04/16/2020
Halstad, Minnesota Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Here's the first report...more to come in a couple days.
NCAA Men’s basketball mock/dice tournament; aka, ‘The Mo-Ice’(not to be confused with The Voice)
All four #1’s advance…first report; April 4, 2020
I know you’ve been waiting anxiously for this report, so here goes. All four of the #1 seeds have advanced to the Region quarterfinals, with just a couple upsets in each of the region tournaments.
The committee has decided to forego the ‘Sweet 16’ concept, and will play each Region to a winner and then play a ‘Final Four’; with the best seed going against the lower seed, and the two ‘middle seeds’ playing each other. Winners move into the championship game.
Upsets; lower seed beating an upper seed. In the Pillager region, St. Louis ( #13) beat #4 Ohio State and #10 Utah State upended Colorado ( #7). In the Kandiyohi region, #17 Northern Kentucky beat #16 Hofstra and #9 Iowa ‘upset’ #8 St. Mary’s (California). I really don’t consider these upsets, as they are only one seed apart; same with a #3 beating a number #2, and a #3 beating a #1, but I’ll report them as upsets. Major upsets are when a #1, #2 or #3 get beat in the first round, and we did have a couple of those. I have all the scores, which you’ll see in the ‘results’ section of this article.
In the Halstad region, Penn State ( #9) upended Rutgers ( #8) and Arizona State ( #14) knocked off #3 Creighton. And, in the Fountain region, Robert Morris ( #17) beat Belmont ( #16), Notre Dame ( #13) beat Villanova ( #4) and Virginia ( #11) beat Kentucky ( #6).
When ‘mid-majors’ start beating power-five teams, that’s an upset.
Bet you don’t even know who you’re really ‘rooting’ for; Here are your teams; players in alphabetical order-college/university.
Ben A-Gonzaga; ‘Snake’ A-Colorado; Bill B-Florida; Carol B-Richmond; Chris B-Oklahoma; Grayson B-USC; Jack B-Robert Morris; Jada B-Hofstra; Jena B-Kansas; Jim B-Creighton; Judah B-U Northern Iowa; Joslyn B-Houston; Blake C-Ohio State; Corey D-Rutgers; Hunter C-Boston U; Patrick C-Seton Hall; Colleen C-UCLA; Jacquie-Indiana; Jacob D-BYU; Kiptyn D-Butler; Mason D-Belmont; Payton D-St. Mary’s (Ca); Taylor C-Marquette; Griffin D-Penn State; Roberta D-Bradley; Travis D-Arizona; CFM E-Texas Tech; Eric F-Northern Kentucky; Rob F-Texas; AJ G-Utah State; Gabe G-Notre Dame; Gary G-Michigan State; Kolby G-San Diego State; Cole H-West Virginia; Kent J-Xavier; Devon K-Wisconsin; Ethan K-Stephen F. Austin; Kevin K-Providence; Cal L-Winthrop; Cori L-Minnesota; Keith L-Mississippi State; Kiel L-North Dakota State; Zion L-Kentucky; Chris M-North Carolina State; Logan M-Michigan; Matt M-Liberty; Noah M-East Tennessee State; Scott M-Maryland; Wade M-Iowa; 1st Sgt N-Arizona State; Brady O’-Oregon; ‘Cubby’ P-St. Louis; Erik P-LSU; ‘Skip’ P-Virginia; PJ P-Florida State; Lee R-Villanova; Pat R-Purdue; Ben S-Louisville; Brad S-Wichita State; Jason S-Duke; Parker S-Auburn; Shaun S-Stanford; Spencer S-Baylor; Tanner S-Dayton; Trevor S-Cincinnati; Ty S-Illinois; Carson VanV-Yale; Luke W-Arkansas.
Baylor (Pillager region) was the overall #1 seed, followed by Kansas (overall, #2, Kandiyohi region), Dayton (overall #3, Halstad region) and San Diego (overall #4, Fountain region). Then I backed up with overall #5 in Fountain, etc., with Pillager getting the overall #8 and #9, and then back down, and up, until I got all 68 teams seeded.
Thanks for your patience…Hope you’re all staying safe. I’ve got to get this in….my prayer is “Healing Of People Everywhere” and my favorite song right now comes from the musical ‘Damn Yankees’ (hope you can guess the name; I gave you a clue).
Results
Pillager region
#17 Winthrop 91, #16 NDSU 96; #1 Gonzaga 99, #16 NDSU 84; #8 Purdue 95, #9 Stanford 88; #5 West Virginia 105, U Northern Iowa 89; #13 St. Louis 104, #4 Ohio State 99; #3 Brigham Young 100, #14 Indiana 82; #6 Michigan 96, #11 Wichita State 82; #10 Utah State 92, #7 Colorado 91; #2 Louisville 92, #15 UCLA 76.
Kandiyohi region
#17 Northern Kentucky 100, #16 Hofstra 95; #1 Kansas 106, #17 No. Kentucky 88; #8 St. Mary’s (California) 89, #9 Iowa 90; #5 Maryland 96, #12 Xavier 86; #4 Seton Hall 90, #13 Mississippi State 83; #3 Florida State 98, #14 Stephen F. Austin 87; #6 Wisconsin 98, #11 Minnesota 79; #7 Marquette 96, #10 Illinois 88; #2 Michigan State 110, #15 Texas 87.
Halstad region
#16 Bradley 110, #17 Boston Univ. 87; #1 Dayton 110, #16 Bradley 97; #9 Penn State 110, #8 Rutgers 105; #5 Butler 106, #12 Oklahoma 94; #4 Arizona 98, #13 Cincinnati 91; #14 Arizona State 96, #3 Creighton Univ. 93; #6 Texas Tech 108, #11 Arkansas 84; #7 Auburn 111, #10 Richmond 99; #2 Duke 103, #15 Liberty 90.
Fountain region
#17 Robert Morris 110, #16 Belmont 84; #1 San Diego State 112, #17 Robert Morris 106, OT; #8 Florida 109, #9 East Tennessee State 95; #5 Houston 88, #12 USC 82; #13 Notre Dame 90, #4 Villanova 89; #3 Oregon 100, #14 North Carolina State 89; #11 Virginia 108, #6 Kentucky 89; #7 Louisiana State 109, #10 Providence 93; #2 Baylor 101, #15 Yale 83.
Region quarterfinal games
Pillager region
#1 Gonzaga vs #8 Purdue; #5 West Virginia vs #13 St. Louis; #3 Brigham Young Univ. vs #6 Michigan; #2 Louisville vs #7 Utah State.
Kandiyohi region
#1 Kansas vs #9 Iowa; #5 Maryland vs #4 Seton Hall; #3 Florida State vs #6 Wisconsin; #7 Marquette vs #2 Michigan State.
Halstad region
#1 Dayton vs #9 Penn State; #5 Butler vs #4 Arizona; #14 Arizona State vs #6 Texas Tech; #7 Auburn vs #2 Duke.
Fountain Region
#1 San Diego State vs #8 Florida; #5 Houston vs #13 Notre Dame; #3 Oregon vs #11 Virginia; #7 LSU vs #2 Baylor.
I’ve been in a bit of a ‘funk’ for a couple weeks, but I think I’m back on top and ready to rock and roll for the rest of the tournament. No, I didn’t ‘get the virus’; just been down since everything started to get cancelled.
