North Carolina lifted a Tar Heel family to victory in the 14th annual Living Room Times men's NCAA pool Monday night.
Jason Strutz, who lives in the Chapel Hill area with his North Carolina grad student wife, clinched the pool when UNC crushed Michigan State, 89-72, in the national championship game.
Strutz, an illustrator and the designer of this year's pool logo, lives in Carrboro, North Carolina with his wife Kelly Strutz (née LaPlante), who is a Ph.D. student in Maternal & Child Health at UNC.
As the pool champion, Jason Strutz will receive a t-shirt (or similar CafePress prize) displaying the pool logo that he designed.
Meanwhile, MSU grad student Mike Wiser just can't seem to get across the finish line. For the second time, he came into the title game with a chance to win a Living Room Times pool -- and for the second time, a Big Ten team couldn't pull out the victory that he needed to secure the pool championship. (Wiser nearly won the 2001 women's pool, but finished second because Purdue blew a big early lead and lost to Notre Dame.)
With the Spartans' loss, Wiser dropped all the way to tenth place in the final standings. Finishing above him: Strutz, with 367 out of a possible 477 points, the third-highest winning total in Times men's pool history; Lauren Barkmeier, with 364 points; Jennifer Elam, with 357; Nick Genco, with 354; Matt Scarborough, with 352; Arash Markazi, with 351; Joe Hiegel, with 346; Derek McDonald, with 343; Kevin Curran, with 342; and, tied with Wiser at 341 points, Kevin Curran. The pool is scored on a 5-7-10-15-20-25 basis.
An amusing aside: Jason Strutz, the champion of the men's pool, will finish dead last in the women's pool. I believe that's the first time a winner of one LRT pool has finished last in the other.
Complete standings are here and after the jump.
It's been a while since I made a complete historical list of the Living Room Times pool champions through the years, so I figured it was a time for an update. Points are out of a maximum possible 477.
1996 men's (17 contestants) - Lou Ruggiero, Newington High School teacher (354 points)
1997 men's (24) - Liz Acey, NHS sophomore (313)
1997 women's (10) - Brendan Loy, NHS sophomore (358)
1998 men's (40) - Shaun Sullivan, NHS junior (308)
1998 women's (17) - Claudio Gualtieri, NHS junior (347)
1999 men's (61) - Nathan Emerson, NHS senior (321)
1999 women's (33) - Jason Rose, NHS senior (372)
2000 men's (20) - Matt Thomsen, NHS '99 / U. of New Haven freshman (276)
2001 men's (19) - Jenn Castelhano, NHS '99 / UConn sophomore (334)
2001 women's (12) - Todd Stigliano, NHS '99 / Providence sophomore (320)
2002 men's (46) - Tom Greca, NHS '99 / Central Conn. St. junior (303)
2002 women's (36) - Jenn Castelhano, NHS '99 / UConn junior (409)
2003 men's (43) - Justin Vale, Rockville High School freshman (352)
2003 women's (40) - Rick Boeckler, Silver Spring, MD / Fordham & Maryland alum (421)
2004 men's (76) - Matt Kagan, NHS '99 / Southern New Hampshire U. alum (334)
2004 women's (62) - Matt Kagan, Danny Pilz and Conor Sullivan (tied at 359)
2005 men's (135) - Brian Kiolbasa, Arizona State alum / Notre Dame 1L (362)
2005 women's (68) - Todd Stigliano, NHS '99 / Providence alum (368)
2006 men's (218) - Mike Tran, UCLA alum / Notre Dame 2L (356)
2006 women's (88) - Rick Boeckler, Silver Spring, MD / Fordham & Maryland alum (370)
2007 men's (263) - Arash Markazi, USC alum / SI writer (409)
2007 women's (104) - Scott Fort, Birmingham, AL / UAB alum (347)
2008 men's (245) - Alex Whitfield, Brooklyn, NY / Duke alum (392)
2008 women's (91) - Jeff Freeze, Portage, IN / Indiana, MSU & ND alum (381)
2009 men's (199) - TBD (Mike Wiser or Jason Strutz)
2009 women's (89) - Michael Holtsberg, Broomall, PA / U. Penn alum
Note the double champions: Todd Stigliano, 2001 women's & 2005 men's; Jenn Castelhano, 2001 men's and 2002 women's; Matt Kagan, 2004 men's and 2004 women's; and Rick Boeckler, 2003 women's and 2006 women's.
Also note the all-time point-total records: Rick Boeckler (421 points in the 2003 women's pool) and Arash Markazi (409 in the 2007 men's pool).
The largest margin of victory ever is a tie between Justin Vale (2003 men's) and Mike Tran (2006 men's) at 47 points. Tran's 2006 bracket, which was noted by SI, holds the record for largest margin over the pool median, 148 points.
Top-ranked, undefeated UConn's blowout win over Stanford in the Final Four secured the championship of the 12th annual Living Room Times women's NCAA pool for Michael Holtsberg of Broomall, Pennsylvania.
Holtsberg, a 1993 alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania and a longtime blog reader, has 337 out of a possible 452 points. He picked UConn to win the national championship, and no one in the pool picked Louisville, so there is no chance of anyone gaining ground on him.
Complete standings here.
P.S. Here are the final standings if UConn wins the title, and if Louisville wins.
Louisville's stunning, thrilling comeback win over Oklahoma means the 12th annual Living Room Times women's NCAA pool will be decided tonight.
If UConn defeats Stanford in tonight's second Final Four game, Michael Holtsberg of Broomall, Pennsylvania, a 1993 U. Penn alum, will clinch the pool championship, regardless of what happens in the UConn-Louisville title game Tuesday night.
On the other hand, if Stanford pulls the stunner tonight, Yvette Webster of Round Hill, Virginia, a Shenandoah University alum who works at Hood College -- and who stated on the pool signup form that "I am completely uneducated on sports and my cat Benjamin isn't very helpful either" -- will clinch the pool, regardless of what happens in the Stanford-Louisville title game.
Andrew Long (who needed Oklahoma to win the national championship) and Michael Walsh (who needed Stanford to beat OU in the title game) were eliminated by the Sooners' loss.
In a rare case of symmetry between tournament and pool, a resident of the Chapel Hill area, whose wife attends UNC, will battle a Michigan State student for the championship of the 14th annual Living Room Times men's NCAA pool when the Tar Heels play the Spartans for the national title Monday night.
If North Carolina wins, Jason Strutz, who lives in Carrboro, North Carolina and is married to UNC Ph.D. student Kelly Strutz, will win the pool. Jason Strutz is an illustrator and the designer of this year's pool logo, and if he wins, his prize will be a championship t-shirt or similar CafePress item displaying the logo that he designed.
If Michigan State wins, Mike Wiser, a Ph.D. student at MSU -- who, by his own admission, knows nothing about basketball (though he almost won the 2001 women's pool) -- will win the pool. It would be Wiser's second victory in a BrendanLoy.com contest; he won the 2004 Electoral College Contest with his perfect electoral map.
Strutz's wife Kelly is the sister of Brendan and Becky Loy's good friend Kristy LaPlante. Wiser is a 2003 USC alum, a friend and classmate of the Loys, and a longtime blog and LRT pool regular.
Strutz is currently in first place with 342 points out of a possible 452 points. Wiser is three back with 339 points, which ties him for second place with Lauren Barkmeier. Neil Waechter and Jennifer Elam are tied for fourth with 332 points.
Nick Genco is sixth with 329 points; Ian Marenna and Sören Hammerschmidt are tied for seventh with 328; Matt Scarborough is ninth with 327; and SI writer Arash Markazi is tenth with 326.
Philadelphia resident and Villanova fan Marty West, who would have won the pool if the Wildcats had won the title, fell all the way to 18th and was mathematically eliminated by their loss to UNC.
Strutz and Wiser are two of seven contestants out of 199 in the pool who predicted a UNC-MSU title game. The others are Pat Caplin (T-12th), Esteban Coca (20th), Jessica Osborne (T-33rd), Kelly Strutz (T-119th) and Janice Colvin (T-158th). Osborne, Coca and the Strutzes predict a Tar Heels victory; Caplin, Colvin and Wiser predict a Spartan triumph. Caplin would jump from 12th to second place if MSU wins.
After Michigan State's "home" upset of UConn at Ford Field today, the Final Four is down to a Terrific Three -- and so is the 14th annual Living Room Times men's NCAA pool.
If the Spartans win the national championship, MSU grad student Mike Wiser will win the pool. If North Carolina wins the title, Jason Strutz of Carrboro, NC -- whose wife, Kelly, is a UNC grad student -- will win. If Villanova wins the title, Philadelphia resident and Nova fan Marty West will win.
For now, University of Edinburgh alum and UCSB grad student Sören Hammerschmidt, currently living in the Netherlands, has the lead. But he cannot win the pool because his predicted national champion, Oklahoma, has already been eliminated. Hammerschmidt cannot gain any more points, while others currently behind him in the standings still can, and someone will pass him in any scenario.
Previous leader Lauren Barkmeier was mathematically eliminated by UConn's loss, as was Neil Waechter.
Penn State won the NIT title Thursday night, earning Gordon College alum Robert Dokes the championship of the 5th annual BrendanLoy.com NIT Pool.
Dokes, of Beverly, Massachusetts, finished with 233 out of a possible 317 points. He went 14-2 in the first round, 6-2 in the second round, 2-2 in predicting the Final Four, 1-1 in predicting the finalists (he had Penn State vs. SDSU) and 1-0 in predicting the champion.
Marty West of Lansdowne, PA finished second with 226 points, followed by Mike Marchand of South Bend, IN with 223 points, pool administrator Brendan Loy of Denver, CO with 204, and Sören Hammerschmidt of Leiden, NL with 202.
Jon Caplin of Chicago, who would have won the pool if Baylor had defeated Penn State, finished with 201 points, tied for sixth with Lauren Taylor of Atlanta.
Eight contestants correctly predicted Penn State as the NIT champion: Dokes, West, Marchand, Scott Schmidt (8th), Mark Gardner (T-10th), Trisha Neudorff (T-15th), Brandon Minich (24th) and Mike Wiser (48th).
Here are the full final standings. See also after the jump.
Tonight's NIT Championship Game at 7:00 PM EDT between Baylor and Penn State will decide the winner of the 5th annual BrendanLoy.com NIT Pool.
If Penn State wins, Robert Dokes will win the title. If Baylor wins, Jon Caplin will win the title. (Dokes has PSU beating San Diego State, which lost to Baylor on Tuesday, in the final. Caplin has Baylor beating PSU.)
Dokes is a resident of Beverly, Massachusetts, and a 2001 alumnus of Division III Gordon College (home of the Fighting Scots!) who knows pool administrator Brendan Loy through Loy's lifelong friend Diane Krause. Caplin, a Chicago resident and a 1999 Wisconsin alum, is Becky Loy's cousin.
Here are the final standings if Penn State wins, and the final standings if Baylor wins.
Meanwhile, I've been lazy about posting the scenarios for the 12th annual Living Room Times women's NCAA pool, heading into the Final Four (UConn vs. Stanford, Oklahoma vs. Louisville), but here they are:
• Michael Holtsberg wins if UConn wins the title, or loses the title game to Louisville.
• Andrew Long wins if Oklahoma wins the title.
• Michael Walsh wins if Stanford beats Oklahoma in the title game.
• Yvette Webster wins if it's a Stanford-Louisville title game (no matter who wins).
This would seem to make Holtsberg, a Broomall, PA resident and 1993 Penn alum, an overwhelming favorite to win the pool, considering that UConn is the overwhelming favorite to win the national championship.
The scenarios also mean that someone will clinch on Sunday (when the national semifinals are played) unless Oklahoma beats Louisville in the 7pm EDT game.
The Final Four is set in the men's NCAA Tournament, but five contestants are still alive to win the 14th annual Living Room Times men's NCAA pool.
Here are the scenarios for how the pool could end, depending on who beats whom in the national championship game. The links go to the "what-if" final standings for that scenario.
• MSU over UNC: Mike Wiser wins
• MSU over Villanova: Mike Wiser wins
• UConn over UNC: Neil Waechter wins
• UConn over Villanova: Neil Waechter wins
• UNC over MSU: Jason Strutz wins
• UNC over UConn: Lauren Barkmeier wins
• Villanova over MSU: Marty West wins
• Villanova over UConn: Lauren Barkmeier wins
Right now, Barkmeier has the lead. Meanwhile, congratulations are in order for Matt Scarborough, who is the only contestant in the pool to correctly predict all four teams in the Final Four. Alas, Scarborough can finish no better than third place because his remaining picks are identical to two contestants above him in the standings -- Barkmeier and Nick Genco.
P.S. Here are the latest women's pool standings. Heading into the Elite Eight, which starts tomorrow, Nate Evangelista has the lead despite a 4-for-8 Sweet Sixteen. (The best scores in the round belonged to Kristy LaPlante, Dave Whelan and Gary Atkinson, all of whom were 6-for-8.) Ten contestants are still alive to win.
With half of the Final Four decided, 13 contestants are still mathematically alive to win the 14th annual Living Room Times men's NCAA pool -- but that number will decrease to somewhere between three and five after Sunday's games.
To stay alive, current leader Michael Walsh needs Oklahoma to beat North Carolina in the late game. So does Shaun Sullivan, presently in second place. Marty West, tied for third with already-eliminated Dan Dinunzio, needs North Carolina to win.
The other 10 still-alive contestants each need both of Sunday's games to go a certain way, or they'll be eliminated. Specifically:
• Ian Marenna, Geoff Brookes, Jennifer Elam and Kevin Curran need Louisville and UNC to win.
• Nick Surmacz needs Louisville and OU to win.
• Mike Wiser, Neil Waechter, Lauren Barkmeier and Jason Strutz need Michigan State and UNC to win.
• Sören Hammerschmidt needs Michigan State and OU to win.
Here is what the endgame scenarios would look like heading into the tournament's final weekend, after each of tomorrow's four possible combinations of outcomes:
If Louisville and UNC win:
• Ian Marenna wins if UConn wins title
• Marty West wins if Villanova wins title or loses title game to Louisville
• Geoff Brookes wins if Louisville beats UNC in title game
• Jennifer Elam wins if UNC beats Louisville in title game
• Kevin Curran wins if UNC beats UConn in title game
If Louisville and Oklahoma win:
• Shaun Sullivan wins if UConn wins title
• Michael Walsh wins if Oklahoma wins title or if Villanova beats UConn in title game
• Marty West wins if it's a Louisville-Villanova title game
• Nick Surmacz wins if Louisville beats Oklahoma in title game
If Michigan State and UNC win:
• Mike Wiser wins if Michigan State wins title
• Neil Waechter wins if UConn wins title
• Lauren Barkmeier wins if UConn reaches title game but loses
• Jason Strutz wins if UNC beats Michigan State in title game
• Marty West wins if Villanova beats Michigan State in title game
If Michigan State and Oklahoma win:
• Sören Hammerschmidt wins if Michigan State beats UConn in Final Four
• Michael Walsh wins if UConn beats MSU but then loses in title game
• Shaun Sullivan wins if UConn wins national title