Elite Eight Report: Adios Amigos

It's becoming an annual March tradition. The annual waving good-bye to the Three Amigos. Wait for it..wait for it....here it comes.....

¡Adios Amigos!

Amherst (AP) - The Elders romped out to the lead in a three horse race overtaking the Catholic Boyz keyed by upset victories by VCU (the last team in!) and Kentucky! Elevated to 11 wins and taking two teams into the Final Four made it a magical Elite Eight weekend for the old guys. A major matchup in Saturday night's JV game between Butler and VCU may decide this year's Calcutta.

The Catholic Boyz hung on to a tremendous Butler victory on Saturday night to keep them sitting alone in second place and with an opportunity to grab a share of the Calcutta lead with a victory Saturday and a Kentucky loss against UConn. They parlayed their hot opening round wins and have hung around with #8 seed Butler, America's darlings.

The Bunch of Chieftans assured that they would hit the board with a solid UConn showing against Arizona. They can create a three way tie for the whole enchilada with a sweep in the Final Four and a Butler win on Saturday. Wouldn't that be something?

The Tres Amigos were looking pretty good on Friday night with Arizona and UNC advancing to Regional Final games on the weekend. Unfortunately both teams took first half siestas and didn't have the legs to complete a run to the final four. They complete the superfecta in fourth, but alas out of the money again. Thanks for coming. Look on the bright side, Roy Williams still has four timeouts left....

The Win-Docs came in like a lion and went out like a lamb this March as top seeds Duke and Kansas bit the dust. Looks like Artie won't be scheduling any meetings in Rochester next year.

The Counselors couldn't hack the morning line favorite noose I laid on them and watched in horror as better seed after better seed was upset. The last being Florida who took a terrible shot at the end.

As projected, the bottom of the Calcutta was the Tax Men (7th) and The Commish (8th/last/basement dweller).

Down Goes Duke!! Down Goes Duke!!

What a disappointment. The Win-Docs took one on the chin and it looks like the back-to-back title hopes took a turn for the worse after the AZ Wildcats took it to them on Thursday night.


UConn looked extremely strong taking down pretender San Diego State and the Bunch looks poised to take down the Calcutta for a record fifth time.


The Catholic Boyz held serve with the upstart Butler Bulldogs who held off the late-rallying Badgers of Wisconsin (see picture below).


The Tax Men and Statesmen have two critical games tonight and can move up the leaderboard significantly with a couple W's.


The Amigos vaulted into the hunt with the AZ upset win and have North Carolina in a favored game against Marquette tonight.


The Counselors remain alive with Florida, the top remaining seed in the Southeast, who are playing exceptional ball and could carry them to 3 more wins to hit the board.


The road to the Yellow Jacket still goes through Houston, it's anybody's contest.


Photo Courtesy: The Bunch of Chieftans

Calcutta Tightens Up Heading Into Sweet Sixteen

Cleveland (UPI) -The Calcutta just got very interesting. The Catholic Boyz have started to leak major oil and Freddy's worst nightmare occurred in Cle-Town, where the Orange went down hard in a final minute Chernobyl-like meltdown.

The Catholic Boyz (8) are clinging to a one-win lead heading into the Sweet Sixteen as they carry in #2 seed San Diego State and underdog Butler. Two MAJOR head-to-heads loom on the horizon with the second-place Bunch.

The Bunch of Chieftans (7) couldn't have drawn it up better. Head to heads with UConn-SD State and Wisconsin-Butler now both appear to be winnable games. Not to mention that Marquette is playing as well as anyone and they could set back the Amigos with a win there. This team is very dangerous entering the Sweet 16.

The Elder Statesmen (7) probably would have taken a split of their games yesterday if you asked them in the morning, but when Texas called timeout with the ball and a 2 point lead with 12 seconds left, it left everyone scratching their head. VCU wins and will take on a #10 seed in the next round, so they've gone a long way to keeping the Elders in the hunt. Tied with the Bunch, a key matchup with the Tax Men's top seed Ohio State will be one of the deciding positioning contests next week for their highest remaining seed, Kentucky.

The Three Amigos (6) snatched victory from the jaws of defeat when Arizona pulled off it's last minute heroics over Texas. North Carolina took care of business, so the Amigos head into the 16 with two teams left and two points out. They're still alive and kicking, but tough games ahead.

The defending co-champs, the Win-Doctors (6), have their two remaining top seeds left and 7 possible points remain (if you're counting at home. i.e. Art on his fingers). Both top seeds look strong and Kansas' region is completely upside down. A Duke-Kansas final won't make anyone in the Calcutta very happy.

The Tax Men (5) had a feeling they would be left with 2 teams at this juncture, they just didn't figure the Spiders (the Commish predicted this would be the Men's sleeper) would be one of them. May have to change team name to One and a Half Men. Both remaining teams have tough games, top seed Ohio State faces a very good Kentucky team and the Spiders will try and knock off #1 Kansas.

The morning line favorites had a major collapse over the weekend and have only the Florida Gators to show for it. Steaming out of the gate with four wins on Thursday and grabbing Calcutta blog headlines, the Counselors (5) mid-level seed strategy went up in flames. Can't wait to hear Baki's take on the drafting only two years since last donning the coveted yellow bracket.

The Commish & Crew (4) survived the Sweet Sixteen with a bittersweet win by #10 seed Florida State, who next plays an #11 seed and could sneak out another victory before the Commish's eventual demise. Another year, another donation. This is starting to get old. The morning line odds of 15-1 look right on the money about now. Thanks a lot, Shittsburgh.

Mini-Post: As The Calcutta Turns

This is starting to become an annual post. Good bye Pitt, thanks for coming. Big East taking some tourney lumps...UConn, Notre Dame, Syracuse and Marquette remain - with one to fall today.

Death blows to the Counselors and Commish.

Catholic Boyz hold serve...

Elders lurk.

Bunch of Chieftans quietly garner wins.

Tax Men in striking distance.

I predict the Win-Docs go 2-2 today.

Isn't it stupid that they are calling this the "third round??"

Gus Johnson is awesome, let's hope he calls a couple tight ones today.

Sweet Sixteen is halfway complete.

Defending Champs Storm Back, Kids From Harvard Are Smaht

West Amherst (AP) - The defending co-champions, the Win-Doctors, stormed back after taking the goose egg on Thursday to four out of five on Friday. Buoyed by blowout wins by all four teams (Duke, Michigan, Kansas and Illinois) the Win-Docs showed their mettle in Calcutta play.


I mentioned to a few of you the other day that some Harvard kid came up with an algorithmic pattern to predict upsets. He hit on his top 3 upsets based on his model with Marquette, VCU and Richmond. Quite amazing. He also had Morehead State with a 11%+ chance to upset Louisville (only 5% of the country went with Morehead in the 5.9 million ESPN brackets). Moral of the story: Kids from Hahvad are wicked smaht.


The Catholic Boyz fell one win short of the first round record, amassing six victories, only the upset loss by Georgetown (Virginia Commonwealth is a fine university) kept them from etching themselves into Calcutta lore. Round 2 is where the rubber hits the road and five teams are stalking the hot early pace set by the Boyz and are within striking distance.


The Counselors looked a little hung over from celebrating their St. Patty's Day victories and posted a goose egg on Friday, hurt badly by the upset loss by Xavier in Cleveland and a tough 2-point loss by Memphis against Arizona. Big games loom today for all four remaining teams for the attorneys at large.


The Bunch of Chieftans were propelled by the upset win by Marquette (who looks scary good going into the Syracuse game) bolstered the Bunch's chances to have a chance at the repeat. Notre Dame held serve against the MAC's representative, Akron to help the Bunch achieve the four win mark and stay in the hunt.


They always seem to hang around, and this year is no different. The Elder Statesman grabbed a nice upset win from VCU, disparaged by pundits for making the field, and obviously channeling it as locker room wall fodder incentive. Texas looked a little shaky holding off a pesky Oakland squad but got it done for the Elders.


The Amigos, trying to reverse Calcutta fortune and avoid the early dismissal (the fat lady isn't even humming yet) posted two solid wins on Friday with #2 seed UNC and #5 seed Arizona taking care of business. Their two lower seeds take the court today and will need an upset of one of the two to continue down the road.


Perennial doormats, the Commish took a couple tough ones on the chin early with Tennessee getting pummeled and Oakland losing a tough contest with Texas, but the ole' Commish stormed back with a #7 seed Washington late-night victory and a surprising #10 seed win by Florida State to barely remain alive. Top seed Pitt goes today and is the Commish's best shot at sticking around to get a little blog print.


The Tax Men, projected longshot along with the Commish, find themselves sitting right where we thought they'd be. But #12 seed Richmond takes on #13 Morehead State in a completely winnable game and the Tax Men could come out of the weekend with six wins. As they say in Monty Python's Holy Grail: "we're not dead yet."


Round 2 recap on Sunday night....enjoy!

Boom Goes the Dynamite!

Amherst NY (Reuters) - You couldn't ask for a better first round of games, four straight games with buzzer beaters, a couple major upsets and the Calcutta off to a rousing and potential record-breaking start. The standings have been updated and can be found in the upper right side-bar.

CATHOLIC BOYZ, COUNSELORS ROAR OUT TO 4 WINS ON OPENING THURSDAY

The Catholic Boyz with three winnable games today (Syracuse, Georgetown and George Mason) could tie the record set by the Bunch in 2002 of seven (7) first round victories. Propelled by Morehead State's improbable upset of Louisville - he went all Jimmy Chitwood on them. Cries of "We Want Morehead" verberated all through Kentucky as the cross-state rival did in the Big East Cardinals (Sorry Amigos). To top it off, the Zags put a beat down on the Johnnies and the Boyz are sitting in the catbird seat.

The morning line favorites did nothing but support the Commish's early thoughts of how it would go down. The Counselors enjoyed solid victories by Big East teams West Virginia and Cincinnati and impressive wins by Florida and K-State locked up a tie for the top spot going into day two. If the barristers can sneak two wins out today, it may be enough to separate from the pack.

The Bunch, Statesmen and Amigos all batted .500 on the day going 2-2 in their four matchups. The Three Amigos took the biggest blow of the day with the Louisville loss and survived a Temple buzzer beater to keep their hopes alive. The Bunch of Chieftans used strong victories by UConn and Wisconsin to maintain its stalking pace with a couple good teams going for them today (Notre Dame, Marquette & UNLV). Should they pick up a couple of wins today, they'll be squarely in the hunt. The Statesmen survived a Kentucky scare and the Jimmer put on a show proving they earned their #3 seed.

The Commish only could muster a win by top seeded Pitt going 1-2 on the day and it didn't look good for the captain as the Johnnies proved that they struggle on the road. Clemson was game early but the Counselors' Mounties took control with a 9-0 run before the half to tie it up and break away in the second half. The longshot Tax Men went 1-3 on the day, picking up an upset win by Richmond. It looks worse than it really is for the Tax Men as they get their big dogs rolling today.

The only goose egg of the day was served up by the Win-Docs who went 0 for 3 (Thursday), but return its two top seeds in action today.

Enjoy the Friday games!

And They're Off....

Amherst NY (UPI) - And they're off! The 2011 Calcutta draft night had some highs and lows, but all in all everyone's slate has been wiped clean at 0-0.

Last year's champions were celebrated and the coveted yellow jacket made a brief appearance, but Dr. Mark skated off before he could be photographed in it. The Bunch and Win-Doctors should be proud of their respective 2010 record-setting efforts of 15 victories.

This being the 13th year of Calcutta gambling, we continue to have a good time, laugh and stay together as a band of 8 teams. We had some notable folks missing from this year's activities, but every team was represented.

As always several teams went for the home run teams, some conserved cash, and some went with the mid-level seeds to stockpile wins in the first two rounds. The average winning margin over the past 12 years is 12.33, last year being the aberration.

So here we go with the morning line odds, Commish-commentary and ASR (Average Seed Ratings) for each of the 8 teams:

1 - The Counselors (3-1) conserved cash in the escrow account all evening and were made morning line favorites by Vegas with a very low ASR of 7.0. Looking to go for middle level victories and hoping to win two games with four seeds (two 5s and two 6s) in the first two rounds and hoping 2 seed Florida comes to play. I really like Kansas State as a 5 seed and Vanderbilt and Cincinnati could sneak out those second wins. Sleeper pick: Xavier.

2 - The Elder Statesmen (7-2) went back to basics and the middle of the road picks. With no seed higher than 3, but none higher than 11, they chalked up a 7.38 ASR and need some solid work by their two 4 seeds, SEC tourney champ Kentucky and Big 12 power Texas (struggling as of late). After shunning the Notre Dame temptation and getting that mid-draft bathroom break made all the difference. Sleeper pick: Missouri.

3 - Win-Doctors (4-1) were ranked high even though their ASR (9.75) was down near the bottom. Anyone notice how quiet it was tonight? Hmm. Smitty was half asleep all night, well at least after they shot their load early with big guns Kansas (44) and Duke (39). Not much else left to work with and hoping the Big 10 mid-seeds Michigan and Illinois can pick up a win. Need an upset somewhere to win it, but with two #1s the defending co-champs should be in the mix late. Sleeper: Princeton (maybe).

4 - The Catholic Boyz (9-2, 8.13 ASR) had another solid middle of the road, no-nonsense draft. Will need solid efforts out of Syracuse, Georgetown and a win out of both of their 8 seeds, they could be there late with a game San Diego State squad leading the way. The Boyz rarely make mistakes on draft night and tonight was no different. Sleeper pick: George Mason.

6 (tie) - The Bunch (5-1, 7.75 ASR) was probably the most animated team all evening. After riding Butler's coattails to the final game last year, they didn't disappoint on draft night. It's anybody's Calcutta and the Bunch went Big East with UConn, Notre Dame and Marquette. Their Southeast Big 10 squads can each win a couple games, never count Tom Izzo out in March. Sleeper: UNLV.

6 (tie) - The Three Amigos (5-1) had a couple steal of the night type picks with North Carolina (23) and Louisville (23). Has a team in each bracket (other than the Southeast - not a fan of UCLA) that can do some damage. The Amigos have been quiet for a few years, could be the year they get the band back together. ASR: 8.38. Sleeper: Utah State.

7 - The Commish & Assoc. (15-1) look to be one of the two remaining long shots on the board. Lack of focus, alcohol, studying all are key excuses to be used in the coming weeks. Needs solid efforts out of the Southeast in Pitt and St. Johns and mid level seeds Tennessee and Washington. Without an upset in round one, the Commish is cooked. ASR: Dismal 9.75. Sleeper: Oakland.

8 - The Tax Men (20-1) turned things over to a rookie draft night manager who went on an early Venus Williams-like shopping spree. Spending big dough (45) on Ohio State and Purdue (28) there was little in the tank for the Tax Men for the remainder of the evening (ASR - 10.5!!). Need upsets by Richmond and Villanova to have a shot at the board. Sleeper: Richmond.

The teams are listed in the link on the right sidebar "Results to Date" where we'll keep running totals throughout the Calcutta. That's your morning line, we'll have some results up late Thursday and Friday nights...good luck everyone! Commish

Gus Central

Just a reminder that the 2011 Calcutta will get underway at 5:30pm in the CTB&K Main Conference Room tomorrow (Tuesday evening).

The 4 play-in games will not count towards the totals (similar to prior year's with the one play-in game), you will be bidding on the winner of the play-in games and the slot in the bracket that each play-in game winner falls into.

Buy-in: 250 clams

Rules/Team Sheets: Updated and on the side-bar

The Bracket: Printable bracket on the side-bar

Refreshments: Snacks, pizza from Wegmans, adult beverages (any preferences you know where to find me)

Just to get you in the mood....here's a little KA-BOOM from Gus Johnson's call of the PAC-10 conference final....absolutely lovely...

And for you rock-n-rollers...here's some Ramones to get you ready to rumble....