Super 76 - Expansion That Makes Sense

There's been a lot of buzz about the possible expansion of the best tournament in the world. And with that, there's speculations and proposals on how the NCAA and big money networks will incorporate more teams into the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

Doubling the bracket from 64 slots to 128 is absurd (or is it 65 teams to 130?), but the other alternatives aren't much better, including an increase to 96 teams.

In this proposal, 32 teams get a bye while the remaining 64 teams play in an opening round that is cut in half before joining the Main Bracket. I know the the "Nifty 96" has a nice ring to it, but seriously, 96 teams?

My proposal incorporates the two best parts of March Madness, the bubble and the brackets. The working title right now is the "Other Sweet 16" and makes all the current bubble teams play their way into the main field. (I don't think the "Sour 16" will go over too well when it comes to marketing the expansion).

Everybody Loves the 5 - 12 Game

When you're filling out your bracket, how many times have you picked the 12th seed to knock off a #5 seed? One reason we love the match-up is because, over the last 6 seasons, the record is only a few games away from being a 50/50 split (See Table 1), with Arizona, Wisconsin and Western Kentucky pulling it off last year.

Historically the 12 seeds are legitimate competition because they're either the last at-large teams in the field or strong mid major conference winners. On the flip side, the 5 seeds aren't upper echelon teams, meaning the 5-12 gap isn't as large as the numbers suggest, giving us some of the most entertaining first round games.

My proposal uses this template, but instead of having the Indianapolis, suit wearing committee hand the 12 seeds to the last teams in the tournament, I want bubble teams to fight their way into the main bracket.

Bracketology 101

Die hard hoop fans are dialed into Joe Lunardi's Bracketology all season, but this is the week when the ESPN servers work overtime. Last Four In, First Four Out and Next Four Out are the lists where bubble teams focus their attention.

Lunardi's list from the start of play on 3/12 has the following:

Last Four In - San Diego St., Illinois, Washington, Ole Miss

First Four Out - Arizona St., Memphis, Rhode Island, Seton Hall

Next Four Out* - Dayton, Mississippi St., Minnesota, UAB

*3/12 only has three teams, but UAB had been on previous Next Four Out lists.

My plan is take take these 12 teams and add 4 more to create a mini tournament.

For the sake of argument I'm including Wichita St., William & Mary, South Florida and Charlotte to fill out my field.

The Other Sweet 16

Using real life Bracketology, here's how current expansion would look.

1 San Diego St. vs 16 Charlotte
8 Seton Hall vs 9 Dayton

1/16 winner vs 8/9 winner = East 12th seed

2 Illinois vs 15 USF
7 URI vs 10 Miss. St.

2/15 winner vs 7/10 winner = South 12th seed

3 Washington. vs 14 William & Mary
6 Memphis vs. 11 Minnesota

3/14 winner vs 7/10 winner = Midwest 12th seed

4 Ole Miss vs 13 Wichita St.
5 ASU vs 12 UAB

4/13 winner vs 5/12 winner = West 12th seed

Net Impact - 12 More Teams

While the mini bracket may look convoluted, the process is relatively simple and only adds 12 teams to the field, while creating an exciting way for bubble teams to earn their keep.

Step 1

Set the Main Bracket with 60 teams (31 Automatic Qualifiers, 29 At-Large Bids), leaving the four #12 seeds vacant.

Since more teams will eventually be added to the extended field, the stupid Play-In game or, as the NCAA likes to call it, the Opening Round Game can be eliminated. If this is done, only 11 teams need to be added.

Step 2

Create four mini pods (4 teams each), playing two rounds to produce 4 teams that will become the 12 seeds.

Step 3

The remaining 64 teams play out the traditional bracket.

Housekeeping

The naysayers may doubt the simplicity of keeping the 12 seeds vacant without upsetting the natural balance and integrity of the present bracket structure.

Using current Bracketology (before 3/12 play), the 12 seeds are:

San Diego St. (Last Four In), Illinois (Last Four In), Siena (MAAC Champ) & Florida

San Diego St. & Illinois are removed from the Main Field and placed in the "Other Sweet 16," while Siena & Florida become lower seeds.

Why? Because Washington (13 seed) & Ole Miss (14 seed) are also removed from the Main Field as the other two teams currently on the Last Four In list. Their removal creates two holes that are easily filled by Siena & Florida.

The Mission

My proposal accomplishes a couple of things.

1. Limits expansion and forces bubble teams to play their way into the Main Bracket.

It maintains the integrity of the regular season and instead of comparing paper resumes, it allows bubble teams to settle things on the court.

2. Keeps Automatic Bids in the Main Bracket.

I think it's important that auto qualifiers should be rewarded for their success and not have to play any extra games (like the current Opening Round game). In a proposed expansion, with 32 teams getting byes, a slew of conference winner will be demoted into playing an extra round.

3. It mimics what we already see in the ESPN BracketBuster games.

Every year the world wide leader pits potential bubble teams and quality mid major programs against each other so they can build, or hurt their tournament chances. Instead of only cannibalizing each other in February, these tournament caliber teams get the chance to show their worth in March, in real, meaningful games.

Scheduling Conflicts

Any expansion will require the NCAA to adjust the beauty of today's current March Madness schedule, so until a proposal is finalized we'll leave those headaches for another day. But here are some general thoughts.

This proposal extends NCAA tournament action by only one weekend (two rounds). Two sites, using day/night double headers, like we currently see in the first round pod setups, can easily be created. Imagine the excitement of an extra weekend of meaningful games at Madison Square Garden.

What about the Main Bracket having to wait to start play?

Right now the NCAA and ESPN don't have a problem with having teams sit around before playing a tournament game. Just ask East Tenn St. (Atlantic Sun), Murray State (Ohio Valley) & Winthrop (Big South), which all punched their tickets as automatic qualifiers March 6th, nearly two full weeks before their first round NCAA Tournament games.

An expanded tournament, in any form, won't be any different than what these teams currently experience.

Not to mention Main Bracket games could be staggered so that you have a bevy of games spread out over this extra weekend to keep teams and fans interested while the Other Sweet 16 plays down to determine the four #12 seeds. In any expansion, the tournament will eventually sync up when 64 teams remain.

Super 76

The elimination of the Opening Round Game, the extraction of four bubble teams from the Main Bracket and the addition of 11 more teams = a tournament of 76 worthy qualifiers.

It's understandable that coaches and administrators want to see more teams make the NCAA field, especially as more and more Division 1 teams are added. Nobody wants to see the tournament become a joke or have the regular season become meaningless.

So I say, this is expansion worth talking about.


Table 1 - 12th Seed Stats
Year - 1st Round Record

’09 (3-1)
’08 (2-2)
’07 (0-4)
’06 (2-2)
’05 (1-3)
’04 (2-2)
___________
Record: 10-14

BWO Championship Interview

Jeff Madsen (Las Vegas, NV)
Borgata Winter Open Champion - $625,006

Full Blog can be found here

Day 1B Video Montage

Event Championship Clips:

Lee Childs, Cathy Dever, Jesse Yaginuma,
Alex Lindh, Michael Binger, George Medrano,
Jason Mercier, Tab, Mike Leah, Dave Fox &
Andrew.

Day 1A Video Montage

Championship Event Featured Players:

Olivier Busquet, MikeDentale, Billy Gazes,
Johanssy Joseph & chip leader Al Grimes.

Not Just An Avatar

Event #16, Heads-Up ($2000 +$150)
NL, Double Elimination

On-Line Olivier, Live and in Person

On-line high-stakes heads up sit and go specialist, Olivier Busquet is still alive in the losers bracket after winning three Friday matches. After losing to September heads up champion Jesse Yaginuma in the third round of the winner's bracket, Busquet's won four in a row and is now playing Jason Lufkin in the money round, as all 6 remaining players will cash.

"It's a really different experience," says Busquet, who won Borgata's Championship Event at September's Poker Open. "I've played a million hands on-line, but maybe only 10-thousand in live action. I'm learning to trust my reads a lot more."

Busquet, who has more than one million dollars in career earnings, and countless more on-line, says that it's been a tough field of 64 at Borgata and is slightly disappointed he didn't get to play Olympic Swimming Gold Medalist Michael Phelps in the last round.

"It would've been cool," he says. "I know he plays a lot of poker and would've been a tough match. The fact that he's an expert, I would've liked to have seen how the competition transferred to poker. Because really, that's what this is competition."

Phelps lost to Basilios Diakokomninos in the double elimination format, who then lost to Busquet in the 7th round of the losers bracket.

Busquet's guaranteed to earn at least $6,208 for a 5th/6th place finish, as nearly $50,000 is up for grabs to the heads up champion. "This format is great," he says, "the fact that you're only playing a person one time, really lessens whatever edge I may have and forces me to focus and step up my game."

Lufkin vs Busquet
Losers Bracket Quarterfinal

Sean's Ski School

Video montage of my nephew Sean's debut on the slopes!

Stick A Cork In It!

Savoring a First Round Win

What's the deal with baseball celebrations? The 2009 postseason versions started with the Dodgers sweep over St. Louis, followed by the Angles, Yankees and Phillies, as all four teams basked in the bubbly after first round wins.

Don't get me a wrong I'm all for celebrating, but cracking open the Cristal for advancing? In a best of 5, no less. Give me a break!

Here's a look at teams recently moving on in the playoffs:

Remember the Penguins popping Dom Perignon corks in Philadelphia after beating the Flyers in the first round? What about the Orlando Magic savoring Asti Spumanti when they ousted Boston in the second round? And who can forget the Eagles spraying Moet & Chandon all over the Meadowlands locker rooms on their way to the NFC title game?

Of course none of those playoff parties happened because it would be ridiculous if they did.

Memo to Major League baseball: A first round win doesn't warrant a championship celebration. It makes the league, the teams and the players look ridiculous.

Here are the official Gorilla Guidelines on appropriate champagne (and/or Brett Myers Budwieser) celebrations.

* Playoff Clinching Wins (It's a long regular season, congratulations!)

* World Series Championships

That's it!

The primate committee considered allowing teams to hang plastic in the clubhouse following League Championship Series clinchers, but that's just as tacky as the 2009 N.L. East Division t-shirts I see in suburban Philadelphia.

Unfortuately these guidelines are too late for this year's playoffs, but hopefully someone will get the word out for next season.

Wild Weekend Spin

Championship Event

Sikyala Watches the Ups and Downs of Muhammad

It's a Hollywood script and a miracle in the making, but unfortunately for Hakima Muhammad, there's no fairy tale ending. It's a story of early success spiraling into the abyss, divine intervention resurrecting the dream, only to have fate deal a cruel conclusion to a whirlwind weekend.

It starts Thursday night when Muhammad picked up $2,800 in a Second Chance tournament, more than three quarters of the $3,500 she needs to play in the Championship Event. "I wanted a story where you could use my nickname," Kima "Slice" says, a play on the name of mixed marital arts phenom Kimbo Slice.

But instead of sitting tight and ponying up the balance, Muhammad trys to win the rest.

A $550 Survivor Tournament entry gone here, a $230 Second Chance bust there, and a first-hand elimination of a 1 in 5, $750 automatic qualifier, and the well is dry. "I lost it all," Muhammad laments, "I played in at least four other events and couldn't get it done. Late last night (Saturday) I was hoping for a $350 sit and go, but we couldn't get 10 players."

Poor planning and weekend banking hours make it tough for Muhammad to withdraw the entry fee and she's resigned to missing the Championship Event.

But that's when fate takes over.

Muhammad and her "poker companion" Muk Sikyala, both of the Baltimore/Bowie, MD area, misplace the car keys creating a revelation. "I told her, 'we're still here and roulette's the only answer,' " says Sikyala, "one lucky spin and you're in."

So Muhammad sat by the red and black wheel and waited, and waited, and waited. Thirty minutes passed and she got the feeling. "It just came to me, a message from above, the number 10."

She took a single, $100 chip, and placed it in the first row, the black square, four away from the green single zero. The number 10. After the floor confirms the large bet, the ball hovers over the twirling colorful pie shaped slots and then it happened.

"I couldn't see it," says Muhammad, as the white ball danced around the circular grid, "I was at the other end of the table, but I saw the dealer's face," she said, as the sphere settles on the number 10. There's a roar from the players and bystanders who are celebrating the win, Muhammad's dream is alive again.

A less than 3 percent chance hits, 35 to 1 odds come true, and the dealer stacks 35 black, $100 chips. A big win and the exact total for Muhammad's entry into the Championship Event.

After flipping her initial bet to the dealer as a tip, Muhammad hustles to the Event Center and calls Sikyala while on-line to register. "I couldn't believe it, I simply couldn't believe it," he said after leaving the poker room to join the party at the opposite end of the casino.

Muhammad is at the table just twenty minutes before the field is closed, with Sikyala hanging over the rail. He's just over Muhammad's shoulder while she plays at Table 3 - Seat 10.

Then disaster.

Just back from the first break, it's pocket kings against pocket aces. All the money's in the middle and aces hold. Unfortunately for Muhammad, her kings are crowned and she's out the door.

"I can't believe it," she says, "after all that, for it to end this way."

Up and down, in and out, highs and lows. A wild weekend spin for one player in the world of Borgata poker.

Last Woman Standing

1st Woman, Nicole Rowe - $11,889

Nicole Rowe (New Windsor, NY) outlasted 267 other ladies to be the last woman standing in the Ladies Event, unfortunately a man kept her from winning the tournament.

Abraham Korotki (Ventnor City, NJ) in a controversial move, entered the field and won the title. For Rowe, not winning the event is disappointing, but not devastating. "It doesn't matter," says Rowe, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. "It was 16 hours of being cancer free, a diversion from my reality."

Rowe will have a double mastectomy in the next two weeks and used the tournament to, not only escape the emotional drain, but to help inform the women. "I told everyone at all my tables, 'if your under 50, make sure you get a sonogram along with your mammogram, or else your mammogram is useless.'"

"It's a shame she didn't win," says 5th place finisher Jena Ross, "but our thoughts and prayers are with Nicole."

Rowe says she'll donate $500 to breast cancer research and will need the rest of her winnings to help cover expenses for the 6 weeks she'll be off from work.

Korotki says he'll also donate part off his $20,982 winnings to the cause. "That's very nice of him," says Rowe, when told the news. "Even just to think of that is very nice."

"We know who the real winner is," adds Ross. "She (Nicole) was the last woman standing."

Originally posted on Borgata Poker Site (where you can find comments)

Ladies "Champion"

1st, Abraham Korotki - $20,982

They only play a few hands heads-up, when Abraham Korotki eliminates the last remaining woman, Nicole Rowe to win the Ladies Championship.

Rowe bets 200k preflop, Korotki raises to 600k. Rowe shoves all-in, which Korotki calls. Rowe tables (A 9) vs. Korotski's (10 10). The board is no help to Rowe and she's eliminated in second place.

"I wanted to win the title," says Rowe who earns $11,889 for second place. "I came in second already," referring to her finish in the Ladies event at the 2007 Borgata Winter Open. "I can't believe I lost a ladies event to a guy."

This finale was the last thing the ladies in the field wanted to see, but Korotki was respectful after 16 hours of play.

"It's always nice to win a tournament," says Korotki, who takes home $20,982. "The ladies played very well and it's always nice for the weaker sex to have a victory."

Korotki says he's going to split his winning's between three, yet determined charities. The causes will focus on breast cancer research, children and animals.

Originally posted on Borgata Poker Site (where you can find comments)