top of page

Another March, another Tournament, another year of your favorite candy-inspired basketball pool.  Convinced that I am incapable of of producing a sleek and sexy website alone, I have resorted to the AI powers of Wix to help me make this thing float this year.  Let's see what crazy ideas they can throw out there!  I'll keep the gist simple for those of you who are veterans.  Send me your bracket and the required jellybeans, and I will do all the leg work checking the stats and results of your picks.  Check out the Rules page for all of the nitty-gritty.  For those of you who are new, download the bracket off of the site and email it back to me at vankleun@gmail.com.  Click on the Payment tab to send me your beans.  I will post updates on the Leaderboard page so that you check on how you are doing.  Good luck to everyone, for the moment we all have perfect brackets!

3/23/24

Sorry about the delay in posting.  I have spent the entire day at a swim meet in West Virginia.  While I have been to the state a few times in the past, this visit has not impressed me.  No internet signal, hard to get a quick meal, and the hotel smells like socks.  It makes sense why it was a hotbed for opioid addiction.  Since I have had no internet until reaching my hotel tonight, it was almost like I had no ide that there was an outside world today.  I really had no access to scores all day, so I will write this almost like it was Saturday morning and not Saturday night.  The first round had the common culprits for upsets - it should make any team a little nervous to be the #5 or #4 seed because those 12's and 13's seem to be the giant killers.  Oakland did MC Hammer proud and beat a lackluster Kentucky team that did not look like they belonged in this tournament.  Oakland was Too Legit To Quit shooting 3's and Kentucky's defense Can't Touch This offensive display by the Golden Grizzlies. Oh wait, wait, Oakland University is in Michigan and not California?  Ok, forget what I just said.  What should I expect when your best player looks like a grown up Eddie Munster.  I can say that I have some knowledge of the Atlantic 10.  I went to an A-10 college whose basketball program I have followed somewhat since 1994.  Duquesne has always stunk at basketball.  They have never contended for anything.  I mean, at least La Salle was good in the 80's, I think.  Just like the general rule of never pick an Ivy League school to win in the tournament, don't expect Duquesne to win anything let alone make it to the tournament.  I was shocked by the amount of faith on several brackets in picking Duquesne to win.  Well, I am here to admit I was wrong to doubt them, and I am sorry if my comments made you doubt yourselves.  Let's be honest though, no way they win another game.  Speaking of Ivy League, Yale beat an Auburn team playing with Kentucky's playbook.  Auburn amassed an impressive collection of unforced turnovers and still had a 10-point lead with less than 5 minutes in the game.  They blew it and now head home.  We now get to watch a dopey, tall white guy named Wolf throw up 20 3-pt attempts while the Whiffinpoofs harmonize a capella about their superiority on the basketball court.  What else?  Oregon and Grand Canyon were popular upset picks, and both pulled it off.  Both have that smell of low ranked teams that make it into the second weekend.  Some of these Cinderellas will go home in Round 2, but don't be surprised if a couple make it to the Sweet Sixteen.  Also, you have to wonder - who will hang around the longest - Duke, the James Madison Dukes, or Duquesne?  Good luck to y'all in the second round.  As long as I am back in a functional society with working wireless, I will post the updated Leaderboard some point on Monday.

3/25/24

We've made it through the first weekend.  The first 4 days of the tournament are consistently some of the best days in sports during the year.  Anyone has a chance to win. Davids beat Goliaths, and teams that are expected to win have a chance to show their stuff.  It has the aura of unadulterated purity in sports, a thing that is seen less over time.  I know that last statement is not completely true, and plenty of cynics will say it is far from true, but it is one of the cleaner examples of sport as it was intended that we have left in this world at the collegiate or professional level.  Fun fact - this is the first time since 1985 that all four #1 and #2 seeds have made it past the first weekend.  You may say that this means a lack of upsets, but 13 lower seeded teams have won games in the first two rounds this year.  Going by the NCAA definition of "upset", when a winning team is five of more seeds below the losing team, there have been 7 upsets this year in the first weekend.  The average since 1985 has been 7.8, so this year is pretty consistent with the past.  It also means that this was a rough year to be a #3-#6 seed.  Looking at the leader board, there is a 3-way tie between Amy VK, Kevin Schneider, and Tina Rudisill.  I can tell you that one of those people filled out a bracket 5 minutes before the deadline, so that should make those of you who agonized over your bracket for hours feel good.  We return back to action this Thursday.  Will the high seeds continue to dominate, or can NC State, Clemson, and San Diego St stop that trend?

3/30/24

Remember that story where the #1's and #2's went 8/8 getting to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1985?  So much for that.  Those same teams went 3/8 beating the lower seeds on Thursday and Friday.  UConn looks like the most dominant team so far and will be hard to beat down the stretch.  Arizona and UNC both adopted the strategy of "let's throw up as many bricks from beyond the arc as we can", and, shockingly, it did not work in either case.  Apparently Illinois and Iowa St played a game somewhere after midnight.  Fridays's games were all hotly contested at some point.  NC State continues it's magical run in both the ACC and NCAA post-season.  I keep waiting for the shoe to drop, but I have to say, these guys have looked like the real deal.  It just goes to show that peaking at the right time changes the game.  There's a great story on DJ Horne.  Grew up in North Carolina an NC State fan.  He didn't get in there, played for Illinois St and Arizona St before coming back to NC State, and is making the most of it.  Purdue and Gonzaga battled it out, but the Zags looked like they just ran out of gas.  Creighton had the edge on Tennessee.  I blinked, the Vols went on an 18-0 run, and that was that.  Duke and Houston was a great game.  Losing Jamal Shead was a big blow to Houston, but they still fought hard and kept close.  Duke played a scrappy game and heads to the Elite Eight.  Is it sacrilegious to say that they play with more fight for John Scheyer than Coach K?  Here's your dose of basketball education for the day.  I have been very confused that I keep seeing Houston clothing, signs, and cheers showing the, let's just say, "rhymes-with-schmocker" (earmuffs, kids).  For those who don't know what I'm talking about, check this out - 

So apparently, the hand sign has been around since 1953.  Shasta, the school's cougar mascot, had a traumatic amputation of one of her toes when being transported in a cage to a basketball game against U of Texas.  The Longhorn fans mocked the Houston team by flashing a hand sign with the ring finger bent down.  Houston adopted the sign as a badge of honor and have used it since to support the team.  I can't make this stuff up, folks.  A lot of movement happened in the past 48 hours on the leaderboard.  I had to listen to Amy brag about how she had 14/16 teams in the Sweet Sixteen.  I now get to hear her lament only having 2 teams in the Elite Eight.  Henry Seelye became our mover of the weekend by being the only contestant to pick NC State to win and picked up a chunk of bonus points in the process.  Kevin Schneider has taken a healthy lead, but the points awarded keep going up each round, so let's see if he can keep a hold of the top spot.  Good luck to everyone in the rest of the weekend, and a Happy Easter to all.  I'll update the site again after the weekend.

71Jiar7-nlL.jpg

3/31/24

The Final Four is set!  UConn continued its dominant run with a big win over Illinois.  These guys look unbeatable.  They were the most popular pick for champion in the bracket, so we will see how that plays out.  The last time there was a repeat champion was Duke 91-92, so history is not their friend.  Alabama gets to the Final Four for the first time in school history.  They won a gritty matchup with Clemson, another surprise school with a deep run.  Unfortunately, UConn is up next and will prove to be an even bigger challenge.  Purdue cruised over Tennessee to make it to the Final Four for the first time since 1980.  I typed that I thought Zach Edey was overrated into the last post but erased it before printing time.  Man, I'm glad I backed off that statement.  He may be the best overall player left in the tournament.  The UNC Hates the World game, AKA Duke vs NC State, proved to be a defense-dominated game at first.  DJ Burns turned into a magician in the second half, and NC State continues its Cinderella run to the final weekend.  The last time they went this far was 1983, and the spirit of Jimmy V lives on in this team.  The updated leaderboard is posted.  Kevin Schneider remains in the top spot with Steve Merrill hanging around.  Nancy VKC makes a charge from the middle of the pack into sole control of third.  I've ran the potential scenarios of how things will play out and have them listed below.  If you remember, last year everything was decided before the final 3 games, which made this pool highly anticlimactic at this time last year.  The lack of your faith in Alabama and NC State has made this a 2-person race for the top spot, but there are still others in the race for the beans.

If UConn and either Purdue/NC State win in the Final Four, and  UConn wins the championship, the top 4 are :

1. Kevin Schneider

2. Nancy VKC

3. Avery Eaton

4. Jen Weidley (first loser)

If UConn and Purdue win in the Final Four, and  Purdue wins the championship, the top 4 are :

1. Steven Merrill

2. Kevin Schneider

3. Anthony Pazcoguin #2

4. Nancy VKC (first loser)

If UConn and NC State win in the Final Four, and  NC State wins the championship, the top 4 are :

1. Kevin Schneider

2. Steven Merrill

3. Nancy VKC

4. Avery Eaton (first loser)

If Alabama and either Purdue/NC State win in the Final Four, and either Alabama/NC State wins the championship, the top 4 are :

1. Kevin Schneider

2. Steven Merrill

3. Nancy VKC

4. Avery Eaton (first loser)

If Alabama and Purdue win in the Final Four, and  Purdue wins the championship, the top 4 are :

1. Steven Merrill

2. Kevin Schneider

3. Chris Michelone

4. Anthony Pazcoguin #2

There you have it.  You now know who to hit up for a loan after next weekend.  Good luck to everyone playing for beans or just bragging rights in the final stretch!

4/7/24

We have our final 2 teams, UConn vs Purdue!  After all of the upsets, the tournament administrators can say "See, we told you so!  #1 vs #1!"  Congrats to the 7 of you who picked the final 2 teams.  The finishing order is still up for grabs depending on who wins.  NC State never really figured out Purdue.  The game was only 3 points difference at the half, but that was as close as NC State ever got to the Boilermakers.  Purdue led wire to wire.  Purdue kept DJ Burns in check, and Zach Edey had a steady game to take care of business.  Alabama-UConn was a closer game than the score reflected.  This was the first game in which UConn did not annihilate the other team.  The entire first half was neck and neck, and it wasn't until halfway through the second half that the Huskies pulled away.  Kudos to the two underdogs for making this a fun trip to the Final Four!  The Final could go either way.  Opening spread on the game is UConn by 6.5, but I could see it being closer than that.  We shall see.  I would encourage you all to also check out tonight championship game between Iowa and South Carolina.  It features the NCAA Women's' basketball best player vs the only undefeated team in the season.  My daughter and some of her friends have become big Caitlan Clark fans, and it is pretty cool to see.  Best of luck to all of you, whether it be for bragging rights or a fight for the beans!

bottom of page