In a 64-team, 4-regional, 16-seeded basketball tournament , in the first round of 64, the sum of seeds should add up to 17 (eg Seed 1 playing Seed 16, Seed 3 playing Seed 14, and Seed 8 playing Seed 9 etc.). From here on, in the tournament completely devoid of upsets, in the second round of 32, should add up to 9 (eg. Seed 1 playing Seed 8 etc. and in the third round (Sweet 16), should add up to 5, with Seed 1 playing Seed 4 and Seed 2 playing Seed 3. etc. In the Elite 8, Seed 1 should be playing Seed 2 to add up to 3, while in the Final, it should be a Seed 1 playing a Seed 1 - to add up to 2
So 17 - 9 - 5 - 3 - 2 is the Arithmetic of of USA College Basketball, all things being equal. Any other addition indicates an upset somewhere.
Now this is where we are at the moment - Sweet Sixteen.
On the Men's Side: http://i.turner.ncaa.com/sites/default/files/external/printable-bracket/2016/bracket-ncaa.pdf
SOUTH (Louisville) - Kansas (1) v. Maryland (5), Miami (Fl) (3) v. Villanova (2)
WEST (Anaheim) - Oregon (1) v. Duke (4), Texas A &M (3) v. Oklahoma (2)
EAST (Philadelphia) - North Carolina (1) v. Indiana (5), Notre Dame (6) v. Wisconsin (7)
MID-WEST (Chicago) - Virginia (1) v. Iowa St. (4) , Gonzaga (11) v. Syracuse (10)
....with the Final Four matchups in Houston, Texas.
Clearly, Maryland, Indiana, Wisconsin, and certainly both Gonzaga and Syracuse have over-achieved so far.
On the Women's Side: http://i.turner.ncaa.com/sites/default/files/external/gametool/brackets/basketball-women_d1_2016.pdf
EAST (Bridgeport): Connecticut (1) v. Mississipi State (5); UCLA (3) v. Texas (2);
MID-WEST (Sioux Falls): South Carolina (1) v. Syracuse (4) Ohio State (3) v. Tennessee (7)
WEST (Dallas) Baylor (1) v. Florida State (5); DePaul (6) v. Oregon State (2)
SOUTH (Lexington): Notre Dame (1) v. Stanford (4) ; Kentucky (3) v. Washington (7)
.....with the Final Four matchups in Indianapolis, Indiana.
In this women's bracket, Mississipi State, Tennessee, Florida State, DePaul and Washington are over-achievers.
Some take-aways.....
First, we have the same number of over-achievers men and women - so what a man can do a woman can do too!
Secondly, these are mostly big and good schools - which once again shows that scholarship and sports are NOT incompatible.
Thirdly and most importantly, national sports are used in the USA not only to create a sense of shared national values and competitiveness, but to generate immeasurable employment for citizens as well as income for concessionaires. In this 64-team tournament alone, imagine the number of cities hosting major events, not to talk of all the games that led up to this particular tournament. and this is in just ONE sport (Basketball) in ONE sector (universities).
Finally, I am still on track with my predictions: UConn for the Women, and North Carolina (or Duke or Kansas) for the Men winning it all.
Let The Big Dance continue....while we continue to learn some national lessons.
Bolaji Aluko
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From: ChatAfrikSports-noreply@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2016 11:05:38 +0100
Subject: [ChatAfrikSports] On the Matter of So Many Upsets in these NCAA games - and Why My Niece's Team is Returning Home {RE:STAR INFORMATION: My Niece is Going to The Dance!
My People:My niece's team - SUNY Buffalo women - got pipped by Ohio State on Friday 69-88 - but that is okay: this was their first time ever at The Dance anyway , and I trust that they will do better next time. (See below for another reason).But my suspicion that this will be a big year of upsets was justified: on the Women's side, there were 8 upsets total - No. 12 SUNY Albany beat No. 5 Florida 61-59, No. 10 Bonaventure beat No. 7 Oklahoma State 65-54, No. 9 Auburn beat No. 8 St. John's 68-57, and another No. 9 Kansas State beat No. 8 George Washington 56-51. on Friday, while on Saturday, No. 12. South Dakota State beat No. 5 Miami 74-71, No. 10 Missouri beat No. 7 BYU 78-69, No. 9 Duquesne beat No. 8 Seton Hall 97-76, and another No. 9 Indiana beat No. 8 Georgia 62-58..In short, only four double-digit underdogs beat their higher-ranked opponents, while four No. 9s beat No. 8s, with 1 in 4 upsets out of 32 matches.But on the Men's bracket, for the first time EVER in the tournament, ten double-digit UNDERDOGS in beat up on their higher-ranked opponents, upsetting many tournament predictors, including President Clinton:QUOTEDouble-digit seeds moving on after historic NCAA tournament first roundBy Jake Russell March 19After upset victories from Hawaii (No. 13 seed), Stephen F. Austin (No. 14 seed) and Middle Tennessee State (No. 15 seed), Friday marks the first time in NCAA tournament history that a 13, 14 and 15 seed all won on the same day. Northern Iowa, an 11 seed, also took down sixth-seeded Texas to finish the historic day.Coupled with Thursday's upsets, which saw 11 seeds Wichita State and Gonzaga and 12 seeds Yale and Arkansas-Little Rock all win, this year's opening round marks the first time 10 double-digit seeds have advanced to the Round of 32.UNQUOTEWhen you add that No. 9 Connecticut, Providence, Butler, beat No. 8 Colorado, USC and Texas Tech respectively, we have 13 upsets out of 32 matches - more than 1 in 3 in the Men's Bracket in the 64-team First Round of the Big Dance.What all of these means is that basketball quality is equalizing among small and big schools, and that one day a No. 16 will win it all....before the end of this century.....Before then, I believe that this 2016 year, UConn will DEFINITELY win it on the Women's side - again, for the fourth consecutive year - and that North Carolina will DEFINITELY take it on the Men's side - if not Duke or Kansas! :-)And there you have it....seeing you on Finals DayBolaji AlukoPS: There was another reason why my niece's team lost: I could not join to cheer court-side because I HAD to be in Nashville in attendance at another equally more important event of one of her cousins (my daughter-turned-medical-doctor), which ran WAY into the start-to-finish time of the SUNY-Ohio State game. Next time, there will be no schedule clash, trust me! :-)On Thu, Mar 17, 2016 at 1:32 PM, Mobolaji Aluko <alukome@gmail.com> wrote:Ezeana Igirigi Achusim:Thanks for congratulating my niece through me for going to the "Big Dance" starting today - her first matchup is tomorrow though...and yes, like you wrote, I am hoping that Ohio State does not fully show up, to let underdog Buffalo go past it.I am not so sure on the Women's side, but on the men's side, this graphic below tells a cautionary tale to all No. 3 over No. 14; In fact, data show that in the last three years, where four of twelve match-ups - that is 1 in 3 matches - have gone to the lower-seeded team. For 16 of the 30 years since the tournament field expanded to 64 teams, at least one No. 14 seed has triumphed over a No. 3 seed, and have reached Sweet 16 twice. The No. 14 seed's first-round record is still well below average (20-103), but the likelihood of a upset is still higher than a 15 (seven No. 2 seeds have been beaten or 16 see (no. No. 1 seed has ever been beaten by No. 1) winning an opening-round match.Table 1: NCAA Underdog Table – How Far Has the Underdog Gone since 1985?
S/N
Matchup
History of Wins
Percentage
Average Margin
First Upset / Biggest Upset
Yrs of Upset
Farthest Underdog Reach
Sweet 16
Comment
1
No. 16 V. 1
0 of 124
0.00%
-24.6
Near Upsets: 1989 – Princeton v. Georgetown 49-50
None
First Round
0
Maybe in 2016? FGC (16) is back – vs North Carolina (1)!
2
No. 15 V. 2
7 of 117
5.65%
-16.2
F: 1991 - Richmond bt. Syracuse 73-68
B: 1997 - Coppin State bt. South Carolina 78-65
6 of 30 years
(1991, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2012 (twice), 2013)
Sweet Sixteen
1 (Florida Gulf Coast, 2013)
FGC beat Georgetown 78-68 in first round
3
No. 14. V. 3
20 of 104
16.12%
-11.1
F: 1986 – Cleveland State bt. Indiana, 83-79
B: 2010 - Ohio bt. Georgetown 97-83
16 of 30 years; 4 of 12 matchups in the past three years
Sweet Sixteen
2 times (Cleveland State, 1986; Chattanooga, 1997)
Cleveland State bt. Indiana, 83-79; Chattanooga bt. Georgia, 73-70
4
No. 13. V. 4
25 of 99
20.16%
-9.0
F: 1985 - Navy bt. LSU 78-55
B: 1985 - Navy bt. LSU 78-55
???
Sweet Sixteen
6 times
Richmond 1988, La Salle 2013, four others
Again, all the above info is for the Men, but one can imagine that the percentage chances are either half of the men's, or twice - or somewhere in between!In any case, I pray that my niece's Bulls go past the first round - and even attain Sweet Sixteen - but even if they don't, she would have attended "The Big Dance" in her freshman year - and that is no mean feat, granted that that is her college's first time EVER!Bolaji AlukoPS: There are quite a number of Nigerians taking part in the NCAA, both male and female. Always exciting to see their names, and their spectacular performances....On Thu, Mar 17, 2016 at 9:46 AM, Ezeana Igirigi Achusim <pachusim@yahoo.com> wrote:Congratulations, Bolaji. Now I know where you got 'may your tribe increase' phrase from. Your family heard it so many times and you all did something about it.It is unfair to match the number 3 against number 14 seed. You would think number 1 would play number 2 while number 14 plays number 15 so as to sustain Bolaji's interest in the games past the first games. But a Big 10 powerhouse like Ohio State may not take number 14 seed seriously. And boom, number 14 seed take home the marbles.Oh. When Michigan State played Purdue for the Big ten championship game, I almost forgot to stay neutral. The two daughters handled the loss and the victory magnanimously. None rubbed it in that her Alma mater won or lost.And I amEzeana Igirigi AchusimOdi-IsaaNwa Dim Orioha AkA OnyeukwuSent from my iPhone
On Mar 16, 2016, at 9:47 PM, Rotimi Ogunsuyi rogunsuiy@yahoo.com [NIgerianWorldForum] <NIgerianWorldForum@yahoogroups.com> wrote:[Attachment(s) from Rotimi Ogunsuyi included below]Kudos to our very own Ayoleka Sodade.Now I have a school to root for in the Women's March Madness.Let's dance :-)Rotimi Ogunsuyi
From: "Collins Ezebuihe Collyezebuihe@hotmail.com [ChatAfrikSports]" <ChatAfrikSports-noreply@yahoogroups.com>
To: B o l a j i A l u k o <alukome@gmail.com>; "nigerianworldforum@yahoogroups.com" <nigerianworldforum@yahoogroups.com>; "nigeria360@yahoogroups.com" <nigeria360@yahoogroups.com>; "NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com" <naijaobserver@yahoogroups.com>; "chatafriksports@yahoogroups.com" <chatafriksports@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2016 6:59 AM
Subject: [ChatAfrikSports] RE:| STAR INFORMATION: My Niece is Going to The Dance!
That is good! Congratulations to her!!
She also comes at a very good and balanced height --which makes her solid and not too vulnerable to bone stress as a result of too much height for a woman. She is also fortunate to be a Starter at her "Freshwoman" year --and not coming out of the Bench to play. That will give her lengthy experience to be WNBA ready, when that time comes.
Collins Ezebuihe
sportstivity.com
To: alukome@gmail.com
From: NigerianID-noreply@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2016 19:29:56 +0100
Subject: NigerianID | STAR INFORMATION: My Niece is Going to The Dance!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93nli_SNArEMy People:"March Madness" - that is, US varsity national basketball championships, for those who don't know - starts this week-end - and I will be joining in: on the Women's side this time! Another name for is is "The Dance."This is because my niece - Ayoleka Sodade, a freshman at SUNY Buffalo (my Post-doctoral alma mater), daughter of my kid sister Bunmi and her husband Tunde Sodade - is a Guard in the Women's Basketball team. The female Bulls won their MAC Championship this past week, and are attending the Dance for the FIRST TIME EVER seeded 14th in their bracket (Sioux Falls Regionals), . That must be partly due to Leka's contribution, you gotta believe it.Their first match is this Saturday, against Ohio State University (seeded 3rd)- and so they stand a fair chance of advancing - fingers crossed.Yep....Bolaji AlukoPS: Hey, Leka's cousin Eniola recently played her 100th match for England Women Soccer, joing "real legends of the game: Sir Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore, Kelly Smith, Peter Shilton, Fara Williams, David Beckham, Casey Stoney and Steven Gerrard".Unbelievable!Eniola and Leka bear striking resemblance....----
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