# Beat my Bracket Challenge



## Skewer (Mar 16, 2015)

I've been wondering if a bracket pool would surface on the IAP, and I haven't seen one, so decided to start one of my own - Go register at ESPN and fill out a bracket:
Skewer's IAP Bracket Challenge  

Group password is:
Lathe

I'll pony up for a prize if you can 'beat my bracket.' - I haven't decided what the prize will be yet, but it will be $40 of value or more in honor of UKs 40-0 Season :wink:

No cost to enter - So jump in!


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## Skewer (Mar 16, 2015)

Also - if create an entry, please PM me your ESPN account name so i can keep track of who is who.


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## Skewer (Mar 16, 2015)

Just got in from work and no entries yet?  You will only have until Thursday to fill out your bracket!


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## Skewer (Mar 17, 2015)

A professor takes a crack at the odds of filling out a perfect bracket:
The odds of getting a perfect NCAA bracket

There are stories of people who know nothing about the teams and game doing random picks and getting a perfect bracket.  This means you have a chance!  There are prizes from ESPN for the 'perfect bracket,' but all you have to do is beat out the group here!!

To be clear: There will only be one winner!  and it won't be you if you don't enter!


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## Skewer (Mar 17, 2015)

Brackets are starting to trickle in, hoping to see some more!


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## Skewer (Mar 18, 2015)

Last day to enter is tomorrow - you will not be able to enter a bracket after the round of 64 starts.  We only have 4 entries right now, I'd like to see at least 10!


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## Skewer (Mar 18, 2015)

Not a whole lot of time left to get in your picks.  Once the games start tomorrow, no more entries will be accepted!


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## Skewer (Mar 18, 2015)

So I've been going back and forth on what to do for the prize, I think i'm just going to do an electronic gift certificate from CSUSA.  So as it stands - $40 gift certificate for the best bracket!


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## Skewer (Mar 18, 2015)

Approaching last call - You'll have until about noon (eastern time) tomorrow to complete a bracket.


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## Edgar (Mar 18, 2015)

Skewer said:


> So I've been going back and forth on what to do for the prize, I think i'm just going to do an electronic gift certificate from CSUSA.  So as it stands - *$40 gift certificate for the best bracket!*



Can I send you my address now, or do I have to wait until the tournament is over? :wink:


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## Sataro (Mar 19, 2015)

edohmann said:


> Skewer said:
> 
> 
> > So I've been going back and forth on what to do for the prize, I think i'm just going to do an electronic gift certificate from CSUSA.  So as it stands - *$40 gift certificate for the best bracket!*
> ...



Sorry Ed! I just discovered this link... You will have to wait. Now if I had only watched some of these teams play...


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## Skewer (Mar 19, 2015)

*Last call!  Procrastinators Unite!  Dyslexic Procrastinators Untie!*

You only have a couple hours left to enter!

It seems like trash talking has begun, so let me help: Since we have more than 10 entries now, and my confidence is so high in my bracket...I'm upping the  ante to a $50 CSUSA Gift Certificate and a consolation letter to Edgar.


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## southernclay (Mar 19, 2015)

I'm in, thanks!


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## KCW (Mar 19, 2015)

You all can be confident in your "research" and "knowledge of the game", but there was a story on the news about animals at the zoo picking the bracket and that is what I went with, mother nature is rarely wrong. Ha.


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## MillerTurnings (Mar 19, 2015)

Here is a sleeper sneaking in to pluck the certificate from the unsuspecting...


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## Sataro (Mar 19, 2015)

Amazing....mention a consolation letter to Edgar & Warren is the first one to sign up after that. Will that consolation letter be the best prize of all.


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## southernclay (Mar 19, 2015)

Sataro said:


> Amazing....mention a consolation letter to Edgar & Warren is the first one to sign up after that. Will that consolation letter be the best prize of all.


 
What can I say, Edgar needs all the help he can get!:biggrin:

I didn't know until this am that UGA was even in the tournament. Considering I haven't watched a game the last two years I should have a pretty good shot!


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## Edgar (Mar 19, 2015)

Sataro said:


> edohmann said:
> 
> 
> > Skewer said:
> ...



Hey - who let Billy in????
I thought he was on a 10-year ban from all IAP sports activities


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## SteveJ (Mar 20, 2015)

Don't know how the scoring works, but Ed was the only one in this challenge NOT to pick Baylor!

Way to go Ed.

We'll see how the games turn out this weekend!

Steve


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## Edgar (Mar 20, 2015)

SMJ1957 said:


> Don't know how the scoring works, but Ed was the only one in this challenge NOT to pick Baylor!
> 
> Way to go Ed.
> 
> ...



Seems like I should get extra points for that :wink:


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## Edgar (Mar 20, 2015)

You get 10 points for each correct pick in a round. The PPR stands for "Possible Points Remaining" and is calculated based on all of your remaining picks in the tournament being correct.


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## KCW (Mar 20, 2015)

Did anyone happen to see who was in first place...that's right, the zoo animals.
Boom.


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## Edgar (Mar 20, 2015)

KCW said:


> Did anyone happen to see who was in first place...that's right, the zoo animals.
> Boom.



Yeah, but you picked that overrated Kentucky team to win it all, so it's just a matter of time before you crash back down to earth :wink:


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## southernclay (Mar 20, 2015)

What's up with all the 5 seeds winning? Don't they know the rules?


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## Skewer (Mar 20, 2015)

I'm kind of surprised no one has Wisconsin winning.  There are a couple of brackets pretty close to mine.  Unless things get weird, it doesn't look like i'll be keeping my gift certificate. :biggrin:


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## Edgar (Mar 20, 2015)

I need a couple of Oklahoma players to foul out in the 2nd half


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## thewishman (Mar 21, 2015)

WOW! I really moved up today! Of course that darn Iowa State will dog me the rest of the tournament...


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## builtbybill (Mar 21, 2015)

thewishman said:


> WOW! I really moved up today! Of course that darn Iowa State will dog me the rest of the tournament...



so will butler losing to ND:biggrin:


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## Edgar (Mar 21, 2015)

Scoring update - points per correct picks double each round. So the 2 final four games are each worth 160 pts & the championship game is worth 320 points.

Go Duke!


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## MillerTurnings (Mar 22, 2015)

Boy, thinks look good from up on top.....
I only have three upsets messing me up so far


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## thewishman (Mar 22, 2015)

builtbybill said:


> thewishman said:
> 
> 
> > WOW! I really moved up today! Of course that darn Iowa State will dog me the rest of the tournament...
> ...




You got that.:frown::redface:

Not choosing teams from states that start with the letter I anymore.


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## Edgar (Mar 22, 2015)

MillerTurnings said:


> Boy, thinks look good from up on top.....
> I only have three upsets messing me up so far



That Villanova loss is gonna be a killer though


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## Sataro (Mar 22, 2015)

edohmann said:


> Hey - who let Billy in????
> I thought he was on a 10-year ban from all IAP sports activities



Hey Ed,

You see my score...that's why it may be another 10 years before I sign up for another bracket challenge! :biggrin:


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## Edgar (Mar 23, 2015)

Sataro said:


> edohmann said:
> 
> 
> > Hey - who let Billy in????
> ...



You did have a rough first round pal, and from the outset, Baylor didn't seem like an unreasonable pick.

If Houston had gotten into the tournament, I'd have probably picked them to win it all and also picked every lower seeded team throughout because that would've been their only hope to advance.


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## MillerTurnings (Mar 23, 2015)

That Villanova loss is gonna be a killer though[/quote]

That one certainly hurts. Good teams went down early this year, which I guess shows that there are many good programs out there.


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## Edgar (Mar 23, 2015)

MillerTurnings said:


> That Villanova loss is gonna be a killer though


 
That one certainly hurts. Good teams went down early this year, which I guess shows that there are many good programs out there.[/quote]

The college game has definitely changed over the last 30 years. Back then, there were only a half dozen or so truly elite programs


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## Skewer (Mar 25, 2015)

Thursday is almost here!  I've been having March Madness withdraws and had to resort to pen turning to occupy my mind!


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## jaygeedubya (Mar 27, 2015)

checked my results this morning - illustrates why I worked for a living rather than gambling......


jamie


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## KCW (Mar 27, 2015)

jaygeedubya said:


> checked my results this morning - illustrates why I worked for a living rather than gambling......
> 
> 
> jamie



I agree 100%, it was looking so promising in the beginning.


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## SteveJ (Mar 29, 2015)

Go Zaga - at least this round!


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## MillerTurnings (Mar 29, 2015)

I am throwing in the towel. Only bright side today is Michigan State moving on, too bad I didn't pick them. I should know better by now.....


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## SteveJ (Apr 4, 2015)

Sadness has descended upon my bracket.  Congrats to whoever wins, boils down to Ed if Duke or Wisconsin wins or KCW if Kentucky wins.


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## southernclay (Apr 5, 2015)

Looks like Edgar is gonna win, congrats Edgar! 

Jeff, thanks for putting this on it was fun!

Now I've been turned into a Wisconsin fan.


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## Edgar (Apr 5, 2015)

southernclay said:


> Looks like Edgar is gonna win, congrats Edgar!
> 
> Jeff, thanks for putting this on it was fun!
> 
> Now I've been turned into a Wisconsin fan.



Thanks Warren & thanks to Jeff for organizing this & contributing the prize. It's  been a lot of fun!

Oh yes, and a special thank you to the Wisconsin Badgers!

Edgar


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## builtbybill (Apr 5, 2015)

Just wanted to say thanks for sponsoring this event and providing the prize.

I knew Kentucky would not go undefeated, just missed it by one game:mad-tongue:


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## Sataro (Apr 5, 2015)

Thanks for sponsoring this event. It was fun even though I was out before it began!


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## Skewer (Apr 5, 2015)

*Winner!!*

I think we can go ahead and wrap this up early.  Honorable mention to jaygeedubya for actually picking both of the final round teams, along with Edgar.  Looking at points possible remaining, no one else will progress.  Edgar has more points and has a lock at this point...so congrats to Edgar!  

To me, filling out a bracket makes the whole tourney a lot more interesting.  I hope it made it more fun for you guys as well.  Edgar, I've sent you a PM so we can settle up.

As for UK's undefeated season and my own bracket, there is always next year:


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## SteveJ (Apr 5, 2015)

It certainly did make the tournament more interesting.  Thanks for setting this up.  Congrats to Ed.


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## Edgar (Apr 5, 2015)

That was quick! I just received my CSUSA e-card from Jeff. Now I'll have to do some shopping. 

Thanks Jeff - it was very generous of you to donate this prize.

I'll post a photo of my winnings once my order arrives.

Edgar


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## MillerTurnings (Apr 5, 2015)

Thanks for putting this on, and for being willing to donate the prize. 
Next year, I'm flipping quarters.......


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## SteveJ (Apr 6, 2015)

MillerTurnings said:


> Thanks for putting this on, and for being willing to donate the prize.
> Next year, I'm flipping quarters.......



That's all well and good, but it is still the score at the end of the fourth quarter that counts...


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## jaygeedubya (Apr 7, 2015)

my congrats to Edgar!  thanks for letting me participate....

jamie


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## Edgar (Apr 7, 2015)

jaygeedubya said:


> my congrats to Edgar!  thanks for letting me participate....
> 
> jamie




Thanks Jamie & everyone else too.

In case you're wondering what my secret was - I picked Duke because I really like their logo best.


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