It is a little early, but I have set up the programming to run a prediction contest for the NCAA Tournament following the same rules we have used for the past few years, which have seemed to work well. Hopefully, we will have lots of participants. So have fun following games this week and then get ready to prove your prediction prowess! PREDICTION CONTEST RULES To participate, once the NCAA publishes the bracket, you will predict (before the first tournament game begins) the winner of each game in the tournament from the first round through the championship. The scoring will be as follows, for each correct prediction of who advances: First Round Correct: 1 point Second Round Correct: 3 points Third Round Correct: 6 points Quarterfinals Correct: 8 points Semifinals Correct: 8 points Championship Correct: 8 points As soon as the NCAA has published the bracket, I will post a list of the first round matchups in the order they appear from top to bottom in the bracket. You will be able to use this as the starting point for your predictions. (This also will jump this topic to the top of the list as a reminder to post your predictions.) If you want to enter, you will post your predictions for the entire tournament on this thread not later than the beginning of the first Tournament game. You will post your predictions in the following format, leaving a space after each round: In order starting from the top of the first round list, post the winner of each first round game (so, you will have posted a list of 32 teams) In order, starting from the top of your list of first round winners, post the winner of each second round game (so you will have posted a list of 16 teams) In order, starting from the top of your list of second round winners, post the winner of each third round game (so you will have posted a list of 8 teams) In order, starting from the top of your list of third round winners, post the winner of each quarterfinal game (so you will have posted a list of 4 teams) In order, starting from the top of your list of quarterfinal winners, post the winner of each semifinal game (so you will have posted a list of 2 teams) Post the winner of the Championship game (so you will have posted the name of 1 team)After each round, I will post a report showing the points scored by round and the total scored by each competitor, and the competitor standings.
Thanks once again CP for stepping up to conduct this annual little bit of optimism, fun, and embarrassment. Cheers!
We have the bracket, so we are ready to begin. Below is a list of the teams in the order they appear in the bracket. So, the first two teams are paired in the first round, the second two are paired, and so on. If you want to enter, post your predictions for the entire tournament on this thread not later than the beginning of the first Tournament game. Based on the the interactive bracket as currently posted, that would be not later than this coming Friday, November 11, at Noon on the East Coast, which is the time of the Clemson v Vanderbilt game. (I have the feeling some hosts are going with Friday afternoon games to avoid conflicts with football.) Post your predictions in the following format, leaving a space after each round: In order starting from the top of the list below, post the winner of each first round game (so, you will have posted a list of 32 teams) In order, starting from the top of your list of first round winners, post the winner of each second round game (so you will have posted a list of 16 teams) In order, starting from the top of your list of second round winners, post the winner of each third round game (so you will have posted a list of 8 teams) In order, starting from the top of your list of third round winners, post the winner of each quarterfinal game (so you will have posted a list of 4 teams) In order, starting from the top of your list of quarterfinal winners, post the winner of each semifinal game (so you will have posted a list of 2 teams) Post the winner of the Championship game (so you will have posted the name of 1 team) After each round, I will post a report showing the points scored, by round, and the total scored, by each competitor and the competitor standings. Because of the possibility of errors in my entry of your predictions and game results, please check what I report as your scores and let me know if you see any errors. Tournament Bracket Order (It is not mandatory, but if you post names exactly as I have them, it will help me with entering your predictions.) FloridaState FloridaGulfCoast Lamar LSU Georgetown Hofstra Buffalo Pittsburgh ArkansasU MissouriState Bucknell OhioState MississippiState NewMexicoState Memphis StLouis NorthCarolinaU OldDominion Samford GeorgiaU BYU UtahValley SanJoseState Stanford MichiganState Milwaukee UTSA TCU SantaClara CaliforniaU UNOmaha NotreDame AlabamaU JacksonState ArizonaState PortlandU Rutgers Brown UCIrvine SouthernCalifornia SouthCarolinaU WakeForest NewHampshireU Harvard TexasU TexasA&M Radford Duke PennState Quinnipiac VirginiaTech WestVirginiaU TennesseeU Xavier FairleighDickinson VirginiaU NorthwesternU SIUEdwardsville Vanderbilt Clemson NCState UCF NorthernArizona UCLA
FloridaState LSU Georgetown Buffalo ArkansasU OhioState MississippiState StLouis NorthCarolinaU GeorgiaU BYU Stanford MichiganState TCU CaliforniaU NotreDame AlabamaU ArizonaState Rutgers SouthernCalifornia SouthCarolinaU Harvard TexasA&M Duke PennState VirginiaTech Xavier VirginiaU NorthwesternU Clemson UCF UCLA xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx FloridaState Buffalo OhioState StLouis NorthCarolinaU Stanford MichiganState NotreDame AlabamaU Rutgers Harvard Duke PennState VirginiaU NorthwesternU UCLA xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx FloridaState StLouis Stanford NotreDame AlabamaU Harvard VirginiaU NorthwesternU xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx FloridaState Stanford AlabamaU VirginiaU xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx FloridaState AlabamaU xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx AlabamaU
FloridaState LSU Georgetown Pittsburgh ArkansasU OhioState MississippiState StLouis NorthCarolinaU GeorgiaU BYU Stanford MichiganState TCU CaliforniaU NotreDame AlabamaU ArizonaState Brown SouthernCalifornia SouthCarolinaU Harvard TexasU Duke PennState WestVirginiaU TennesseeU VirginiaU NorthwesternU Clemson UCF UCLA xxxxxxxxxxxxxx FloridaState Georgetown ArkansasU StLouis NorthCarolinaU Stanford TCU NotreDame AlabamaU SouthernCalifornia SouthCarolinaU Duke PennState TennesseeU Clemson UCLA xxxxxxxxxxxxx FloridaState ArkansasU NorthCarolinaU NotreDame AlabamaU SouthCarolinaU PennState UCLA xxxxxxxxxxxx FloridaState NotreDame AlabamaU UCLA xxxxxxxxxxxx FloridaState UCLA xxxxxxxxxxxx FloridaState
FSU LSU Georgetown Pitt Arkansas Ohio State Miss St St Louis UNC UGA BYU Stanford Mich St TCU California ND Alabama Portland Rutgers USCw USCe Harvard Texas Duke Penn ST VT Tenn UVA NW Clemson UCF UCLA XXXXXXXX FSU Pitt Ohio St St Louis UNC Stanford Mich ST ND Alabama Rutgers USCe Duke Penn St UVA Clemson UCLA XXXXXXXX FSU St Louis Stanford ND Rutgers Duke UVA UCLA XXXXXXXX FSU ND Duke UCLA XXXXXXXX FSU UCLA XXXXXXXX FSU
In addition to the individual competitors, I will be entering: The Committee, based on its seeds The RPI, which this year will exactly match the Committee The Balanced RPI, which is my improved version of the RPI. It matches the Committee and the RPI in the early rounds but has some differences in the later rounds. My Assigned Pre-Season RPIs The bracket is available to anyone, so I will not post the Committee-predicted results nor the matching RPI-predicted results. Tomorrow, I will post the Balanced RPI and my Assigned Pre-Season RPI predictions.
FloridaState LSU Georgetown Pittsburgh ArkansasU OhioState MississippiState StLouis NorthCarolinaU GeorgiaU BYU Stanford MichiganState TCU SantaClara NotreDame AlabamaU PortlandU Rutgers SouthernCalifornia SouthCarolinaU Harvard TexasU Duke PennState WestVirginiaU TennesseeU VirginiaU NorthwesternU Clemson NCState UCLA XXXXXXXX FloridaState Pittsburgh OhioState StLouis NorthCarolinaU Stanford MichiganState NotreDame AlabamaU SouthernCalifornia SouthCarolinaU Duke PennState VirginiaU Clemson UCLA XXXXXXXX FloridaState OhioState Stanford NotreDame AlabamaU Duke VirginiaU UCLA XXXXXXXX FloridaState Stanford Duke UCLA XXXXXXXX FloridaState UCLA XXXXXXXX UCLA
FSU LSU Georgetown Buffalo Arkansas Ohio Miss State SLU UNC Georgia BYU Stanford MSU TCU Santa Clara ND Alabama Portland Rutgers USC South Carolina Harvard Texas Duke Penn State Virginia Tech Tennessee Virginia Northwestern Vanderbilt NC State UCLA XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX FSU Georgetown Arkansas SLU ‘ UNC Stanford MSU ND Alabama Rutgers South Carolina Duke Penn State Virginia Northwestern UCLA XXXXXXXXXXXXX FSU SLU UNC ND Alabama South Carolina Virginia UCLA XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX FSU ND Alabama Virginia XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX ND Alabama XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Alabama
FloridaState LSU Georgetown Pittsburgh ArkansasU OhioState MississippiState StLouis NorthCarolinaU Samford BYU Stanford MichiganState TCU SantaClara NotreDame AlabamaU ArizonaState Brown SouthernCalifornia SouthCarolinaU Harvard TexasA&M Duke PennState VirginiaTech Xavier VirginiaU NorthwesternU Vanderbilt NCState UCLA XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX FloridaState Pittsburgh ArkansasU StLouis NorthCarolinaU Stanford MichiganState NotreDame AlabamaU SouthernCalifornia SouthCarolinaU Duke PennState VirginiaU NorthwesternU UCLA XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX FloridaState StLouis NorthCarolinaU MichiganState AlabamaU Duke VirginiaU UCLA XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX FloridaState MichiganState AlabamaU UCLA XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX FloridaState UCLA XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX UCLA
Balanced RPI: FloridaState LSU Georgetown Pittsburgh ArkansasU OhioState MississippiState StLouis NorthCarolinaU GeorgiaU BYU Stanford MichiganState TCU SantaClara NotreDame AlabamaU PortlandU Rutgers SouthernCalifornia SouthCarolinaU Harvard TexasU Duke PennState WestVirginiaU TennesseeU VirginiaU NorthwesternU Clemson NCState UCLA *********************** FloridaState Pittsburgh ArkansasU StLouis NorthCarolinaU Stanford MichiganState NotreDame AlabamaU SouthernCalifornia SouthCarolinaU Duke PennState VirginiaU Clemson UCLA ********************* FloridaState StLouis NorthCarolinaU NotreDame AlabamaU Duke VirginiaU UCLA ****************************** FloridaState NotreDame AlabamaU UCLA ************************ FloridaState UCLA ******************** UCLA
Pre-Season RPI FloridaState LSU Georgetown Pittsburgh ArkansasU OhioState MississippiState Memphis NorthCarolinaU GeorgiaU BYU Stanford MichiganState TCU SantaClara NotreDame AlabamaU ArizonaState Rutgers SouthernCalifornia SouthCarolinaU Harvard TexasU Duke PennState VirginiaTech TennesseeU VirginiaU NorthwesternU Clemson NCState UCLA ************************* FloridaState Georgetown ArkansasU Memphis NorthCarolinaU Stanford TCU NotreDame ArizonaState SouthernCalifornia SouthCarolinaU Duke PennState VirginiaU Clemson UCLA ************************ FloridaState ArkansasU NorthCarolinaU NotreDame SouthernCalifornia Duke VirginiaU UCLA ************************ FloridaState NorthCarolinaU Duke VirginiaU ************************ FloridaState Duke *********************** Duke
Well here goes... See if I can have some lucky guesses like a few years ago. FloridaState LSU Georgetown Pittsburgh ArkansasU OhioState MississippiState StLouis NorthCarolinaU GeorgiaU BYU Stanford MichiganState TCU SantaClara NotreDame AlabamaU ArizonaState Rutgers SouthernCalifornia SouthCarolinaU Harvard TexasU Duke PennState WestVirginiaU TennesseeU VirginiaU NorthwesternU Clemson UCF UCLA FloridaState Pittsburgh ArkansasU StLouis NorthCarolinaU Stanford MichiganState NotreDame AlabamaU SouthernCalifornia Harvard Duke PennState VirginiaU NorthwesternU UCLA FloridaState StLouis NorthCarolinaU NotreDame SouthernCalifornia Harvard PennState UCLA FloridaState NotreDame SouthernCalifornia UCLA FloridaState SouthernCalifornia FloridaState
Florida State Lamar Georgetown Pittsburgh Arkansas Ohio State Mississippi State St Louis North Carolina Georgia BYU Stanford Michigan State TCU Cal Notre Dame Alabama Arizona State Rutgers Southern California South Carolina Harvard Texas U Duke Penn State West Virginia Tennessee Virginia Northwestern Clemson UCF UCLA xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Florida State Pittsburgh Arkansas St Louis North Carolina Stanford Michigan State Notre Dame Alabama Southern California Harvard Duke Penn State Virginia Northwestern UCLA xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Florida State Arkansas North Carolina Notre Dame Alabama Duke Virginia UCLA xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Florida State Notre Dame Duke UCLA xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Florida State UCLA xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx UCLA
Justdoit FloridaState LSU Georgetown Pittsburgh ArkansasU OhioState MississippiState Memphis NorthCarolinaU GeorgiaU BYU Stanford MichiganState TCU SantaClara NotreDame AlabamaU PortlandU Brown SouthernCalifornia SouthCarolinaU Harvard TexasU Duke PennState Virginia tech TennesseeU VirginiaU NorthwesternU Vanderbilt NCState UCLA xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx FloridaState Georgetown ArkansasU MississippiState NorthCarolinaU Stanford TCU NotreDame AlabamaU Brown Harvard Duke PennState VirginiaU NorthwesternU UCLA xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx FloridaState ArkansasU NorthCarolinaU NotreDame AlabamaU Duke VirginiaU UCLA xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx FloridaState North CarolinaU Duke Virginia xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx FloridaStateU Duke xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx FloridaStateU
Here are my own predictions. There is a system to them .... FloridaState LSU Georgetown Pittsburgh ArkansasU OhioState MissisippiState StLouis NorthCarolinaU GeorgiaU BYU Stanford MichiganState TCU SantaClara NotreDame AlabamaU ArizonaState Rutgers SouthernCalifornia SouthCarolinaU Harvard TexasU Duke PennState WestVirginiaU Xavier VirginiaU NorthwesternU Clemson UCF UCLA ************** FloridaState Georgetown ArkansasU StLouis NorthCarolinaU Stanford MichiganState NotreDame AlabamaU SouthernCalifornia Harvard Duke PennState VirginiaU Clemson UCLA *************** FloridaState ArkansasU NorthCarolinaU NotreDame AlabamaU Duke VirginiaU UCLA **************** FloridaState NorthCarolinaU AlabamaU UCLA *************** FloridaState AlabamaU **************** FloridaState
Lots of good second round matchups... FloridaState LSU Georgetown Pittsburgh ArkansasU OhioState MississippiState StLouis NorthCarolinaU GeorgiaU BYU Stanford MichiganState TCU SantaClara NotreDame AlabamaU PortlandU Rutgers SouthernCalifornia SouthCarolinaU Harvard TexasU Duke PennState VirginiaTech TennesseeU VirginiaU NorthwesternU Clemson UCF UCLA ***** FloridaState Pittsburgh ArkansasU StLouis NorthCarolinaU Stanford TCU NotreDame AlabamaU SouthernCalifornia Harvard Duke PennState VirginiaU Clemson UCLA ***** FloridaState ArkansasU NorthCarolinaU NotreDame SouthernCalifornia Duke VirginiaU UCLA ***** FloridaState NorthCarolinaU Duke UCLA ****** FloridaState UCLA ****** FloridaState
There are some great games to be played. That lower left bracket looks absolutely brutal. What is first prize? Florida State LSU Georgetown Pittsburgh Arkansas Ohio State Mississippi State St Louis North Carolina Georgia BYU Stanford Michigan State TCU Santa Clara Notre Dame Alabama Portland Rutgers USC South Carolina Harvard Texas Duke Penn State West Virginia Tennessee Virginia Northwestern Clemson UCF UCLA _______________ Florida State Pittsburgh Arkansas St. Louis North Carolina Stanford Michigan State Notre Dame Alabama USC South Carolina Duke Penn State Virginia Northwestern UCLA ______________ Florida State Arkansas North Carolina Notre Dame Alabama Duke Penn State UCLA _______________ Florida State North Carolina Alabama UCLA _______________ Florida State UCLA _______________ UCLA - National Champion
FloridaState LSU Georgetown Pittsburgh ArkansasU OhioState NewMexicoState StLouis NorthCarolinaU Samford BYU Stanford MichiganState UTSA CaliforniaU NotreDame AlabamaU ArizonaState Brown SouthernCalifornia WakeForest Harvard TexasA&M Duke PennState VirginiaTech Xavier VirginiaU NorthwesternU Clemson UCF UCLA ***** FloridaState Pittsburgh ArkansasU StLouis NorthCarolinaU Stanford MichiganState NotreDame AlabamaU SouthernCalifornia WakeForest Duke PennState Xavier NorthwesternU UCLA **** FloridaState ArkansasU NorthCarolinaU NotreDame SouthernCalifornia Duke PennState UCLA *** FloridaState NotreDame SouthernCalifornia UCLA ** FloridaState UCLA * FloridaState
FloridaState LSU Georgetown Pittsburgh ArkansasU OhioState MississippiState StLouis NorthCarolinaU Samford UtahValley Stanford MichiganState TCU SantaClara NotreDame AlabamaU PortlandU Rutgers SouthernCalifornia SouthCarolinaU Harvard TexasU Duke PennState VirginiaTech TennesseeU VirginiaU NorthwesternU Clemson UCF UCLA xxxxxxxxxx FloridaState Pittsburgh ArkansasU StLouis NorthCarolinaU Stanford MichiganState SantaClara AlabamaU Rutgers Harvard Duke PennState VirginiaU Clemson UCLA xxxxxxxxxx FloridaState StLouis NorthCarolinaU MichiganState Rutgers Duke VirginiaU UCLA xxxxxxxxxx FloridaState NorthCarolinaU Rutgers UCLA xxxxxxxxxx UNC Rutgers xxxxxxxxxx UNC
FSU LSU Georgetown Pitt Arkansas Bucknell Mississippi State St. Louis UNC Georgia BYU Stanford Michigan State TCU California Notre Dame Alabama Portland Rutgers Southern California South Carolina Harvard Texas Duke Penn State Virginia Tech Tennessee Virginia Northwestern Clemson UCF UCLA ************* FSU Georgetown Arkansas St. Louis UNC Stanford Michigan State Notre Dame Alabama Southern California South Carolina Duke Virginia Tech Virginia Northwestern UCLA ******* FSU Arkansas Stanford Notre Dame Alabama Duke Virginia UCLA ******** FSU Notre Dame Alabama Virginia ****** FSU Alabama ****** FSU
FloridaState LSU Georgetown Buffalo ArkansasU OhioState MississippiState StLouis NorthCarolinaU GeorgiaU BYU Stanford MichiganState UTSA SantaClara NotreDame AlabamaU PortlandU Rutgers SouthernCalifornia SouthCarolinaU Harvard TexasU Duke PennState VirginiaTech TennesseeU VirginiaU NorthwesternU Vanderbilt UCF UCLA _____________________ FloridaState Georgetown ArkansasU StLouis NorthCarolinaU Stanford MichiganState NotreDame AlabamaU Rutgers SouthCarolinaU Duke PennState VirginiaU NorthwesternU UCLA ______________________ FloridaState StLouis NorthCarolinaU NotreDame AlabamaU SouthCarolinaU PennState UCLA _____________________ FloridaState NorthCarolinaU SouthCarolinaU UCLA _____________________ NorthCarolinaU UCLA _____________________ UCLA
You get to be at the top of the 2022 list stored in my computer and to be published as part of the contest next year. You may have noticed that the Committee and the computer rating systems did pretty well last year compared to the humans. Hopefully, the humans will do better this year. PS - Thanks to those of you who supplied some of the past rankings that are in the table.
BOSCO Fla St LSU Georgetown Pitt Arkansas Ohio St Miss St St. Louis UNC Georgia BYU Stanford Milwaukee TCU Cal Notre Dame Alabama Portland Rutgers So. Cal. South Carolina Harvard Texas Duke Penn St Va Tech Tennessee UVA Northwestern Vanderbilt NC State UCLA *********************** Fla State Pitt Arkansas St. Louis UNC BYU TCU Notre Dame Alabama So. Cal. South Carolina Texas Penn St UVA Northwestern UCLA *********************** Fla. State Arkansas UNC Notre Dame So. Cal. South Carolina UVA UCLA ************************* Arkansas UNC So, Cal. UVA *************************’ UNC UVA **************************’’ UNC