The selection committee has spoken, which means its time for the Seventh Annual Uncle Crappy NCAA Final Four Challenge (Brought to you by Bocktown).
Given that this our seventh year, there is a mess of you who already know the AUCNFFC drill; for those of you who don’t here’s how it works in handy bullet list form:
- Find yourself a copy of the bracket. If you can’t manage that, you probably shouldn’t be operating a computer, driving a car, breathing, etc., but if you’re having trouble, there’s a nice PDF version provided by our friends at Yahoo! Sports here. Fill it out.
- After consulting your bracket, pick the four teams — one from each region — that you think will win the regional championships and travel to the Final Four in New Orleans.
- After consulting your bracket again, pick the two teams you think will win the national semi-final games on March 31.
- Consult your bracket once more, and pick the team from your semi-finalists who will win the title game April 2.
- How do I figure out who wins? You get two points for picking a correct Final Four team, four points for a correct semi-finalist and six points for a correct national championship pick. Assuming I can add correctly (and that can be quite an assumption, boys and girls), the entry with the highest point total is our winner.
- Yes, there is a tie-breaker. When you submit your pick, please also include your project score for the championship game. If it’s necessary, the entry whose score is closest will be our winner.
Still confused? Given that I’m writing this in a hurry, that’s entirely possible. Here’s a purely hypothetical example of what an entry from this year’s bracket could look like (Note 1: this is NOT my entry. Note 2: These are the lowest seeds in the tournament; if you want to make this your entry, feel free, but do so knowing the risk of being Blutarskied):
Semi-finals:
Western Kentucky/LIU-Brooklyn
Vermont/UNC-Asheville
Championship game:
Western Kentucky/Vermont
Champion:
Vermont
Simple, right? As you begin to mull your picks, here are a couple of other things to keep in mind:
One thing to make sure you don’t do: Send me money to enter. As has always been the case, AUCNFFC is free.
In the first four years of the contest, we were competing for cheesy trinkets and I usually included a disclaimer that our FABULOUS PRIZES weren’t actually fabulous. And then Chris at Bocktown Beer and Grill blew that out of the water by putting up a gift card to the contest’s winner — as she’s doing again this year. All together, boys and girls: “Thank you, Chris!”
The tournament’s first-round games get underway around 12:15 Eastern Thursday; I’m not a huge stickler, but I’ll need to have your entries by noonish that day for you to be eligible.
How do you enter? Comment. Email. Twitter. DM. Text. Facebook. Smoke signal. Please feel free adding whatever commentary you wish regarding how you arrived at your picks; each entry will be listed in a comprehensive post that’ll show up at some point early Thursday afternoon.
The fine print (AKA The Juan Rule): As is tradition, Juan will once again be entered against his will, using either the Phil’s Mom Method or the Penny-Flipping Method.
To summarize:
Free.
Easy.
Deadline is noon Thursday.
Bocktown gift card for the winner.
Have any questions? Let me know. Otherwise, good luck to everyone — especially me.
I have a new dog now, so who the hell knows what I’ll end up with. I’ll ask him tonight.
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If I had a dog, I’d let him pick for sure. But since I have a cat, I’ll have to ask. He can be a real dick from time to time.
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Colonials got the shaft and Pitt blows so I will be cheering for Mississippi Valley State University!
Semi-finals: UNC/Syracuse & Duke/Mich St
Championship game: UNC/Mich State
Champion: UNC
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Semi-Finals: Kentucky/Michigan State & Syracuse/Kansas
Championship: Kentucky/Syracuse
Champion: Kentucky
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As allowed by the Melo Rule, new updated picks:
Semi-Finals: Kentucky/Michigan State & Florida State/Kansas
Championship: Kentucky/Kansas
Champion: Kentucky
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Final 4: Duke, Mich St, Syracuse, UNC
Championship: Kentucky v. UNC
Champion: Kentucky 72-68
Looking to repeat! Ted, you don’t have a chance!
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Semi-Finals:
Kentucky/Mississippi & Ohio St/North Carolina
Championship Game:
Kentucky/North Carolina
Champion:
North Carolina 63-54
Good luck everyone!
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Well this shows how far I’ll go – mistake in Semi-Finals: Kentucky/MISSOURI, not Mississippi.
[facepalm]
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I never do well here, so I don’t know why I’m trying again, maybe to get my mind off of school for a hot second…
So, here I go.
Semis: KY/Mich St & OSU/NCU
Finals: KY/OSU
Winner: KY
Score: 74-68
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Kentucky, Florida St., Kansas, Missouri
Kentucky, Florida St.
Kentucky
68-63
I always suck at this so my expectations match Juan’s.
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Semis: Kentucky/Michigan State & Ohio State/Georgetown
Finals: Michigan State/Ohio State
Winner: Ohio State
Score: 67-61
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Semis: Kentucky, Gonzaga, Murray State, North Carolina
Finals: Kentucky, North Carolina
Winner: UNC, 75-68
I did vote for the Bobcats to make it to the Sweet 16 though.
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My picks:
Final Four: Kentucky/Michigan State and Ohio State/North Carolina.
Final: Kentucky/North Carolina
Winner: Kentucky – 77-68
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Ironically, I know nothing about college b-ball, but enjoy March Madness every year!
Four: Kentucky, MI St., Syracuse, and Kansas
Final: Kentucky, Kansas
Winner: Kentucky, 76-75
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Final Four: Kentucky/Missouri, Syracuse/Georgetown
Final: Kentucky/Syracuse
Winner: Kentucky — 72-64
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DOH updating mine
FINAL 4 – Florida ST/UNC & Mich St/Kentucky
FINAL – Mich st / UNC
Champion – UNC
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Final Four: Ohio State/Kansas / Kentucky/Michigan State
Final: Ohio State / Kentucky
Winner: Ohio State: 72-69
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OK here are my picks. It’s usually safest to bet AGAINST me. I’m always wrong.
Final Four: Michigan State, Duke, North Carolina, Ohio State
Finals: Michigan State/North Carolina
Winner: North Carolina
Score: 81-77
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duke/michigan state
syracuse/georgetown
duke over syracuse 59 to 58.
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My dog doesn’t care & my cat is very bored by the whole thing, so I am picked myself up to the finals and then let (I kid you not) the goldfish pick the final winner:
Kentucky vs. Michigan State and Florida State vs Kansas
Michigan State vs Kansas
Michigan State
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I forgot my score: 78-64
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DUKE vs. MICHIGAN ST
OSU vs. N CAROLINA
DUKE vs. N CAROLINA
DUKE wins
72 to 67
( I love that you said The OHIO Bobcats will beat Michigan…)
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Ummmm, btw, the cat said no. I had to pick by myself
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Final Four:
Kentucky/MSU & OSU/UNC
Championship Game:
MSU/UNC
Winner:
MSU
74-68
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Final 4:
Kentucky/Michigan State and Ohio State/North Carolina
Championship Game: Michigan State/North Carolina
Champions: Michigan State 78 to 72
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