We Only Have 2 Early Season Tournaments Left - But we do Have a Pool Winner

We flew through 32 early season college basketball tournaments over the last 3 weeks, but we still have 2 more tournaments remaining. However, the standings don't have much more movement left, only 3 people remain, and Dan Sohler has already clinched 1st place. Congrats to Dan Sohler for his dominant run, going wire to wire, and winning 60% of his picks. The only battle remaining is for 2nd and 3rd place, which will be decided between myself and Tim based on the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship game total. At one point before Thanksgiving, we had 12 people fighting for the top 3 spots, it was great to see over half the pool involved so late. Finally, special shoutout to The Beag for only getting 5 correct, that seems as hard as winning. 🏀

For all those eliminated, you still have a chance to win money later in December with the  Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic bonus pots. Evan and The Beag can win $150 without splitting if their respective teams win, Sam I Am and Jack would split $150 with a Georgia win, and Tina, B.I., and Jenn would split $150 with a Nevada win. A TCU win really dilutes the payout. Additionally, 15 of the 17 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship game score picks are unique, which means we could have a single winner for that $50 bonus pot. 💰

The Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship game is on December 25, which means I'll send out one last update, and start the payouts shortly afterwards. Hopefully everyone had fun with this pool, got your mind off the terrible NFL games, forced you to watch some extra college basketball in November, and now feel better prepared for the Conference Tournament pool! 🎉

Thanks!

Rick

Baylor and BYU are Champions

The Baylor Bears won the NIT Season Tip Off 75-69, giving 77% of our pool a win, resulting in not much movement at the top of the standings. However, this did cause the official elimination of Tina & Zack. In our late night championship game, BYU came back in the second half to beat NC State 96-86 in the Vegas Showdown, giving critical wins to myself and Sohler. 🏀 🎰

          

The current standings can be found here, with a battle taking place between myself, Sohler and Tim. Sohler is now in the driver seat as he has sole possession of 1st place, most max points available, and distanced himself from Tim. It's his to lose at this point. The only other battle going on is Heffron has enough unique picks left, plus the tie breaker, to be able to come in 3rd. Other than that, everyone else has officially been eliminated. 😿

For those eliminated, you still have a chance to win money later in December with the  Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic bonus pots. Evan and The Beag can win $150 without splitting if their respective teams win, Sam I Am and Jack would split $150 with a Georgia win, and Tina, B.I. and Jenn would split $150 with a Nevada win. A TCU win dilutes the payout. Additionally, 15 of the 17 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship game score picks are unique, which means we could have a single winner for that $50 bonus pot. 💰

With so many people now out, I'll post less blogs and focus more on updating the standings. Look for 1-2 wrap up blogs over the next few days and then we'll fire it back up in December for the last 2 tournaments.

Villanova Wins Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis

In the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis today, Villanova destroyed Memphis to crown our first champion on this Friday after Thanksgiving. Tina, Andrew, and B.I. all earned a victory, bringing them closer to the Top 5. Those 3 need to be perfect to have a shot at the Top 3. Tonight brings us 2 more tournament championship games that don't help Andrew or B.I., but a Florida win in the NIT Season Tip Off could make things interesting for Tina.

The current standings can be found here, with a fierce battle taking place between myself, Dan and Tim. Although Dan is in first place by 1 point, I have more points available to me, and we know from past pools we can't count out Tim. Heffron, Ryan, and Whit are hanging on, but need to be almost perfect to get back into the Top 3. Unfortunately, we're up to 7 people that have no been eliminated from being able to finish in the Top 3.

Purdue Wins the Maui Jim Invitational and More Results from Wednesday

If you are a college basketball fan, today was a great day of basketball. In addition to all the regular season games starting at 10am CST we had some big-time teams playing important semifinal and final tournament basketball games. One of those matchups was (2) Purdue vs. (4) Marquette playing for the Maui Jim Maui Invitational championship. Purdue got off to a big lead early, but Marquette came back to make it a game, ultimately Purdue pulled off the victory. Only 2 people were on Purdue, me and Andrew, resulting in an important tournament win.

Other team to win championships today include Radford in the Cancun Challenge Mayan Division, James Madison in the Cancun Challenge Riviera Division, Tarleton State in the SoCal Challenge Sand Division, Bradley in the SoCal Challenge Surf Division, Wisconsin in the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off, and  Hofstra in the Gulf Coast Showcase. 🏅 

The current standings can be found here, with some new blood in the top 5 now contending for the title. Sohler is still the man to beat, but Tim and I are right on his tail. Unfortunately, The Beag, Jack, and Evan have all been eliminated from finishing in the money (top 3), but can still win bonus money later in the pool. I will continue to post updated standings throughout the Holiday weekend, but can't guarantee any blog entries. Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃

Thanksgiving Eve: 7 Championship Game Madness

We have 7 championship games today, coming to us from the Cancun Challenge (Mayan and Riviera Divisions), Gulf Coast Showcase, Maui Jim Maui Invitational, Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off (Beach Division), and SoCal Challenge (Sand & Surf Divisions). After today, 24 of the 34 early season tournaments will be complete, which means we'll have a good understanding of who has a chance to win the pool along with who is eliminated. As it stands this morning, 12 people can pull off 1st place and no one is eliminated from coming in worse than 3rd place. However, many people need to be perfect from here on out. I will preview a few of the championship games below. 👀

Both divisions of the Cancun Challenge feature pool favorites, so I would not call these pivotal to our pool. In the Mayan Division, 4.5 favorite, and popular pool pick Radford takes on Northern Colorado at 2p CST.   A Northern Colorado win is critical for B.I., Jenn, and Matthew if they want to stay in this pool. Over in the Riviera Division, surprisingly ranked James Madison, and the pool favorite, are favored by 4.5 points against Fresno State. A Fresno State win is critical for B.I., Novak, and Sam I Am. If B.I. can pull off these 2 upsets he jumps into a 1st place tie with Sohler! 🐶

The Gulf Coast Showcase is an interesting championship game that features 5.5 favorite Hofstra vs. High Point. Our only pool Hofstra picks come from our current 1st place, and 5th-7th place players. Nobody has High Point. If Hofstra wins, we will have a serious log jam 2nd-7th place. 

The Maui Jim Maui Invitational gives us both a significant big time basketball game and a pivotal tournament champion for our pool. The favorite, Kansas, was obliterated by Marquette last night, which now gives us a matchup of Marquette vs. Purdue. Purdue is only favored by 3.5 points, giving us hopefully an incredible championship game to watch. From a pool perspective, a Marquette win bumps B.I. higher in the standings, while a Purdue win sends me into 2nd place. Everyone else in the current top 10 has been eliminated from the tournament.

The current standings can be found here, with some minor updates from the late games last night. I plan on posting an update, blog and standings, before the SoCal Challenge champion games take place. We'll know where everyone stands going into the late championship games.

Stetson, Florida State, and Utah State Win

The Sunshine Slam (Beach & Ocean Bracket) gave us 2 champions this afternoon. Stetson won the Ocean Bracket, while Florida State won the Beach Bracket. Stetson won easily, knocking off Central Michigan by 10, but it wasn't even that close of a game. Colorado and Florida State went to overtime, with Florida State dominating the extra period. That was a great game to watch. 🏀

Over in the Cayman Islands Classic, Utah State absolutely destroyed Stephen F. Austin 79-49 in Thomas Walkup's last game as a Lumberjack. This gives Tim, B.I., and Heffron key wins, creating a log jam at the top of the standings. This wraps up the championship games today, but we still have many leagues in the quarterfinals or semifinals tonight.

The current standings can be found here, with some new blood in the top 5 now contending for the title. We do need to expand the view below to the top 8 with all the ties we have. I love having so many people in contention, but Sohler is still the man to beat. I will post updated standings tomorrow morning along with a short preview of the next set of games.

Cayman Islands Classic & Sunshine Slam (Beach & Ocean Bracket) Championship Game Preview

We have 3 championship games today, all with potential to impact the top of the standings. Below is a preview of the Cayman Islands Classic and Sunshine Slam (Beach & Ocean Bracket) championship games. Additionally, we have 7 tournaments either tipping off today, or in the semi-finals, that will cause movement in the standings as teams lose.

Cayman Islands Classic

At 6:30p CST we get to watch Stephen F. Austin take on Utah State in the championship game. Pool favorite Drake was eliminated, but we still have half our pool on the remaining teams. A Utah State win would be huge for Tim, as he is the only person in the top 7 on Utah State, and he would jump into a tie for 1st place with Sohler if they win and Stetson loses in a different tournament. On the other side, if Stephen F. Austin wins this game, we will see that standings tighten up as 5 people between 8th and 17th place are on the Lumberjacks. I expect this game to be close as Stephen F. Austin is only a 1 point favorite. This has the potential to be a pool defining game. 🌴

Sunshine Slam Ocean Bracket

Our first championship game of the day comes from Daytona Beach, where 4 point favorite Stetson plays Central Michigan. Our picks are all over the place in this one, but Stetson is our pool favorite with 35% of the picks. A Stetson win gives Sohler some separation from the pack, however the standings will tighten up behind him. A Central Michigan win will be huge for Whit and Novak as they are the only 2 people on the MAC team. 🌊

Sunshine Slam Beach Bracket

Over in the Beach Bracket of this tournament it's a bit less exciting with pool favorite Colorado playing the second pool favorite, Florida State. The current top 3 players all have Colorado, which means everyone else is rooting for Florida State to win so those standings get tighter. Colorado is favored by almost 5 points, but these are both major programs where anyone can win the game. 🌅

The current standings can be found here, with the same top 5 as yesterday still contending for the title. If anyone is having issues with the link or sheets, please let me know. 📉 

UConn, UCF, and Missouri State are all Champions

Tipping off the evening, UConn easily handled Texas in the  Empire Classic Benefiting Wounded Warriors championship game, giving pool wins to over 50% of us. This wasn't really a game at any point, UConn handled Texas and had a 5-10 point lead for most of the night. In the Jacksonville Classic (Coast Bracket), UCF beat Charlotte in an exciting overtime game, giving the top half of the pool more separation from the bottom half. Finally, Missouri State knocked off Abilene Christian in the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam.

In addition to these championship games, we had 7 other tournaments either tip off today, or move to the semi-finals, These tournaments are the Cayman Islands Classic, Gulf Coast Showcase, Maui Jim Maui Invitational, Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off (Beach Division), SoCal Challenge (Sand & Surf Divisions), and Sunshine Slam (Beach & Ocean Bracket).

Standings Link 💹

Click Here for Standings

We have wall-to-wall tournament basketball games through Sunday before we get a little break. Every day I'll be updating the blog and standings with these short entries to keep us all updated. Sohler is still leading the pack, but it's a tight top 5!

Cornell Wins the Jacksonville Classic Bay Bracket

In our first championship game on Monday, Cornell easily defeated Utah State 74-61 to win the Bay Bracket of the Jacksonville Classic. We still have 3 more championship games to be played tonight, but figured this one deserved its own blog since only 4 people picked Cornell. Dan Sohler was one of the few on Cornell, which now puts him further in the lead, with an impressive 7 wins! Sam I Am also had Cornell, giving himself some separation between Jack and The Beag down at the bottom of the standings.

We still have the Empire Classic Benefiting Wounded Warriors, Jacksonville Classic Coast Bracket, and U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam later tonight, where Sohler can extend his lead. I plan on posting one blog/standings update after all 3 of those games are over.

The Standings Have Been Updated

Here is a way overdue update to our 1st annual NCAA Basketball Early Season Tournament Pool. I wanted to ensure this one was an e-mail for those having trouble accessing, or just don't want to use, the blog or standings link. We have had a ton of movement in the standings from these games and things are really starting to take shape in the pool. We have seen some favorites win easily, a few upsets, and some obvious misses during the past week. Houston had a nice win for 65% of us in the Shriners Hospitals Charleston Classic, while we saw wins from Miami, San Diego State, Purdue Fort Wayne, and Liberty, to name a few. 9 out of 34 championship games are now complete, but we still have plenty of basketball left! 🏀

Looking at our actual standings we have Dan Sohler alone in 1st place with 6 wins and a 60% accuracy rate, while Whit, Novak, and Tim are right behind him, also with 6 wins, but a lower accuracy rate of 54.5%. Jack, Sam I Am, and The Beag are struggling, but we have more championship games over the next few days, and we still have a long way to go. 😉

 

I know this update was short, but over the next few weeks I will be updating the standings daily with regular blog posts. Tonight, while you're watching Monday Night Football, remember that we have 4 championship games in the following tournaments: Empire Classic Benefiting Wounded Warriors, Jacksonville Classic (Coast & Bay Brackets), and U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam. I'll attempt to get a preview out before these games tip off tonight, but at the very least those standing will be updated later tonight when the games wrap up. As a reminder, below are the links to the blog and standings since e-mails will be infrequent.

Blog Link 📑

https://2023-24ncaabasketballtipoffchallenge.blogspot.com/

Standings Link 💹

Click Here for Standings

Thanks, and Good Luck Everyone! 🍀

-Rick

Previewing the 13 Early Season Tournaments Tipping Off Thursday - Sunday

13 tournaments tip off, with many finishing between Thursday, 11/16 - Monday, 11/20. Tipping off on Thursday will be the Legends Classic Presented by Old Trapper, Myrtle Beach Invitational, and the Shriners Hospitals Charleston Classic. Come Friday we have the Arizona Tip-Off (Cactus & Desert Divisions), Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship, Continental Tire Main Event, and U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam. While Saturday and Sunday bring us the Hall of Fame Tip-Off, Cayman Islands Classic, Empire Classic Benefiting Wounded Warriors, and the Jacksonville Classic (Coast & Bay Brackets). 🏀

I'm not going to preview all 13 of these tournaments, but I'll hit a few highlights based upon the teams playing and our pool picks. On Thursday, the Shriners Hospitals Charleston Classic is an 8 team tournament with some interesting teams competing. Our pool picks are 65% on Houston, but we have at least 1 person covering 5 of the 8 teams. Not saying the other 2 tournaments tipping off Thursday are not good or impactful to our pool, but this will be a fun tournament to watch. 👀

Friday brings us the Continental Tire Main Event, which only has 4 teams, but they are some powerhouse teams. Saint Mary's, San Diego State, Washington, and Xavier face off in this quick tournament. 41% of our pool picks are on last year's March Madness runner up, San Diego State, but we are spread across all 4 teams. The Beag is all alone on Washington, but if the first tournament taught us anything, it is any team can be great for 2 games. It's also fun when tournaments are in Vegas! 🎰

Finally, over the weekend, we have the Empire Classic Benefiting Wounded Warriors, which is another 4 team event. A bit less fire power than the previous tournament we just reviewed, but still very interesting teams with Indiana, Louisville, Texas, and UConn. Surprisingly, only 53% of our pool picks are on March Madness champion UConn and even more surprising, we have 3 people on Louisville. I love college basketball pools.

This will be the last blog post/standings update until Monday, 11/20, as I will be in Vegas for the next few days. Once I do update the standings, I expect that we'll see significant separation between the top and bottom of our pool considering 40% of the tournaments will be complete. For those at the bottom, it will be more difficult to come back than it is in the conference tournament pool due to the lack of bonus point opportunities, but with over half these tournaments still not started, nobody will be mathematically eliminated. Enjoy watching wall to wall college basketball this week! 😵

Clemson Wins the Asheville Championship

Our first early season tournament championship game is in the books, and the winner is Clemson. Clemson edged out Davidson by 3 points, giving both Whit and Ryan wins in our pool. Similar to what we experience in the conference tournament pool we do in March, the overwhelming favorites are not always the right pick. In fact, our pool favorite Maryland, went on to lose the 3rd place game on Sunday to UAB. Here are the current standings.

The next group of tournaments tips off Thursday, 11/16, and that begins the heart of these early season tournaments. The next tournaments to tip off on 11/16 are the Legends Classic Presented by Old Trapper, Myrtle Beach Invitational, and the Shriners Hospitals Charleston Classic, with 5 more on Friday, 11/17. By Sunday night we will have 8 more champions and we should start to see more separation in the standings. I'll post a blog update Wednesday previewing the upcoming 8 early season tournaments. I will be in Vegas for Formula 1 Wednesday - Sunday, so I'll plan on updating the standings Monday.

Favorite Maryland Goes Down in the Asheville Championship

In a thrilling first game of the Asheville Championship, big favorite Maryland goes down to Davidson in a fun ending! In the later game, Clemson edged UAB by 1 point, setting up a Davidson vs. Clemson final on Sunday. 15 of the 17 picks in our pool were knocked out last night, leaving a Whit vs. Jenn finals matchup. We just learned quickly that these tournaments are random. 🏀

I know I said I was not going to e-mail for a few weeks, but I wanted to call out a slight change we're going to make to the payouts. Originally, the plan was to payout a $150 bonus to whoever picks the winner of the Hall of Fame Classic, but we all picked Creighton, 100% of us are on Creighton. Instead of paying each person $8, or not paying out anyone, we're going to roll that $150 into the total prize pool. This update is now reflected on the sheet. 💰

Now that we're all caught up, this really will be my last e-mail for a few weeks, and I'll keep everything updated on the blog, and in the Standings Folder. Good luck to everyone! 

The Asheville Championship Tips Off Our First Annual Pool Today

The tournaments are starting! Before we get into the actual basketball, this will be the last e-mail I send for a while, so here is your last chance to save the links to both the blog and the standing. You will be able to check where you stand on a weekly basis. ✅

Blog Link 📑

https://2023-24ncaabasketballtipoffchallenge.blogspot.com/

Standings Link 💹

Click Here for Standings

 

🏀 Now on to the basketball! 🏀

The first early season bracketed tournament to tip off the 2023-24 college basketball season is the Asheville Championship tonight at 6:00 PM CST. This tournament only has 4 teams, and our pool picks cover all 4 teams. It only takes winning 2 games in a row to be the Asheville champion, all teams have almost a  similar chance this early in the season. The championship game will take place Sunday at 2:00 PM CST, so we will have movement in our standings right away.

The pool favorite at 65% of the picks is Maryland, followed by a scattering of picks on UAB, Clemson, and Davidson. Unfortunately, or fortunately, multiple people in our pool will have a loss by the end of the night. All these tournaments are unseeded, so unless you're looking at spreads it is hard to know if an upset occurred. Typically, these tournaments have evenly matched teams. Tonight, Maryland is -11 vs. Davidson, while Clemson is -6 vs. UAB. 

The next tournament does not tip off until Thursday, 11/16, but that begins the heart of these early season tournaments. The next tournaments to tip off on 11/16 are the Legends Classic Presented by Old Trapper, Myrtle Beach Invitational, and the Shriners Hospitals Charleston Classic, with 5 more on Friday, 11/17.

2023-24 NCAA Basketball Early Season Tournament Pool Picks Are In

The 2023-24 NCAA basketball early season tournaments pool picks are in, and the master spreadsheet is updated with all our selections! I'm expecting a few late entries, but I'll update those as they come in. Please look very carefully through all your picks and if I made an error that needs to be changed reach out to me immediately, as the Asheville Championship tips off this evening. 🏀

If you're reading this via e-mail, the master spreadsheets are both attached and located via this link. Click on and bookmark this link as I will update the standings multiple times each week. Also, the blog link is below as e-mail updates will be rare. I attempt to post 1-2 blog entries each week.

https://2023-24ncaabasketballtipoffchallenge.blogspot.com/

Let's get some of the basics out of the way...

I know many of you are challenged by technology and spreadsheets, so I will always have 2 versions of the spreadsheet posted. 

• Fun Version: 2023_24 College Basketball Tip Off Master (This has all the features and functionality to show things like "Accuracy" and "Max Points Available")

• Boring Version: 2023_24 College Basketball Tip Off Master Light (This will error out many of the added features that I worked hard on, but at least you can still see standings and picks)

Hint when opening: Make sure when you open the excel document you are clicking on "Enable Editing" and "Enable Content" to ensure everything loads and you have all the fun features enabled. If you're accessing the document from the standings link I would recommend downloading the excel file and then opening the document.

The spreadsheet will outline your overall standings, Wins, and Losses, which all calculate into your Accuracy, Max Points Available, and Your Projected Total; you will always have a clear picture of where you stand.

If you scroll down past everyone's picks, you will see a conference snapshot that includes valuable information about each conference tournament such as:

• Important dates
• Location
• Pool favorites
• Twitter information

Please look very carefully through all of your picks and if I made an error that needs to be changed reach out to me immediately. A change can only be made if a mistake was made by me when entering your picks, no going back to change your picks because you realize how terrible they are now. No changes for any reason will be allowed after the games tip off in the evening today, Friday, 11/10/23.

Payment information on where to send your $50. 💰

• Zelle (Preferred): Rick Donegan 630-885-2873
• Venmo: @Rick-Donegan
• Cashapp: $RickDonegan
• Address: 1140 Venetian Court; Naperville, IL 60540  
• In Person
• PayPal (Not preferred, but if it's your only option please send money using the friends and family option): rwdpeanut@gmail.com

Any non-payment, or attempt to arrange payment, by Sunday, 11/12/23 will result in your entry being removed and a permanent pool ban. I'm not going to spend my time chasing down money.

The Asheville Championship starts tonight! I'll post a short blog entry later this afternoon previewing how this tournament impacts our pool. 

Thanks!

Rick Donegan