You have a better chance of getting eaten by a shark or being hit by lightning lol.

It all starts in Dayton, Ohio on March 14th and wraps up on April 3rd.

Gonzaga comes into the NCAA tournament with a 32-1 record after winning the WCC title for the fifth year in a row on Tuesday but will be in tough against some seriously good teams nationwide. Go Zag's ...

 

Now if you only had the team picking skills and worked for Warren Buffet this could be a life changing moment..
Any Berkshire Hathaway employee that can pick the Sweet 16 correctly will win $1 million a year for life.

His money is likely safe.

 

My guess is that Buffett (yes 2 T's lol) would like to see someone take some of his money, he can't give it away fast enough lol. Less than ONE days interest on his holdings would pay that bet without his bank account even taking a hit ...

 

after taxes a million a year is only 600 thousand a year.....

 

Isn't that sad ... still not a bad payday if you are lucky enough to get it. The last time I paid a 40% tax rate was ... I can't even remember if I ever paid 40%. But then again I spent 15 years in court trying to explain to a judge why I didn't think I had to lol.

 

NCAA looks to overhaul March Madness selection, seeding process
January 18, 2017

The NCAA basketball tournament’s team selection and seeding process appears to be bouncing toward a change.

And the system, which now relies heavily on an often-criticized team-rating system called the RPI—Rating Percentage Index—could be changed as early as next season, NCAA officials said.

NCAA officials on Friday are meeting at the group's Indianapolis headquarters with some of the brightest minds in the world of college sports analytics to discuss potential changes to the often controversial selection process.

Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s senior vice president of basketball, and Jim Schaus, Ohio University’s athletic director and a member of the NCAA tournament selection committee, will meet with Bloomington resident and statistics guru Jeff Sagarin, Kevin Pauga (KPI), Ken Pomeroy (KenPom.com) and Ben Alamar (ESPN's BPI) to discuss the selection process and consider a new rating system.

If the NCAA and the assembled group of number crunchers can boil the various methods down into one usable system, it would be the first time advanced metrics were used as an official part of the NCAA tournament selection and seeding process.

Gavitt told IBJ on Tuesday that the NCAA is seeking a selection process more “rooted in fact and in data.” NCAA officials think if they can pull that off, they’ll spend less time defending their tournament selections after they’re announced.

Sagarin, who graduated with a degree in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is known for his development of a method for ranking and rating teams in a variety of sports, isn’t sure what to expect on Friday.

“At this point, I don’t know any more than you do,” Sagarin told IBJ on Tuesday.

Asked if he thinks the NCAA’s selection process for March Madness needs changing, Sagarin said: “After all the controversy with the BCS [college football’s Bowl Championship Series], I’ve learned to keep a low profile.”

“They asked me to come to the meeting, and I agreed to do that,” Sagarin said. “I’m happy to help if I can.”

The RPI, which evaluates teams according to win-loss record and strength of schedule, has been criticized as outdated in recent years. Worse yet, according to college sports aficionados, the RPI isn’t the sole measuring stick used in the selection process—with many selection committee members using what is commonly referred to as the “eye test,” i.e., watching a team play to see if it appears tournament-worthy.

Gavitt thinks Friday’s confab will be “absolutely fascinating.”

“I can’t imagine they’ve ever been together very much, if ever,” he said of the group being assembled. “There’ll be a lot of brain power in the room.”

He called the group “a good mixture of folks who value different things.”

The meeting was called at the urging of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, whose members said they would like a new selection and seeding process that uses more advanced mathematical calculations and statistical evaluations.

Embracing new ways of using analytics and technology in the tournament selection process is one important way of keeping college basketball relevant to today’s sports fans—especially young ones, Gavitt said.

 

Hard to hide or even loophole 1 million a year ordinary income.....

In the 60's you would have only had 380 thousand after taxes from 1 million....

In my 20's & 30's I faced a
38% fed tax
12% SS tax
17% state tax

for a 57% total tax....(single no dependents)

I beat it by forming corporations and expencing most of my life out of them
and then paying myself with dividends and capital gains from the sale of those same corporation stock.....
I ended up paying around 21% total with a lot sheltered by real estate partnerships..
Later in life I beat them using a charitable trust for my retirement fund.

But I was also always being harassed by the IRS year after year....never ending...

 

As Obama posted his bracket?
Maybe he'll do better at that then he was president.

 

TCU just beat Kansas in their conference tourney, March Madness has begun!

 

Desmond Bane drifted to the corner, accepted a pass from Alex Robinson, and launched a possible game-winning three with just under three seconds left. The shot never reached its target.
The 6-foot-5 freshman from Richmond, Ind., was fouled by KU’s Svi Mykhailiuk and calmly drilled three free throws with 2.5 seconds left to give the Horned Frogs an 85-82 win over the No. 1-ranked Jayhawks.

That is in the Big 12 tournament, a prelude to the real thing next week and there are tournaments going on all over the country right now in different conferences that will help as tuneups for some teams in the March Madness NCAA tourney.

 

The final four and championship game are in Phoenix this year for those in that area or close enough to go see some seriously good Bball.

 

But only you could afford the ticket price....

 

True enough. I have a press pass that gets me into most events since I contract for AP. Basketball isn't my thing or I would have submitted as part of the coverage for one of the Canadian outlets.

I'm tempted to go just to see Aerosmith, The Chainsmokers and Macklemore at the music festival that rings in the championships.

 

Michigan basketball team plane slides off runway; all safe

Everyone is safe after a plane carrying the University of Michigan men's basketball team crashed while trying to take off from Willow Run Airport on Wednesday afternoon.
View attachment

The plane was trying to take off to deliver the team to the Big Ten tournament in Washington, D.C., but high winds caused problems, causing the takeoff to be aborted, U-M spokesman Tom Wywrot said in a brief e-mail to reporters.

There is another plane for the bone yard ...

 

The moment some have been waiting for is almost here -- Selection Sunday is just a day away. But there’s still plenty to be determined on Saturday, with 14 conference championship games on tap.

The following conferences will all name their champion on Saturday:

• America East
• MEAC
• Big East
• Mountain West
• Big 12
• SWAC
• MAC
• Big Sky
• Conference USA
• ACC
• Southland
• WAC
• Pac-12
• Big West

I will be making daily updates with scores and highlights so there is enough time for others to start wannabe threads so the trolls don't have to post in mine LOL.

Giddy up trolls you know you want to lol.

 

The picks are only a couple hours away but we already do know the automatic berths.

Arizona, Bucknell, Duke, East Tennessee State, Florida Gulf Coast, Gonzaga, Iona, Iowa State, Jacksonville State, Kent State, Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, Mount St. Mary’s, Nevada, New Mexico State, New Orleans, North Carolina Central, North Dakota, Northern Kentucky, U.N.C. Wilmington, Princeton, Rhode Island, South Dakota State, Texas Southern, U.C. Davis, Vermont, Villanova, Wichita State, Winthrop.

 

Like the asshat that he is Donald Trump has declined to participate in this whole brackets challenge with ESPN and breaks the WH tradition of being a team player lol. At least Obama took part and actually cared enough to have some fun.

Fucking republicans ...

 

No surprise here as Villanova takes the number one seed overall.

A complete list of the remaining picks coming right up.

The Kansas Jayhawks take the second number one seed.

 

Duke Moves Up, but Not All the Way
As Duke knifed through the tough A.C.C. tournament, eventually winning it, their star rose with pundits and fans. Talked of as a 5-seed at one point, they moved up to a 4, a 3, a 2 ... by Sunday plenty of prognosticators saw them as a No. 1.

In the end, they were slotted in as a No. 2. And not the best No. 2 seed either, as the No. 1 in their region, the East, is Villanova, who are the top-seeded team in the whole tournament and the early favorite to win it. The East also brought relief to bubble teams U.S.C and Providence (11 seeds) and Marquette, 10th seeded. The region seems like a strong bracket: S.M.U. at No. 6, and Wisconsin at No. 8 look very strong for their seeds.

 

North Carolina takes the third number one seed.

Here is what we know so far ...

FIRST FOUR (Games Tuesday and Wednesday in Dayton)

Mt. St. Mary's (19-15) vs. New Orleans (20-11)

Providence (20-12) vs. USC (24-9)

NC Central (25-8) vs. UC Davis (22-12)

EAST REGION

1 Villanova (31-3) vs. 16 (winner of Mt. St. Mary's vs. New Orleans) | Thursday, March 16 (Buffalo)

8 Wisconsin (25-9) vs. 9 Virginia Tech (22-10) | Thursday, March 16 (Buffalo)

5 Virginia (22-10) vs. 12 UNC Wilmington (29-5) | Thursday, March 16 (Orlando)

4 Florida (24-8) vs. 13 East Tennessee State (27-7) | Thursday, March 16 (Orlando)

6 SMU (29-4) vs. 11 (winner of Providence vs. USC) | Friday, March 17 (Tulsa)

3 Baylor (25-7) vs. 14 New Mexico State (28-5) | Friday, March 17 (Tulsa)

7 South Carolina (22-10) vs. 10 Marquette (19-12) | Friday, March 17 (Greenville, SC)

2 Duke (27-8) vs. 15 Troy (22-14) | Friday, March 17 (Greenville, SC)

MIDWEST REGION

1 Kansas (28-4) vs. 16 (NC Central or UC Davis) | Friday, March 17 (Tulsa)

8 Miami FL (21-11) vs. 9 Michigan State (19-14) | Friday, March 17 (Tulsa)

5 Iowa State (23-10) vs. 12 Nevada (28-6) | Thursday, March 16 (Milwaukee)

4 Purdue (25-7) vs. 13 Vermont (29-5) | Thursday, March 16 (Milwaukee)

6 Creighton (25-9) vs. 11 Rhode Island (24-9) | Friday, March 17 (Sacramento)

3 Oregon (29-5) vs. 14 Iona (22-12) | Friday, March 17 (Sacramento)

7 Michigan (24-11) vs. 10 Oklahoma State (20-12) | Friday, March 17 (Indianapolis)

2 Louisville (24-8) vs. 15 Jacksonville State (20-14) | Friday, March 17 (Indianapolis)