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The NCAA Tournament 1st round is in the rear-view mirror, and there was a nice share of madness. In fact, over 5,000 entries in USA TODAY’s NCAA Men’s Tournament Survivor Pool were eliminated in the first 2 days.
Major upsets of No. 3 seed Kentucky (by 14th-seeded Oakland) and 4th-seeded Auburn (by 13th-seeded Yale) knocked out a bunch of those entries. Losses by 5th-seeded Saint Mary’s (to 12th-seeded Grand Canyon) and 5th-seeded Wisconsin (to No. 12 seed James Madison) also bumped many to the exits.
After the opening round, I learned a hard lesson. Don’t trust the SEC, at least this season.
I was bitten by G Jermaine Couisnard (40 points) and his 11th-seeded Oregon Ducks, who rolled past the 6th-seed South Carolina Gamecocks, who just never were able to get on track in their 1st-round Midwest Region game.
The 4th-seed Auburn Tigers were up 10 points against a Yale team which needed a buzzer beater to top a sub-.500 Brown team in the Ivy League Championship Game. However, it was the Bulldogs who showed championship mettle, sending coach Bruce Pearl and his Tigers packing.
At least Gonzaga was able to come through with flying colors, but in Survivor, 1-for-3 is simply not going to do.
As an employee, I’m not eligible to win this contest, but I’m in the “Loser’s Lounge,” anyway. However, I can still assist those of you who have a shot at the $2.5K first prize — but I’d understand if you don’t want my advice.
After Day 2 (Friday), 3,290 entries remain out of the 7,803 who signed up.
So, here’s my strategy of how to advance out of Round 2 and eventually win the Men’s Basketball Tournament Survivor Pool.
A rules reminder: Remaining entries are required to pick 2 teams to win outright in the 2nd round — no spread involved. Once you pick a team, it can’t be used again, similar to an NFL survivor pool.
After the 2nd round, the rules require 1 pick per round — 1 in the Sweet 16, 1 in the Elite 8, 1 in the Final Four and then picking the winner of the National Championship Game — if you still have an eligible team to select.
Along with not being able to choose the same team twice, the other tricky rule is that points are earned equal to your winning teams’ seeds. At this point, there are still a lot of points available in the 2nd round and beyond.
Can you survive? While the men’s contest is closed, there’s still time to enter the USA TODAY Sports’ Women’s Basketball Tournament Survivor Pool, which also has a $2,500 prize! Free to enter, 21+. Terms apply, void where prohibited by law. See Official Rules. Play now!
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Second-round picks
PICK 1: NC STATE WOLFPACK (23-14)
Who they play: Oakland Grizzlies (24-11)
When: Saturday, 7:10 p.m. ET (TBS, truTV)
Where: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh
We get a bonus here. The 14th-seeded Grizzlies, who showed the Kentucky Wildcats the door, meet the No. 11 seed Wolfpack. If you pick one of these 2, you’re going to get a lot of points if either win.
Oakland was bombs away against Kentucky, hitting 15 of 31 (48.4%) from downtown in its upset win. More important, the Golden Grizzlies turned it over just 7 times.
The Golden Grizzlies run into a white-hot Wolfpack team which won 5 games in 5 days at the ACC Tournament, and remained hot against Texas Tech in the opening round of this NCAA Tourney. NC State defeated Tech 80-67 Thursday, shooting 50.9% (27 of 53) from the floor, while doing hitting 810.8% from the free-throw line (21 of 26). Like Oakland, NC State took good care of the ball, too, turning it over just 10 times.
NC State had 4 players score 16 or more points, dominating the Red Raiders despite the fact G Casey Morsell struggled by hitting just 2 of 8 FG attempts and finished with 8 points.
The Wolfpack look like a sweet pick to make the Sweet 16.
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PICK 2: SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS (25-10)
Who they play: Yale Bulldogs (23-9)
When: Sunday, 9:40 p.m. ET (TBS)
Where: Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Wash.
The Bulldogs beat one of my 1st-round picks, erasing a 10-point deficit to sneak by Auburn by 2 points. Now, the Ivy League entrant draws last season’s national runners-up.
Fifth-seeded San Diego State held off a late charge from No. 12 seed UAB of the American Athletic Conference, winning 69-65. It was a typical Aztecs game, as they struggled from the field, hitting 43.6% (24 of 55), including just 27.8% (5 of 18) from behind the 3-point line. The Aztecs turned it over 13 times, and were just plus-2 in the rebounding department. However, San Diego State used suffocating defense to hold down UAB.
The Aztecs don’t get style points … and they don’t care. They grind out wins, relying upon defense to frustrate the opposition. They will do just that against Yale to get back to the Sweet 16.
Good luck and make sure to check back before the Sweet 16 for the next winning pick!
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