My fellow weary and crazed basketball fans and participants, Hopefully you are all rested as the second wave of madness is on the horizon . . . . tipping off in just over 16 hours!!!

First of all, congrats on another unbelievable year of participation! We have catapulted over the 400 mark again, landing at 448 overall participants!!

The on-line system continues to be a terrific little tool and I presume you have all found it to be to your liking and enjoyment . . . indeed it is pretty slick to have instant access to standings, other member’s brackets, results, percentages, potential scenarios, etc.

Now let’s get on to business. . . .a brief recap:

Are you heartbroken & lying in a pile of Shredded Brackets? If so, you are not alone.

ESPN.com Tournament Challenge Facts:

98% had KS in the Sweet 16

59% had KS in the Final Four

42% had KS winning championship

0.9% had Northern Iowa in Sweet 16

Bringing those stats closer to home . . .

0.2% in our pools picked Northern Iowa in Sweet 16

0 people in the $5 & 1 person in the $10 pool

101 picked KS to win it all in the $10 pool

128 picked KS to win it all in the $10 pool

Shout out to JKirbs11 . . . aka John Kirby for being the ONLY person insane or prophetic enough to make the N. Iowa over KS pick . . . my hats off to you . . . . I will be reaching out when the Kentucky Derby draws near for betting advice.

Since it looks like Spring is playing games with us, at least things are heating up as 16 Teams have advanced and continue to Dance!!!

Welcome back CINDERELLA! Last year, she decided to take a sabbatical from the ball, but never fear she is here this year!

Was this the best opening two rounds in NCAA history? I am sure that those of us who had Kansas winning it all would disagree . . . as would all the Marquette and Wisconsin fans out there who had to endure the heart breaking loss by the Golden Eagles in the first round and the abysmal showing by the Badgers as they were completely dominated in every facet of the game by Cornell in Round 2.

However, setting those groups aside, objectively I believe the first two rounds were indeed a spectacular spectacle to behold. Predictability was out the window and parity was the catch phrase of the talking heads. If you missed the opening four games on Thursday, your heart is likely better for the wear. With only 12 points total separating the winners and losers of those games it made for incredible TV. How can you top games that finished in an overtime, a double overtime, a buzzer beater shot and a game decided by 1 point in the final seconds? As the day progressed, more upsets and game winning shots would ensue . . . . perhaps the greatest of them all, was slaying of the “Giant” of Georgetown by the Bobcats of Ohio. Big East teams were falling one by one by the weekend’s end, all but two teams runs would be done.

After the events of Thursday, Friday didn’t have a chance out of the gate to compete in drama or intensity. Nine of Friday’s games were double-digit games. Duke & Syracuse completely dominated their opponents and Purdue proved they are still a force to be reckoned with despite the absence of Hummel. Cornell put themselves on the map with a win over Temple, thus satisfying the #12 over a #5 upset trend and getting the school’s first win in NCAA tourney history. It was a “challenging” day to be a Badger, as all I can say is “thank you” for missed free-throws. Wofford made only 1 of 7 in the final minutes of the game, thus allowing WI to sneak out an unimpressive victory.

Saturday was reserved for the two “names” of the tourney . . . Samhan & Farokhmanesh . . . . as they electrified us with their performances and team’s upset wins over Villanova and Kansas. The Northern Iowa game was incredibly fascinating . . . the Jayhawks were the prey of the Panthers and N. Iowa was relentless. The jumped to a nice lead, maintained it for awhile and then Kansas slowly came back into it, cutting their deficit to a point in the final minute. Then it was all out chaos for N. Iowa! Turnovers, horrible getting the ball in-bounds issues, pressure defense and then the infamous “out of nowhere” 3 pointer by Farohmanesh to seal the deal. The Jayhawks had fallen and most of the nation was in complete disbelief. This wasn’t even the end of the madness . . . #11 Washington took out #3 New Mexico, Samhan’s #10 St. Mary’s cruised past #2 Villanova and Baylor won their 2nd tourney game in a tournament, the first time they had done this since 1948.

Sunday set the final pieces of the Sweet 16 stage. Syracuse blew out Gonzaga . . . The Badgers didn’t show up for their game versus and exemplary Cornell team who truly put on a clinic in efficiency and dominace. Michigan State proved how tough they are as a “team”, after losing their star Kalin Lucas early in the game, they rallied and Korie Lucious drained a jumper that pulled them ahead with seconds remaining over Maryland. Purdue edged out TX A&M in OT and Xavier continued to prove that they are indeed one of the premiere hoops programs in the country with their win over Pitt.

Miscellaneous Distribution of Shout Outs, Props & Commentary:

v Bravo to the exhilarating wave of the four opening games this past Thursday. Never before has the tourney kicked off with such a bang!

v Who is the Greatest? That would be the new “ALI” . . . Mr. Ali Farokhmanesh . . . . The man with the biggest shots of the weekend and the magic touch in the clutch.

v GO BIG TEN! To everyone’s surprise, the Big 10 is the conference with the most teams still around . . . heading for the Sweet 16.

v Opening Day Madness – 6 lower seeds advance in the first round on the first day . . . the most since 1991 . . . 10 lower seeds overall advanced in 1st round (2 days)

v Congrats to Calipari who became the 1st coach EVER to have 5 consecutaive 30 win seasons

v Phenomenal Freethrows! Northern Iowa went 16 for 19 in their win over KS and Georgia Tech shot 96% (24 for 25) in their win over OK State

v There was nothing “Super” about ‘Nova this year. Scottie Reynolds, the star of last year’s Final four team, faded fast as he missed 22 of the 26 shots attempted this past weekend.

v “In and Out” with a Bang! You have to love overtimes . . . the first game of the four days went into double overtime (BYU over FL) and the final game of the weekend went into OT as well (Purdure over TX A&M)

v Omar Samhan is the Man! Led St. Mary’s to two upsets over the weekend, scoring 61 points and putting up 19 rebounds.

v Kansas loses 3rd time in the 2nd round as a #1 seed . . . more than anyone else

v WI Connections: Keep an eye on Tennessee ’s Coach Bruce Pearl (former UW-Milwaukee coach) & Korie Lucious (MSU) who I had the fortune of seeing play High School hoops at Milwaukee King & Pius.

v Ivy League to the Sweet 16! 1st time since the tournament expanded the Field in 1985. So far the Cinderella slipper seems to be fitting the Cornell Big Red with great ease.

v Parity – The Sweet 16 will feature 11 different conferences. It doesn’t get more balanced than that.

What does this all mean, well let’s take a look at the recap by the numbers:

60 – # of years since Baylor last won an NCAA tournament game (1950)

51 – # of years since St. Mary’s last won an NCAA tournament game (1959)

8.8 – VIctory margin on first day of tourney . . . last year it was 16.1 points

6 – # of Sweet 16 Teams that have never been to a Final Four (Xavier, Tennessee, Butler, Northern Iowa, St. Mary’s & Cornell)

0 – # of Wisconsin teams still alive

3 – # of times since 1985 that 4 teams in the Sweet 16 are seeded 9th or lower (other times were in ’99 & ’02)

3 – The # of Big Ten teams in the Sweet 16 . . . Ohio State, Purdue & Michigan State

1 – The # of Pac-10 teams left . . . Washington

2 – The # of Big East teams left . . . West Virginia & Syracuse

2 – The # of Big 12 teams left . . . Baylor & Kansas State

2 – The # of SEC teams left . . . Kentucky & Tennessee

1 – The # of ACC teams left . . . Duke

1 – ACC Team in the Sweet 16 in 3 of last 4 years (had at least 2 Sweet 16 teams in previous 27 tournaments)

3 – #1 seeds proved their strength and moved onward for a collision course.

1 – #3 seeds survive and advance

3 – #2 seeds alive to continue to dance

1 – #4 seed left in the ballroom

3 – # of double-digits seeds vying to be the belle of the ball

6 – # of Big East teams that have been eliminated from the tournament

4 – # of OT games in the first two rounds (3 OT & 1 2OT)

2 – # of OT games in the ENTIRE 2009 NCAA Tournament . . . 3 OT games this year on opening day alone
1 – The number of last year’s Final Four teams remaining (Michigan State)

1 – # of 12 seeds that upset a #5 seed (Cornell)

3 – # of Naismith Player of the Year Finalists still showcasing their skills in the tourney (Wesley Johnson (Syracuse), Evan Turner (Ohio State) & John Wall (Kentucky) . . . Sherron Collings (Kansas) made and early exit.
12 – Lowest seed of a team remaining yet in the tourney (Cornell)
1 – # of 13 the seed that surprisingly won in the first round (Murray State)
1 – # of 14 the seed that shockingly won in the first round over Georgetown (Ohio)
10 – # of lower seed teams that won in the 1st Round (#9 Northern Iowa, #14 Ohio, #10 Georgia Tech, #13 Murray State, #9 Wake Forest, #12 Cornell, #11 Washington, #10 Missouri, #11 Old Dominon & #10 St. Mary’s)
61% – Percentage that Cornell shot from the field in their victory over Wisconsin
10 – # of Top 15 ranked teams in the AP & Coaches polls that are still in the tourney ( Kansas, New Mexico, Villanova, Temple & Georgetown have fallen)

25 – # of times Kentucky has been to the Sweet 16

0 – # of times prior to this year that Cornell has been to the Sweet 16 . . .

0 – # of wins prior to this weekend that Cornell had in NCAA Tournament History

15 – # of points that Marquette led by in the 2nd half before Washington’s comeback and buzzer beater with 1.7 seconds to go

100 – # of points scored by Kentucky in their 1st round game
61 – Weekend “2 game” point total for St. Mary’s Omar Samhan . . . . in addition to 19 rebounds

50% – Percentage of Thursday games decided in OT or by 3 points or fewer (8 of 16). Last year there were only 9 total in the entire NCAA Tournament run

15 – # of games remaining to be played in this year’s tourney

3 – # of years in a row that a 13 seed has beat a 4 seed

20 – # of years since Northern Iowa had advanced to the 2nd Round of the tourney

30 – # of years since Syracuse was a #1 seed (1980 was the last time)

2004 – The last time an “Overall #1 Seed” lost this early in the Tournament (KY in ’04)

600 – # of career wins that Bo Byan has as a collegiate coach

2001 – The last time that Temple won a tournament game.

58 – # of miles that the Carrier Dome is from Cornell’s campus . . . it will be crawling with Ivy.

20 – # of spots ahead of Syracuse that Butler was ranked in the preseason AP poll

29.5 – average # of points that Kentucky won its first two games by

37 – # of points that Jimmer Fredette put up in BYU’s 2OT win over the Gators . . . he went 3 for 3 in the OT shooting the trifecta

14 – # of points that Georgetown lost to Ohio by – This is the largest loss by a top 3 seed in Round of 64 NCAA history

2001 – The last year that Duke beat a team seeded better than a 5 seed.

12 – # of straight years that Purdue won their lst round game . . . longest active streak

8 – # of points that Texas lad by in OT against Wake . . . ended up losing by 1 pt. . . . didn’t help they missed 13 FT in the game

27 – # of years since Ohio advanced to the 2nd round . . . . can you believe they didn’t even have a winning record this year and they STILL found a way to dominate Georgetown . . . ouch.

0 – The # of people out of 4.8 million entries in the ESPN Tourney Challenge tournament pool to have picked all Sweet 16 accurately

Sweet 16 Outlook:

Keeping with tradition, another “Collision of Characters” & “Menagerie Melee” will ensue. . . Wildcats, Panthers and Bears . . . OH MY! . . . We will have to wait and see how all the Wildcats and Panthers fare in their face-offs and if the felines and/or the Bears will be able to claw their way to play another day. . . Or will it be the year of the “color”? Will the hue du jour be Big Red or Orange? Or will the Boilermaker train ride right over their opponents on their way to Indianapolis? Or will it be the year of the dogfight with the Bulldogs and Huskies snarling their way to another victory? Or could it be the moment in time for the Buckeye “nut” to harden its shell against destruction by its opposition? At the end of the day, the stage is set and the battlefield prepared for all the animals and don’t forget the “people’’ too. . . As there will be Mountaineers, Musketeers, Spartans, Gaels and Volunteers, it’s true . . . And as usual, the cast of characters will include the Devils in Blue.

QUESTIONS to ponder as the Sweet 16 kicks off:

Ø MSU vs. Northern Iowa – Will the Spartans be able to return to the Final Four without the leadership and play of Kalin Lucas? Will the Panthers of Northern Iowa be the hunters and not the hunted? Can they prove their win over Kansas was not a fluke and that they are a true contender to make it to the Final Four? Will Mr. Ali and his “interesting” cast of colleagues continue to dazzle?

Ø TN vs OSU – This is Bruce Pearl’s 4th trip to the Sweet 16 in the last six years . . . will this be the year he can jump over the hurdle and advance? Will the Vols take revenge on their loss to Ohio State in 2007 when they had the game against Old Man Oden all but won, only to lose 85-84 . . . Will Tennessee “Crack the Buckeye” code and Evan Turner’s game? Or will Ohio State take over the Midwest Region and restore order in this free-for-all bracket?

Ø Syracuse vs. Butler – Can the Butler “do it” and serve up an early exit to Syracuse? Will the Orange lose their juice? Will Onuaku return in time to make a difference?

Ø Xavier vs. KS State – Does “X” mark the spot this year? Will the balanced offensive attack of the Xavier Musketeers deliver the victory and prove that they belong in the Elite 8? This is the 3rd straight year that Xavier has made it to the Sweet 16! All they want is a little bit of R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Or, will the Wildcats of Kansas State continue to march to the Final Four under the tutelage of their crazy-eyed, straight forward drill sergeantesque Coach Martin?

Ø Kentucky vs. Cornell – Will “Brains” dominate the youthful “Brawn” as Cornell hopes to “ace” yet another test and beat the best? Or will youth be served and the new edition of the Fab Five dominate? Will Calipari finally reach the moutaintop in his quest for a National Championship . . . no longer singing the Memphis Blues. Can Kentucky stop the near perfect offensive execution of the Reg Red?

Ø Washington vs. West Virginia – Can the fierce Bobby Huggins continue to recreate the tournament success that he once had at Cincinnati with West Virginia ? Will the devasting injury to their point guard “Truck” Bryant inspire or deflate his teammates? Will the Huskies continue to remind us that there are still some quality basketball teams on the Western side of the country?

Ø Duke vs. Purdue – Will Purdue be able to pummel without Hummel won more time? Duke is the lone standing ACC representative and looking exceed expectations in this years’ tourney. Will they continue to stay under the radar and be-devil their way into another Final Four?

Ø Baylor vs. St. Mary’s – With St. Mary’s having the heavens on their side and 6’11″ Omar Samhan in the paint, averaging 30.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in this tourney, does Baylor have a prayer? Or will the Bears weather the Gael storm?

As usual, I anticipate a Sweet Sixteen weekend of absolute madness, insanity, intensity, exhilarating plays, dazzling displays, thrillers, electrifying feats and of course, shredded brackets!

We will have to wait and see, but I am counting the minutes until the next tip-off already . . .

ONLINE POOL LINKS:

$10.00 Pool – http://milwaukeemadness.hoops.sportsfan.com/

$5.00 Pool – http://cramersfrenzy.hoops.sportsfan.com/

ONLINE FEATURES:

Standings: Click on the STANDINGS tab, Click on POOL STANDINGS. . . You can view anyone’s brackets, see your personal rankings and those of others, etc.

Finance Page: Will be updated this week. I am awaiting several payments yet in the mail. Upon receipt, I will be able to confirm the prizing amounts.

SWEET 16 SCHEDULE:

Thursday, March 25

#1 Syracuse vs. #5 Butler @ 6:07 CST

#2 West Virginia vs. #11 Washington @ 6:27 CST

#2 Kansas State vs. #6 Xavier @ 8:37 CST

#1 Kentucky vs #12 Cornell @ 8:57 CST

Friday, March 26:

#2 Ohio State vs. #6 Tennessee @ 6:07 CST

#3 Baylor vs. #10 St. Mary’s @ 6:27 CST

#5 Michigan State vs. #9 Northern Iowa @ 8:37 CST

#1 Duke vs. #4 Purdue @ 8:57 CST

Heather a.k.a. “The Commish”

10. All of the garbage/empty cans/bottles in park n’ ride after Brewer’s games
9. Fights on street after couples have had too many drinks at Liquid Johnny’s
8. The helicopters flying over the interstate when there’s a traffic accident on I94
7. Glowing State Fair sign as a night light that’s always on
6. State Fair cops who give $5 tickets for leaving cars parked overnight in the park n’ ride
5. Climbing over the mound of snow to get from the park n’ ride parking lot in the winter time
4. Sound of cars racing at the Milwaukee Mile & you can’t hear your TV if your windows are open
3. Getting a speeding ticket for driving over 20 miles per hour to get from 84th to 76th Street via the parking lot
2. Getting your 1997 Land Rover Discovery window broken into and finding out there is nothing missing
1. Wisconsin State Fair Week – No parking within a 5 block radius, traffic all day long & night, drunks outside your house at midnight, bad country music that you can hear within a 5 block radius, trash on the sidewalks in-front of your house, did I mention no parking?

What an improvement…Today was my first train ride out of the new and improved Milwaukee train station and it is quite the improvement. The bathrooms are no longer scary…the seating/waiting area and check-in desks are clean and updated. The parking lot is bigger. Big, beautiful windows.

As I waited for the 8am train, even more tired then usual as I’m still getting used to “springing forward”, what I really needed was a good cup of coffee. Is that too much to ask? Did the designers of the new train station think that a vending coffee machine is all that is needed? I don’t understand how there isn’t a café/coffee cart/kiosk…something to get a fresh cup of coffee before getting on the train. It can’t be that expensive to have a kiosk to get your basic coffee options: coffee, lattes or a chai tea…it’s not expensive to brew coffee and it seems like it would be a no-brainer. We have plenty of coffee vendor options here in Milwaukee: Alterra, Stone Creek (ironically, across the street) and Starbucks…any coffee will do. People would pay for it…they are either traveling for business and will expense it anyway or they are will buy a Grande no-fat, extra hot, no whip, mocha latte or a black coffee while on their way for a day of shopping in the Windy City and don’t mind spending $4.50 for a coffee drink. It would be one thing if there were a coffee option on the train – but again NO…not even a beverage cart. They save that for the 5pm train ride home…they sell beer and I’m sure it’s not cheap…but no coffee for the 8am train?! As I ponder this at 7:30 in the morning, I look around and see others that have already come to this realization and planned ahead – they have their Grande coffees in hand…I was jealous. So if anyone is looking at opening a business…open a coffee kiosk at the train station and I promise you will make money. Heck, you may even want to sell some bagels, scones, muffins and/or donuts to go with it.

KGMommy