Final Four Report: Commish clinches first-ever Calcutta title

Amherst, N.Y. -- I've waited 19 years to write that headline.

The drought is finally over. After 18 years of futility, the Commish & Associate finally will wear the Yellow Jacket and see "Team Commish" inscribed on the Chalise.

Tears of Joy at Team Commish Headquarters

A passionate 7-South Carolina squad survived a thrilling final two minutes against 4-Florida to put the 2017 Calcutta on ice for the ole Commish. With 12 wins heading into the Final Four and an automatic win in the Gonzaga-SC semifinal, it's all over except for deciding the national champ and the runner-up spots.

Not having to sweat out the 2-Kentucky game and the buzzer beater loss to the Catholic Boyz' 1-UNC Tar Heels, the Commish got their business done early on both Saturday and Sunday.  On Saturday, 1-Gonzaga showed why they deserved a one-seed by taking out a game Xavier team.

The Boyz will continue to march on with a chance for a sole shot at second place with a win over the Tax Slayers' 3-Oregon Ducks in the semifinal.

The Catholic Boyz Concession Speech did not go as planned.

A tough loss by 10-Xavier on Saturday night cost the Boyz a shot at a potential title and when So Carolina continued their winning ways on Sunday, it was time to throw in the white robe.

The Tax Slayers can still claim a tie for second/third with a sweep of the Final Four, the gutsy team from the PAC-12 is playing good ball right now and could catch UNC off guard in Phoenix.

A Slayers sweep would be mind-blowing

The Counselors early success puts them in the money, but they are sitting on the sidelines rooting for an Oregon loss in the national championship for their best case scenario.

After Black Friday, it's been wait-and-see for the Counselors

Here are the scenarios:

Scenario #1: If North Carolina beats Gonzaga
Commish 1,000
Catholic Boyz 700
Counselors 300

Scenario #2: If North Carolina beats South Carolina
Commish 1,000
Catholic Boyz 700
Counselors 300

Scenario #3: If Oregon beats Gonzaga
Commish 1,000
Tax Slayers 467 
Counselors 267
Catholic Boyz 267

Scenario #4: If Oregon beats South Carolina
Commish 1,000
Tax Slayers 467 
Counselors 267
Catholic Boyz 267

Scenario #5: If Gonzaga beats North Carolina
Commish 1,200
Catholic Boyz 500
Counselors 300

Scenario #6: If Gonzaga beats Oregon
Commish 1,200
Catholic Boyz 400
Counselors 400

Scenario #7: If South Carolina beats North Carolina
Commish 1,200
Catholic Boyz 500
Counselors 300

Scenario #8: If South Carolina beats Oregon
Commish 1,200
Catholic Boyz 400
Counselors 400

Scene in my living room after the SC game

Elite Eight Report: Counselors suffer "Black Friday" collapse

Amherst, N.Y. - The Elite Eight is set and the morning line favorites have run their course. They still sit atop the perch, but a late night three-jack by 3-Florida, added to their three-team collapse in the Sweet Sixteen. With visions of record book glory going out the window in double-digit losses by 3-Baylor and 4-Butler, The Counselors will sit back and root for Kansas to defeat Florida in Phoenix, to hold onto third-place finish.

For the Commish and Associate, it's been a Cinderella Story, led by the charging Gamecocks of 7-South Carolina. Big matchups with the Catholic Boys loom over the weekend, that will vault one of these two teams in front of the Counselors. Ironically, each team has a 1-seed and the UNC-Kentucky game could be the game that determines the owner of this year's Yellow Jacket. Team Commish sends three teams to the Elite Eight for the first time in Calcutta history and today's Zaga-Xavier battle will either vault them to the lead or create a three-way tie atop the standings.

It's been a Cinderella Story so far for the Commish.

The Catholic Boyz enter the Elite Eight with 1-UNC and 10-Xavier in position to capture their first title since 2009 and outright since 2006. Fueled by a nice run by the surprising X-men from Cincinnati, a win over the Zags could be the icing on the cake.  The Boyz strut into the Elite Eight with a quiet confidence shown best by George's father looking to tar and feather the Commish and bring home the Chalise (sic).

Tar Heels and Musketeers 

The Tax Slayers took it on the chin in a very entertaining 3-UCLA-Kentucky game Friday night, but the wizards from Westwood ran out of gas and succumbed to late game Ball-hogging. The remain in the hunt for National Champion and a piece of the exotics with 3-Oregon, but a big battle with the team that has looked the best so far in the tournament, Kansas, is on the horizon.

The Slayers need help, but survive and advance is the name of the game.

The Elders just won't die. 4-Florida evaded a late game collapse to knock the Counselors out of the '17 Calcutta and will need to reach the Final Four for a chance at cashing. The GIF below could have easily been Jason from Friday the 13th, but we settled on Monty Python.



The Bunch sit at five wins with 1-Kansas and can only max out at eight, tops. So the Chieftans are out of the money in this year's Calcutta, but for the National Champ prize, which they have claimed four times over the years, the last in 2014. They get to play spoiler the rest of the way and will have more than one Calcutta squad rooting them on in Elite Eight, and possibly the Final Four.

One more look at last night's buzzer beater....

Good luck and Final Four report on Sunday night.

¡Adios Amigos!

BREAKING Amherst, N.Y.- Upset City in San Jose, as the Catholic Boyz (11-Xavier) claim a tie for second-place with the Commish (1-Gonzaga) at 8 wins and start breathing down the necks of the Counselors.

As it is with tradition, the ¡Amigos! have left the building with losses by 2-Arizona and 7-Michigan, so without further adieu.....

 

Things are starting to get interesting in Calcutta land with some big tilts tonight between UCLA-Kentucky (Pickem), UNC (-7.5)-Butler, Baylor(-3.5)-So Carolina and Wisconsin-Florida (-1.5).  All three remaining teams for the Counselors will be in action, favored in one of the three (Baylor).

The Slayers could sweep all three of their games and the Commish will have to go back in the record books to see what the record is for Sweet Sixteen wins, which is currently undocumented.

Good luck, all. Here's a little Jim Reeves to wish our good friends the two-time champion ¡Amigos! a good night.....until next year.

via GIPHY

Counselors sprint out to early Calcutta lead

The Counselors having the traditional first round Red Auerbach stogie

Amherst, N.Y. -- The Counselors waltzed through the first round capturing six big wins to sit atop the leaderboard heading into the tournament's first weekend. As expected, with the low Average Seed Rating, the morning line favorites jumped right out on Thursday, running the table in all four games.

Led by 3-seeds Florida State and Baylor, 4-seeds West Virginia and Butler, the barristers held serve with all six of their higher seeded squads. Helping themselves to some home cooking, by winning two games in the Buffalo region (WVU and Wisconsin), the Counselors sit pretty with hopes of hitting double digits after the first two rounds.

Freddie's Gang

The Catholic Boyz put together a 3-win streak and are right in the thick of things once again after a crafty draft. Riding upsets by 11-Southern Cal and 10-Xavier, the Boyz of the cloth are once again a threat to win the Calcutta for the first time since 2009. With big dog 1-North Carolina taking care of business, the Catholic Boyz on St. Patrick's weekend is the hunch play in Vegas.

The Elders laughed all the way up the leaderboard

After openly questioning the morning line, the Elders shrugged off the odds snub and reeled off five wins over the first round to tie the Catholics one game back of the Counselors. 2-Louisville led the charge for the Elders and after a couple scary moments in the 5-Notre Dame game, the old guys sit right in the thick of things once again.

It was a streaky two days for the Amigos

The Amigos started on a 4-0 tear heading into the Seton Hall-Arkansas game, and after some unfortunate Pirate turnovers, the skid started. After the Hall went down, SMU and Marquette gagged both of their games and Northern Kentucky was overmatched against 2-Kentucky. They're not out of it by any stretch of the imagination with mighty 2-Arizona and red-hot 7-Michigan playing solid ball, but what could have been a 7-1 start, turned into a .500 record.

Well, well, look who's hanging around

For the first time in years, the Commish can sniff the leaders and sends four teams into the first weekend, including two big seeds. Two late night Friday wins over the Amigos (Kentucky, South Carolina) thrust him right into the hunt. How will the perennial bottom-dweller deal with the pressure of being in a Calcutta race? A big 12-Middle Tennessee State win over Minnesota set the stage for potential bigger things to come. Is this the year?

Breathe, Chief, Breathe

The Bunch are still hanging in there with their two kingpins 1-Villanova and 1-Kansas. An upset win by 11-Rhode Island helped the cause, but they will have no time to catch their breath, as a run of the table will be required to keep up with the deep teams on the top of the leaderboard.

UCLA held off a game Kent State for the Slayers

The Tax Slayers toughed it out through the first two days with three wins coming from 3-UCLA, 3-Oregon and 4-Purdue. The road will start getting rougher for the Slayers, but if they send three teams into the Sweet Sixteen, you can't count them out.

She's warming up for the Win-Docs

It was an abysmal performance by the Win-Docs over the first two days of the tourney. Nothing went right for the defending champs and it looks like a Duke run will be the only thing keeping the fat lady quiet. St. Mary's as your wing man, just isn't going to get 'er done. Thanks for coming.

Next report on Sunday night/Monday morning. Enjoy the games over the weekend.

2017 Calcutta Kicks off with a Bang

Amherst, N.Y. - As the snow from an angry Stella dumped on the Western New York region, there was plenty of twists and turns in a lightning-fast round of auction bidding at Calcutta headquarters Tuesday night in Amherst. The night kicked off with a celebration of the Yellow Jacket donned by the Win-Doctors for winning the 2016 title. The Tax Men's Jon Pellish, the 2015 champion, did the honors in passing the torch to the Win-Doctors, who won their fifth Yellow Jacket in the storied history of the Calcutta. Last year's Calcutta also featured a record-tying first round by the Catholic Boyz, tying their own record of 7 wins (2012) and of the Bunch (2002).

After the ceremony, the bidding started hot and heavy with some No. 1 seeds being thrown to the wolves right off the bat. Let's get right to business and the setting of the 2017 morning line....

The Counselors will ride their low seeds early on.

The morning line favorite this year goes to The Counselors (3-1), in one of the more competitive Calcuttas in recent years. The legal beagles quietly landed two #3 and #4 seeds, that if played out correctly gives them 8 wins out of the box with two squads. Add wins by 6-Cincinnati and 8-Wisconsin in the first round and they will have a solid opening weekend start if form holds. As we all know, the NCAA tournament isn't always formful.  But with the lowest ASR (7.3) in the Calcutta, the 2017 Calcutta goes through the court room.

Scotty brought his secret weapon and he was gunning all night long.

The Amigos (4-1) garner the second favorite role with some very good teams playing good ball at the right time. Pac-10 tourney champ 2-Arizona could get through a fairly weak West Region and solid mid-seeds 5-Iowa State and 6-SMU could do some early damage. With an ASR of 7.8, they are poised to win some early and hang late with the Wildcats. Dangerous. Sleeper Pick: Seton Hall.

Freddie was working the table early in the Calcutta.

The Catholic Boyz (5-1) are co-third favorite with perennial contender The Bunch of Chieftans (5-1) getting anointed with the same odds. The Boyz went right to work early in the 'Cutta grabbing big-time contender 1-North Carolina. Other solid selections of 5-Virginia (dangerous defensive ball club), underseeded 10-Wichita State and 11-Xavier. If they nail a couple upsets, look out for the boys in cloth.

It was go big or go home for the Bunch.

The Chieftans went full mojo top-seeds, with 1-Nova and 1-Kansas in opposite brackets. A strategy that can be feast or famine and requires a low seed or two to spring an upset to Make it happen. That's why the morning line is middle of the road, because this one could be fabulous or roadkill. I really like 11-Rhode Island to spring the upset, but with four seeds over 13, this team will lean heavily on its big name talent. If 13-Winthrop wins a game, it will be the steal of the Calcutta.

The Elders (6-1) were true to form, hoarding dollars and looking for value. The only slip up was overpaying for 5-Notre Dame, but a relentless Calcutta group wouldn't let them off the hook driving up the Irish's price. They could make a run, but a big Buffalo matchup with West Virginia looms. It's not surprising they sit with the second-lowest ASR with 7.6, only bested by the morning line favorites. Lowest seeds are 2-Louisville and 4-Florida so will need the Irish, Maryland and Arkansas to win games to stay in the hunt. Looking for their first title since 2011 and sole championship since 2005.

The Slayers are all in on the PAC-10 says Jon "Malkovich" Pellish

The Tax Slayers (yeah, I'm changing their name, we haven't had a good name change in a few years) come in at 7-1 on the morning line with a heavy 8.6 ASR. They love the PAC-10 with 3-seeds UCLA and Oregon on the right side of the bracket. Super guard play by 4-Purdue and solid high seeds that could sneak a game in 9-Vanderbilt and 10-VCU in a soft West region could put the Slayers on the map. Sleeper Pick: 9-Vandy

Here we go again.

The Bills drought is 17 years, the Commish's drought is 17 years. Do I need to go on? Shifting Calcutta duties to stellar teammate and associate, was the game plan. Similar to the Bunch, the Commish & Associate (10-1) went big with 1-Gonzaga and 2-Kentucky. Will need help from Old Rocky Top with 13-ETSU and 12-MTSU  and a win or two from 7-South Carolina to make any noise. A horrid ASR of 9.6 could spell doom for the Commish and year 18 of the drought.

That moment Geno made you the longshot....

The defending champion Win-Docs (12-1) are your longshot play of the day for this year's Calcutta. An ASR of 9.5, only better than the lowly Commish. Don't count them out for having the national champion (the Docs have had an amazing six of the last nine National Champs on their roster. So go to the bank with 2-Duke. Will need 7-seeds Dayton and St. Mary's to win a game and they're definitely counting on the 5-12 upset, with three 12 seeds (UNCW, Nevada and Princeton).  Still have to be respected.  Looking to tie the Bunch with a sixth title.

Good luck to all, first report on Friday night after the first round. The teams are posted and the results  will be updated nightly located in the upper right hand corner of the blog.