I WANT A BOCKTOWN GIFT CARD.

The impending Battle of the Crappyhouse Snuggies will be fun, but the real fun this time of year is the Sixth Annual Uncle Crappy NCAA Final Four Challenge (Brought To You By Bocktown).

The regulars know the drill by now, but if you’re a newcomer or you need a quick refresher, here are the instructions in handy list form:

  • Find yourself a copy of the bracket. This shouldn’t be hard, but if you’re having trouble, we like Yahoo (find the printable version) even though they like picking on poor Jimmy Tressel.
  • Pick the four teams — one from each region — you think will win their regional championship and travel to the Final Four in Houston.
  • After consulting your bracket, pick the two teams you think will win the national semi-final games on April 3.
  • Of those two semi-final winners, pick who you think will win the championship game on April 5.
  • We’ve had some tight finishes in the past so I’m going to modify the scoring again this year. A correct Final Four pick gets two points. A correct semi-final pick gets four. A correct pick in the title game gets six. The entry with the highest point total at the end is our winner.
  • One other change: So I don’t have to hunt you down later, please include your prediction for the final score of your championship game. If it’s necessary, the tiebreaker will go to the person with the combined score closest to the real thing.

Need an illustration? Here’s an example taken from this year’s bracket (NOTE: this is NOT my entry; I may be an idiot, but I’m not insane):

Semi-finals:

Long Island v. Northern Colorado

Boston U. v. Cal-Santa Barbara

Championship game:

Long Island v. Boston U.

Champion:

Long Island

I’ll need your picks and whatever smack talk you have to offer by noon Thursday, the approximate start time for the tournament. You may leave them as a comment, you may send me an email or a text and I’m open to telepathy as well. Entries will be posted here on Thursday afternoon for all to see.

Note No. 1: Juan will once again be entered against his will, using either the Phil’s Mom Method or, if Phil’s Mom isn’t picking this year, the Penny-Flipping Method.

Note No. 2: I would usually offer the standard disclaimer that the prizes for the Sixth Annual Uncle Crappy NCAA Final Four Challenge aren’t actually fabulous, but as was the case a year ago, Chris at Bocktown has screwed me up by offering a Bocktown gift card that will be awarded to this year’s winner (did y’all notice the parenthetical addition to the title?). That prize is especially meaningful to those who live in the Pittsburgh area or close to it; if an out-of-town person takes the prize and doesn’t have time to travel to Pittsburgh to redeem the card and buy me a beer, we will work out something else, like me sending you the cash equivalent and taking the card to buy myself an order of bacon and beer cheese fries the size of the pitcher’s mound in PNC Park.

To summarize:

  1. Free.
  2. Easy.
  3. Deadline is noon Thursday.
  4. BOCKTOWN GIFT CARD TO THE WINNER.

If y’all have any questions, just let me know. Otherwise — let the fun begin.

40 Comments

  2. Well, I’m in. And if I win it is just another excuse to come drink beer in Pittsburgh.

    North Carolina v UConn,
    Louisville v Pittsburgh

    North Carolina v Pittsburgh

    Pitt

    Like

    2. I like these picks! :)

      Mine will follow sometime before Thursday at noon; haven’t had a chance to analyze the brackets yet.

      Like

  3. Eggggs-cellent. My winning team — and make no mistake, I shall win again — will include Honus Wagner, Cap Anson, Mordecai Brown, Gabby Street, Pie Traynor, Harry Hooper, Nap Lajoie, Joe Jackson and Jim Creighton.

    Like

  4. If I get any of these right, I will be more surprised than anyone. And because if I win a gift card to Bocktown, my wife will insist we go there…

    Ohio State v. San Diego State
    Kansas v. Florida

    Kansas v. Ohio State

    Oooooooohhiii, nah I can’t do it. Kansas. 87-78.

    But really, I don’t care if I win or not. I don’t really even care if my hometown Pitt Panthers don’t reach the final four again. I don’t care if the team that tore my heart out as a youth (Danny Manning, you still suck) wins another championship. I swear that all I want is for Rick Pitino to wear that ridiculous white suit again and for a courtside chili and tequila lover to vomit all over it.

    Like

  5. I don’t know much about college basketball and make my picks off of my gut feelings (and have done pretty well in the past years from that), so here it is:

    Ohio State vs Duke
    Kansas vs Pitt

    Ohio State vs Kansas

    Ohio State = winner
    Total score: 145

    Like

  6. Note: I never *ever* win these, as one of my final four picks usually gets crushed in the first round.

    So: N.Carolina v. UConn
    Kansas v. Pitt

    N.Carolina v. Kansas

    N. Carolina.

    That’s right. GO TARHEELS! Wooooo!

    (Did I mention I suck at this?)

    Like

  9. Alright, giving this a try. Go BIG TEN.

    Ohio State beats Arizona.
    Notre Dame beats Wisconsin.
    Ohio State beats Notre Dame, 127 total points.

    Oh, and in case you wondered, Penn State beats Temple, but loses gloriously to San Diego State.

    Like

  10. Ohio State v. Duke
    Pitt V. Notre Dame

    Duke V. Notre Dame

    Duke
    99-88
    Because that’s the score i always pick.

    Like

  11. Semi:

    Kansas vs. BYU
    North Carolina vs. Duke

    Final:

    Duke vs. Kansas

    Champion: Duke
    Score: 80-77

    Like

  13. There’s something inherently wrong with having to choose between OSU and UNC and by proxy choosing between Uncle Crappy and Mrs. Crappy. With that in mind, I offer you the winning entry…

    Syracuse vs. UCONN
    Kansas vs. Pitt

    UCONN vs. Kansas

    Kansas (68-59)

    P.S. I’ll deny it if you tell Mrs. C, Go Bucks!

    Like

  14. North Carolina vs. Duke
    Kansas vs. Pitt

    North Carolina vs. Kansas

    Champion: North Carolina, 71-66

    Like

  15. Pingback: 15. hours. « Uncle Crappy

  16. syracuse v. duke
    ku v. fla

    ku v. duke

    ku wins

    i will be happy if i win the gift card since i assume “gift card” = beer.

    i will be even more happier if the actual teams i’m rooting for win and, i’m an old man with a job, so i can buy my own beer. my wife has a job too. she also buys me beer sometimes. i’m ready for soccer season. i drink beer at those games too.

    what was the question?

    Like

  20. Oh heck. Can I get an extension on the deadline because I just came back into the real world? I haven’t even seen a bracket yet! I’ll provide multiple pics of an adorable toddler…No? Crap. I better find a bracket somewhere and pick the pretty ones. Maybe I’ll do better here than my fantasy football leagues. HAH!

    Like

  21. Never mind. Here you go.

    NC vs Duke
    Louisville v Pitt

    NC vs Louisville

    Winner? UNC. (You’re welcome, Mrs. Crappy)

    I’m not guessing a score. I can’t count that high.

    Like

  25. OK, Final Four to Champs:

    OSU v. Dook
    Kansas v. Florida

    OSU v. Florida

    OSU wins avenging the 2007 season.
    Go Buckeyes – in this bracket anyway!

    Like

  31. Since he has done pretty well the past couple of years, I let the dog pick (I only had him pick from the top 8 because he gets bored easily) Here’s his picks:

    Kansas vs Pitt
    UNC vs Texas

    UNC vs Kansas

    UNC 76-73

    Like

Comments are closed.