We have 45 entries this year. Up 4 from last year.
Payouts based on $3080 bank (note: webmaster has a comp-ed entry).
Two pacesetters (Jan 20 and Feb 17) first place only - $35 each
At March bracket announcement:
Weighted points three places -- $90, 60 and 30
Number of teams in Sweet Sixteen first only - $40
When tourney over:
Number of teams in Sweet Sixteen three places -- $120, 80, and 50
Weighted points Original Dec
picks ten places $290,200,140,120,100,70,70,70,
Four division winners - $35 each
Unweighted points three places 120. 80. 50
Most teams in Final Four first place only - $100
Most confidence in Eventual Champion first place only - $100
Regroup Weighted points four places 130. 110. 90. 70
Sleepers three places 140. 100. 70
Note: if someone totally nails it, they can win over $1000 across all of these payouts.
The consensus Sweet Sixteen, based on these 45 entries, is as follows:
Number in () is how many times picked as champion
Gonzaga (18), Kansas (9), Louisville (7), Duke (5), Ohio St (2), Maryland (2), Oregon (1) and Dayton (1). Thats 8 teams getting top pick and of those 8, only Duke, Gonzaga and Duke got Champ votes last year. Of those 8 teams, only Dayton did not get a runner-up pick and Michigan State got 1 vote for second . Most popular runnerups are Duke (14), Kansas (10) and Louisville (9).
Kentucky, Auburn, Michigan State and Baylor make up the third foursome. Butler, Virginia, Arizona, and San Diego round out the Consensus Sweet 16. Only four other teams got 10+ picks Memphis, Michigan, Villanova, and Liberty. 21 teams were picked ONLY as a zero. Of those 21, only four teams Seton Hall, Tennessee, Oklahoma St, and Marquette got more than 1 mention.
The consensus top eight sleepers, in order, are Penn St, Indiana, Texas Tech, Stanford, DePaul, Texas, LSU, and Oklahoma. Penn St was top sleeper 17 times, almost triple the next favorite choice Stanford.
9 Finals Four are Gonzaga, Kansas, Louisville and Duke. Another 21 Final Fours have 3 of those 4 teams.
The five weighted points divisions are:
Division 1: Gonzaga as champion and Duke runnerup
Division 2: Gonzaga as champion and NOT Duke as runnerup
Division 3: Kansas as champion
Division 4: Louisville as champion
Division 5: The rest as champion Duke, Ohio State, Maryland, Oregon and Dayton
Note: one of the four division winners above will also be the big weighted points winner of $290. Some of the other four division winners will probably be toast and the $35 is a pity payout.