Your Bill Simmons Bracket Update

by billyzane on Mar 23, 2008 4:44 PM CDT in Basketball Comment 20 comments

Not that I have anything to brag about in this regard, but I thought I check in on the bracket of everyone's favorite college basketball coaching expert, Bill Simmons. As many of you know, Bill had a good time earlier this week filling out his bracket and picking St. Mary's to upset Texas in the second round. [Missed it by that much, buddy.]

Regardless, here were Bill's Elite 8 picks: UNC, Tennessee, Clemson, USC, Pitt, Stanford, UCLA, Duke.

If you're counting, that's 4 out of 8 already eliminated in the first weekend, with 3 barely squeaking by (Tennesee over Butler in OT; Stanford over Marquette in OT; and UCLA just an A&M collapse away from oblivion), with the last of the 8 yet to play (UNC). As for the Final 4? He had USC and Pitt, along with Tennessee and UCLA. Awesome.

So um, look, I'm not one who thinks basketball knowledge should be judged on how well you do your brackets. To a certain extent, predicting the first few rounds takes a lot of luck. But you can't blame a guy for a little schadenfreude, can you?

So how are you doing with your brackets so far? Better than Simmons? If you're one of those people that loves to talk about who's ruining your bracket, but is a little wary of annoying everyone on BON by talking about something that no one else cares about (and trust me, no one does), well, here's your chance to let it flow. Feel free to complain about your fantasy baseball draft from last week too. I sucked mine up. Jose Lopez? What the hell was I thinking? Oh, and if you want to mix in some extremely dated pop culture references to fit the subject matter, by all means....

--BZ--

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Bobby Knight missed too

He had Pitt winning the whole thing.

I'm getting pretty owned myself. I've already lost half of my Sweet 16 teams. My four Final Four teams are still alive though.

by goingforthecorner on Mar 23, 2008 5:06 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

my bracket=26.1%

keepin' it real.

by billyzane on Mar 23, 2008 5:09 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

still got 7 of my elite 8 teams left though

i got enough left to make a run towards respectability.

yay for not being completely incompetent.

by billyzane on Mar 23, 2008 5:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I sucked in the first two rounds

... but I'm still ok for my Final Four picks.

Wisconsin over Kansas
North Carolina over Louisville
UCLA over West Virginia
Texas over Michigan State

Life is an Occasion. Rise to it.

by patienthornsfan on Mar 23, 2008 5:23 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Even more pathetic

If I'd simply picked all the higher seeds to advance to this point, my total score would be 70 points higher than it is right now.

Be nobody but yourself in a world that desperately wants you to be like everybody else.

by 54b on Mar 23, 2008 7:17 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

at the start of yesterday

i had 99.something percent
and was in a 3 way tie for first
today
not so much :-\

by abcdmetrius on Mar 23, 2008 5:17 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Speaking of schadenfreude

I'd like to ask all those Razorback fans who spent the afternoon booing our team instead of cheering theirs on how they liked their 31 point blowout loss to UNC.

I don't blame them for being a bit upset about Barnes' comments, but seriously, if UT is playing in some regional far away at the same time a rival like OU is playing near by, I'm not wasting my afternoon booing the Sooners while missing the Horns play on TV.

Hell, even if the Horns weren't playing at the same time, I still wouldn't waste my money to go boo a rival who was playing someone else.

Ironically, we probably ought to thank the Piggies for their unfriendly hospitatlity as it undoubtedly made UT focus.

Be nobody but yourself in a world that desperately wants you to be like everybody else.

by 54b on Mar 23, 2008 7:08 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Were you there too?

I was sitting in the section reserved for UALR employees, since a friend of mine has relatives that work there, and I was one of a few in that section that were cheering for Texas. Those guys were a bunch of assholes, and their (and Memphis fans) cheering against Texas in the last minute truly tested Texas' mettle against Miami. Maybe we can be better hosts than them when the Petrino-led football team hobbles into Austin.

Horizontalism is its own reward.

by bendj on Mar 23, 2008 9:07 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

No, I could just hear it coming through the TV

You're one of the few who was actually there...I encourage you to post your experiences over in the Diary Section.

Glad you kept up the good fight.

And as far as Memphis is concerned, it's like that WWII Japanese Admiral in Tora, Tora, Tora after the bombing of Pearl Harbor..."I fear all we've done is wake a sleeping giant."

Houston represents the largest UT Alumni base...paybacks are a bitch.

Be nobody but yourself in a world that desperately wants you to be like everybody else.

by 54b on Mar 24, 2008 9:44 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bill Simmons

I think he has some sort of grudge against the State of Texas, or at least Texas' sports teams, both pro and college. He gives NO respect to any of our teams or coaches. I suppose that is a natural progression from having a Patriots fettish.

Condition of my bracket: fair. I've still got all my Elite 8 teams. K-State and Michigan State winning have been my biggest bracket busters so far, and I also picked Drake to win their first game.

by Texas Our Texas on Mar 23, 2008 7:47 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I missed the BON group

My toughest loss was calling a Tennesses upset by Butler that didn't happen, but I've missed plenty others too. I'm also down to 7/8. What I'm probably most pissed about is forgetting to sign up for the BON group - I thought I'd done it and didn't realize I missed it till it was too late to join the group. I'd be at about 75% with no hope of winning, but I still miss being a part of the group.

Go Horns!
BS

by Texas Sized BS on Mar 23, 2008 8:06 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

How it should be

Picking upsets should be worth a little more than just picking the team ranked higher. Picking ridiculous upsets should be worth even more. That would make things more fun and reward people for being a little creative.

--always Texas--

by longhorn00 on Mar 23, 2008 8:40 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

strangely enough...

right before the Madness started, I found a link to a contest some guy in Indiana runs that does that exact thing. He gives bonus points for upset picks - the difference between the two seeds.

And, not to brag or anything... oh heck.. absolutely to brag!!!! I'm sitting in first place! And, although given the different scoring, the strategy and picks are pretty different there than on the BON ESPN group, I'm in first here too!!! Will it continue? Probably not. Will I strut and boast about it for the next week? Oh, you absolutely can bank on that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After Davidson rewarded me over Georgetown, I'm feeling bulletproof right now. Just hoping that continues, especially since I picked Texas to win it all... in fact, if I could get just that pick right, I don't think I'd mind losing all the others.

Roy Miller - with the possible exception of Barbara Feldon, the best #99 anywhere!!!

by agent orange on Mar 24, 2008 12:37 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Rejuvenation

I believe it's Yahoo! that has some kind of Sweet 16 contest. Hopefully I can salvage any dignity I have left.

by goingforthecorner on Mar 23, 2008 9:21 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

My bracket

It is a total wreck. Not knowing squat about the Mid Majors, I just went with the higher seeds. Boy, was that a mistake.

by Caradoc on Mar 23, 2008 9:59 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Bombilla = FRIGGIN' AWESOME!!

Dude...BZ. My schnickerdeutermaschlechterfelt is fucking ON! I'm in a 3-way tie for 2nd place using MY ONE AND ONLY BRACKET YOU CHEATING MULTI-BRACKET LIMP DICK JERK-WAD COHornsFan!!! My Davidson picks were totally, uhmm...what's the Deutsch equivalent for "KICK ASS GREASY STROKE OF PANTYHOSE-LIKE SHEER UNADULTERATED EINSTEINIAN GENIUS".

I think it's something like "Bombilla ist HUNG LIKE KING MUTTER-BANGING-KONG, Weibchen!!!"

I would totally read the Washington Post every single day if I cared at all about helping Dan Steinberg keep his job.

by Bombilla on Mar 23, 2008 10:38 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I entered the WRONG FREAKIN BRACKET

My work pool bracket is sitting at 99.7% on espn right now, thanks to having all elite 8 teams left and getting 14 of 16 sweet 16 teams right. I called Davidson, Nova, and WVA correctly, so I got that going for me, which is nice.

My BON bracket, on the other hand.....12.5%

atsmahboy Kelson

by BigTexBD on Mar 24, 2008 12:01 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

6/8

And like 93%. My husband, being in the Navy and on deployment and seeing no basketball this season, managed to call 3 of the 4 4-13/5-12 upsets (all but UConn, ridiculous). But he's still not doing too much better than me. 6/8 isn't bad, especially since all my Final 4 teams (and most importantly, my Champs) are still alive and well. Note to Bill Simmons: wan wan.

Honk if you're longhorny!

by Katie McBeast on Mar 24, 2008 12:15 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

all high seeds?

Does anyone have a link to a bracket that took all the higher seeds? I'm curious how well it would be doing so far. As for me...7/8, so better than Bill at least.

by noah on Mar 24, 2008 6:09 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs