Chieftans secure title share with Gator win, look for the whole enchilada next weekend

 WIN-DOCTORS CAN CLAIM A SHARE IN ONE SCENARIO

AMHERST – The Chieftans powered their way to another Calcutta title, clinching at least a share of the top spot and winning outright in seven of eight possible scenarios next weekend. It will be their eighth outright or shared title.

The Win-Docs need Houston to run the table and Auburn to beat Florida in the semis to claim a tie with the Chieftans in the lone potential outcome that does not see the Bunch carrying the Calcutta Chalise alone next Monday night.

The Commish and Catholic Boyz were both eliminated over the weekend from title hopes but can catch a piece of the pie if things go the right way.

The Amigos will continue to play spoiler and can sneak into ties for third should Duke sweep the Final Four.

Let’s take a team-by-team capsule look into the weekend festivities:

Chieftans split Elite Eight games on way to share of title

The Bunch of Chieftans grabbed their first title since 2018 beating the Gator Drum, with an amazing come-from-behind win against 3-Texas Tech. Down nine with less than three minutes to play the Bunch’s squad rallied to salvage what could have been a potential disaster, knocking the Catholic Boyz out of the title hunt.

Win-Docs need sweep, Florida loss

The Win-Docs hopes of a share of their seventh title rests on a strong Houston squad, who will face their toughest test to date in the Dookies on Saturday. They will be rooting on the Tigers over the Gators to put them in the natty with a chance at a tie.

Catholic Boyz on sidelines, but not in bad shape

The Catholics will have to watch from the clubhouse next weekend awaiting the results, but they will cash in every scenario except one….an Auburn win over Houston in the final.

Tennessee loss dooms Commish, still can make noise with Auburn

The Commish’s title hopes went down early in the Houston-Vols game and now their laurels rest on the Tigers and can only finish as high as second with a sweep of the weekend games. Going to admit, thought Houston was the easiest road to the Final Four, but was dead wrong.

Fat Lady quieted, Amigos playing for that natty cash and outside shot at third

The Amigos will ride the hottest team into the Final Four and hope to Flagg down a natty. The Amigos control their own destiny and will be the major obstacle for the Win-Docs title hopes.

Here are the eight potential scenarios and payouts:

Florida over Duke:

Chieftans (13) - $1,200

Win-Docs (9) - $400

Catholic Boyz (9) - $400

 

Florida over Houston:

Chieftans (13) - $1,200

Win-Docs (10) - $500

Catholic Boyz (9) - $300

 

Auburn over Duke:

Chieftans (11) - $1,000

Commish (10) - $700

Win-Docs (9) - $150

Catholic Boyz (9) - $150

 

Auburn over Houston:

Chieftans (11) - $1,000

Commish (10) - $600

Win-Docs (10) - $400

 

Duke over Florida:

Chieftans (12) - $1,000

Amigos (9) - $467

Win-Docs (9) - $267

Catholic Boyz (9) - $266

 

Duke over Florida:

Chieftans (12) - $1,000

Amigos (9) - $400

Win-Docs (9) - $200

Catholic Boyz (9) - $200

Commish (9) - $200

 

Houston over Florida:

Chieftans (12) - $1,000

Win-Docs (11) - $700

Catholic Boyz (9) - $300

 

Houston over Auburn:

Win-Docs (11) - $950

Chieftans (11) - $750

Commish (9) - $150

Catholic Boyz (9) - $150

 

 

Good luck everyone!

 

Elite Eight Report, Chieftans hold slight lead, advantage

Four teams still could hold key to Calcutta

AMHERST – The Chieftans utilized a big Thursday where they almost ran away with it when 10-Arkansas flamed out late in the game. Big wins by 1-Florida and 2-Alabama catapulted the warriors to the top of the leaderboard.

Two more teams joined the defending champs on the sidelines as the morning line favorites lost two Sweet Sixteen games. The ouster of the Slayers ended their hopes of a national champion selection four-peat.

Joining the Slayers on the sidelines were the very chirpy Counselors. In the end, team dissension did them in and they will be watching from the peanut gallery the rest of the way.

Three teams sitting outside the Chieftans, the Catholic Boyz on their heels one behind and Wind-Doctors left with one-seed Houston to try and run the tape, but they’ll need help. The ole Commish making is patented late move sits three off the pace, but some gunpower left in his holster.

Let’s take a team-by-team capsule look into the weekend festivities:

Chieftans advance two to Elite Eight, Calcutta is in their hands.

The Bunch of Chieftans are seeking their first title since 2018, and first outright since 2014 when they set the Calcutta record of 16 wins. That record is safe, but this team is obviously loaded with two top seeds remaining. The 1-Florida v 3-Texas Tech (C-Boyz) matchup could be the defining game in the tourney and put some distance between the two top squads.

Catholic Boyz in the hunt

The Catholic Boyz are clearly up against it this round facing top seeds in both games, but a win in either of them gets them into the Final Four and if they both win a potential guaranteed team in the championship game. Lots of praying on Sunday for the altar boys, don't sleep on them.

Win-Docs down to the Cougars

Houston, we’ve got a problem, this trip is now solo. The Docs can only get to 11 by a Cougar run to the title, but they can do some damage on the way and can basically eliminate the Amigos and put a big dent on the Commish with wins in the Elite Eight games. Good chance to hit the board if their lone dog does the work.

Commish charging late, may be too late

When your bid up your two best teams and can’t scrape up more than one other win by your six other teams, this is what you get. Still loaded with 1-Auburn and 2-Tennessee (who proved third time was a charm against Big Blue) on opposite sides of the bracket. Rooting for the SEC Final Four and head-to-head games with the Chieftans for a circuitous route to the title.

Amigos still alive, looking for natty cash and play the spoiler role

The Amigos will ride 1-Duke into the Elite Eight and can look for a Low Tide today against Nate Oats. Bama may have shot their shot on Thursday with a phenomenal showering of three-pointers. Hard to imagine they can keep that up against the Dukies. And if they pull the upset, Kate Smith is on stand-by. 

Slayers exit after a rough Friday night

The Slayers didn’t exactly enjoy happy hour on Friday as both 3-Kentucky and 4-Purdue left the Slayers with six wins and can finish no higher than fifth. A disappointing year for the tax guys, but there’s always next year (see Chicago Cubs)...

Counselors get book thrown at them

The longest Calcutta drought reached 13 years for the Counselors who took a bad punch from 2-St. John’s in the Round of 32 and never recovered from the staggering blow. 6-BYU was nice while it lasted, and 4-Maryland ran into a buzz saw. Back to the drawing board, another hung jury in the Calcutta.

The results will be posted over the next few days in the google sheet link in the top right corner as usual. Final Four report - Monday morning with all possible outcomes. 

Good luck everyone!

 

Chieftans grab lead, defending champs eliminated

 

AMHERST – The Chieftans secured the top spot in the 2025 Calcutta heading to the Sweet Sixteen with three second round wins to edge ahead of first-round co-leaders, the Catholic Boyz and the Win-Docs.

The defending champion Elder Statesman exited quietly as 3-Iowa State and mid-seeds 7-Saint Mary’s and 9-Baylor took the pipe on Sunday. They’ll now settle down and wait for the groundhog to see if he sees his shadow (i.e., disorientation has set in).

The Slayers sit two back at six wins, but also advanced three teams to the Sweet Sixteen and the morning line favorites are lurking down the backstretch awaiting to make their vaunted move on the leaders.

Let’s take a team-by-team capsule look into the weekend festivities:

Chieftans secure lead, sitting pretty in the catbird seat

The Chief called and is already asking for a jacket fitting after the weekend display the Bunch delivered. With a 1-Florida and 2-Alabama buoying their title chances, big upsets by a dangerous looking Raz
orback squad faces a winnable game against 3-Texas Tech. They’ll hope for a Florida-Arkansas Elite Eight matchup and a guaranteed finalist.

Catholic Boyz steady in second round

The Catholic Boyz were trying to bring the tournament to its knees after 1-Houston and 4-Arizona won hard fought matchups to forge onward to the Sweet Sixteen. The waters get deeper here with matchups against 4-Purdue in Indianapolis and 1-Duke in Newark. Buckle up, father as the Boyz sit one behind the leader.

Win-Docs go 2-for-5 in Round two

The Win=Docs took a bad beat when 3-Wisconsin went out with a whimper and midnight struck for both 11-seeds McNeese and Drake. They have a solid 2-Michigan State and 3-Texas Tech remaining but will likely be underdogs in both Elite Eight matchups should they advance. Still in the mix to challenge and not exactly time to call for a Code Red, but it could be coming.

Counselors two back, but reeling from Johnnies loss

When your best seed (2-St. John’s) goes out in the Round of 32, the hopes dimmed for the Counselors. With 4-Maryland and 6-BYU (looking like a nice $18 purchase now) carrying the torch for the law boys, they find themselves facing 1-Florida and 2-Alabama in the Sweet Sixteen. Here comes the judge.

Slayers looming large, lurking in shadows waiting to pounce

The morning line favorites sit two back, but in a solid position to hit the board and potentially challenge. They face two top seeds in the next round, but both 5-Michigan and 4-Purdue are playing B1G time ball heading into their big games. 3-Kentucky rolls and faces league nemesis 2-Tennessee in a must-win game for the Slayers. Their four-peat hopes for a national champ is on the ropes this weekend.

Commish in survive and advance mode, part deux

The Commish needed a big win out of 5-Oregon in Seattle last night and didn’t get it. Up 14 early the Flighty Ducks couldn’t make a late charge and 4-Arizona advanced and kept the Win-Docs knocking on the Chieftans door. Will need to run the table with 1-Auburn and 2-Tennessee to have a chance at the top spot.

The Amigos hanging tough

The Amigos, like the Commish, sit three back with two teams remaining in 1-Duke and 6-Ole Miss. Both teams are hooping out but will need some big wins out of the Rebels to make any noise in this year’s big dance. Can’t count them out as the Dookies will likely keep them in the hunt for a piece if they run the table.

The results will be posted over the next few days in the google sheet link in the top right corner as usual. Sweet Sixteen report - Saturday morning. 

Good luck everyone!

 

Three teams sit atop Calcutta after Round One

AMHERST – The 2025 Calcutta has a logjam at the top with each team having at least three wins. The Win-Docs, Catholic Boyz and Bunch of Chieftans sit atop the leaderboard with five first-round wins heading into the Round of 32.

After a disastrous 0-fer on day one for the Amigos, they bounced back to garner three straight wins on Friday to avert flirting with the wrong side of the record books (which they hold the coveted 1 first round win in 2018 – a year they’d rather forget).

Three teams are hunkered down in second with four wins and within striking distance and three sit on the bottom, but only two off the leaders.

Parity has struck the 2025 Calcutta; Roger Goodell would be proud of the job I’m doing.

Win-Docs big first day vaults them to top for cut of the lead

The Good Doctors pawned off two big wins by 11-Drake and 12-McNeese, those low seed victories so key to winning the Calcutta, to jump up the leaderboard on Thursday. Solid wins by 3-Wisconsin and 4-Zona have the Win-Docs having a good shot to enter the Sweet Sixteen with eight wins which is a good number to be at heading into next weekend. Yes, their last shared title was in 2018 but seeking their first outright Chalise (sic) since 2016.

Catholic Boyz in the hunt

The Altar Boyz have been quiet since 2018 as well, without hitting the board in the last five Calcuttas. Is this the year for divine intervention? Some solid mid-seed drafting on Tuesday puts them in the hunt on the CBS scoreboard. Will need some help as the waters get deeper for three of their seeds this weekend, but they could also be sitting on eight with an upset win or two.

Bunch of Chieftans circling the wagons

Whose been steadier than the Chieftans over the years and they are right back in the thick of things battling their old nemesis the Win-Docs for the top spot. 1-Florida looks monstrous and could easily run the table giving them nine wins, but will need steady wins from 2-Alabama and another upset or two.  Could be the team to beat.

Counselors in battle to stay alive

With only one outright title in 25 years and nothing since 2012, the solicitors started strong on Thursday, but only mustered a win out of 4-Maryland on Friday to sit one back of the triumvirate above. 2-St. John’s rolled, but a looming matchup with Florida next weekend could spell the demise of the procurators. In second, but in a tedious position.

The Elders

A funny stat that I never realized (and you’ll see in the epilogue of today’s column) is that the Elders have never drafted the national champion. I guess it makes sense based on their vaunted mid-seed draft strategy. While the defending champs sit in second, they usually are sitting on five or six wins at this point, so there is cause for concern for the elderly. They need a sweep to get to eight (my magic number, not yours) and then they’ll be playing Cinderella. Better sharpen up that walker.

Commish in survive and advance mode

The Commish’s title hopes is riding on seeing 5-Oregon win over 4-Zona in Seattle. Hoping the short travel from the nearby state and some home cooking (Pacific Northwest sticks together baby) will push three teams into the Sweet Sixteen.  Of course, that assumes 1-Auburn and 2-Tennessee hold serve today.

The Slayers make good use of morning line favorite jinx

Put the kiss of death on the Slayers (artist formerly known as the Wagon-eers) with the morning line favoritism. But whose been better – drafting last three natty champs and two of last three titles, so could you blame the Greek for tabbing them as the chalk? Should put through all three remaining teams to the next round which means they’ll remain in the hunt.

Fat Lady stuffed on Friday

The Amigos were close to reliving the pain of 2018, but rebounded solidly on Friday with 1-Duke, 6-Ole Miss and 8-UConn advancing. Duke will keep them squarely in the Mix, but the other two teams will be underdogs on a big Sunday for the Chicanos.

Title data revealed

After withstanding the whining about multiple titles and naming rights, the Commish put together a historical view of title runs by each of the eight franchises since 1999. Very interesting to see both the consistency and the mediocrity of the franchises over the last 25 years.

The results will be posted over the next few days in the google sheet link in the top right corner as usual. Sweet Sixteen post - Monday morning. 

Good luck everyone!

 

Slayers slay draft through patience and persistence

 

AMHERST – 2025 marks the 26th documented year of the annual Calcutta and this year’s edition of the William A. Karin Memorial Calcutta surely didn’t disappoint.

The Counselors brought back the old time feuding they used to be so well known for.

The Amigos made sure they spent early on a one seed.

The Commish had no money left by 6 p.m.

The Elders forgot to show up for the yellow jacket celebration due to early onset Alzheimers.

So here we are with a solid start to 2025 in a wide-open tourney with any of 10 teams who could be in the spotlight during the playing of the One ShiningMoment .

One record to keep an eye out for is the Slayers have drafted the last three national champions which tied them with the early Chuck Wagon days (1999-2001) and the Win-Docs run in the late aughts (2008-2010).

Slayers emerge as heavy Morning Line Favorites at 2-1

The Slayers played the waiting game all night long, stuck on 57 for a good 45 minutes. Came away with the Aldi steal of the tournament with Marquette-7 for $2. They’ve hooked their steed to the Midwest Region however with Kentucky-3 and Purdue-4, but have mid-level seeds throughout the left hand side of the bracket, and could potentially threaten the first ever sweep of the first round. The only team not favored in Round 1 is Vanderbilt-10. These guys could lock it up by the weekend.

Morning Line Odds: 2-1; Longshot: N/A (they have none); ASR:6.0

Chieftans crafty draft strategy puts them in fold

Some craftiness shown by the tribe, as they finagled some late round chicanery that got them a 10-seed (New Mexico) for a $1. Well balanced in the brackets with Florida-1 on one side and Alabama-2 on the other makes them dangerous to stack up points. Will need some wins out of Illinois-6 and an upset of two from the bottom five teams to make a run. Hail to the Chiefs (missed the annual visit by the real Chief)

Morning Line Odds: 4-1; Longshot: 12-Liberty; ASR: 8.9

Amigos

I rarely give the Amigos their due, but Duke-1 is playing close to the best basketball in the nation and could run the table on the right side of the bracket. Solid middle seeds can pile up some early wins to assist a big Duke number with Ole Miss-6 and Kansas-7 both programs that can due some damage. Back up the sombrero the Amigos could be dancing late into the tourney.

Morning Line Odds: 6-1; Longshot: 10-Utah State; ASR: 7.9

Elders strategy unchanged in 26 years; big shot to hit the board

I haven’t had to change this headline in 26 years.  You’d have to do some long, hard research to find the last No. 1 seed this team drafted…they go mid-seed and low ASR and try to cash a ticket. Monday was no different as the Elders wrapped up the second lowest ASR, yielding that spot to the Slayers. Fanch played remotely (WFH) which wasn’t the easiest without a view of the big board. Rookie mistake could end up being costly. Iowa State-3 is their lowest seed and their next lowest is in the same bracket (A&M in the South). A run from Clemson-5 to the Sweet Sixteen would make this team very interesting.

Morning Line Odds: 8-1; Longshot: 7-Saint Mary’s (to go deep); ASR: 8.5

The Win-Docs drought should continue

The Win-Docs were up to their old antics with some late bidding and chirping it up throughout the evening. The fact is the drought is up to nine years and only the Counselors (2012) have been trophyless longer. The left side of their bracket is a total disaster with Drake-11 their lowest seeded team. They’ll need to poach a bunch of wins to have a shot and hope Houston-1 doesn’t have a problem getting out of the Midwest and either Arizona-4 or Wisconsin-3 gets to the Elite Eight. They just weren’t on their game.

Morning Line Odds; 10-1; Longshot: 11-Drake; ASR: 9.3

The Bickering Barristers dubious drafting

The legal beagles were at each other at key moments of the night, shades of ole Johnny C giving Baki the biz. Hoping Pitino can find that old magic with St. John’s-2 and that Maryland-4 can get through and knock off Auburn. They’ll need some upsets and BYU-6 (18$!!) and Gonzaga-10 to win a couple games to keep them in contention. Leaning towards a hung jury.

Morning Line Odds: 12-1; Longshot: 12-UC-San Diego; ASR: 8.6

Catholic Boyz need Big East dominance

The Catholic Boyz were active all night, but just seemed to get edged out of a lot of teams. Michigan St.-2 has the fire power to make a sustained run and Texas Tech-3 was a big purchase for an unproven five. UCLA-7 was competitive all year and has solid coaching, but that’s the best they have on the right side of the bracket. Confession is Sunday night at 11.

Morning Line Odds: 15-1; Longshot: 12-Colorado St; ASR: 8.9

Commish all in with two squads

The Commish has hit the board in three of the last four Calcuttas after two seconds and one third in the first 17 years of action. We’ll play longshot as one upset of Auburn-1 or Tennessee-2 blows up their Calcutta. A whopping 10.0 ASR, buoyed by three 15-seeds has the Commish down to three teams by the weekend if all holds. Oregon-5 is their wild card in the East and if they can pull together two-three wins in a different ball game.

Morning Line Odds; 20-1; Longshot: 13-Grand Canyon; ASR: 10.0

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. 

We'll be a little light on the GIFs this year until we get to the later rounds...so you'll just have to enjoy my eloquence.

Good luck everyone!