2025 Jellybean Pool
We're back! Another year for the econo-published sweet-themed NCAA Basketball Pool that you know. It's another chance to make a bracket in hopes of collecting a pile of jellybeans at the end. Fill it out however you want - spend hours analyzing the stats, throw darts at the wall, or make your picks based on uniform color - everyone has a chance to win. For those who are returning, you probably know how it works by now. For the newbies, check out the rules page to see how it works. Download a bracket from the site and email it back to me. Make sure to send your beans on the payment tab. If I don't get your beans, your bracket is burned in effigy. I will update the Leaderboard page after each round. Good luck to everyone!
First round done, and the upsets have already started. UC San Diego, Yale, UNC, Colorado St, and Drake all got lots of love as big upset contenders. Only Drake and Colorado St pulled it off. Kudos to five of you for picking McNeese St over Clemson. It's hard to come back when you only score 13 first half points. Clemson tried, but it was just too much to make up. The Tournament Committee did a pretty good job so far; only five remaining teams have a double digit ranking. Only three teams are higher than a 10-seed. There are no run-away leaders so far; only 5 points separate #1 from #30 on the leaderboard. Tough luck to last year's champ; but who knows, a lot can happen between now and the end. Congrats to Eli Smith And Joe Cockerill, who are our early leaders. Let's see how long you can keep it up. Good luck to everyone in the second half of the first weekend!
3/22/25
Sorry, Cinderella, this may not be your year. The second round featured an near complete lack of major upsets. Only four lower seeded teams won in the second round, and three of them were a three seed or less difference. The only major upset came with Arkansas beating St. John's in the um-teenth meeting between Pitino and Calipari. Calipari leads the matchup in games 16-13. In terms of NCAA violations, who's counting? Best game of the round award goes to Colorado St vs Maryland. This was back and forth through the buzzer. Did Maryland get away with a travel at the end? Maybe, maybe not, but it's hard to get too stuck on the least consistently enforced rule in the game. There has been plenty of movement on the Leaderboard, Misty Cockerill, Ty Basenback, and Brandon Boone are leading the charge before the list drops off. If you still have 3 or 4 of your Final Four intact, don't give up hope; you are still in it. If you were banking on Clemson or St. John's, it may be best to not focus too hard on the points moving forward. On that note, the entire Van Kleunen immediate family has a tight grip on the bottom quarter of the Leaderboard. Don't ask any of us for betting advice unless you are planning on betting on the opposite team. While the first weekend is always the best part of the Tournament, there are still plenty of big games to come! Good luck to everyone in the Sweet Sixteen!
3/25/25
The Sweet Sixteen brought some exciting games and some big finishes. Duke beat the curse of Caleb Love. Alabama came to rain 3's, but it ended up being more like a monsoon. Arkansas kicked Texas Tech's butt all around the court for most of the game, but choked down the stretch, and when it counted most, ended up losing in OT. Houston drew up the perfect play to beat Purdue in the final seconds. Michigan St looked left for dead, but played hard and pulled out a tough comeback win over Ole Miss. I could put up some meme of Admiral Akbar yelling "it's a trap", but unless you've spent some time in Mississippi, you would miss the reference.
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So where does that leave us? Well, with a funeral. A funeral for Cinderella, because there are no upsets left on the board. The Elite Eight gives us 4 #1's, 3 #2's, and 1 #3 (sorry you missed the memo, St. John's). That means that there are no possible bonus points left for the remainder of the bracket. Either you picked the right teams straight up, or you are not in the running for beans. For that matter, I can't recall a Tournament with so few bonus points. For fact-checking, please DM Aaron Eaton, I'm sure he's got those stats somewhere.
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Another trend has become apparent; some of you really suck at picking the small games but nailed the late rounds. There are a few out there that have all eight teams left in the Elite Eight! The late rounds also carry more points. There has already been some big moves on the Leaderboard. Misty Cockerill still holds the top spot. Holden Schneider and Kacy Hiser both rise in the rankings. Ty Basenback drops a little but is still in spitting distance. Kevin Schneider, last year's champ and left for dead a week ago, may have made the biggest jump. Given the VK clan has made some leaps. I knew you guys were better closers than starters.
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Only four more games this weekend. Good luck to everyone!
3/29/25
The end of the second weekend was here before we knew it. There were matchups of top ranked teams, and a few stood out as being juggernauts. Duke looks like a beast and beat Alabama by 20 points. It's going to be very hard to beat the Blue Devils down the stretch. Texas Tech got a taste of their own medicine from when they staged a big comeback win over Arkansas. Texas Tech held a 9 point lead over the Gators with just over three minutes to play. Unfortunately they only scored 4 more points in those last three minutes, while the Gators scored 18. Florida got the win and moves on. Houston manhandled a Tennessee team that many called the best #2 in the Tournament. That Duke-Houston matchup could be a monster game. Michigan St tried to make a game of it in the closing minutes but just couldn't do enough to catch Auburn.
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As they say, it's not how you start, but how you finish. The top names of the leaderboard are in good position but are not unbeatable. Some of you who seemed out of it still have a chance to grab some beans when all is said and done. All that said, for your amusement and self analysis, I present you the closing scenarios for the pool based on the remaining three games:
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If Duke and Auburn win in the Final Four, and Duke wins the championship, the top three are
1. Misty Cockerill
2. Kacy Hiser
3. Holden Schneider
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If either Duke or Houston and Auburn win in the Final Four, and Auburn wins the championship the top three are
1. tie between Allen Barger and Wendy Eaton
3. Misty Cockerill
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If Duke and Florida win in the Final Four, and Duke wins the championship, the top three are
1. Kacy Hiser
2. tie between Misty Cockerill and Holden Schneider
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If Duke and Florida win in the Final Four, and Florida wins the championship, the top three are
1. Ty Basenback
2. Anthony Pazcoguin
3. tie between Kacy Hiser and Darren McLaurin
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If Houston and Auburn win in the Final Four, and Houston wins the championship, the top three are
1. Steve Merrill
2. Misty Cockerill
3. Nick Steier
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If Houston and Florida win in the Final Four, and Houston wins the championship, the top three are
1. Kevin O'Brien
2. Kacy Hiser
3. Ty Basenback
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If Houston and Florida win in the Final Four, and Florida wins the championship, the top three are
1. Ty Basenback
2. Anthony Pazcoguin
3. Vince Steier
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This is probably the most number of different winning scenarios that I can remember in a while. There's a lot on the line for the final weekend, so cheer for bothvyour favorite team and the friend/family member you can mooch off after next Monday. Good luck to everyone still in the running, and I'll be back next weekend!
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