#bracketless bracket

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Bracketless Bracket results – Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Last updated at 8:57am EST on 3/27 * indicates the entry of an SSPPLL panelist who is not eligible to win. via http://ift.tt/1HVQVfI

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Bracketless Bracket results

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Last updated at 7:15pm EST on 3/19 via http://ift.tt/1Gwjq39

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Bracketless Bracket: Championship Update

Hey Folks,

Here's the final scoreboard:

*Denotes an editor of Stuff Smart People Like. These people are not eligible for the prize

Just in case you were curious, this would have been a perfect bracketless bracket:

1. Louisville 600 pts

2. Duke/Ohio State 330 pts

3. Florida/Marquette 360 pts

4. Michigan 650 pts

5. VCU 149 pts

6. Arizona 300 pts

7. Illinois/SDSU/Creighton 160 pts

8. UNC/Colorado State 180 pts

9. Wichita State 720 pts

10. Iowa State 190 pts

11. Minnesota 200 pts

12. Oregon 420 pts

13. La Salle 440 pts

14. Harvard 230 pts

15. Florida Gulf Coast 480 pts

16. Any team (all 16 seeds lost) 0 pts

Thanks for playing everybody. See you again next year.

Ed's Thoughts on the championship:

Well folks. Turns out the other half of my prediction came true, but the numbers were a bit off.

Louisville 76 - Michigan 71

To be honest, I didn't stay up to watch the game. It was past my bed time and I didn't want to go to bed after having watched UofM win a championship. That being said, I did wake up at 3am in a cold sweat and check my phone for the score. I'm please with the outcome, even if half the state I live in isn't. Next year is definitely going to be our year...

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Bracketless Bracket: Sweet 16 and Elite 8 Coverage

Hey Folks,

Here's the updated scoreboard:

*Denotes an editor of Stuff Smart People Like. These people are not eligible for the prize

See your picks, everyone else’s, and which teams are still alive

Ed's Thoughts on the sweet 16 and elite 8:

Folks, as a long-time Michigan State fan, I have to say the last four days were disappointing. Not only because MSU lost, but also because UofM made the final four. That's just not a possibility in my sports-consciousness. Of course my complaints look like child's play after watching that Louisville game (and if you watched it you know what I am talking about). There isn't much to say that hasn't already been said, so I will just refrain from saying anything. A word of warning to those of you who are clueless as to what I am talking about, google with care.

I can't believe it's been ten years since the juice went lose in the Final 4. I my head Syracuse is there every other year. As for Louisville, well, they look like a team of destiny to me. And the shockers, well, they have the shaggiest looking mascot (outside the Stanford tree) that I have ever seen. He's got a certain redeeming quality about him though. 

There are eight possible points scenarios from this point on. I haven't run the numbers, but you might want to so you can figure out how they fall. They are:

UofM vs. Wichita - UofM wins

UofM vs. Wichita - Wichita wins

UofM vs. Louisville - UofM wins 

UofM vs. Louisville -  Louisville wins

Syracuse vs. Wichita - Syracuse wins

Syracuse vs. Wichita - Wichita wins

Syracuse vs. Louisville - Syracuse wins 

Syracuse vs. Louisville -  Louisville wins

My hope is on Syracuse vs. Wichita with Wichita winning (best for my bracketless bracket and for my root-for-the-underdog mentality)

My money is on Louisville vs. UofM with Louisville winning it all.

What are you hoping for?

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Bracketless Bracket Round 2 Results

Hey Folks,

Here's the updated scoreboard:

*Denotes an editor of Stuff Smart People Like. These people are not eligible for the prize

See your picks, everyone else’s, and which teams are still alive

Ed's Thoughts on Round 2:

Well well. We didn't see the kind of history that we (or at least I) always hope to see. That is, we still haven't seen a 16 seed topple an over-ranked 1 seed. But I think that the #15 Florida Gulf Coast team making it to the sweet sixteen is almost as impressive. The next game has, no doubt, quite a bit of meaning to these players as they are playing against the powerhouse from their own backyard and I am sure more than a few FGCU players have some chips on their backs about not playing for the Gators. I'll be rooting for them (even though it hurts my score).

Aside from FGCU there are a couple of other teams that could really shake up our standings. Namely, La Salle, Oregon, and Wichita State. Of those teams I'd put my money on Oregon. If you any of those teams, I suggest you continue to hope you see more history because a deeper run (say, to the final four) would probably put you leaps and bounds above your competition. If I were a betting man I would say Oregon is your best shot. They're playing mad, and we're talking really mad (here's a dramatization).

For the rest of us, well, this is where we start to cheer as though this were a normal bracket. Many of the top 1-4 seeds are still alive and some of them seem to have pretty nice paths to the final four (I'm looking at you OSU). So while we're still probably better off rooting for the "underdog," it's not exactly like rooting for Belmont or Iona, ya know? 

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Bracketless Bracket Round 1 Results

Here is the scoreboard after the first round

  *Denotes an editor of Stuff Smart People Like. These people are not eligible for the prize

See your picks, everyone else’s, and which teams are still alive

Ed's thoughts on Round 1:

Tough year to be a #5 seed. Am I right? Unless of course you are VCU, in which case you're flying high after you publicly trounced (there's not actually a word that does this thrashing justice) the Akron Zips. Apparently a "Zip" is some form of rabbit. I didn't feel like I was watching a basketball game so much as that scene from Roger and Me.

Congrats to those of you who managed to pick the sole upset picks in the #15 (Florida Gulf Coast), #14 (Harvard), #13 (La Salle),  #11 (Minnesota), and #10 (Iowa State) seeds. These teams will net you (pardon the pun) crazy points.

That brings me to an important point. This is the stage in the game where your picks will likely start cannabalizing each other. Case and point, let's say that you picked both San Diego State (7) and Florida Gulf Coast (15). Those teams now play each other. For the purposes of our scoring system you should be rooting hard for FGC. A win by FGC is as good as 1.5 wins by SDSU. So unless you think SDSU is going to win two games, a win by FGC and a bounce out is the better option. If you happened to be prescient enought to pick BOTH La Salle (13) and Ole Miss (12), you don't have as much to worry about. One of those teams has to win so you are guaranteed another 210-220 pts. Or roughly 2.1 to 2.2 wins worth of points for Indiana or (heaven help you) Gonzaga.

If you are also playing traditional brackets this might put you at a crossroads as rooting for the underdog in some of these match-ups may severely "bust" a traditional bracket. So my advice to you is weight your pros and cons. It's $25 in amazon cash versus whatever skin you have in your other pool. I can't help you make all your decisions...

That's it until the next round summary on Sunday. May the brackets be with you.

You can see all our coverage of the bracketless bracket by going to stuffsmartppllike.com and clicking on the link in the upper right corner that says "Bracketless Bracket" or you can just click here and bookmark the page.

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2nd Annual Stuff Smart People Like Bracketless Bracket Challenge

Hey everyone, time to burn your bracket. Instead of the traditional bracket try our the Stuff Smart People Like "Bracketless Bracket." 

It's super easy. You pick sixteen teams, one from each seed level. Then each time that team wins, you get points. Points increase the higher the seed (a #3 seed winning earns you less points than an #11 seed winning).

In the end, the winner gets a $25 Amazon.com giftcard.

Make your picks by clicking here, and make sure they are in by Thursday, March 21st at 10:00am.