Turtledroppings.com – Maryland Football And Basketball Blog

Day 1 was every reason the tournament exists, the better team wins and we get a little closer to seeing who the best team in the Nation is.  Day 2 was every reason why we love March Madness…PURE CHAOS!!

While yesterday was certainly fun to watch, it sure got exhausting crossing off all the wrong answers.  I felt like a math teacher in a school with not many Asians (no offense Jeremy Lin).  And as I mentioned at the end of the last update, unlike Day 1, Day 2 certainly saw some brackets die.  J and Jodi, thanks for coming out.  Temple and Missouri will not be winning the National Championship.

As mentioned before, I actually loved the Missouri pick, but that turned out to be like a guy saying to his wife “I have a good feeling about this sketchy hitchhiker we are about to pick up” before the family is found massacred on a back road.  Sorry for the jinx J.

So here are the standings now.  Don’t be fooled, though some people look to be right in the thick of things, inside they are already dead:

Kristin* 23 (13)

Bob Wim 21 (13)

Alex 21 (12)

John U* 20 (12)

J 20 (10)

Bob Wev* 19 (13)

Lee* 19 (13)

Trish 19 (12)

Jodi 19 (12)

John F* 19 (10)

Chris 19 (10)

Laura 16 (12)

Smooth Sailing:

If nothing else Kristin had a good day just by simply not having a bad day.  Meanwhile all those trying to run her down fell further off the pace.  Looking at her bracket, losing a Final Four team with Missouri hurt, but otherwise, a lot of potential points are still there for the taking.

Bob Wim, led by Ohio beating Michigan, pulled closer to the top having all his Sweet 16 teams in the East and Midwest survive round 1.  The loss of Duke will hurt (though I doubt he is crying over a Duke loss) as will his Final Four team of Missouri bowing out, but otherwise, not a bad situation.

Alex, though third may end up being the best bracket coming out of round 1.  Hard to believe, but his entire Elite 8 is still intact.  No long term damage has been committed, in fact the road for some of his Elite 8 teams even got a little easier.

Little Choppy:

John U didn’t have the best day when you look at his actual picks and results, but by not doing as poorly as others he found himself inching closer to the top.  The most impressive aspect of John’s bracket is that he successfully called the USF-Ohio match up in round 2.  John did lose Missouri and Duke, but that seems to be a running theme in this recap.

J is up next in the standings.  Like a termite infested house, he may look good on the outside, but he is rotten away on the inside.  Any sudden breeze could take the whole thing down.  J lost his National Championship team of Missouri (Turns out St. Louis would have been a better pick from the “Show Me” State).  J also had St. Mary’s making the Elite 8, which to the shock of no one outside of Mt. Airy, didn’t happen.  J now pins his hope entirely on FSU going as far as they possibly can, which could somehow save his bracket if they make a deep run.

Next up is me, I lost Missouri as a Final Four team, but not much else.  I have 7 of my Elite 8 left, so though I am in the middle of the pack now, there is potential to move up.  I actually like what I see when I look at my sheet.  Then again, I also like J’s Missouri pick, so maybe I should start to panic!

Lee is my sister, but not my twin sister.  Hard to tell in this contest as we seem to tie each and every round.  Not only in points, but in remaining teams left.  Lee didn’t lose a Final Four team in Missouri, but she did in Duke.  Otherwise she still has a ton of potential points to go.  I think when this is all said and done, she too will be heading towards the top of the standings.

Rough Waters

Trish lost a National Championship Finalist in Temple, as well as a couple Elite 8′s.  And the sleeper pick of Memphis to the Final Four isn’t going to happen.  In fact when the New Mexico-Louisville game goes final her West will be closed for business.  Things are not looking hot at the moment.

John F is in the Rough Waters category, but I’d say he is the King of the Division as I give him the best shot of getting out of it and pulling himself back into the thick of things.  John lost UNLV which hurt, but I really don’t see anything on his bracket to really be upset about.  Seven of his Elite 8 picks are still around, so things could be worse.  Look for John to make a move in round two.

I’m putting this is in the Rough Waters category, though in actuality, Jodi is at the bottom of the ocean.  The UNLV-Temple final isn’t happening, and there probably aren’t enough other points hanging around to make up for those two misfires.  Thanks for playing Jodi and good luck in the Danny O’Brien sweepstakes.

Finally a little bit of life from my writing partner.  In fact Chris downright had a good day bringing himself back into this thing.  Unfortunately he still has some work to do, but if he wants to save Turtledroppings some cash, it isn’t too late.  Chris actually has all 8 Elite 8 teams so a Jesus like comeback isn’t out of the question (is it too early for Easter references??).

So there is where we sit. Let Round 2 begin!

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 17th, 2012 at 7:18 am and is filed under Maryland Terps Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.