AMHERST – The 27th annual kicked off March Madness in fine fashion, concluding with the Yellow Jacket presentation to the Chieftans, winner of the 2025 edition of the William A. Karin Memorial Chalise.
The Chieftans won for a record ninth time in
the Calcutta and ended a three-year streak of the Slayers selecting the
national champ.
On to 2026.
A wide-open tourney where any of the top 8
teams could vie for the natty.
In Calcutta Land, the top-seeded teams went
for 40, 40, 40 and 39, showing how close the top echelon of competitors there
are in this year’s NCAAs.
Shout out to the Auction Pro which tendered
only one minor glitch all evening (sorry Counselors, UNC stinks anyways).
Seeing old faces, even if once a year is
always good for the soul and our group moves forward yet another year without a
defection.
Here’s the morning line, the Commish has been a
solid morning-line maker over the past few years, eyeing the eventual champion Chieftans
last year as the second choice…who will get tabbed as this year’s fav?
Defending champs lukewarm
Morning Line Favorites at 3-1
We were leaning a couple of different ways to
set the favorite, including yours truly, but landed on the Chiefs to defend
their land in 2026. Rock solid top seed Duke-1 headlines Indigent Nation with a
solid right half of the bracket in Arkansas-4 in the West and Tennessee-6 and
Georgia-8 in the Midwest. The tribe is a proven commodity that’s the one to
beat.
Morning Line Odds: 3-1; Longshot: VCU-11; ASR:
8.25
Commish spends early,
maneuvers late
Early mover, late shaker. Commish & Assoc.
garnered the lowest seed rating on the day and snatched the cheapest top seed
in Florida-1. After spending large for Alabama-4 in the Midwest and for dark
horse Louisville-6 in the East, the Commish is well balanced in each region,
which is poetry in motion in some Calcutta years. A late evening math gaffe by
the Win-Docs landed a 9-seed (TCU) for the low, low price of two bucks. Will
need some mid-seed magic in the early rounds to put them in the catbird seat.
Morning Line Odds: 4-1; Longshot: Saint
Mary’s-7; ASR: 7.0
Amigos chase the blue
bloods looking for first title since 2019
Went big with Michigan added the basketball
blue bloods Kansas-4, UNC-6 and Kentucky-7, all on off years, but with solid
name recognition. You know who else had great name recognition, Abe Lincoln.
Seriously, the Mexicanas have some solid mid seeds in Iowa-9 and Utah St-9 (who
I love). Last outright championship was in 2013, coming close in 2024 as
runner-up to the Elders.
Morning Line Odds: 6-1; Longshot: Utah State-9;
ASR: 8.25
The Counselors look to
break the drought
It is a year to end droughts in Buffalo, so
don’t count out the barristers. I’ll give them a solid left side of the
bracket, but they’ll need help on the left side with lone single-digit seed
Wisconsin-5. Two big dogs, UConn-2 and
Houston-2 were both in consideration for top seeds over the last two weeks,
falling in conference tourney championships. The legal beagles can ride those
two to the prom but will need to bring them to the final dance to have a
chance.
Morning Line Odds: 8-1; Longshot: Santa
Clara-10; ASR: 8.38
Elders strategy unchanged
in 27 years; big shot to hit the board
I haven’t had to change this headline in 27
years. You’d have to do some long, hard
research to find the last No. 1 seed this team drafted…they go mid-seed with
hopes to cash a ticket. Monday was a little different in that their ASR rating
was higher than usual, but they just didn’t overspend. Lowest two seeds however
are in the same bracket (whoops) in Michigan State-3 and the Johnnies-5 in the
East. Like his West teams, BYU-6 (low NET rating) and High Point-12 as solid
win stealers. Give the old fellers their due.
Morning Line Odds: 10-1; Longshot: High
Point-12; ASR: 9.13
The Win-Docs unbalanced
and vulnerable
The left side of their bracket is a train
wreck. Nothing lower than a 12. How does that happen? Right side is murderer’s
row with Arizona-1, Gonzaga-3 and Virginia-3 and maybe a Cinderella in Miami of
Ohio (Amigo-1’s alma mater). They’ll have to withstand some punches early, but
three teams that will need to go long into the tourney to win it all.
Morning Line Odds; 12-1; Longshot: McNeese-12;
ASR: 9.13
Catholic Boyz needs Big Ten
dominance
Ended up with some bad teams (two 15s and a
16) and ended up with some good teams. Well balanced in each of the brackets
(survive and advance is the word for the men of cloth). Purdue-2 will have to
duplicate their efforts in the B1G tourney and 3-Illinois has a solid bunch.
UCLA-7 rounds out their Big Ten bulk and Texas Tech-5 can surprise. They
could’ve landed higher on this list, but four quick losses look imminent.
Morning Line Odds: 15-1; Longshot: South
Florida-11; ASR: 9.38
Slayers will play the
longshot role
Sometimes this happens when you hold your
dough too long. It gets soggy. Will need some big 8-9 and 7-10 game upset wins
in the first round if they are going to be a threat. Iowa State-2 is good but
has historically faltered early in the tourney. Loved the work during the draft but seems like there’s not much to show for it. Could prove me wrong.
Morning Line Odds: 20-1; Longshot: Pick a 10
seed not named Santa Clara; ASR: 8.38
The results will be posted over the next few
days in the google sheet link in the top right corner as usual. Next post -
Saturday morning leading into round 2.
Good luck everyone!
