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Short version: Sign up. Doesn't matter who you are. http://narshe.me/YdbkIB Post your team name here.

Longer version, cribbed extensively from last year's: Check it out, y'all. We've got a bunch of Jesuits looking likely to take the overall #1 seed in the tournament, and we might well see some old CoN folks showing up as zombie accounts for a few weeks as the annual CoNCAA rampage takes hold. Truly, these are harbingers of the apocalypse.

I've sent out emails to the people who played last year; if you got them or not, or if you're new to our brackets, you can still sign up for this year's tournament using your Facebook or Yahoo accounts. You can now also sign up with Google+, if you're someone who actually uses Google+. The link to initiate signup this year is: http://narshe.me/YdbkIB

If you're prompted for any further information, use this:

Group Name: CoNCAA
Group Number: 961
Password: flanitor

Please post your bracket name in this thread, as always, or else it's hard to match up CoN names with Yahoo names. This year, Selection Sunday (the day we find out what teams are involved in the tournament) is on 17 March, and the games that count start on 21 March. That means you'll have the usual three and a half to four days to get your picks in, and we'll make sure to remind you.

Last year, we had twenty-four folks. A few of them have gone away and probably won't be back; perhaps you could be a new member who wants in, or perhaps someone who's never done it before and wants to show up? Our record is twenty-eight. Let's aim high contrary to all logic.

I'll say, as always, that you do not have to care one bit about basketball to do this. You could watch every game this year and still fare miserably, and you can also just make wild guesses and you'll still get one or two crazy upsets that nobody else gets right. The fun is in getting everyone else's "I can not frigging believe you got that matchup right!" reactions.

Here's the list of who's in:

Edit

• Wibbly Wobbly Baskety Waskety - R51
• Forbidden Billikens - Neal
• Things Decided by My Cat - Kane
• Throw your sword at it - Malevolence
• March Sadness - Xenon/Quad
• Galvatrons Glory - Nytecrawla
• DP's Ps of D - Death Penalty
• Laszagna with Jack Dagnals - laszlow
• Tax Man - MeHael
• Take my breath awaaaaaaay - Sweetdude
• Nerlens Noel's Knee - Kappa
• LOL Maryland 5 - LOL B1G - Super Moogle
• Spess Meherns - Del S
• I cant think of something clever - finalalias
• how do I shot hoops? - Mogmaster
• Big East's Last Dance - Sabin
• No-Change Fees - GMH
• Future Bulls Benchwarmers - Gears
• Bill Murray's my secret weapon - Stiltzkin
• That guy at Ole Miss is crazy - Baralai
• Even a Blind Squirrel... - SSJ_Cloud
• we go play hoop - fallingheart
• Sounds Like Starbucks - Salamando
• Tidu's Teabaggers - Tidu-who
• Luchadore Supremo Bracketo - Gabe

Don't recognize some of those names? They're chatters or are just generally too lazy to come around any more. You, too, could aspire to that lofty goal.

This post has been edited by Rangers51 on 21st March 2013 11:57

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

While I am tempted to rename my bracket "All We Want To Do Is Eat Your Brains", my bracket will keep the name "Tax Man".

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"Getting upset over a trifle would indeed be unmannerly."

-Afra to Damia

Edited the first post to add in all the current players. Posting here to note the edit. Also to tell Super Moogle that he can lol all he wants - best conference in the country this year.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

With the death of CoNFF this year, I was getting worried that CoNCAA was in jeopardy too! But that was silly.

Congrats to early dancers JMU, Davidson, Iona, and W. Kentucky (go Jellies).

Here's to another month of sleepless nights of bracketing, three-screen streaming set-ups, and tripling my yearly chat activity!

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I find your lack of faith disturbing...

I've signed up. The Spess Meherns will not fehl the emprah.

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"Only the dead have seen the end of their quotes being misattributed to Plato."
-George Santayana

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here..."
-Abraham Lincoln, prior to the discovery of Irony.

Quote (Kappa the Imp @ 12th March 2013 10:08)

With the death of CoNFF this year, I was getting worried that CoNCAA was in jeopardy too!  But that was silly.

Congrats to early dancers JMU, Davidson, Iona, and W. Kentucky (go Jellies).

Anything I run personally doesn't die (except Premier League fantasy, I guess). And it seems that over the last five years I inherited CoNCAA fully, heh.

No love for early dancer Harvard? Yeah, me either. And I'm actually connected to that school now.

First post also updated to show Del.

This post has been edited by Rangers51 on 12th March 2013 16:20

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Quote

Don't recognize some of those names? They're chatters or are just generally too lazy to come around any more. You, too, could aspire to that lofty goal.

Lulz.

Once again, I am prepared to fill out this bracket with no knowledge but that of sequential numbers and the relative coolness of logos. Huzzah!

Also, here's to me picking ND to win a couple games as per usual, and ND getting upset the first time they touch a basketball, as per usual.

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Currently Playing : Final Fantasy V
Most Recently Beat : Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Favorite Game : Final Fantasy X

The newest CoNcast is up! Have a listen!

I actually had to Google NCAA just to make sure I knew what it was you guys were talking about in this thread, but I guess I'll try it this year.

My bracket name is "I cant think of something clever"

Guys, tomorrow is SELECTION SUNDAY!

I know this doesn't mean much to the forums these days, but hopefully my excitement can entice a few late joiners to the pool? This is the best time of the year!

Lastly, MD BEAT DUKE. Let's get it done against the Heels tonight!

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I find your lack of faith disturbing...

So I don't usually do this, but tell me if I have this right: I'm basically just predicting winners for each game in the tournament, right?

Is there a template at that Yahoo group link (or whatever it is)? (I haven't logged into it yet; I might do that tomorrow.)

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

How does I shot hoops?

Also, my real name probably isn't Frederick.

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If you've been mod-o-fied,
It's an illusion, and you're in-between.
Don't you be tarot-fied,
It's just alot of nothing, so what can it mean?
~Frank Zappa

Sins exist only for people who are on the Way or approaching the Way

I'm in, at the last second (as usual), under the moniker Big East's Last Dance. Of course, it's in commemoration of the downfall of my conference of choice. Between this and college football's upheaval, this talk of alignment's really getting ridiculous.



This post has been edited by Sabin on 17th March 2013 15:36

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"When I turn the page
The corner bends into the perfect dog ear
As if the words knew I'd need them again
But at the time, I didn't see it."

~"This Ain't a Surfin' Movie" - Minus the Bear

Quote (Glenn Magus Harvey @ 17th March 2013 03:54)

So I don't usually do this, but tell me if I have this right: I'm basically just predicting winners for each game in the tournament, right?

Is there a template at that Yahoo group link (or whatever it is)? (I haven't logged into it yet; I might do that tomorrow.)

That's about right. It's an almost-standard single-elimination tournament of 64 entities - the not-quite-standard part is that there are four preliminary matches that narrow down the 68 teams selected down to the final group of 64 that start play on Thursday.

Those teams are selected tonight starting at 6pm EDT. Once that selection is done, which should be right around an hour later, you can select the teams you think will win at the Yahoo link. It's really easy, you pick your team for a game and click its name.

There are 63 games that get counted, and you have to pick the winner of all 63 before the games start on Thursday. The Yahoo site makes it really easy - each time you pick a winner, that team is advanced to the next tier of the tournament on your screen, so you can pick the next round by clicking a team name again for that matchup. The tiebreaker is that you also pick the final score of the championship game.

I'll update the list in the OP in a bit.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Okay, my bracket is called "No-Change Fees".

...what? There was a Southwest Airlines ad next to it that said "No Change Fees." and I happened to parse it at first in an unintended manner.

I'll fill out the rest of it in a bit.

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 18th March 2013 03:22

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

We have to pick the entire bracket in one go? Wow, that's a long shot. I thought it would go in rounds or something...

Ones does not simply click mouse to shot hoops, I am discovering. Ho, boy. I don't anticipate lasting long.

--------------------

If you've been mod-o-fied,
It's an illusion, and you're in-between.
Don't you be tarot-fied,
It's just alot of nothing, so what can it mean?
~Frank Zappa

Sins exist only for people who are on the Way or approaching the Way

Quote (finalalias @ 17th March 2013 22:53)

We have to pick the entire bracket in one go? Wow, that's a long shot. I thought it would go in rounds or something...

Yeah, that's exactly right. It's supposed to require a bit of luck - if you got to pick every round, you'd get to use past games' history after each round and then everyone kind of gets to restart each time around. Part of the glory is when you pick a long shot to do well, and part of the agony is in the picks that you choose to do really well that get knocked out early. If not for that, you wouldn't have the 60-year-old secretary winning the office pool, you know? (In that analogy, MogMaster is the secretary).

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Brackets are here!! Looks like a really fun one, too. Initial thoughts, anyone?

1) I shouldn't be surprised that the Big East leads all conferences with 8, but really? The Big East when it's not even as overrated as it usually is? Even over the "best conference in basketball" B1G?

2) I'm honestly not mad that Maryland didn't get in because they shot themselves in the foot losing to BC and GT. And FSU twice. And generally being mediocre. I'm sad, but I think they overachieved with a really young and maybe not-so-talented squad.

3) It is truly hilarious that the A-10, MW, and the horribly horrible Pac-12 each got 5 bids. What's a La Salle? Does Boise St. play on a blue court? St. Louis at 4?? Hold on, I just started getting mad that Maryland didn't get in...

4) Meanwhile, the WCC gets only one at-large in St. Mary's, which continues to raise questions about Gonzaga's legitimacy. But they have David Stockton so I'll let it pass.

5) Louisville, Duke, and Michigan St. are all clumped in a loaded Midwest while Indiana, Miami, Marquette, and Florida all sit in the East wondering which one of them is the most scared of getting upset.

6) 5/12's look tough.

7) Without any superstar talents/teams, I'm liking coaching and location advantages this year.

8) If Gonzaga and Pitt meet in the 2nd round, do you think both teams will start shooting on their own baskets to prove they're historically better and missing the Sweet 16?

9) Teams I'm totally overrating for no reason: Wisconsin, Michigan

10) Teams I'm totally underrating for no reason: Louisville

Ok, enough for now. Hopefully some people will bounce ideas with me over the forums since I can't get into chat during the day! Long live CoNCAA.

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I find your lack of faith disturbing...

Nice, Nate.

I'm shocked at how high the selection committee rated the Big East. They're a good conference, but in no universe does Marquette deserve a 3 seed. Georgetown probably doesn't deserve their 2, either. Swap New Mexico and Georgetown (and their locations, so UNM still plays in Salt Lake and Georgetown still plays in Philly), then swap Marquette and Syracuse.

Maryland and Virginia have beef for being out of the tournament, but Southern Miss probably would've needed to get in before either of them. And maybe one of the Tennessee/Kentucky pair. Not really sure. I'm actually fine with all five of those teams being left out.

Committee HATES the Pac-12. I'm actually fine with UCLA and Arizona being six seeds, but Oregon at a 12 is just monstrous. I actually thought Oregon was set as probably anywhere from 7 to 9 before they won the Pac-12 tournament, and it looks like they actually needed that second win over UCLA to get their bid. I'm really shocked. A-10 and MWC deserve their bids, though, those are some rough conferences. Won't be surprised to see any of those teams go far. VCU final four? Again?

I don't think any of the 1 seeds have an overall clear path to the final four like we've seen in seasons past. Louisville's biggest obstacle is Duke, Kansas's is probably Florida, Indiana's is Cuse, and Gonzaga's is the fact that they are Gonzaga. One thing I really don't understand is that Louisville as the overall #1 got the strongest 2 seed (at least that's my understanding). Shouldn't they get the weakest 2 seed (presumably OSU)? I think Duke is a HUGE obstacle to Louisville returning to the final four (or Michigan State if it comes down to it), much more than Miami would be...but I know there's a lot more to it than just "best 1 plays worst 2".

That said, I think Kansas probably has the clearest path of any 1 seed. Gross.

Experts saying that Montana will beat Syracuse are on crack. Experts saying South Dakota State will beat Michigan might be on to something. I do not believe in Michigan at all.

I love seeing UNC as an 8, knowing that if all goes well, I won't have to see Roy Williams' face again. Unfortunately, it will likely come at the hands of Kansas, who I hate more. It's a conundrum.

Will the losing coach of UCLA/Minnesota get fired? What an awesome matchup.

What's the most boring first (second...) round game out there? Creighton/Cincinnati at least has the chance of a brawl given Cincinnati's team. Is it UNLV/Cal? St. Louis / NMST? San Diego State / Oklahoma gets my vote.

Biggest chance of a blowout in a close-seed matchup? I'm thinking Temple absolutely murders NCState. The latter hasn't won a good game since January and Temple seems strong to me.

Wisconsin can go screw, as always. I can't wait to see them lose to some terrible mid-major, as they always do.

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Hey, put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey, put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me

Sorry Rangers - Bill Murray is me. I expect to crash and burn, and plan on making selections based purely on my appreciation of team names. So, based on what is (to me, at least) an entertaining misread, Gongaga ftw.

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We apologise for the inconvenience

I know that Virginia doesn't deserve to be in, but give me a break; I'm a UVA alum, I agonized during that ACC tourney loss to NC State, and I'm butthurt about UVA not being in the tournament despite six wins in the RPI top 50 while St. Mary's, La Salle, and MTSU combining for four wins in the RPI top 50. Still, I have to acknowledge that those awful early-season losses and disappointing showings in make-or-break games down the stretch justify UVA's exclusion. Whatever, it's over, and I should focus on the present.

That Midest bracket is terrifying, with at least four teams with clear F4 potential. You can make the case it has the strongest 1 seed, the strongest 2 seed, the strongest 3 seed, AND the strongest 4 seed in the field. Remember, St. Louis won the Atlantic 10, which has been a sportswriter darling conference all year.

More than any other possible S16 matchup I want to see Kansas vs. VCU II. I love Shaka Smart more than most and I feel Kansas's Ben McLemore is the best human interest story in the tournament. I wish they could both make the F4, but instead I'll just have to settle for a fascinating rematch of an E8 game from two years ago. I'm hoping they both win out to that point, and I'm strongly considering making Kansas my overall champ. I really like McLemore.

Right now.... the only F4 pick I'm feeling okay about is Indiana. It's a close call between them or Kansas as to who has the easiest path as a 1 seed, and I'm scared not to pick at least one top seed for the F4. Fingers crossed.

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
END SPOILER

I am having so much more trouble this year making picks than any other year before. I'm ALMOST done with my Round-of-64 picks. No confidence at all. Nooooo.

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Hey, put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey, put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me

Although I usually complete Regions at a time instead of Rounds, I understand where you're coming from, Neal. Haven't really gotten into things yet, but I foresee many agonizing nights this week.

Oregon at 12 is pretty suspect. Top 50 RPI, 3rd in conference, AP #25 at the end of the year, AND a very convincing conference tourny win. Um, yeah. Maybe the committee actually fixes 5/12 games to uphold that loopy statistic.

VCU has a nice recent history and all, but I'm not convinced yet. Sure the A-10 looks good for now, but they are still just playing each other (strong out-of-conference schedules aside). They can definitely score, but they're very young and probably a far cry from Shaka Smart's last team of destiny.

That goes double for Saint Louis. They might have been the media darlings, but statistically, they are very mediocre. Not convincing at all, imo.

I really can't trust Indiana as a #1, but they really do have a nice path to the F4. Sure, their advanced stats are through the roof and Oladipo can 360 dunk in-game, but they're proven chokers at this point. Kansas is looking sexy with their momentum, but I think the F4 would be the honest ceiling for them.

UNC with an 8 is actually higher than I expected, Neal. That team is way overrated.

What should I think of Wisconsin? Bad tournament history, I know, but they were beating up on Michigan and Indiana just a week ago. If you're hating on the Badgers, then where does that put the Hoosiers and the Wolverines, much less the rest of the B1G?

Teams like Florida and Syracuse look really nice on paper, but have been absolutely falling apart as of late. What kind of stock do you guys put in momentum (good and bad)? Florida isn't exactly playing the hardest schedule in America, either.

Meanwhile, Ohio St. hasn't lost to a single unranked team all year... but they are so statistically reliant on Deshaun Thomas it is frightening. And not in the Kemba Walker kind of way.

Things are looking chalky for now, but that's more because there are a ton of teams ready for the upset and less because the top 1, 2, 3's are actually elite.

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I find your lack of faith disturbing...

Back from the dead.

Team Name: That guy at Ole Miss is crazy

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"The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved."
- Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

Last post: 14 March 2009 - March Madness 2009 thread.

I'm in as "Even a Blind Squirrel..."

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"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle

Quote (R51)

If not for that, you wouldn't have the 60-year-old secretary winning the office pool, you know? (In that analogy, MogMaster is the secretary).

Maybe. But I'm always ready with a sassy or raunchy comment just this side of creepy, and still attractive enough that you'd consider sleeping with me while drunk at the Christmas party.


It's somehow incredible to me how many old members came back for this. People I thought were gone to the chasm of IRL purgatory forever .

This post has been edited by MogMaster on 19th March 2013 09:27

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If you've been mod-o-fied,
It's an illusion, and you're in-between.
Don't you be tarot-fied,
It's just alot of nothing, so what can it mean?
~Frank Zappa

Sins exist only for people who are on the Way or approaching the Way

Quote (SSJ_Cloud @ 18th March 2013 20:01)

Last post: 14 March 2009 - March Madness 2009 thread.

I'm in as "Even a Blind Squirrel..."

New last post, circa 2018: March 18, 2013.

For those of you looking for advice, you can do worse than ESPN's NCAAM section: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Double post because Laszlow reminded me of something that I usually talk about to remind folks but forgot this year.

The games that count start on Thursday. Tipoff of those games is historically right at around noon American Eastern time. You can make changes until the first game starts, and after that you can never make changes again. Yahoo has, in the past, gotten bogged down by traffic in the few hours before the first game, so you should aim to have your final picks in by early in the morning Thursday no matter what time zone you're in.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

In as 'we go play hoop'. I'll make my picks later today, or maybe I will forget to make them at all???

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"We're not tools of the government or anyone else. Fighting... fighting was the only thing I was ever good at, but at least I always fought for what I believed in." - Frank Yeager (a.k.a. Grey Fox)

Kentucky just lost in the first round of the NIT. This is funny to me.

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Hey, put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey, put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me