featured-image

Matt and Matt's Bracket Challenge Underway

By Matt Rochinski, hornets.com

UPDATED MARCH 26 

The Dance Never Ends - welcome to Week 2 of the tournament. The Matts issued the challenge over a week ago and 10 lucky fans were selected to take us on. So where do things stand with the second week just a few hours away?

[[{"fid":"64759","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Brackets","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Bracket"},"type":"media","attributes":{"alt":"Brackets","title":"Bracket","class":"media-element file-default"}}]]

Here are some observations:

1. Marchus Paige is the front runner right now. He leads our brackets with 470 points and can earn a possible 1,240 points. As of now, he could have seven of the last eight teams standing and has Kentucky winning it all over Duke with Arizona and Oklahoma also among the last four teams standing. If those four teams make it that far, he could take it all, regardless of what happens.

2. I'm calling myself the second favorite at this point, even though I'll start tonight in 5th place with 420 points. However, aside from Marchus, I'm the only other one who could record 1,240 total points. How? Like Marchus, I could also have seven of the last eight teams alive, and may have picked the last four teams correctly. I've got Kentucky beating Gonzaga, with Wisconsin and Michigan State rounding out my top teams. Go Bulldogs! 

3. Jack Lezman currently sits in third and has an outside shot if Kentucky wins it all and Gonzaga makes it to the last four teams but doesn't make the championship game. He also needs Arizona and Oklahoma to get knocked out but for Michigan State not to go too far... see, it's complicated.

4. Keep an eye on Matt Carroll. Yes, he's 11th out of 12 teams in our bracket challenge right now, but he's still got Notre Dame winning it all. Add Arizona and Duke to the mix in his last four (he lost Virginia), and if the Irish get a little lucky, MC could make an incredible comeback.

5. Don't say I didn't tell you. I'd like to point out that I correctly called the first No. 1 seed going down when N.C. State topped Villanova. Now let's see if the Wolfpack can keep it up.

MARCH 18, 2015

The Dance Never Ends and things are underway again. Thanks to all of you who entered for the chance to compete in Matt and Matt's Bracket Challenge. We randomly selected 10 entries from the hundreds we received to compete against us in this challenge. Fans can see both ours and the fans' entries below, and we'll be posting updates along the way to see who takes the title.

Here are some observations from our challenge:

1. Nine of us have Kentucky taking the title. Two have Notre Dame. One has Kansas

2. Biggest shocker among last four teams standing - Michael Zierolf believes No. 11 Dayton will go from the play-in all the way to be the bracket's representative from the East to take on Duke in the semis

3. Second-biggest shocker among last four teams standing - I have No. 7 Michigan State making it all the way to the semifinals

4. Third-biggest shocker among last four teams standing - Jeremy Babb thinks Larry Brown and No. 6 SMU will be in the semifinals as well

5. How are they among the last 16 teams? Zierolf thinks No. 13 Harvard will top No. 4 North Carolina and No. 5 Arkansas and be playing in the second week. Matt R. sees something in No. 13 Eastern Washington that makes him think they'll win two games as well.

6. Did I see that right? Michael Castillo (Buffalo) and Jason Ward (Stephen F. Austin) both have No. 12 seeds advancing to Week 2?

7. First No. 1 out - Christina Rhoden thinks No. 9 LSU will take out No.1 Villanova, while I think it will be No. 8 N.C. State that sends Villanova home

[[{"fid":"64063","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"NCAA Brackets","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"NCAA Brackets"},"type":"media","attributes":{"alt":"NCAA Brackets","title":"NCAA Brackets","class":"media-element file-default"}}]]