Bracket Boss Update: Do Bickley & Marotta even watch college hoops?
Mar 26, 2018, 8:23 AM
This year’s NCAA Tournament field has been whittled from 68 to four.
Loyola of Chicago, Michigan, Villanova and Kansas will do battle next Saturday and Monday at the Alamodome in San Antonio to determine the 2018 NCAA champion.
Back here in Arizona, our 2018 Bracket Boss competition is winding down, and while there have been some good performances, there has also been a historically bad one.
The team of Bickley & Marotta will be the losers of this year’s competition. With a combined 94 points through the tournament’s first 64 games, the duo trails the fourth-place team of Burns & Gambo by 22 points.
Marotta got off to a good start on the tournament’s first day, hitting 14 of 16 contests, missing only on Arizona and St. Bonaventure. It’s been a disaster ever since. In fact, the midday host’s bracket is now complete as his Final Four of Xavier, Cincinnati, Purdue and Duke have all been eliminated from competition.
His partner hasn’t been much better. Bickley lost his pick to win it all — Arizona — on the tourney’s first Thursday. He’s got just one Final Four team left in Villanova.
It’s a foregone conclusion that Bickley & Marotta will have to perform the penalty dished up to the losers — having to complete a live musical performance of the song chosen by the other competitors.
On the other side of the spectrum, the duo of Luke Lapinski and Shane Doan are leading the proceedings with 135 points. Lapinski, a certified prognostication and Fantasy Football savant (OK, not really) has Michigan and Villanova meeting in next Monday’s tournament final — a possibility which is still very much alive. Doan nailed half of the Final Four with the Wolverines and Wildcats surviving to visit San Antonio, but he has them both losing in their Saturday semifinal matchups.
The individual leader in the standings is Mike Jurecki of The Blitz. Jurecki nailed three of the Final Four participants, missing only on Loyola. MJ, instead, had Virginia advancing. Jurecki’s overall rank in this year’s Bracket Boss competition is sixth out of over 1,600 players who completed a bracket.
When notified of the accuracy of his bracket thus far, Jurecki responded “wow.”
His partner, Bertrand Berry, has a total of 53 points.
1. The Rundown (Lapinski & Doan) – 135 points
2. The Blitz (Berry & Jurecki) – 130 points
3. Savages in the Morning (Doug & Wolf) – 117 points
4. PM Drivetime (Burns & Gambo) – 116 points
5. Messy Brackets in the Midday (Bickley & Marotta) – 94 points
Individual Standings (Final Four Teams Remaining)
1. Mike Jurecki – 77 points (3)
2. Luke Lapinski – 70 points (2)
3. Shane Doan – 65 points (2)
4. Erin Maloney – 64 points (2)
5. Ron Wolfley – 63 points (1)
6. Dave Burns – 59 points (1)
7. John Gambadoro – 57 points (1)
T8. Dan Bickley – 54 points (1)
T8. Doug Franz – 54 points (1)
10. Bertrand Berry – 53 points (1)
11. Vince Marotta – 40 points (0)
