For the first time ever - yes - EVAHHHH - there will not be a top 3 seed in the Men's Final Four! More so - aside from UConn, none of the other three schools (nor their coaches) have ever been in a Final Four either. March Madness indeed!!
Despite UConn being somewhat of a consensus favorite now for the title, I really think we will be seeing what could be a very ugly final game between San Diego State and Miami, and ugly in the sense that it will be played in the upper 50s (not temps - but points!). My money in any respect is on Miami - not that it is a suggestion to throw any of YOUR money that direction!! I am not betting on The U, though I will change the color herein to dark green. Take note - FAU DOES have the opportunity to become the lowest seeded Champion ever!! Miami and SD State ALSO have the opportunity to become the 1st 5th seeds ever to win the title!
On to our leaderboard...........
Yes indeed - it is time for someone to take that leader role and hold onto it in this year's Hopski! Right now, that contender is Slackerufl from Florida Gator alum Thomas Stevens (Tom is a South Floridian that has heard a lot of FAU talk this year and felt they were a legit sleeper!), an entry buoyed into the top spot by picking 2 of the Final 4 this year - FAU and Miami!! Thomas finds himself in an unusual position of needing just 1 victory from UConn (NOT a Championship) to win the Hopski.
As the #2 entry on the Leaderboad, our defending champion Udaman2 from Mike Ching of Hawaii, can overtake Slackerufl with a Miami victory (regardless of who wins the other game OR the final)! More on the opportunity for a historic Hopski repeat title below!
Sorry to 3rd place Kencik and Ken Holding of Warsaw, Poland! You hopes of a Hopski championship were dashed by Miami and UConn, knocking out a great attempt at picking 3 of the Final Four. There is still hopes of a podium finish, certainly there is some consolation in that Ken!!
Well.... it pretty much is in terms of the Hopski this year as twelve entries have UConn picked into the Final, with 7 of those picking UConn to take the title. I suppose a shout out is deserved to these 12 entries (the BOLD 7 have UConn picked for the title:
- Zero Ducks Given (Nick Adam, LA / Adidas / Oregon man! We'll be watching the Final together on Monday night in LA!)
- License to NIL (Michael Rupp of CT - a LOT of you folks in the Hopski btw - a Fairfield U grad and now head of admissions at St. Luke's School in New Canaan)
- URINE TROUBLE 812 (Chris Miller, relative of my IU days boss Steve Miller)
- Bing Bang Ow (sitting President of the Bill Doran Co & Hopski 2010 runner-up Bill LaFever of Rockford, IL)
- Buckhill (Rob Jeffries of NJ and brother of Logan - but more info I do not have!)
- KingDon (Don King........)
- Dan Hurley's Inside Voice (Connecticut State Senator and 2 Time Hopski Champion Ryan Fazio)
- RU Screwed (Mike Doud of NY and a Rutgers alum)
- Bunch of Azuolas
- In Trump We Trust..... Seriously (David Miller of Memphis, TN and our 2013 Hopski Champion)
- Miyagi-Do Chambo (Jeff Chamberlin - former Warsaw hooper now living in DC - trying to recover the UConn as Champ magic from his Hopski Championship of 2014)
- Woodson, My Man (Dave Heldman - who I think is still without a top 10 finish after about 20 Hopskis....... though my memory is failing and I have not updated the historical stats file since 2018!)
Aside from those entries, only one other entry has any point upside remaining, the #2 entry from our defending Champion - Mike Ching and Udaman! - we could have lightning strike twice with another repeat champion this year if Miami takes out UConn!! This happened on both each side of 2020 (the Covid no tournament year) when Connecticutt's own Ryan Fazio - Dan Hurley's Inside Voice - repeated as Hopski champion and now Mr. Don Ho himself - Mike Ching has a shot!!! WOW!
Run Your Pool - seems like the software has worked pretty well again this year and certainly the automated scoring and real time updates to standings makes like a LOT easier for the Commish and team. One funny thing I just noted is their abbreviation for Fairleigh Dickenson....... being one FAIR DICK!
Over at the 2nd Chance Dance HQ
- we are down to two entrants in a Pool Championship that will be decided between Miami and UConn. In the Miami corner, we have U-who? WVU, UMiami, UKentucky, IU from Linda Genty (former Budapest and Tokyo expat now living in N Chicago suburbs and also a 2-time - and very possibly 3-time Hopski Toilet Bowl Champion!!). Linda recovered from some terrible luck in her main pool pick sheet to contend for the 2nd Chance Dance Title!!! In the UConn corner is My bracket called for Floppin from Warsaw's favorite Hoosier - Kyle Bowers, a 2 time Main Pool Champion in the Hopski - 2003 and 2010!
And Finally the Toilet Bowl......
We have a battle for the Toilet Bowl that will not be settled until the 2nd half of Monday night's championship game as both entries - Udaman (Mike Ching - somehow effectively hedged in full his two entries this year such that one can win the Hopski while the other loses!) and U-who? WVU, UMiami, UKentucky, IU from Linda Genty - managed to tie with a record setting low of 35 points this year!! That leaves the total points in the Championship Game as the tiebreaker for these two entrants - one of whom will emerge Monday night with the Toilet Title and free entry for 2024's Hopski (if it happens........ as I am with less and less motivation, time and ability to manage this thing - motivation being the primary issue!!!). In any event - U-Who predicted 90 points to be scored on Monday night (Wisconsin flashback maybe??!!), while Udaman went with the opposite end of the spectrum and 165 points!! Thus, 127/128 will be the threshold that will break this tie and determine a WINNER, with the closer guess finishing higher in the FINAL STANDINGS and avoiding the Toilet Flush!
I am off to visit colleges on Sunday in hopefully sunny LA LA Land with my oldest daughter - so the next update may not be until all is said and done given the expected 7 hours of driving quality time on Sunday! I will do my best though to entertain!
Keep well-
Your Commish
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