The SportFellas

After two rounds of play, it's already become virtually impossible to keep up with the good, bad, and ugly theme, as the mix of opponents isn't nearly what we envisioned. Ergo, the whole thing is ugly. That being said, we roll into this weekend's games with 12 of our Sweet 16 intact, and all four clubs we have making it to the Final Four in Detroit.

Sadly, the secretary in your office pool who picked straight chalk has 14 of the Sweet 16 correct. And the guy who took Arizona to the Elite Eight in your pool, just to be an ass, is looking pretty damn gifted right now.  And there's always the guy who overexaggerates, saying all 12 seeds beat 5 seeds, and then picks accordingly. Yep, he got 3 teams into the 2nd round and came within a whisker of advancing two to the Sweet 16.

Based on two rounds of play, the team who most looks like they want to win the championship is Connecticut.  Others have let opponents linger too long for our liking, either in the first round (Kansas, Memphis, Villanova), the second round (North Carolina, Louisville, Gonzaga, Oklahoma, Missouri, Michigan State, Duke), or both (eyes squarely on you, Pittsburgh, with respect to Purdue).

The other three teams to breeze with relative ease have been Xavier, Arizona, and Syracuse.  We're not entirely discounting them (editor's note: Yes, we are), but I don't see the champion coming from the 4 line or beyond this season. 

After opening our bracket with a 12-4 first day, the second part of Round 1 fared no better.  I would like to take this time formally tell the Mountain West to go to hell. Go to hell and die. After the completion of day 2, our record sits at 22-10, and we've lost a couple key late rounders.  Ten losses when there have been exactly 10 "upsets". Coincidence? Yeah, most likely.

The Good: Our picks were solid in the Oklahoma State and Arizona State wins.  We also came within shouting distance of Louisville and Kansas' wins, and despite missing the total, we were in the ballpark on the Syracuse point spread. Missouri and Xavier came through for us, and we also cashed in with USC. Lastly, the two barnburners between Ohio State/Siena, and Wisconsin/Florida State, we're chalking those up as good regardless of who won. I mean, seriously, we nailed those games.

The Bad: Pittsburgh is the only game we're putting in the 'bad' column. Despite keeping the 1 seeds unblemished in history, Pitt must have soiled their briefs hanging on to this one.

The Ugly: UtahtwecouldbeatArizona? And regardless of thinking Utah State stood a chance against Marquette, our score was hella wrong. Cleveland State and Dayton also screwed our pooch, meaning our bracket went in the can thanks to two 11-seeds, a 12 and a 13. Fan-effing-tastic.

March Madness is in full swing, and we're still wiping the sweat off our brow from the Memphis scare.  But that's what this great tournament is all about. There's almost a sense of relief when you can crumble that piece of paper up and throw it in the trash can.  Several of our picks did just that yesterday.  We'll keep our bracket updated throughout the tournament on our daily recaps.

The Good: We came out solid in the LSU/Butler contest, as well as the Purdue/Northern Iowa tilt. Our spread was solid in Carolina, UConn and Washington's wins. We were virtually spot on with Oklahoma, and we at least got in the ballpark with Villanova and Duke.

The Bad: As previously mentioned, Memphis scared our underpants brown. And while we envisioned the UCLA/VCU game would be close, um, we didn't think it would be that close. We also didn't exactly come out roses in the Texas and Gonzaga wins.

The Ugly: This one begins and ends at BYU. Our system picked them to make an Elite Eight run. Interestingly enough, we weren't far off on the score - we just had the wrong winner. Ditto the Maryland/Cal game. And we completely disregarded our gut feel and ate the chalk against Michigan and Western Kentucky.  Again, as I told a buddy of mine repeatedly going into last week: "I would want NO part of a John Beilein coached team come tournament time."

...of Shut the Hell Up.  You look like an ignorant baby who is going to pout simply because you perceive yourself as being slighted by the organization. Well here's a hot tip, you don't run the team. You play for the coach who was hired by the owner. Now that you've decided to piss and whine about being the jilted lover, why don't you just leave in peace.  After all, you're doing yourself no favors with this media circus that you and Bus Cook have kept up.

See, Jay, the problem is, you've done nothing to warrant this chest thumping, as if you're God's gift to Denver. As a Broncos fan, I never expected a Second Coming of #7 like many have. I was simply hoping for a guy who could win some ballgames, and get the Broncs to the playoffs and win some games there.  Instead, we've been blessed with a guy who thinks he's Elway, but has turned himself into a spectacle of a wannabe quarterback.

The numbers don't lie. This guy is ripe for the trading. If Detroit wants to dump the #1 pick for this clown, take it to the bank and rebuild the franchise with a coachable quarterback like Matthew Stafford or Mark Sanchez.  Cutler's job is to not turn the ball over, make plays, and win football games. I questioned if he was the right move two years ago and was scoffed at. Am I still wrong?

It's that time of year again. Today, as I explained to my wife, is an unspoken national holiday, where countless men and women forego work to take in what seems like an unending barrage of hoops games, mostly of teams they have never seen before.  Last season, we brought you a bracket that ultimately busted when Xavier forgot to get off the bus the night they were slated to play UCLA.  Another year, another method to our picks. After entering all the data into our system, needless to say even we were stunned by the results.

To say that Pittsburgh has the hardest road to travel, regardless of what the pundits say, is an understatement.  A bracket where your second round opponent are the high flying likes of Oklahoma State or Tennessee is not a comfortable feeling. Win there, and you're blessed with a likely matchup against ACC runners up Florida State, under-the-radar Wisconsin, or the previously mentioned Xavier Musketeers. Win there, and congratulations, you've just earned a right to attempt to reach the Final Four against Villanova, UCLA, or Duke. No thanks.

All in all, the collective RPI of the top 10 seeds in the East regional is a full 7 points better than the next toughest region.  But the craziest of results comes out of our West bracket. With a mixture of unexpected blowouts and a couple major upsets, the West could be like trying to dodge a minefield.  And when filling out that South bracket, be certain that the toughest game Carolina will play will be against the Zags, and not the Sooners. Oh, and the Midwest? Uh, yeah, hope you wrote Cardinals in pencil on your bracket.

On Saturday, April 18th, Mountaineer Nation will welcome a new face to its ranks, and one that is sure to be discussed at water coolers statewide and beyond. The folks tasked with putting this Mountaineer in uniform poured over all the available information - written marks, face time with the prospect, and finally, a workout to see the prospect in action.

No, we aren't talking about any number of the highly recruited athletes who will be donning the Gold and Blue for Coach Stewart this coming football season. We are, of course, referring to Rebecca Durst, the sophomore pre-nursing student who will officially start her tenure as the Mountaineer mascot at the Gold-Blue game this spring.

Rebecca has an extremely full slate, both with her studies and in the community as a volunteer, but she took a break to sit down with us for a few questions, and to let us know what it is like to become the first female to take on the role of West Virginia University's mascot since Natalie Tennant broke that ground in 1990.

It's Selection Sunday.  May the (last four) games begin!

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FINAL UPDATE: March 15th, 5:27pm

We had our share of ups and downs during the college football and NFL season when it came to capping and earning. There were weeks where we considered burning the system down and starting over. But the fact of the matter is, we cashed in. 

In looking back, we capped more than 550 college and pro games. That is just mind-boggling considering we do this as a hobby with little time spent actually capping beyond dumping numbers into a formula. We managed to pick nearly seven in 10 winners, which is never easy given the volatility of the NFL.  Furthermore, we cashed in on 54% winners against the number.

While we aren't going to earn enough to quit our day jobs at this rate, we're still pulling in enough to take the family on vacation once a year. What do you want, Brandon Lang?

Final Year to Date: 381-178-1 SU, 290-250-11 ATS, +13.61 units

...the SEC homers can eat my ass.  Not all of them, mind you.  Just the jerks that inundated my mailbox with drug references and questions regarding my overall intellect a little over two years ago when I logically pointed out that perhaps Darren McFadden was overrated.

We have a year in the books in the NFL - the pantheon that most of you referenced, even while debating the abilities of Steve Slaton and Darren McFadden in college (devoted fans yes, but educated, maybe not so much) - and guess what? The numbers still say the same thing.

Only now, you assclowns can't hide beyond the whole level of competition notion, can you?

You may have noticed that every year, the Sportfellas try to match wits with Joe Lunardi and his horde of Bracketology followers over at the Worldwide Leader. And every year, we come within a game or two of matching Lunardi's predictions.  Folks, it's all smoke and mirrors. This is a guy who has a fat budget, and even fatter fact-finding crew, and the fattest of backers in ESPN.

We at the Sportfellas just want to show you, Joe Roundballfan, that anyone can do this. Easy as pie. I read on countless message boards and blogs about how "accurate" Lunardi is. Well, folks, it's quite simple. As of this writing, there are 53 locks in the NCAA tournament. What clown with a few minutes on his hands couldn't figure out who most of the other 12 are going to be.

In etimology, 'ology' is the study of something.  The suffix '-onomy' means the law.  So while you're still studying what Joe Lunardi is selling you, we're laying down the law of what's really happening with the NCAA Dance card.