogs bad? Who knew?

Maybe I will twitter randomness next year.

At Least I Made It to the 2nd Round This Year

So while 100% improvement is usually a good thing, and I am glad I made it past the first round this year, the Author along with Kevin and both Erics have joined DeDe in the ranks of the philanthropist-only observers for this round.

All I can say is F*&$ UT and Duke. Duke - you couldn't make a couple goddamn free throws or a lay-up at the end to cover? I know everyone thinks you are going to win the championship now cause some kid accidentally swatted a ball that was rolling out of bounds down-court to a teammate who was too lazy to run down on defense, but you BLEW A 10-POINT LEAD with less than 2 minutes left. Put the nails in the coffin for a change, will ya?

And Texas, WTF!?!? Did you avoid fouling right away to lose the game faster? Duke was trying to hand this game over to you and you were pushing it right back.

And how about the spreads. Apparently everyone thought there were too many upsets the first round, so the decided to tighten things up. UCLA only gets 2.5 on Nova? How about A&M only getting 10 versus UConn who promptly shelled them by 26.

At least there were a couple legit upsets. Big ups to WKyU and Siena for playing tough and getting some steals. I know Nunez (last year's winner) is already thinking Sienna = Davidson. I gotta put Purdue in that boat too for the outright win over Washington.

Bart DeLatte needs to be thanking the Basketball Gods for both his teams squeaking it out. You can't feel too good with #1 Pitt pushing 8 over #8 Okla St. Or Mizzou barely covering 3.5 over a weak Marquette team.

All I can say is I am happy I don't have to play Lindsey again.

Round 2 . . . Fight!

Cleveland St. . . Really!?!?! I mean don't get me wrong, I loved to see those pretentious d-bags from Wake get trounced, but by 25 points!?!?! Congrats to Kevin Huston for owning the ballsiest team with the widest upset so far.

There were a shit-ton of steals (and some fantastic upsets) yesterday, more than I have ever seen in the 10 years I have been running this tournament. You gotta wonder if college basketball is that outrageous or if the handicappers and betting public are just that stupid.

Funny thing about steals though, it is kind of a double-edged sword. On one hand you just picked up a higher seed, but on the other it is because they barely beat the shitty team you already had. I am talking to to you Pitt and Memphis. I think there must be a reaction to yesterdays upsets happening now because there are NO big spreads today. I am a gamblin' man and even I don't like any bets today.

RIP DeDe (aka New Daniel). Life is tough sometimes. I'm glad you payed up front.

You gotta envy Spiderman Ed and Jake for having all four teams still in the hunt including recently acquired (stolen) top seeds replacing their bottom seeds. May as well throw Mark Brumfield in the group of people to hate as well for having arguably the two best teams in the tourney now. Rounding out people I am cussing is Bart DeLatte who picked up my favorite to win it all with his Pitt acquisition yesterday. I actually heard Nunez cry when that happened by the way.

The author would also like to thank the basketball gods for allowing both Lindsey and I to steal teams that would pit us against each other. Heaven forbid I am the one to knock her out of this tourney, I will be sleeping on the couch for a month.

All This Theft is Upsetting

Some great basketball on the first day of the Tourney. Lindsey was able to feel some vindication stealing Nova to replace her fallen Tigers. Unfortunately, it was at the expense of E_Her who now has his hopes resting on a fired up Michigan team (sorry man, they are still Big Ten) or Cornell sticking it to Mizzou.

The Junior Wiza had perhaps the worst day losing three teams. While suffering from Big Ten-itis like everyone else, he lost two teams (Purdue in a steal to Scott Clarke) and watched big brother's Duke team trounce his tourney-virgin Bing-Hampton-ers.

While Scott might have picked up Purdue, he lost his Zags to a blood-thirsty J. Voorhies. Not exactly a fair trade in my opinion.

Some fine mid-level upsets by Michigan, Maryland, A&M and WKU should help some people stay afloat. You gotta like Michigan, WKU and Maryland for a steal if not an outright upset, but sorry A. OBuch, I don't see A&M doing any more than holding jock straps for UConn, with or without their coach.

The author would like to dedicate this post to VA Commonwealth for their near upset (one shot baby), but solid mid-level steal of UCLA from a slightly intoxicated Nunez. Just like his pride, I am not even sure he knew they were gone.

Good Luck to the newbies getting their first game in today. Look for Round 2 spreads early Saturday.

Memphis Who?

I know they lost, but CSN played tough. Memphis did not cover a 21 point spread mostly because they decided not to play until there were about 5 minutes left in the game. Sorry Linds, but you'll have to take it up with Spiderman Ed.

Air Your Grief Here

In an attempt to eliminate the MASSIVE email string that ensued last year, I am trying the blog route this time. When your top seed doesn't cover the spread by one point and you "lose" to Morehead St., please let us know how you feel.

Get Your Money In

OK, so many of you have paid already, and I thank you. But you have your teams now and I don't care how crappy they are, you still owe me $20.