Welcome to Great American March Madness XXXI, everyone! And, yes, you read that headline right … as we go to press, the Commish is driving across Route 80 in Pennsylvania on my way to beautiful New Jersey on this, the opening day of March Madness (aka the busiest day of my entire year).
You see, my beloved niece, Nora, is getting married on Saturday and as there are wedding-related activities taking place on Friday that we want to be there for, we’re traveling today. And so Mrs. Commish and I, along with the youngest of our 3 former tax deductions, Matthew, have fired up the G.A.M.M. Mobile Command Center (pictured below) and we are currently eastbound and down.
The G.A.M.M. Mobile Command Center. Give us a honk if you see us!
The Commish, ever magnanimous of course, thought nothing of missing most of today’s games. Or trying to manage an increasingly unmanageable basketball pool where people routinely hit me up with 11th-hour problems about accessing their brackets or not receiving their invites. Or having to keep track of hundreds of Venmo payments. Or cranking out blog content for all 2 of my fans.
Nope, didn’t even think twice about it.
Like I told everyone who asked … this is family, and, after all, I *AM* Nora’s favorite uncle.
(I’m also her ONLY uncle too, but that’s beside the point)
Many people are rightly pointing out though that if I really were her favorite uncle, she wouldn’t have scheduled her wedding to coincide with the start of March Madness.
Good question, Don Vito!
But, whatever though. What’s done is done. Or, as they say in the Garden State, “fuhgeddaboudit.” My wedding gift to you, Nora, is this: “forgiveness.” So, there ya go. You’re welcome.
(Poor Mrs. Commish, btw. She’s got to listen to me whine about all of this for the whole 600+ miles.)
So, as you may have noticed from the GAMM Mobile Command Center pic, I’ve been fooling around a bit with AI image generators to prepare for this year’s pool. I’m hoping it will help save me some time so I’m not fumbling my way through the usual crappy photoshops I tend to crank out. I experimented with a few image generators before finally finding one I liked. This morning I described my current situation and asked it to create an image of me trying to manage this pool while in the GAMM Mobile Command Center and here’s what it came up with:
Rated “A” for “Accurate”
I originally was going to go with an image generator I found that was developed by a British tech company. But then I asked it to create an image of me and my 3 kids, and here’s what it kicked out:
Weird, right?
Hey, speaking of Britain’s reclusive Princess Kate though, I saw this the other day on the site formerly known as Twitter and, I gotta tell ya, as a Hallmark Christmas movie enthusiast, I think this woman may be on to something here:
Not gonna lie, I’d probably DVR that.
Okay, getting down to business, according to CBS we had 660 entrants this year breaking the previous record set last year by 14! With entry fees remaining at $5 an entry for a 31st consecutive year, the total amount in this year’s pool came in at $3,300.
As, always, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place payouts will be made on the following basis:
- 1st Place – $1,920 (60%)
- 2nd Place – $960 (30%)
- 3rd Place – $320 (10%)
However, I did tweak our “Best 1st Round” prize from $25 to $100 in recognition of the meaningfulness of the accomplishment. As a reminder, the tiebreaker for “Best 1st Round” is whoever picked the biggest upset.
And if you finish in last place, instead of a refund, you get a free entry into next year’s pool! So after humiliating yourself by finishing in last, just know you’ll get a *FREE* shot at redemption next year! How awesome is that?
While the previous year’s last place finisher gets to play for free going forward, everyone else still has to pay. If you haven’t already done so, please get your entry fee payments in. The deadline for payment is April 1st. WARNING: All delinquent payees get publicly shamed, so do NOT be late!
Here is a link to my Venmo, or you can scan my QR code:
https://account.venmo.com/u/Greg-Dennehy
When making your Venmo payment, if you’re having someone pay on your behalf, please have them mention it in the comment field so I don’t drive myself nuts trying to figure out why I don’t have a bracket for them. Also, do NOT click “Turn on for purchases” as that causes Venmo to take a % of your payment and creates unnecessary work and aggravation for the ol’ Commish as I then have to try and collect the remaining $0.12 that Venmo shaved off your entry fee.
Okay, now that we’re done with finances, let’s move on to some bracketology talk. Now, as for your beloved Commish’s picks, I ended up going with a Final Four match-up of #4 Auburn over #2 Arizona on the left side of the bracket, and #3 Creighton over #1 Houston on the right side, with Creighton knocking off Auburn for the Bluejays first ever national title.
As for the other members of my immediate family, here’s who they went with in the Finals (well, at least this is what they had when I last checked):
- Mrs. Commish – Purdue over Illinois
- Lauren #1 – Purdue over UConn
- Lauren #2 – UConn over Houston
- Jack #1 – Houston over UConn
- Jack #2 – Purdue over North Carolina
- Jack #3 – UConn over Tennessee
- Matthew – Houston over UConn
Moving right along, here are my picks for first round upsets this year:
- #13 Charleston over #4 Alabama
- #12 JMU (& PFT Commenter) over #5 Wisconsin (& Big Cat) in the “Pardon My Take” Bowl.
- #11 Duquesne over #6 BYU
- #11 New Mexico over #6 Clemson
- #11 Oregon over #6 South Carolina
- #10 Nevada over #7 Dayton (with apologies to noted Flyer alum, Pope Dave!)
- #10 Drake over #7 Washington State
Same, Kramer … but not enough to win 2 games though.
And for those of you who lack basic Google skills, here is today’s TV schedule:
THURSDAY TV SCHEDULE:
- 12:15 p.m. – (9) Michigan State vs. (8) Mississippi State – CBS
- 12:40 p.m. – (11) Duquesne vs. (6) BYU – truTV
- 1:30 p.m. – (14) Akron vs. (3) Creighton – TNT
- 2:00 p.m. – (15) Long Beach State vs. (2) Arizona – TBS
- 2:45 p.m. – (16) Wagner/Howard vs. (1) North Carolina – CBS
- 3:10 p.m. – (14) Morehead State vs. (3) Illinois – truTV
- 4:00 p.m. – (11) Oregon vs. (6) South Carolina – TNT
- 4:30 p.m. – (10) Nevada vs. (7) Dayton – TBS
- 6:50 p.m. – (10) Colorado State/Virginia vs. (7) Texas – TNT
- 7:10 p.m. – (14) Oakland vs. (3) Kentucky – CBS
- 7:25 p.m. – (12) McNeese vs. (5) Gonzaga – TBS
- 7:35 p.m. – (15) South Dakota State vs. (2) Iowa State – truTV
- 9:20 p.m. – (15) Saint Peter’s vs. (2) Tennessee – TNT
- 9:40 p.m. – (11) NC State vs. (6) Texas Tech – CBS
- 9:55 p.m. – (13) Samford vs. (4) Kansas – TBS
- 10:05 p.m. – (10) Drake vs. (7) Washington State – truTV
And finally, here’s our annual look at a whole bunch of stuff you needed to know before now:
- Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, at least one double-digit seed has advanced to the Sweet 16 in 15 straight tournaments, and 36 of the last 38. (I have one: #12 JMU)
- 2008 is the only year that all four No. 1 seeds have made the Final Four. Last year featured a #4 (UConn), two #5’s (Miami & San Diego St), and a #9 (Florida Atlantic). (I’ve got a #4, two #3’s, and a #1)
- In the last 24 tournaments, 17 #1 seeds have won the National Championship. In addition, there’s been one #2, three #3’s and a #4 and #7 in that same time frame. (I went with a #3 in Creighton)
- Last year was only the 6th time in tournament history when a #12 seed did NOT beat a #5 seed. (I’ve got #12 JMU)
- Since 2012 there has only been one year when a #7 or higher seed has not advanced to the Final Four. (Misfire on my part. #4 Auburn is my lowest seeded Final Four team)
- Last year marked only the 4th time since 1979 that a #1 seed did not reach the Final Four.
- Only 13 #1 seeds have made the Final Four in the last 12 tournaments. (I went with just one: Houston)
- Only twice since 1996 have all the #2 seeds made it to the Sweet 16. (I’ve got Tennessee & Marquette going down in the 2nd round)
- At least one #11 seed has won a game in 18 straight tournaments. (I’m picking three #11’s so the odds are in my favor on this one!)
That’s it for today. Good luck to everyone …
The Commish
(PS: Will do my best to crank out some updates this weekend, but no promises given all of the wedding festivities!)