Two Shots. That's what Gordon Hayward will be thinking about for the next six months before practice starts on October 15th. If one of them goes down he is on highlight films for the rest of his life. Oh well.
In a thrilling Calcutta finish and close from the outside, the Win-Docs grabbed their third straight National Champion selection (record), tied their own wins record (15) and prevented the Bunch of Chieftans (15) from the outright title. In a "game for the ages" it came down to the final seconds and a game for all the mah-bles.
Here's the final breakdown and congrats to this year's co-champs:
Thanks everyone for playing and it should be interesting next year. If they change the format, I'll put up a poll to decide (one vote per team) how we'll score next year's Calcutta.
Well this should be interesting. National champion brings home more dough. Win-Docs need a Dukie win to preserve their record book win total. Which, by the way, will stand for eternity if the NCAA moves the tournament to 96 teams (12 team Calcutta - 3 per bracket!).
Good luck to the Bunch of Chieftans and Win-Doctors. May the best squad win.
One thing we know for sure, the Bunch's name will be on the Chalise as part of the 2010 championship. The improbable Butler Bulldogs played that stifling defense again and kept their opponent under 60 for the fifth straight tourney game. The Bunch is threatening to setting a Calcutta record that may never be broken if West Virginia beats Big Bad Duke tonight and has drawn even with the Win-Docs record of 15 total Calcutta wins.
If Coach K's Devils win tonight, it sets up an interesting scenario between the Bunch and Win-Docs for a Monday night matchup that will decide if the Bunch's name will be alone or will have company.
This is what we know: The Catholic Boyz have locked up the third slot and will be playing spoiler for the Win-Doctors, come next Saturday evening and Sparty to take out the Cinderella and the home team (!) Butler Bulldogs.
The Mano a Mano duel has come down to a huge matchup next weekend when the second place Win-Docs (13 pts) put Duke up against the narrowly leading Bunch of Chieftans' (14 pts) West Virginia Mountaineers. What's in the balance? The Calcutta title, the all-time lead for Calcutta titles, a shot at the all-time win record of 15. So, in summary, LOTS.
There's been quite a bit of banter over the interwebs between these two teams over the past two weeks and it's time to settle it on the court. We almost had a two way tie at 14 with both teams carrying 2 teams in on opposite brackets (let's say I was rooting for some of that). Of course, CBS will have something to do with it (see we need Duke for ratings).
In one of the closest Calcutta's in recent memory, the two horse race continues as the Bunch of Chieftans and the Win-Doctors roll into the Elite Eight with 12 wins each and separation between them and the rest of the field. The all-time record of 15 set way back in 2000. Both squads are looking for their fourth Calcutta title and the overall titles lead, which makes this cutthroat battle even more interesting to watch. The Chieftans had a huge opportunity to take 3 of 4 Sweet 16 games, but a valiant effort by the A-10's Xavier Musketeers fell short in double OT. The Win-Doctors are humming the "d" word (dynasty) looking for their third title in four years. Ironically, these two teams possibly may not meet each other again until the Final Four, and if that happens, look out!
A three team battle for the show spot has developed between the two defending champions with the Catholic Boyz pounding out two Friday night wins to reach the 8 win mark and advance two squads to the Elite Eight. The Counselors and the Tax Men both remain alive for a third place finish. The Statesmen joined the Commish on the sidelines tonight after their lone Sweet 16 squad from California bowed out after a pretty weak effort against Baylor playing in the friendly confines in Houston.
And Calcuttians, it's that time again where we get to say: ADIOS AMIGOS!!! Thanks for coiming, nice run by the Panthers of Northern Iowa.
The Bunch of Brady notched three out of five today to hit the 10 win mark heading into the Sweet Sixteen tied with the Win-Doctors who pulled off 4 second round wins of their own and a share of the Calcutta lead. The Bunch hammered out two more upset wins with the Big Red of Cornell and the Xavier Musketeers of the Ivy and A-10, respectively who took down giant conference foes from the Big Ten (Wisconsin) and the Big East (Pitt) to head into the Sweet Sixteen. Their highest seed West Virginia took care of business in the B-Lo and they once again head into next weekends tilts with four teams. One off the second round record of 5 victories, they were denied by a missed 3 pointer in OT by Texas A&M.
The Win-Doctors, however, appear to have all engines turning, claiming four Sweet Sixteeners, including #1 Duke (looking like a bargain for $30), #2 Ohio State (playing solid ball) and two lower seeds Washington (not a bad #11) and Tennessee. They've been extra quiet though, but don't hold your breath, I think they're about to come out of hibernation after posting 10 wins in four days. They also have a guaranteed victory with OSU playing Tennessee in Friday night's opening telecast. They have only one head to head with the Bunch (WVU - Washington) kicking off Thursday night's action.
The Catholic Boyz are currently four lengths back in third all alone with 6 wins with a huge victory by Sparty and the boys with this buzzer beater.....
The Amigos, Statesmen and Tax Men all sit tied in fourth (one win out of the money) with five wins. The Amigos have two one longshots longshot left in ODU and Northern Iowa and the Statesmen (St. Mary's) and Tax Men (Kansas State) are down to their last squads.
Rounding out the bottom are the Counselors who were taking their one-a-day vitamins with one win each of the four days having Kentucky and Purdue remaining. With only four wins, they'll need to run the table to make any noise.
The Commish and Associates completely shut it down and has their lone beloved Orangemen left and only national title hopes for the 2010 Calcutta. They did avoid having the lowest first round total ever (2) thanks to the thrashing that occurred this afternoon at HSBC.
On to the Sweet Sixteen......hope you're all enjoying this year's edition of the 'cutta.
Two Shots. That's what Gordon Hayward will be thinking about for the next six months before practice starts on October 15th. If one of them goes down he is on highlight films for the rest of his life. Oh well. 
