BLABBERMOUTH
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Update 12:52am EST March 30: I completely forgot to add the 4 bonus points to the Connecticut win (#2 seed over a #1 seed in the 4th round) pick for the three players who had them getting into the Final Four earlier tonight: Dan 1, Kayden and Walker 1. I rushed through the scoring right after the game and somehow made an extremely uncharacteristic mistake. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Connecticut looked like a #1 seed. I corrected my negligence below. My apologies if you saw the incorrect point totals earlier.
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These 4 bonus points made an entire world of difference for one player who will really appreciate and enjoy them - Dan. With the new and correct math, nobody will be able to surpass him for first place.
So, congratulations to Dan on winning the 2026 Mad Hoops Pool. Great picks, great job.
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Solely in terms of sports, this tournament and this pool can really make your day - or truly break your heart.
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Games resume on Saturday April 4.
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Illinois v Connecticut 6:09pm EST
Michigan v Arizona 8:49pm EST
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POINTS AND TITLE TEAMS ALIVE
After Sun March 29 Games
Champ = blue / Runner-Up = orange
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DAN 3 254 Mich
DAN 1 253 Conn, Zona
ANTHONY 2 239 Zona
ANTHONY 3 231 Zona
PRIMO 227 Zona
ANTHONY 1 226 ILL, Zona
RICH 1 221 Zona
WALKER 2 213 Zona
JOHN H 1 212 Zona
HASSETT 212 Mich
BRIAN 1 205 Zona
JOHN H 3 194 ILL
BRIAN 3 193 Mich
AL 2 192
BRIAN 2 188 Zona
PATRICK 3 186
KAYDEN 185 Conn, Mich
SUZIE 183 Mich
CECI 183 Zona
PATRICK 2 182 Mich
HASAN 182 Zona
PATRICK 1 180 Zona
DAN 2 171
JOHN H 2 170 Mich
GREG 2 170 Zona
PAUL 2 170 Zona
TRAM 167
BUCK 162
AL 1 160 Mich
WALKER 1 157 ILL
PAUL 1 149 Zona
AL 3 148 Mich
GREG 3 148 Zona
GREG 1 143 Zona
RICH 2 130
TOM 122
KAM 97
PAT 87
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POINTS AND FINAL FOUR TEAMS ALIVE
--after all games played on Sat March 28--
Champ in blue / Runner-Up in orange
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DAN 3 237 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
ANTHONY 1 226 Duke, ILL, Zona, XXX
ANTHONY 2. 222 Duke, ILL, Zona, Mich
DAN 1 215 Conn, XXX, Zona, Mich
ANTHONY 3 214 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
PRIMO 210 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
RICH 1 204 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
WALKER 2 196 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
JOHN H 1 195 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
HASSETT 195 XXX, XXX, XXX, Mich
JOHN H 3 194 Duke, ILL, XXX, XXX
BRIAN 1 188 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
PATRICK 3 186 Duke, ILL, Zona, XXX
CECI 183 XXX, XXX, Zona, XXX
BRIAN 3 176 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
AL 2 175 XXX, XXX, XXX, Mich
BRIAN 2 171 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
PAUL 2 170 Duke, XXX, Zona, XXX
TRAM 167 XXX, XXX, XXX, XXX
SUZIE 166 Duke, XXX, XXX, Mich
HASAN 165 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
PATRICK 2 165 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
PATRICK 1 163 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
DAN 2 154 Duke, XXX, XXX, Mich
JOHN H 2 153 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
GREG 2 153 XXX, XXX, Zona, Mich
PAUL 1 149 Duke, XXX, Zona, XXX
GREG 3 148 Duke, XXX, Zona, XXX
KAYDEN 147 Conn, XXX, XXX, Mich
BUCK 145 XXX, XXX, XXX, Mich
GREG 1 143 Duke, XXX, Zona, XXX
AL 1 143 XXX, XXX, XXX, Mich
WALKER 1 136 Conn, ILL, XXX, XXX
AL 3 131 Duke, XXX, XXX, Mich
RICH 2 130 Duke, XXX, XXX, XXX
TOM 122 XXX, XXX, XXX, XXX
KAM 97 Duke, XXX, XXX, XXX
PAT 87 XXX, XXX, XXX, XXX
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TENNESSEE v MICHIGAN - 2:!5pm EST
UCONN v DUKE - 5:05pm EST
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Yet another takeover of the top spot. Dan 3 and Dan 1 move up to the top two slots after each picking a perfect Friday, including the rare Tennessee upset. Great job. Anthony 3 and Hassett slide up some also using the Tennessee pick. The unforeseen Iowa State injury early in the tournament was unfortunately cited by all accounts as a significant factor in the game. Primo, Rich 1, Walker 2 and John H 1 remain in the top 10 on the strength of previous picks and strong Fridays. Well done.
St. John's loses a tough one and dashes a few brackets for the season. The Johnnies really had the Blue Devils there for quite some time. Take note in the ranks - there are plenty of Illinois and Purdue picks as far as the national championship, and previous points leader John H 3 has both teams in his title game, as does Walker 1 with the sole pick to have his Illini cut down the nets. Walker 1 also one of only three brackets with UCONN in the final four along with Dan 1, and Kayden who has them winning the whole enchilada. Only Anthony 2 has all four final four teams still intact.
It'll be some good basketball this weekend. May the luck be with you.
POINTS AND FINAL FOUR TEAMS ALIVE
--after all games played on Fri March 27--
Champ in blue / Runner-Up in orange
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DAN 3 220 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
DAN 1 198 Conn, XXX, Zona, Mich
ANTHONY 3 197 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
HASSETT 195 XXX, XXX, XXX, Mich
PRIMO 193 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
ANTHONY 1 192 Duke, ILL, Zona, XXX
ANTHONY 2. 188 Duke, ILL, Zona, Mich
RICH 1 187 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
WALKER 2 179 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
JOHN H 1 178 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
JOHN H 3 177 Duke, ILL, Pur, XXX
AL 2 175 XXX, XXX, XXX, Mich
BRIAN 1 171 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
TRAM 167 XXX, XXX, Pur, XXX
SUZIE 166 Duke, XXX, Pur, Mich
CECI 166 XXX, XXX, Zona, XXX
BRIAN 3 159 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
BRIAN 2 154 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
DAN 2 154 Duke, XXX, XXX, Mich
PAUL 2 153 Duke, XXX, Zona, XXX
PATRICK 3 152 Duke, ILL, Zona, XXX
PATRICK 2 148 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
HASAN 148 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
KAYDEN 147 Conn, XXX, XXX, Mich
PATRICK 1 146 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
BUCK 145 XXX, XXX, Pur, Mich
AL 1 143 XXX, XXX, XXX, Mich
JOHN H 2 136 Duke, XXX, Zona, Mich
GREG 2 136 XXX, XXX, Zona, Mich
PAUL 1 132 Duke, XXX, Zona, XXX
AL 3 131 Duke, XXX, XXX, Mich
GREG 3 131 Duke, XXX, Zona, XXX
RICH 2 130 Duke, XXX, Pur, XXX
GREG 1 126 Duke, XXX, Zona, XXX
TOM 122 XXX, XXX, XXX, XXX
WALKER 1 119 Conn, ILL, Pur, XXX
KAM 97 Duke, XXX, XXX, XXX
PAT 87 XXX, XXX, XXX, XXX
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We're back at it and with another takeover of the top spot. Tram is the new points leader - and if all of his upsets come in on Friday he'll be the points leader for a while. Fun picks!
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Tram, John H 3, Walker 2 and Anthony 1-2 used the Illinois upset to pick up some crucial spots in the Top 10, but there is a whole slate of possible upsets on Friday that will shake up the ranks right away again. Let's see how big a role injuries play in the Friday matchups.
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Point Totals and Boo Hoo Board are updated. Good luck.
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Points and Boo Hoo Board are updated. See you on Thursday.
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Into the Gully we go.
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Well, we managed one upset on Saturday, and that was Texas over Gonzaga. Only three players had it: Rich 1, Dan 3 and Anthony 3, and all of them jumped into the Top 5. John H 3, Hassett, Walker 2, John H 1, Primo and the Brians 1-2 stayed top ten, as well, on the fruit of generally strong picks.
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Boo Hoo Board has quite a lot of hootin and hollerin for Sunday's games. Hit enough upsets and you either take a ride to the top or get that bracket into contention for the next rounds of big points.
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Have fun and go get em.
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The First Two Days are done and what we're really missing on the Mad Hoops brackets are wrong picks! This thing is an apple orchard so far, just a whole lot of good picking. Three of us picked a PERFECT Friday: Dan 3, Kayden, and Anthony 2. Just outstanding. Several players had only a single game picked incorrectly. Wonderful work.
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Another thing we're not seeing too often... Upsets. Friday had only two upsets, and they were both for a single, measly bonus point. Because of the feeling of infrequency of upsets and the infrequency of picking upsets in the pool, a big 16-point sucker chosen correctly will be an elevator up the ranks. Hitting TWO 16-pointers will be a catapult to the top.
You can check all of Saturday's upset picks - and there are some big ones - on the Boo Hoo Board page.
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In case you were wondering, since so many of us are somewhat local and/or born somewhat local, only seven of us made the move on St John's in their opening game against Northern Iowa: Rich 1, Anthony 3, Patrick 1, Brian 2, Dan 2, Walker 1 and John H 2... and we paid the price. I'm telling Rick Pitino. Who, you might be wondering, has the Johnnies in the Final Four? Ceci, Al 2, Hassett, Greg 2, Al 1, Tram, Buck, and Pat. A fair amount of believers in our ranks - Let's see how it plays out for the Storm.
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Reminder to refresh this site often for the most updated pages. Have fun.
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And we're back!
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Reigning Champion John H came out guns blazing with a nearly perfect Thursday bracket, missing only the Louisville win. Similarly, Rich 1 and Primo only missed two Thursday games. These three players were the only players to hit all six Thursday upsets. Incredible picks!
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Everyone in the Top 10 had the High Point upset except Anthony 3 and Brian 1.
It's only the first day gone by, and although it's starting to look like it's stacked up already, it ain't. The First Friday always reorders the pack, especially in the Top 11-20 spots. And there are a slew of upsets in our brackets.
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Good luck today and enjoy the games!
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​​​​Welcome to the 24th season of
MAD HOOPS
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10 clam donation per bracket
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Venmo @Anthony-P-Petrucci
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Up to 3 brackets per individual, OR 3 brackets per family. Not combined
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Email brackets to AnthonyPetrucci26@gmail.com
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Play-In Games don't count
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Brackets due by 12:15pm Thurs March 19
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Write Tiebreakers on brackets. Tie A: Total points in championship game, closest without going over. Tie B: Total points in both final four games combined, closest without going over
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GENERAL SCORING
2 points for each team into the True 32
5 points for each team into the Sweet 16
11 points for each team into the Elite 8
17 points for each team into the Final Four
20 points for each team into the Champ Game
22 points for the National Champ
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UPSET SCORING
Additional points for correctly picking a lower seeded team to beat a higher seeded team. Only need to pick the winning team correctly in a matchup. Multiply the difference between the seed numbers of the actual teams in a matchup (as long as you correctly picked the winner) by the round number (1 for True 32, 2 for Sweet 16, etc)
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PRIZES
First: 65% of donated clams
Second: 25% of donated clams
Third: 10% of donated clams