MARCH MADNESS!
Biggest Dance News
Vol. 39 | “Out with the old, in with the NEW”
“burgers5” Takes the Lead
March Madness is in full swing and with one week complete, we’re reminded again why The Big Dance is perhaps the most entertaining sporting event ever conceived. With #1 seed Purdue taken out by Fairleigh Dickinson (ranked #7 for Best Hospitality and Hotel Management Schools in the World by CEOWORLD), Purdue alumni everywhere are shocked at the Knights’ lack of hospitality. While the defeat of a #1 seed in Round 1 is rare indeed (only the second time in history), #15 seeds are also the longest of longshots to notch a victory in Round 1, having gone 11-141 against #2 seeds – including this year’s defeat of Arizona by Princeton. And the Tigers proved that was no fluke, with a decisive Round 2 shellacking of Mizzou.
And some heavily hyped teams also went out early, including Duke, one of last year’s Final Four, who was eliminated by Tennessee in the second round, and Kansas, the defending champions, who lost by a single point to Arkansas, a #8 seed.
Despite these hijinks, there were actually FEWER upsets in early action this year than in the last decade, leaving those of us who aggressively play the upsets in The Biggest Dance competition to ask, “Can I resubmit my bracket now?”
Of course, no recap of March Madness would be complete without mentioning the Dancers themselves. Some of us meticulously poured over stats, trends, and expert opinions before making our selections, while others blindly picked based on which team had cooler sounding names (guilty as charged, Oral Roberts might have been a televangelist, but I always thought it was a school for dentists). And yet, no matter how much research we do or how many lucky charms we rub, it seems like every year some of our brackets look like they were filled out by a toddler with a crayon.
Now, for the punchline: “Andrew Peters” sat in first place until “burgers5” overtook him when Michigan State beat Marquette in a big upset. “burgers5” now leads with 78 points, followed closely by “Andrew Peters” and “LuckMagnet” with 77 and 74 points respectively. “Andrew Peters” had pulled ahead in Round 1, but “burgers5” caught up and passed him over the weekend. Our top 12 dancers are all within 10 points of the lead, and with lots of action remaining, the possibilities for money finishes remain endless. Four of the top 5 Dancers chose Texas as the champion… how will the leaderboard change if/when Texas falls to the Musketeers? A lot can change in the coming rounds so don’t lose hope!
A few special shout-outs are in order for a few intrepid Dancers in addition to those at the top of the Leaderboard. First, special congratulations to “Cold Brew Cowboy”, “Ragin Bajan”, and “Ryan Dichter” who successfully selected #16 Fairleigh Dickinson in Round 1 and the 20 surprising brackets who nailed the Princeton victory in Round 1. Even more impressive are the 10 brackets that picked Princeton as winners in Round 2. No one, however, has the Tigers moving on to the Elite 8 so we’ll have to see how they play against Creighton.
And we’ve already seen some record setting Biggest Dance performances, none less impressive than that of Ryan Dichter, who accumulated a record worst 8-40 record (that’s a 16.6% win percentage, folks) yet is somehow firmly planted in a tie for 70th after the first week of competition (he was the only one to get both the Fairleigh Dickinson and Princeton upsets). We’re betting that Ryan will see his position fall a bit in week’s ahead, with 1 team alive in the Sweet Sixteen. Another all-time worst was achieved by Roothepit #3, who magically managed to select a grand total of ZERO Round 2 winners, leaving this entry in 545th and guaranteeing a last place finish, the earliest caboose lock in Biggest Dance history.