MB Week in Review – August 5

Here is a review of the recent action in Block 1 of MegaBracket 2014 (since the last post of this kind on July 26).

WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

Fourteen different users selected teams for the Bridgestone Invitational, which concluded yesterday. This was a no-cut event which meant that each user would have a full team for all four rounds unless someone withdrew after completing at least one round. Danny and cmonahan shared the first day lead at -4 with Bristol one shot back and Greg and thall5 two strokes behind. The tournament itself, as well as the MB scoreboard, was shook up on Friday as Tiger Woods shot a 61 (-9) and took command of the tournament. The ten users who chose Tiger also reaped the benefits as the worst Friday score among those ten users was -6; the best score among those who did not pick Tiger was +2. Danny led after two rounds at -19 with cmonahan at -14 and Bristol at -12. After Saturday’s round, everyone who picked Tiger was probably already counting the 32 points for picking the champion as he would take a 7-shot lead into Sunday. Danny maintained his lead at -25 while Bristol moved into second at -21 and skizzow assumed third place at -15. While Tiger was cruising to victory on Sunday, so was Danny as a final day -1 gave him a total of -26 and an 8-shot victory, notching his 2nd consecutive golf tournament win. Bristol had no one under par on Sunday and barely held off a hard-charging Greg whose team shot -5 on Sunday led by Billy Horschel’s -4 and Zach Johnson’s -3. Bristol finished at -18 with Greg just 2 shots back at -16. tonewil (-15), cmonahan (-15) and skizzow (-14) were also all in the race for second and third place. The top ten finishers were the ten who picked Tiger while the four who finished out of the points where the quartet who did not have Tiger on their side.

Final Standings

* – 32 points earned for picking the champion, Tiger Woods

Finish User Score Points Earned
1 Danny -26 112*
2 Bristol -18 104*
3 Greg -16 96*
4 tonewil -15 88*
cmonahan -15 88*
6 skizzow -14 72*
7 Ryan -7 64*
8 bscheffler -6 56*
9 Jimmy -5 48*
abittner -5 48*
11 mxknkl +2
12 Doug +16
13 thall5 +33
14 MegaBot +42

 

July-August Week 2 Picks

The second week of the July-August weekly picks began on Thursday, July 25th and ended Wednesday, July 31st. This week’s picks again combined games from the Canadian Football League, the Arena Football League, the National Women’s Soccer League, the Western Lacrosse Association, World Team Tennis and 3-game series from Major League Baseball. Sixteen users submitted picks for Week 2 with 6 of the 16 users scoring at least 35 of a possible 60 points. thall5 scored 41 points and claimed the weekly crown and the 10 bonus points that go along with the weekly victory. Chris placed second with 38 points while Jimmy and mxknkl put up 37 points apiece. A new winner will be crowned each week while the points also add up throughout the weeks (there are 7 in the July-August event) and event-long points are handed out at the conclusion of the event in a manner similar to the golf event – points for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc., down to 10th place.

Current July-August Weekly Picks Standings (as of the morning of August 5)

Rank User Points
1 tonewil 103
2 abittner 96
3 mxknkl 94
4 bscheffler 93
Ryan 93
6 thall5 90
7 cmonahan 84
8 Jimmy 83
9 Bristol 82
10 Greg 80
skizzow 80
12 Doug 77
13 Danny 76
14 MegaBot 73
15 Chris 64
16 JP 29

 

Independent Women’s Football League

Bristol, Danny & skizzow tied for the event win in the IWFL with 72 points, earned the 5-point event win bonus. (The event win bonus has been modified this season to provide greater reward for events worth more points. The bonus in MB 2014 is equal to 5% of the maximum point value of the event, rounded off.) JP had the lead heading into the Tier I Championship game on Saturday, but the winning trio all correctly selected the Carolina Phoenix as the Tier I champion. JP finished 4th with 64 points while Doug, MegaBot and thall5 finished in a tie for 5th with 48 points.

World Team Tennis

The World Team Tennis championship was held Sunday, July 28th. Only 8 users made picks for the final although that weekend was the height of our issues with our host company which may have prevented a few other users from making a selection. Bristol, Jimmy, JP & tonewil all correctly picked the Washington Kastles to defeat the Springfield Lasers and earned 32 points. No event winner was officially named and no event win bonus granted since only the championship match was picked.

 

Block 1 Standings

Danny and tonewil sit atop the Block 1 standings, with just 4 points separating 1st place Danny and 2nd place tonewil. Bristol is in 3rd, trailing tonewil for the second spot by 82 while Jimmy is 4th, another 48 points behind Bristol. The PGA Championship this week provides another opportunity for big points in a golf event.

(as of the morning of August 5)

Rank User Points
1 Danny 465
2 tonewil 461
3 Bristol 379
4 Jimmy 331
5 bscheffler 321
6 Greg 304
7 skizzow 277
8 mxknkl 246
9 Ryan 237
10 cmonahan 232
11 abittner 228
12 thall5 216
13 Chris 208
14 Doug 149
15 JP 125
16 MegaBot 121

Arena Football League

With the Arena Football League playoffs opening tonight, here is a “preview”, in our typical MB-style.

Arizona Rattlers

Seed: #1 in the National Conference

Record: 15-3, first place in the National West

Head Coach: Kevin Guy

Bio Highlights: Played collegiately at West Alabama; Played four seasons in the AFL, including a season with the Minnesota Fighting Pike; won ArenaBowl XXI as defensive coordinator of the San Jose SaberCats; is an arenafootball2 Hall of Fame inductee; led the Rattlers to an Arena League record 18 wins in 2011

Mascot: Stryker D. Rattler

Players I’ve Heard Of: Maurice Purify – WR, Nebraska (aka “Bobby Purify’s Uncle”); Anttaj Hawthorne – DL, Wisconsin

Best Names: Tysson Poots – WR, Southern Utah; Odie Armstrong – FB, Northwest Oklahoma State

Chicago Rush

Seed: #2 in the National Conference

Record: 10-8, first place in the National Central

Head Coach: Bob McMillen

Bio Highlights: 3-time All-American at Illinois-Benedictine; played 13 season in the AFL, winning Arena Bowl XI with Arizona, Arena Bowl XVI with San Jose, and Arena Bowl XX with Chicago; retired after 2007 as the 2nd-leading rusher in Arena League history; Was featured on the cover of EA Sports’ Arena Football: Road to Glory after the 2006 season

Players I’ve Heard Of: None

Best Names: Brian Brikowski – DL, Monmouth; Semaj Moody – DB, South Caroline State; Luke Drone – QB, Illinois State

Spokane Shock

Seed: #3 in the National Conference

Record: 14-4, second place in the National West

Head Coach: Andy Olson

Bio Highlights: Played collegiately at Western Washington, setting records for career receptions and receiving TDs; Played in 29 regular season games for Spokane and helped them win the 2009 ArenaCup in afl2

Mascot: Shox the Fox

Players I’ve Heard Of: Arvell Nelson – QB, Texas Southern; Nelson was at Iowa for two seasons before being arrested for drug possession and then dismissed from the team. He also gained fame while in Iowa City when shown with a few teammates holding large amounts of money  and alcohol on a social networking site.

Arvell Nelson

Best Names: Palauni Ma Sun – OL, Oregon; Tyrone Novikoff – OL, Idaho

San Jose SaberCats

Seed: #4 in the National Conference

Record: 13-5, third place in the National West

Head Coach: Darren Arbet

Bio Highlights: Played collegiately at Sacramento State; played 2 seasons in the AFL, one for the Los Angeles Cobras and the other for the Maryland Commandos; was named San Jose’s head coach in 1999, became general manager in 2006, and part-owner in 2011; has won 3 Arena Bowl titles, the latest in 2007; inducted into Stockton, CA’s Black Sport Hall of Fame alongside fellow football great Webster Slaughter; also an inductee in the Arena Football League Hall of Fame

Players I’ve Heard Of: Clevan Thomas – DB, Florida Sate; Mitch Mustain – QB, USC; Steve Octavien – LB, Nebraska; Ollie Ogbu – DL, Penn State; Duke Pettijohn – DL, Syracuse

Best Names: Ollie Ogbu, Duke Pettijohn, Jamarko Simmons – WR, Western Michigan

Jacksonville Sharks

Seed: #1 in the American Conference

Record: 12-6, first place in the American South

Head Coach: Les Moss

Bio Highlights: Began his AFL coaching career in 1988 with the Chicago Bruisers; Served on the staff of the ArenaBowl champion Detroit Drive in 1990; Has been in the AFL or afl2 postseason every season since 1992; won four Arena championships – 1990, 1998, 2000 & 2011; served as Tight Ends Coach and Training Camp Coordinator of the XFL’s Orlando Rage, helping them capture the XFL Eastern Division Championship in 2001 (has it really been that long since the XFL? Lots of excellent information in that article.)

Players I’ve Heard Of: None

Best Names: Dusty Bear – DL, Western Kentucky; Ayanga Okpokowuruk – DL, North Carolina; Jamaal Fudge – DB, Clemson; Marco Capozzoli – K, Montclair State

Philadelphia Soul

Seed: #2 in the American Conference

Record: 12-6, first place in the American East

Head Coach: Clint Dolezel

Bio Highlights: Played collegiately for Cisco Junior College and East Texas State, where he lettered in football and golf; played 14 seasons in the AFL including 3 seasons for the Texas Terror/Houston Thunderbears franchise; began the first professional QB to throw 800 touchdown passes in 2007; in 2008, threw his 900th TD pass; won ArenaBowl XV with the Grand Rapids Rampage

Mascot: SoulMan (the one on the left, not Ron Jaworski)

Players I’ve Heard Of: Dustin Almond – QB, Southern Miss, Carlos Martinez – K, Buena Vista (alma mater of yours truly and several other MegaBracketeers)

Best Names: LaRico Stevenson – DB, West Georgia; Ko Quaye – DL, South Dakota

Orlando Predators

Seed: #3 in the American Conference

Record: 7-11, second place in the American South

Head Coach: Doug Plank

Bio Highlights: Played collegiately for Ohio State, winning 3 Big Ten titles and participating in 3 consecutive Rose Bowls in the early 1970s; played 8 seasons in the NFL, all for the Chicago Bears; began his coaching career as defensive coordinator of the Georgia Force in the AFL in 2001; two-time AFL Coach of the Year;

Players I’ve Heard Of: Quinn Pitcock – DL, Ohio State; Aaron Garcia – QB, Sacamento State (17 year veteran of the AFL); Tim Cheatwood – LB, Ohio Sate; Jason Geather – WR, Miami (FL)

Best Names: Prechae Rodriguez – WR, Auburn; T.T. Toliver – WR, Bethune-Cookman

Tampa Bay Storm

Seed: #4 in the American Conference

Record: 7-11, third place in the American South

Head Coach: Dave Ewart (aka Tommy Boy)

Bio Highlights: Played collegiately for Salem College and East Tennessee State, where he was named Division I-AA All-American; coached with Rich Rodriguez at Glenville State; began his AFL coaching career in 1994 with the Cleveland Thunderbolts; has been head coach for the St. Louis Stampede, the Texas Terror, the Florida Bobcats and the Tampa Bay Storm;

Players I’ve Heard Of: James Hardy – WR, Indiana; Adrian McPherson – QB, Florida State; Jeff Tow-Arnett – OL, Minnesota

Best Names: Juan Bongarra – K, Albany State; DeAngelo Woodie – WR, No college; De’Audra Dix – DB, Johnson C. Smith


MB Week In Review – July 26

The 2014 MegaBracket campaign kicked off just over a week ago with the beginning of the British Open on Thursday, July 18. The first tee shot was struck at 12:30 am CDT, marking the start of the 5th MB season.

British Open

Fifteen different users joined the fun for the season-opening event including first timers bscheffler, thall5 and cmonahan. tonewil was the first day leader with a scorching -3. Chris and Jimmy were tied for the lead at the end of the second round, but each had one golfer miss the cut (Tom Watson for Chris, Justin Rose for Jimmy) and would have to each take the worst score of the day on Saturday and Sunday as the penalty for those missed cuts. The missed cut penalty places a premium on having a full team for the weekend and Danny, bscheffler and Greg were the only users to have all 5 picks make the weekend. Danny and bscheffler took advantage, moving into the top 2 spots after Saturday’s play with Danny sitting at +18, bscheffler +23 and Jimmy and tonewil (also 1 missed cut in Rose) tied for 3rd at +26. Behind the strength of Phil Mickelson’s winning 66 (-5), Danny extended his lead to a winning margin of 10 strokes. tonewil finished 2nd and after an atrocious Saturday that dropped him into a tie for 10th, Chris rallied behind Mickelson and Ian Poulter (-4) to put up Sunday’s best team score of +3 to finish 3rd.

Final Standings

* – 32 points earned for picking the champion, Phil Mickelson

Finish User Score Points Earned
1 Danny +25 152*
2 tonewil +35 140*
3 Chris +38 128*
4 Jimmy +40 116*
bscheffler +40 84
6 mxknkl +42 92*
7 Greg +43 48
8 Bristol +45 36
9 abittner +46 24
10 skizzow +49 12*
11 Doug +58
12 Ryan +64
thall5 +64 32*
14 cmonahan +116
15 MegaBot +145

 

July-August Week 1 Picks

The first week of the first weekly picks also began on Thursday, July 18th and completed Wednesday, July 24th. The first week’s picks combined games from the Canadian Football League, the Arena Football League, the National Women’s Soccer League, the Western Lacrosse Association, World Team Tennis and 3-game series from Major League Baseball. Week 1 was very competitive with 6 of the 15 users scoring at least 35 of a possible 60 points. tonewil put up an impressive 43 points to claim the weekly crown and the 10 bonus points that go along with the weekly victory. Ryan finished a close second with 40 points. Newcomers bscheffler and cmonahan tied for 3rd with 39 points. A new winner will be crowned each week while the points also add up throughout the weeks (there are 7 in the July-August event) and event-long points are handed out at the conclusion of the event in a manner similar to the golf event – points for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc., down to 10th place.

 

Block 1 Standings

(heading into the weekend)

Rank User Points
1 tonewil 236
2 Danny 225
3 Chris 178
4 bscheffler 171
5 Jimmy 163
6 mxknkl 159
7 Greg 118
8 Bristol 111
9 skizzow 87
abittner 87
11 Doug 83
thall5 83
13 Ryan 77
14 cmonahan 63
15 MegaBot 59

MB 2013 in Review

MB 2013 in Review

 

The 2013 MegaBracket season kicked off on June 22, 2012 with the Indoor Football League Playoffs. There was no clear demarcation between the 2012 and 2013 MB campaigns as the 2012 MB playoffs were still in progress. The first contest of the MB 2013 season was a 52-42 victory by the Tri-Cities Fever over the Colorado Ice in an Intense (the name as well as, no doubt, the descriptor) Conference Semifinal. In a bit of symmetry that reflects the changes to the MB schedule for MB 2014 and beyond, MB 2013 also came to close with an Indoor Football League game. On June 29, 2013, the Sioux Falls Storm defeated the Nebraska Danger 43-40 to win their 3rd consecutive IFL title.

MB 2013 saw a change in structure of the block system that was instituted during MB 2012. The system was adjusted so that events could have points count in multiple blocks to account for leagues with extended playoffs that encompassed weeks and, in some cases, months. The regular season was extended to 14 blocks with each block champion (or highest placing user who had not previously qualified) landing a spot in the year-end playoffs. Thirteen of the 14 blocks were based on a specific time period while the Division I Men’s Basketball tournament served as the final block. The final playoff spots, up to 16 in MB 2013 from 8 in MB 2012 (the total number of users at that time), were awarded to the two users with the highest overall point total who had not yet clinched a playoff berth. The hope for MB 2013 was to expand to at least 16 users to fill a full playoff field. Many were called but only a few were bitten by the bug as the playoff field had to be rounded out by a robot using all randomized picks and three users who were either mostly or fully absent come playoff time. Despite that fact, the playoffs contained some exciting close matchups including one in which the winner was not decided until the last possible moment.

As mentioned, Block 1 of the MB 2013 season began on June 22, 2012. The opening block lasted 71 days, drawing to a close on August 31 and serving as the longest regular season block. Bristol locked down the first available playoff spot of the campaign with a 233 point victory over Jimmy. Seventeen users scored points in the first block, none of them were robots. Newcomer Danny captured the Block 2 title with a narrow 26-point victory over mxknkl. Bristol actually finished 2nd in the block but the battle for the playoff spot was between Danny and mxknkl.

Block 3 saw a repeat winner for the first time as Danny captured his 2nd consecutive block title. Bristol finished 2nd and Doug 3rd so Doug claimed the 3rd playoff spot. (Playoff seeding would be determined by block wins and then overall points so Danny would still get credit for the block title.) abittner was 4th in the block but 2nd for the playoff berth, bested by Doug by a 112-point margin. Bristol climbed back on top in Block 4, winning his 2nd block title, edging Greg by just 7 points for the crown. Block 4 was a 7-day sprint from November 11 to November 17 with 1152 points available on the 17th, making it the 2nd largest single day point total in the MB 2013 season. Although Greg did claim the playoff spot, the block title was up for grabs until the bitter end with Bristol securing the crown on the strength of a 1-0 victory by the Simon Fraser Clan over the Incarnate Word Cardinals in a D-II Men’s Soccer Quarterfinal match that began at 8:00 pm CDT. That correct pick was worth 8 points, turning a 1-point deficit into a 7-point victory and a block title late into the night.

Bristol won his 2nd consecutive and 3rd overall block title in Block 5 with a 913-782 victory over Doug. mxknkl finished 4th in the block with 759 points but claimed the playoff spot while Ryan finished 2nd in the playoff race with 702. Two championship picks on the final day of Block 5 proved to be the deciding factor for the playoff spot. mxknkl correctly picked the West Florida Argonauts (a 1-0 victor over the UC-San Diego Tritons) and the Messiah Falcons (a 1-0 winner over the Emory Eagles) to win the D-II and D-III Women’s Soccer championships, respectively. Each correct pick was worth 32 points, accounting for just more than the 57-point victory margin.

Just as in Blocks 4 and 5, Block 6 would play out to an exciting conclusion – and one that was known in real time unlike the others which occurred during very busy days that obscured the tight races. Block 6 reached its climax on January 12, 2013, just another full final day with 38 results and 240 points. With only one game remaining on the daily schedule – the Green Bay Packers at the San Francisco 49ers in an NFC Divisional Playoff game – the block title was still up for grabs. A Packer victory would result in a 1-point victory for abittner over skizzow while a 49er triumph would clinch the block crown for skizzow. The 49ers won a 45-31 shootout giving skizzow the Block 6 title – meanwhile, in Wisconsin much of the Packer defense is still wondering how to tackle Colin Kaepernick.

Block 7 also came down to the wire and resulted in the first instance of using the tiebreak system to determine the block champion. The final day of Block 7, February 22nd, saw 37 results and 203 points up for grabs. tonewil made a furious comeback late in the day, outscoring Bristol on 3 different Men’s College Squash picks to draw even, but could never forge ahead. The first tiebreak criterion for a block title is the number of Event Wins (most points scored in an event that concludes during that block). Bristol claimed two Event Wins during Block 7 (Women’s College Squash and the Australian Baseball League) while tonewil collected just one (the Waste Management Phoenix Open). tonewil earned the playoff spot but lost out on the block title thanks to the tiebreaker.

Bristol claimed his 5th block title in Block 8, outlasting Danny by 95 points. However, once again the playoff spot came down the final moments. Jimmy, Ryan and abittner were all locked in an intense battle to earn the Block 8 playoff berth. Jimmy and Ryan each outscored abittner by 16 points in the ACHA D1 Women’s Pool Play round, but it wasn’t quite enough as abittner held on to defeat Ryan by 29 points and edge Jimmy by a single point, 1108-1107.

Block 9 was the shortest block in MB 2013, lasting a mere 3 days from March 9th to March 11th. March 9th was the busiest day of the season with over 2000 points up for grabs. Bristol won his 3rd straight block title (and 6th overall) with the playoff spot again a close battle between Jimmy and Ryan. The deciding pick was made on March 10th and came in the CIS Women’s Hockey Championship. The championship pitted the Montreal Carabins (Jimmy’s choice) vs. the Calgary Dinos (Ryan’s pick). The Carabins edged the Dinos 3-2, giving Jimmy the corresponding 32 points, providing the winning margin in his 1442-1416 victory for the Block 9 playoff spot.

The broken record played on as Bristol won the Block 10 title, this time by a mere 39 points over Greg. The playoff spot was a 3-person race among Ryan, JP and Bred. Bred outscored Ryan by 36 points on the block’s final day but Ryan’s incoming advantage proved to be too much as he outspaced JP by 22 and Bred by 24 to claim the playoff spot. Block 11 saw Bristol win his 5th straight block title and 8th overall, although the margin was only 24 points over 2-time block winner Danny. We have to travel all the way to 10th place in the overall block race to find the winner of the playoff spot – JP outscored Bred by 38 and Chris by 40 (at this point, the only 3 live humans still making picks) to clinch his spot in the year-end bracket.

While Block 11 was in progress, the Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament came to a conclusion. JP held the lead into the championship game but had no chance of winning the block title as he would be passed by either Chris (with a Louisville victory) or Doug (with a Michigan win). Louisville claimed the national title giving Chris the block title and moving him in line for a top 5 seed. The D-I Men’s Basketball Tournament is one of two events that JP, an avowed user of The Flowchart method for making picks, tries to win each season so it was a crushing blow to lose out on this event win in the championship game. However, JP would later earn his revenge in a most satisfying way.

Bristol kept his streak alive with another title in Block 12 by a 990-884 score over Ryan. Bred finished a strong 3rd in the block to wrap a playoff berth by 410 points over the only other non-qualifier to score any points, MegaBot. MegaBot, running unopposed, gained its first taste of victory (but not its last) in Block 13 to claim the playoff spot. Block 13 also saw an end to Bristol’s tyranny as Jimmy earned his first block title of the season in a tight race that saw 5 users within 100 points of the crown. The block title on the eve of the playoffs moved Jimmy into the #3 seed heading into the year-end festivities.

The final two playoff spots were awarded to the two users with the highest regular season point total who had not already qualified for the postseason. Those two spots were awarded to Mattyb22 and NicCage, who went into playoffs as the #15 and #16 seeds and also as not having competed in several moons.

As is fitting, the playoffs in MegaBracket are indeed a mega-bracket. The 16 qualifiers are seeded 1 – 16 by block wins and then overall points. The seeding for the MB 2013 playoffs finished in this order:

  1. Bristol                   9 block wins
  2. Danny                   2 block wins
  3. Jimmy                   1 block win, 12,705 points
  4. skizzow                                1 block win, 10,143 points
  5. Chris                      1 block win, 8,128 points
  6. Ryan                      12,967 points
  7. abittner                12,948 points
  8. Doug                     12,931 points
  9. Greg                      11,516 points
  10. tonewil                 10,172 points
  11. mxknkl                 9,368 points
  12. JP                            8,063 points
  13. Bred                      4,783 points
  14. MegaBot             3,195 points
  15. Mattyb22            3,133 points
  16. NicCage                2,356 points

The playoffs proceed in a straight bracket format: 1-16, 2-15, etc. through all four rounds to determine a champion. Consolation brackets are also held to determine places 3 – 16. The first round of the 2013 MB Playoffs began on April 21 and ran through May 10. Four of the eight first round matchups were uncompetitive as the robot (MegaBot), the two completely absent users (Mattyb22 and NicCage), and the mostly absent user (Bred) all were defeated in lopsided margins by the top four seeds. Ryan and abittner survived strong challenges from mxknkl and tonewil and pulled away at the end for comfortable victories. Doug and Greg battled until the waning days before Doug escaped with a 122-point victory to move to the second round. The final matchup of the first round pitted Chris vs. JP. At a couple of different junctures it appeared that Chris had finally squelched the threat from the 12-seeded JP, but each time JP rallied to close the gap. The final day of Round 1 was very busy (as was most of the month of May) with more than 400 points possible. The two users traded points until only one final opportunity for points remained. Chris led JP 992 – 981 with Game 6 of the NHL Western Conference first round series between the Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues left to go final. The Kings led the series 3-2 and were looking to clinch the win and advance to the next round. The pick was worth 12 points with JP picking Los Angeles and Chris selecting St. Louis. If the Blues could stave off elimination Chris would hold off JP and move on to the second round while the Kings had to win the series in 6 for JP to secure the upset. As foreshadowed earlier, JP earned his revenge for losing the D-I Men’s Basketball tournament in the championship game to Chris on the strength of a 2-1 Kings victory, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat around midnight by the smallest of margins, 993 – 992. JP was the only lower seed to win the first round and it was fitting that it came on NHL points as his domination of the ice continued with his 3rd consecutive NHL event victory (all 3 times it has been contested).

The second round saw four competitive matches in the winner’s bracket and four forgone conclusions in the 9th place quarterfinals. Three of the four quarterfinals matchups were decided by less than 200 points – Bristol vs. Doug, skizzow vs. JP and Danny vs. abittner, each of them staying in doubt until the final days of Round 2. Bristol and skizzow managed to sew up their victories by the final day, finishing with 165-point and 188-point wins, respectively, while abittner had to hold on until the end, securing a 75-point win to knock off 2nd-seeded Danny and move to the semifinals. In the other quarterfinal Jimmy pulled away in the last few days to defeat Ryan 1643 – 1259. Greg, Chris, mxknkl and tonewil rolled over the lowest four seeds in the 9th place quarterfinals to advance in the consolation bracket.

Like Round 2, Round 3 lasted a mere 8 days, beginning on May 19th and concluding May 26th. The semifinals each pitted a past champion vs. a MB rookie as Bristol battled skizzow and Jimmy tangled with abittner. The old hands vanquished the upstarts by nearly identical scores with Bristol advancing 1173 – 970 and Jimmy winning 1163 – 937. In the 5th place semifinals, Doug and Danny moved on with wins over JP and Ryan, while Greg defeated Chris and tonewil upended mxknkl in the 9th place semifinals. In the 13th place semifinals, MegaBot rolled to victory over Mattyb22 while Bred managed 32 points left over from picks made weeks earlier to knock off NicCage 32-0. Other than that matchup where the 32 points were an accident, the closest margin of victory in Round 3 was Danny’s 164-point win over Ryan.

Round 4 lasted 34 days as the sports world slows down in June. Absentee users Mattyb22 and NicCage played to a scoreless tie in the 15th place match with Mattyb22 earning the victory based on a tiebreak of regular season points. MegaBot steamrolled the absent Bred for a 13th place finish and mxknkl matched his finish to his 11 seed with a blowout defeat of Chris. The 9th place match between Greg and tonewil was very competitive with the margin remaining under 10 points for most of the round. Greg picked up some key points in mid-June to pull away for a 1530 – 1452 victory. JP took advantage of a largely absent Ryan to roll up a 717-point victory for 7th place, making JP one of four users (Doug, abittner and Jimmy) to out-perform his playoff seed. On the flip side, three users placed lower in the playoffs than their seed: Danny, Chris and Ryan. Doug and Danny had a very competitive battle in the 5th place matchup as the margin never exceeded 100 points until after the final contest. Doug held off Danny by 121 points to earn a 5th place finish. The closest match was for 3rd place between skizzow and abittner where the result was in doubt until the final week. After trading the lead back and forth several times, abittner emerged victorious by a score of 1437 – 1404.

The championship match pitted the only two users who have been crowned champion of MegaBracket. Jimmy won Original MB and the MB 2012 championship while Bristol took the title in MB 2011. The pattern of alternating titles continued as Bristol was crowned MegaBracket Champion for a second time by virtue of a 1527-1239 victory over Jimmy that was clinched when the Miami Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs for the NBA title. While no bubbly was spilled in the home of the newly crowned champion there were noticeably fewer Landshark Lagers at the end of the night than at the beginning.


MB Playoff Roundup – June 11

MB Playoffs – Round 4

Round 4 meanders at a leisurely pace compared to the rapid fire action of the previous rounds. Instead of a sprint, the final places are determined in a race that lasts the entire month of June.

  • There are 16 points possible (AHL) today

 

Championship

Last 7 Days Pts

1

Bristol

1239

495

3

Jimmy

1126

530

Bristol’s lead ballooned as large as 180 over the weekend but Jimmy fought back by gaining ground during D-I Men’s & Women’s Outdoor Track & Field. The lead was briefly under 100 on Monday before Bristol gained 16 points back thanks to Oregon State’s victory in D-I Baseball Super Regionals.

3rd Place

4

skizzow

1212

482

7

abittner

1117

441

This matchup has been tightly contested the entire time with the margin still under 100 points.

5th Place

8

Doug

1151

401

2

Danny

1142

466

Doug and Danny have battled to just a 9-point difference through the final round’s first 15 days. Amazingly, it is not the closest contest at this point.

7th Place

12

JP

1115

517

6

Ryan

582

112

The first blowout of round 4 as JP combined his NHL dominance with Ryan’s absence for work (Delaware!) to equal a runaway.

9th Place

9

Greg

1253

541

10

tonewil

1260

550

In the last blog post, Greg maintained a 2-point cushion over tonewil.  tonewil has come back with a vengeance, turning that 2-point deficit into a 7-point advantage. I’m not sure the lead has ever even been double figures in this one. These two currently have the #1 and #2 point totals in round 4 and went 1-2 in points in the last week.

11th Place

5

Chris

520

110

11

mxknkl

1072

380

It’s all over the crying in this one – mxknkl will match his postseason seed by finishing in 11th place.

13th Place

13

Bred

0

0

14

MegaBot

406

22

MegaBot will finish 2-2 and in 13th place in this year’s playoffs.

15th Place

16

NicCage

0

0

15

Mattyb22

0

0


MB Playoff Roundup – June 4

MB Playoffs – Round 4

Round 4 meanders at a leisurely pace compared to the rapid fire action of the previous rounds. Instead of a sprint, the final places are determined in a race that lasts the entire month of June.

  • There are 16 points possible (AHL) today

 

Championship

Monday Pts

1

Bristol

744

72

3

Jimmy

596

80

Jimmy gained 8 points on Monday, perhaps starting the slow climb back into this matchup.

3rd Place

4

skizzow

730

80

7

abittner

676

80

skizzow and Bittner matched points on Monday with skizzow retaining his 54 point lead from the weekend.

5th Place

8

Doug

750

80

2

Danny

676

72

Doug tacked 8 points onto his lead Monday.

7th Place

12

JP

498

32

6

Ryan

470

88

A huge day for Ryan as he scored a perfect 88 points and slashed JP’s lead from 84 to 28.

9th Place

9

Greg

712

80

10

tonewil

710

80

Greg retains his slim 2-point edge as he and tonewil each had 80-point Mondays.

11th Place

5

Chris

410

72

11

mxknkl

692

80

mxknkl added 8 to his lead over Chris, upping it to 182.

13th Place

13

Bred

0

0

14

MegaBot

384

8

MegaBot will finish 2-2 and in 13th place in this year’s playoffs.

15th Place

16

NicCage

0

0

15

Mattyb22

0

0


MB Playoff Roundup – June 3

MB Playoffs – Round 4

Round 4 meanders at a leisurely pace compared to the rapid fire action of the previous rounds. Instead of a sprint, the final places are determined in a race that lasts the entire month of June.

  • There are 88 points available (D-I Baseball – 40, NBA – 48) today

 

Championship

Thurs-Mon Pts

1

Bristol

672

500

3

Jimmy

516

374

Bristol built a 156-point lead over the weekend, helped largely by Jimmy not making picks for D-I Men’s Golf.

3rd Place

4

skizzow

650

482

7

abittner

596

466

skizzow and Bittner have been evenly matched through the first week of Round 4 with skizzow holding a 54-point lead thus far.

5th Place

8

Doug

670

456

2

Danny

604

472

Doug and Danny seem destined for a competitive battle for 5th place as Doug holds a 66-point edge after the round’s first 8 days.

7th Place

12

JP

466

362

6

Ryan

382

312

JP, MB’s foremost NHL expert, is off to a 84-point lead over Ryan so far in Round 4.

9th Place

9

Greg

632

490

10

tonewil

630

466

Greg and tonewil are locked in the most competitive matchup so far as only a 2-point margin separates the two.

11th Place

5

Chris

338

276

11

mxknkl

512

350

mxknkl is off to a 174-point lead over Chris, the largest current margin among users still participating in the playoffs.

13th Place

13

Bred

0

0

14

MegaBot

376

216

MegaBot is going to finish 2-2 and in 13th place in this year’s playoffs.

15th Place

16

NicCage

0

0

15

Mattyb22

0

0


MB Playoff Roundup – May 31

MB Playoffs – Round 4

Round 4 meanders at a leisurely pace compared to the rapid fire action of the previous rounds. Instead of a sprint, the final places are determined in a race that lasts the entire month of June.

  • There are 112 points available (D-I Softball – 32, D-I Men’s Golf – 48, D-II Baseball -16, IBA – 16) today

Final Round 3 Results:

  • Semifinals
    • 1 Bristol defeated 4 skizzow 1173-970
    • 3 Jimmy defeated 7 abittner 1163-937
  • 5th Place Semifinals
    • 8 Doug defeated 12 JP 1006-828
    • 2 Danny defeated 6 Ryan 914-750
  • 9th Place Semifinals
    • 9 Greg defeated 5 Chris 863-498
    • 10 tonewil defeated 11 mxknkl 1024-610
  • 13th Place Semifinals
    • 13 Bred defeated 16 NicCage 32-0
    • 14 MegaBot defeated 15 Mattyb22 478-0

 

Championship

Wed Pts

1

Bristol

172

70

3

Jimmy

142

40

Bristol & Jimmy, the owners of all 3 MB titles – Jimmy in original MB and 2012 and Bristol in 2011 – will square off the 4th championship as well. Both fended off challenges from newcomers in the semifinals and will do battle over the next 4.5 weeks to determine bragging rights for the next year.

3rd Place

4

skizzow

168

70

7

abittner

130

46

Rookies skizzow & abittner saw their championship runs end at the hands of grizzled veterans in the semifinals, but one of them will finish a spectacular first season with a bronze medal.

5th Place

8

Doug

214

70

2

Danny

132

46

Doug has defeated Greg and JP sandwiched around a loss to Bristol to land in the 5th place matchup. Danny rebounded from an upset quarterfinal loss to take down Ryan in round 3 and move to this match.

7th Place

12

JP

104

42

6

Ryan

70

46

JP’s playoff foray began with an upset of 5th seeded Chris in the first round and ends against 6th seeded Ryan in the 7th Place match. Ryan landed in the 7th place match following a tough road as he faced the #3 and #2 seeds in the past two rounds.

9th Place

9

Greg

142

38

10

tonewil

164

70

Greg and tonewil have performed to their seeds thus far with each losing their first round match to higher seeds before racking up wins in rounds 2 and 3.

11th Place

5

Chris

62

22

11

mxknkl

162

44

After a stunning, last second 1 point loss to JP in round 1, Chris cruised past a mostly absent Bred in round 2 before losing to Greg in round 3. mxknkl lost a hard fought battle to Ryan in round 1, whipped MegaBot in round 2 and fell to tonewil in round 3.

13th Place

13

Bred

0

0

14

MegaBot

160

12

The nearly completely absent Bred won his round 3 matchup when a residual pick came through in the waning days to secure a 32-0 victory over completely absent NicCage. MegaBot defeated the also absent Mattyb22 in round 3.

15th Place

16

NicCage

0

0

15

Mattyb22

0

0

Neither user has been around for quite some time so this matchup will likely end in a 0-0 tie unless one of them is enticed to return to fight for 15th place. Neither has scored any points in the playoffs so the tiebreaker will revert to regular season points, meaning Mattyb22 looks like the 15th place finisher in MB 2013.

MB Playoff Roundup – May 30

MB Playoffs – Round 4

Round 4 meanders at a leisurely pace compared to the rapid fire action of the previous rounds. Instead of a sprint, the final places are determined in a race that lasts the entire month of June.

  • There are 80 points available (D-I Softball – 32, D-I Men’s Golf – 48) and 32 points possible (D-II Baseball) on Thursday

Final Round 3 Results:

  • Semifinals
    • 1 Bristol defeated 4 skizzow 1173-970
    • 3 Jimmy defeated 7 abittner 1163-937
  • 5th Place Semifinals
    • 8 Doug defeated 12 JP 1006-828
    • 2 Danny defeated 6 Ryan 914-750
  • 9th Place Semifinals
    • 9 Greg defeated 5 Chris 863-498
    • 10 tonewil defeated 11 mxknkl 1024-610
  • 13th Place Semifinals
    • 13 Bred defeated 16 NicCage 32-0
    • 14 MegaBot defeated 15 Mattyb22 478-0

 

Championship

Wed Pts

1

Bristol

102

28

3

Jimmy

102

32

Bristol & Jimmy, the owners of all 3 MB titles – Jimmy in original MB and 2012 and Bristol in 2011 – will square off the 4th championship as well. Both fended off challenges from newcomers in the semifinals and will do battle over the next 4.5 weeks to determine bragging rights for the next year.

3rd Place

4

skizzow

98

32

7

abittner

84

28

Rookies skizzow & abittner saw their championship runs end at the hands of grizzled veterans in the semifinals, but one of them will finish a spectacular first season with a bronze medal.

5th Place

8

Doug

144

28

2

Danny

86

28

Doug is off to a fast start in round 4 with the second highest point total through the first two days (more on this later). Danny rebounded from an upset quarterfinal loss to take down Ryan in round 3 and move to this match.

7th Place

12

JP

62

28

6

Ryan

24

24

JP’s playoff foray began with an upset of 5th seeded Chris in the first round and ends against 6th seeded Ryan in the 7th Place match. Ryan landed in the 7th place match following a tough road as he faced the #3 and #2 seeds in the past two rounds.

9th Place

9

Greg

104

24

10

tonewil

94

28

Greg and tonewil have performed to their seeds thus far with each losing their first round match to higher seeds before racking up wins in rounds 2 and 3.

11th Place

5

Chris

40

28

11

mxknkl

118

28

After a stunning, last second 1 point loss to JP in round 1, Chris cruised past a mostly absent Bred in round 2 before losing to Greg in round 3. mxknkl lost a hard fought battle to Ryan in round 1, whipped MegaBot in round 2 and fell to tonewil in round 3.

13th Place

13

Bred

0

0

14

MegaBot

148

0

The nearly completely absent Bred won his round 3 matchup when a residual pick came through in the waning days to secure a 32-0 victory over completely absent NicCage. MegaBot defeated the also absent Mattyb22 in round 3, but has the highest point total in round 4 through two days and was the only user to correctly pick both the D-II Softball and D-I Men’s Lacrosse champions. He’s learning….

15th Place

16

NicCage

0

0

15

Mattyb22

0

0

Neither user has been around for quite some time so this matchup will likely end in a 0-0 tie unless one of them is enticed to return to fight for 15th place. Neither has scored any points in the playoffs so the tiebreaker will revert to regular season points, meaning Mattyb22 looks like the 15th place finisher in MB 2013.

MB Playoff Roundup – May 29

MB Playoffs – Round 4

Round 4 meanders at a leisurely pace compared to the rapid fire action of the previous rounds. Instead of a sprint, the final places are determined in a race that lasts the entire month of June.

Final Round 3 Results:

  • Semifinals
    • 1 Bristol defeated 4 skizzow 1173-970
    • 3 Jimmy defeated 7 abittner 1163-937
  • 5th Place Semifinals
    • 8 Doug defeated 12 JP 1006-828
    • 2 Danny defeated 6 Ryan 914-750
  • 9th Place Semifinals
    • 9 Greg defeated 5 Chris 863-498
    • 10 tonewil defeated 11 mxknkl 1024-610
  • 13th Place Semifinals
    • 13 Bred defeated 16 NicCage 32-0
    • 14 MegaBot defeated 15 Mattyb22 478-0

 

Championship

Mon-Tues Pts

1

Bristol

74

74

3

Jimmy

70

70

Bristol & Jimmy, the owners of all 3 MB titles – Jimmy in original MB and 2012 and Bristol in 2011 – will square off the 4th championship as well. Both fended off challenges from newcomers in the semifinals and will do battle over the next 4.5 weeks to determine bragging rights for the next year.

3rd Place

4

skizzow

66

66

7

abittner

56

56

Rookies skizzow & abittner saw their championship runs end at the hands of grizzled veterans in the semifinals, but one of them will finish a spectacular first season with a bronze medal.

5th Place

8

Doug

116

116

2

Danny

58

58

Doug is off to a fast start in round 4 with the second highest point total through the first two days (more on this later). Danny rebounded from an upset quarterfinal loss to take down Ryan in round 3 and move to this match.

7th Place

12

JP

34

34

6

Ryan

0

0

JP’s playoff foray began with an upset of 5th seeded Chris in the first round and ends against 6th seeded Ryan in the 7th Place match. Ryan landed in the 7th place match following a tough road as he faced the #3 and #2 seeds in the past two rounds.

9th Place

9

Greg

80

80

10

tonewil

66

66

Greg and tonewil have performed to their seeds thus far with each losing their first round match to higher seeds before racking up wins in rounds 2 and 3.

11th Place

5

Chris

12

12

11

mxknkl

90

90

After a stunning, last second 1 point loss to JP in round 1, Chris cruised past a mostly absent Bred in round 2 before losing to Greg in round 3. mxknkl lost a hard fought battle to Ryan in round 1, whipped MegaBot in round 2 and fell to tonewil in round 3.

13th Place

13

Bred

0

0

14

MegaBot

130

148

The nearly completely absent Bred won his round 3 matchup when a residual pick came through in the waning days to secure a 32-0 victory over completely absent NicCage. MegaBot defeated the also absent Mattyb22 in round 3, but has the highest point total in round 4 through two days and was the only user to correctly pick both the D-II Softball and D-I Men’s Lacrosse champions. He’s learning….

15th Place

16

NicCage

0

0

15

Mattyb22

0

0

Neither user has been around for quite some time so this matchup will likely end in a 0-0 tie unless one of them is enticed to return to fight for 15th place. Neither has scored any points in the playoffs so the tiebreaker will revert to regular season points, meaning Mattyb22 looks like the 15th place finisher in MB 2013.