Conference tourney pickems - the 31 Automatic Qualifiers

[BRS24]

Quick update - 7 BY-ers picked UCLA, and 12 picked TCU. I'll update the leaders in picks sometime tomorrow ....

 

[BRS24]

GM sports fans! Big South winner High Point was picked by 12 BY fans. Here are the standings after the first 9 AQ games:

7 - @Topsail, @Jbs600, @triaddukefan
6 - BRS24, None (too bad I don't know who this is), @Phil, @mrmojack, @RoadMaster, @Stagnant, @Bigboote, @bballnut90, @Jonathan14
5 - @RSHERMVIKES, @Zarathustra, @maple
3 - @Shocker47
2 - @kat0189

Tonight's AQ games feature BE UConn v Creighton and Sun Belt James Madison v Arkansas State. Also included are a few semifinal games, with our friend Inès at 3 pm ET. Seeds holding for this particular set of games.

BY picks (17 people participated):
Sun Belt - James Madison (15), Arkansas State (1)
Big East - UConn (16), Villanova (1)

 

[triaddukefan]

 

[Bigboote]

With George Mason winning yesterday, we could have two Virginia schools named for founding-fathers in the dance.

 

[BRS24]

#1 UTSA in the American loses to #9 Rice, 62-58. It looks like the AAC will be a one bid league.

 

[BRS24]

Sun Belt - 2 Arkansas State takes down #1 James Madison in OT, 86-79. Ark St outscored JM 16-9 in OT.

Congrats to @Shocker47 for making the pick!

 

[nwhoopfan]

With George Mason winning yesterday, we could have two Virginia schools named for founding-fathers in the dance.

You jinxed it!

 

[nwhoopfan]

Well at least we get Green Bay vs. Purdue Ft. Wayne in the Horizon finals, as it should be.

 

[BRS24]

#4 Oregon State beats #1 Gonzaga (sob), 63-61 to advance to the WCC final.

 

[triaddukefan]

Carnage today

 

[BRS24]

UConn wins BET. Here are the standings of our little contest after 11 tourney finals:

8 - @triaddukefan, @Topsail, @Jbs600
7 - @Stagnant, @RoadMaster, @Phil, None, @mrmojack, @Jonathan14, BRS24, @Bigboote, @bballnut90
6 - @Zarathustra, @RSHERMVIKES, @maple
5 - @Shocker47
2 - @kat0189

 

[Bigboote]

You jinxed it!

Yeah, shoulda kept my trap shut. JMU looked really good at the beginning, but c’est la vie.

 

[triaddukefan]

I may be getting ahead of myself.... But @BRS24 any great donut places or sandwich shops around where you live?

 

[BRS24]

GM campers! Here's a look at today's semis and finals:

Finals
Horizon pics - Green Bay (17)
WCC pics - Portand (3)

Semis
Big Sky - Montana St (7), N AZ (3)
ASUN - FBCU (17)
AAC - N Texas (3), USF (5)
MW - UNLV (17)

 

[azfan]

GM campers! Here's a look at today's semis and finals:
Finals
Horizon pics - Green Bay (17)
WCC pics - Portand (3)

Semis
Big Sky - Montana St (7), N AZ (3)
ASUN - FBCU (17)
AAC - N Texas (3), USF (5)
MW - UNLV (17)

WCC final tips at 1pm with Portland favored. In addition to dancing Portland with hit the 30 win mark with their anticipated win. Interestingly Massey has Oregon State by 4.

Is it possible the Beavs are a team of destiny? Two last second victories vault them into the final and they do have the best pep band playing in Vegas right now.

I expect a sea of Orange this afternoon as the team from Corvallis will be well supported at The Orleans.

Montana State is a lock and Loree Payne's Lumberjacks are on upset alert after a lackluster effort against Sac State. This is a virtual home game for Montana; fingers crossed the Jacks are hitting their threes, jacking up more shots than the Griz and turning the ball over less than 15 times. Even if they hit these marks it's possible the Griz will pull off the upset.

In the Mountain West semis Massey has UNLV and Wyoming as 12 point favorites. Looking ahead based upon what I've seen I think Wyoming may end the UNLV streak. Tomorrow night I expect the cowboy hats to outnumber the Red at Thomas and Mack.

Two tiny complaints about UNLV hosting. You have to pay to get Wi-Fi in the arena and parking is $30 per session. The parking fee has really stimulated both Uber and Lyft so I wonder if the local unions had something to say about it.

After the game I was walking back to my motel on the corner of Tropicana and Paradise and met two other fans who specifically picked this Best Western to avoid the parking fee. I was wearing my Nika Muhl shirt and one of them commented I was a long way from the Big East.