Please tell me if you think I entered something incorrectly. The points total will change as I update it at the end of each day. It probably won't change online very quickly as I'm not all that motivated. The formatting may make it look like I cut off a "St." from "Washington". Examine your choice there closely to make sure I entered it right.
It will be a four-day basketball marathon for me. I'll likely not care who is playing come Saturday. But I'll do it anyway.
Of the 33 entries:
20 picked UCLA
6 picked USC
3 picked Arizona
2 picked Oregon
1 picked Washington State
1 picked Stanford
I have a few qualms with the scoring system. (This list is neither comprehensive nor well thought out).
1. First, it looks like there are a few games (e.g. Oregon-Arizona and OSU-Cal) where the point values are the same for an upset as they are for a non-upset. Seems like the upset should be worth more points, as is the case in other games...
2. If I understand correctly, a win over a worse-seeded team always gets the same point value. In other words, for example, the #1 team would get the same number of points for beating the #10 team as they would the #2 team. I'm not sure that makes sense. Seems like you should get more points for beating #2 than #10, even if you're seeded higher than each. Why should only the underdogs get extra rewards for the quality of the team they beat?
You are looking live at Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles! The Bears and Beavers are warming up before a sparse crowd. Cal fans have a slight edge in fan support.
The program cover has five players on it: Ubaka, Young, Brooks, Low, and Pendergraph.
Picking 5 over 4 isn't going out on a limb, but you have a point. So... I will alter the scoring.
One point for a win and one extra point for all wins by a lower seeded team. So if OSU wins, that will be two points
All other upsets will get one extra point essentially.
7 Not complaining, and the new rule makes sense to me, but theoretically, for those that were ardently trying to win the contest, perhaps peoples' picks would be different if they were using that rule from the start?
For example, under the old rules, picking the 8/9 and 4/5 games was one point either way, so one merely needed to predict a winner. Under the new rules, one should probably pick #5 unless they think #4 is more than twice as likely to win.
(However, this is mostly an exhibition. This is not that much of a competition. And we aren't wagering.)
I didn't change the rule as much as I just reinterpreted it. All decisions by me are subject to appeal by the International Tribunal for the Discussion of Basketball Guessing Contests headquartered in Vladivostok.
20 They don't even understand the concept of Basketball Guessing Contests in Vladivostok. There's no unknown outcome when you can just keep putting three seconds back on the clock and have "do-overs" until the predestined result is accomplished.
Dinner is done. This is the only day I'm eating Staples Center food. It would be expensive AND disgusting to do otherwise.
I may miss the beginning of the UA-UO game tomorrow as I have to wait for a plumber. But I do love an unclogged kitchen sink. And it wasn't clogged by me
There are many Ducks fans here now. I assume they will not be rooting for Washington.
I hear that OSU fans are the besest Oregonians!
This is a very weird game. UCLA should clobber either of these teams.
Some have suggested to the folks in Vladivostok that a win by Arizona over Oregon shouldn't twice as much as a win by Oregon over Arizona when the teams are essentially identical.
Some have also suggested that the discussion was merely theoretical! If I were you, Bob, I'd stick with the original rules. That's what every one "bought" into when you set up the contest. And it's nice, simple and straightforward. Or stick with your first alteration. But the ratios are just adding unneeded complexity; after all, this is only the Pac-10 tournament.
Besides, this only came up when someone at the last minute threw his two cents in.
4 BTW, point 2 is off. Prognosticators get points, not teams. Under what you suggested, accurately predicting WSU over USC after two rounds might yield more points than accurately predicting WSU over Stanford, depending how the points were weighted.
Saint Louis beat Dusquene so my brother gets to spend more time in Atlantic City. He's worried because they blew up the Chicken Man in Philly last night. Blew up his house too.
Marques Johnson quoting the right show but the wrong Sgt., Sgt. Schultz said "Move it, move it, move it.", Sgt. Carter was the demolitions expert and later a panelist on "The Liars Club."
BTW, congrats, Bob, for grabbing another mod 100,000 object ID. You've created object #300,000, #400,000, and now, with this entry, object #600,000. You da man!
If you are a hoops fan, tomorrow is for you especially with a satellite dish and plenty of food and water. Check your local listings
Big East - No. 1 Georgetown vs. No. 9 Villanova (9:00 aam. PST)
Big 10 - Game 1: No. 8 Michigan vs. No. 9 Minnesota (ESPN2, 9:00 a.m PST)
Big East - Game 6: No. 4 Notre Dame vs. No. 5 Syracuse (*11:00 a.m. PST)
Big 10 - Game 2: No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 10 Northwestern (*ESPN2, 11:30 a.m. PST)
Pac-10 - Game 3: Arizona v. Oregon (Fox Sports, noon PST)
Pac-10 - Game 4: UCLA v. California (*Fox Sports, 2:50 p.m. PST)
ACC - Game 3: No. 7 Duke vs. No. 10 NC State (ESPN2, 4:00 p.m. PST)
Big East - Game 7: No. 2 Louisville vs. No. 7 West Virginia (4 p.m. PST)
Pac-10 - Game 5: USC v. Stanford (Fox Sports, 6:00 p.m. PST)
Big East - Game 8: No. 3 Pittsburgh vs. No. 6 Marquette (*6:00 p.m. PST)
Pac-10 - Game 6: Washington State v. Washington (Fox Sports, *8:30 p.m. PST)
* Approximate starting time
Friday is packed with North Carolina, Texas, Kansas, Texas A&M, Florida, Ohio State and Wisconsin making their conference tournament debuts.
The most compelling games may still be out west where you can have UCLA going for back to back threepeats over Arizona while USC may try to beat Washington State for the
first time this year.
Lots of games left to play and March Madness hasn't officially started yet.
98 The Big 12 tournament starts tomorrow too as does the SEC tournament, but none of their games were really compelling, Duke is in there only because its Duke and a loss their could really send them down the bracket.
Although I'm not quite sure if my scoring system ensures that. Nine games is a small sample size.
1. First, it looks like there are a few games (e.g. Oregon-Arizona and OSU-Cal) where the point values are the same for an upset as they are for a non-upset. Seems like the upset should be worth more points, as is the case in other games...
2. If I understand correctly, a win over a worse-seeded team always gets the same point value. In other words, for example, the #1 team would get the same number of points for beating the #10 team as they would the #2 team. I'm not sure that makes sense. Seems like you should get more points for beating #2 than #10, even if you're seeded higher than each. Why should only the underdogs get extra rewards for the quality of the team they beat?
What a nice pink folder.
The program cover has five players on it: Ubaka, Young, Brooks, Low, and Pendergraph.
Picking 5 over 4 isn't going out on a limb, but you have a point. So... I will alter the scoring.
One point for a win and one extra point for all wins by a lower seeded team. So if OSU wins, that will be two points
All other upsets will get one extra point essentially.
I will adjust it tonight.
The majority of the fans are in UCLA colors. USC fans are second.
Scorebook.
For example, under the old rules, picking the 8/9 and 4/5 games was one point either way, so one merely needed to predict a winner. Under the new rules, one should probably pick #5 unless they think #4 is more than twice as likely to win.
(However, this is mostly an exhibition. This is not that much of a competition. And we aren't wagering.)
OSU 15
I may miss the beginning of the UA-UO game tomorrow as I have to wait for a plumber. But I do love an unclogged kitchen sink. And it wasn't clogged by me
There are many Ducks fans here now. I assume they will not be rooting for Washington.
I hear that OSU fans are the besest Oregonians!
This is a very weird game. UCLA should clobber either of these teams.
If an underdog wins, the bonus points are just the ratio between the seeds.
So if Arizona beats Oregon it's a victory worth 1.2 points (5/4). If ASU beats UW, it is worth 1.43 points (10/7).
Suggestions? Comments?
But that's a judgment call that's not applied to other teams. Stick to the seedings.
Besides, this only came up when someone at the last minute threw his two cents in.
Regardless this win for Cal is just one point.
The most popular underdog choices were Stanford and Washington.
So was this the last game for Jay John at OSU?
Do I have to cast the tiebreaker here?
El Lay Dave and grandsosmo (in an email) convinced me that to preserve the integrity of the original selctions, there will be no bonus points.
All the teams tonight brought bands and cheerleaders.
The program claims that ASU has an enrollment of 63278!
The program has a bug in it.
Two ASU fans...?
Especially if you're an ant
Huskies stumble on the court
Odd game forges on
Wonders where others might be
Gives up and drinks more
For non-Dodger baseball talk
Fried up nice and brown
Are sure getting killed right now
In the second half
Wonder why team cannot score
Tempe zone drawn tight
Of Duck fans everywhere:
Yo, Huck the Fuskies!
Lose three to Devil pickers
With either bonus
D4P is one
Syllable short for haiku
Needs one more finger
E-ver-y-where has
Four syllables in my book,
El Lay Dave. Make sense?
In war over words
I choose Webster over D
4P everywhere
Shakespeare and Webster beat me
In a war of words
No, not that Webster,
But rather the one of the
Dictionary fame
Big East - No. 1 Georgetown vs. No. 9 Villanova (9:00 aam. PST)
Big 10 - Game 1: No. 8 Michigan vs. No. 9 Minnesota (ESPN2, 9:00 a.m PST)
Big East - Game 6: No. 4 Notre Dame vs. No. 5 Syracuse (*11:00 a.m. PST)
Big 10 - Game 2: No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 10 Northwestern (*ESPN2, 11:30 a.m. PST)
Pac-10 - Game 3: Arizona v. Oregon (Fox Sports, noon PST)
Pac-10 - Game 4: UCLA v. California (*Fox Sports, 2:50 p.m. PST)
ACC - Game 3: No. 7 Duke vs. No. 10 NC State (ESPN2, 4:00 p.m. PST)
Big East - Game 7: No. 2 Louisville vs. No. 7 West Virginia (4 p.m. PST)
Pac-10 - Game 5: USC v. Stanford (Fox Sports, 6:00 p.m. PST)
Big East - Game 8: No. 3 Pittsburgh vs. No. 6 Marquette (*6:00 p.m. PST)
Pac-10 - Game 6: Washington State v. Washington (Fox Sports, *8:30 p.m. PST)
* Approximate starting time
Friday is packed with North Carolina, Texas, Kansas, Texas A&M, Florida, Ohio State and Wisconsin making their conference tournament debuts.
The most compelling games may still be out west where you can have UCLA going for back to back threepeats over Arizona while USC may try to beat Washington State for the
first time this year.
Lots of games left to play and March Madness hasn't officially started yet.
They still work locally for me.
Can you give me some better picks please?
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