2019 NCAA Bracket Challenge interest? (aka Sparty was robbed!) (2 Viewers)

MacGrad

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Since I know there's a bunch of NCAA-philes on the board, I've set up a bracket challenge on ESPN. Cost is $10 per entry (no limit to entries), winner-takes-all.

UPDATED
Ok... the group has been created and is ready for entries.

If you want to participate:
* Express interest in this thread
* I'll PM you with the Paypal address, the league name, and the league password
* Use the link to send $10 CAD per entry, and PM me your email address so I can send you the group invite via the ESPN site
* Invites will be sent, and then it's up to you to fill out your bracket
* ESPN will handle the scoring, and the winner will be determined by how ESPN ranks the entries at the end

I'm using the "Money Pool" option on Paypal for visibility purposes -- everyone will be able to see what the prize pool is, and the participants.

DEADLINE is Thursday at noon(ish) -- the site will lock your bracket at tipoff for the first game.
(It looks like ESPN will only allow you to use that entry in the group -- if you want to be entered in other ESPN groups, you'll need to make a copy of your bracket)

If there's any questions, post them here so they can be answered before the tournament starts.

(And Sparty was robbed! Win the B1G regular season and conference championships, and get a tougher draw than Michigan? BOO!)
 
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(And Sparty was robbed! Win the B1G regular season and conference championships, and get a tougher draw than Michigan? BOO!)

I know...I'm steamed. We should have been on 1 seed and they put us in the same bracket as Duke (#1 overall!!). They'll kill us. We lost a starter who was scoring 15 points a game. We also lost another key guy off the bench. Our big man is just coming back off a broken hand. And our point guard can barely walk. We do have Izzo, so we shall see. But we got hosed with the draw.
 
(And Sparty was robbed! Win the B1G regular season and conference championships, and get a tougher draw than Michigan? BOO!)

Not to mention that Sparty beat Michigan THREE TIMES in the last 22 days!!! ...ok i'm done crying now.
 
Not to mention that Sparty beat Michigan THREE TIMES in the last 22 days!!! ...ok i'm done crying now.

The only way I can explain it is that the committee watched the game until halftime, and figured the loss of Ahrens would be enough to stop MSU from making the comeback.

Let's face it -- it will be the upset of the tournament if we beat Duke, especially since we can never seem to beat a Coach K team.
 
(And Sparty was robbed! Win the B1G regular season and conference championships, and get a tougher draw than Michigan?

I don't know why the B1G plays its championship so late that no matter who wins it's too late for the Committee to change anything before the brackets are announced.

IMO, UK has a legitimate beef. UNC had no injuries. Loses 7 games (2 to unranked teams). Doesn't win the ACC regular season. Doesn't win the tournament. UK beat the absolute shit out of them, but UNC gets a #1 seed. Worse, UK gets the #2 in the same bracket?! Why, because Michael Jordan went to UNC?
 
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I don't know why the B1G plays its championship so late that no matter who wins it's too late for the Committee to change anything before the brackets are announced.

Delaney has been pretty transparent about this - he loves having all eyes on the conference leading into the selection show. The committee will swear they have contingent scenarios worked out, but I can’t see how that game mattered.

Anyway, in for the bracket!
 
The committee will swear they have contingent scenarios worked out, but I can’t see how that game mattered.

The explanation was we jumped Kentucky and earned the right to be closer to home (Des Moines on a Thursday instead of Columbus?). And not that it'll ever happen, but how boring would it be if Round 2 and 3 games were against Minnesota and Maryland?
 
In... why not? I was a college basketball guru from the ages of 12-22 and always did shitty in these things. Now that I hardly watch anymore, I'm due for some success.
 
Seems like if you end your sentence with a “?” you are not certain in the outcome.

Since the "winner-takes-all" was part of a question regarding the terms of (and interest in) the pool, it wasn't a certainty when I posted the OP.

Anyhow, since nobody expressed an issue with it, it will be winner-takes-all. Revision made to OP. :)
 
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Here's the list of people who have expressed interest so far (updated Mar 20 @ 537pm)... I know a couple of people have posted without saying they're in, so please let me know if I should add you to the list.


MacGrad
PAZ -- Paid, link sent
Slurpeee -- Paid, link sent
Wife of Slurpeee -- Paid, link sent
Colter -- Paid, link sent
WedgeRock -- Paid, link sent
msuroo -- Paid, link sent
Apache -- Paid, link sent
CantSpellPoker -- Paid, link sent
Sparty -- Paid, link sent
Poker Zombie -- Paid, link sent
Legend672 -- Paid, link sent
 
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MINOR UPDATE:
For some reason, Paypal will only let me create money pools in Canadian dollars and there's no option to switch it to US currency. Since I used the money pool option to maintain transparency with the funds, and since a few people have already paid, I'm switching the buy-in to $10 Canadian.

If the consensus is that is should be $10 USD, then let me know and I'll try to figure something out.

Thanks,
Al
 
So is there a cost to covert USD to CAD (and potentially back)? If so, I might be out. It's a $10 pool and if everyone gets nipped by PayPal (possibly twice) it's almost not worth it...
 
Let me check with Paypal -- it looks like it's run via a modified Friends & Family setup, where no fees are charged during the transfer. If you wanted, you could always send it to me F&F and there wouldn't be a conversion charge (as it would sit in my account as a US balance)... then, because it would be sent to the winner via F&F, there wouldn't be any fees attached to it.

(And yes, I could have done it via F&F from the start, but because I don't do a lot of purchases on PCF, using the money pool gave some trust and transparency with the prize pool. I just wouldn't have thought there would be that limitation with currencies.)
 
MINOR UPDATE:
For some reason, Paypal will only let me create money pools in Canadian dollars and there's no option to switch it to US currency. Since I used the money pool option to maintain transparency with the funds, and since a few people have already paid, I'm switching the buy-in to $10 Canadian.

If the consensus is that is should be $10 USD, then let me know and I'll try to figure something out.

Thanks,
Al

I'm fine as is with no matter what you decide. I have about 15-20 years of track record in these things that suggests I'm not winning any money anyway. And if I do.... well, I've payed worse rakes before. Regardless, I'll get $10+ fees in entertainment out of it easy.
 

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