Muck Fizzou

So you have your bracket and you have already filled in Kansas to go all the way, but the office pool rules dictate that you pick the winners of every game. So I thought I would share a couple resources that can help make picking those games a lot easier.

Poologic.com (as in Pool+Logic not Poo+Logic)

This site has a good primer in basic and advanced strategy to WIN (claims to have won $250,00 for users) office pools, but the true value comes from the Poologic Calculator. It is pool selection generator that allows you to define the point system your pool is using and then set values for other calculation criteria including different probability models. The website looks like it was made in the early 90’s, but it computationally solid.

WhatIfSports.com

This is a sports simulation website that uses statistical data to model simulated match-ups. Each year it crunches data for big dance and has it’s college basketball simulation engine play the entire tournament 2,000 times. They have successfully picked the last two national champions from these simulations. The 2010 results are shown here, but you can also simulate individual match-ups for those games where you just can’t decide who to pick.

Who else has a method for their March Madness?

There is a great picture on the cover of the Lawrence Journal World Sports page. A couple of readers submitted their “edited” versions and I had to share them.

Submitted by: Maria

Submitted by: Marc

Further coverage of the blowout:

Topeka Capital Journal – KU Blows out Mizzou

Enemies point of view –  Rock M Nation

I just  really love the face Brady Morningstar makes as after he pulled off one of the weirdest free-throws in basketball history. (Watch below)

He made when it counted in Manhattan, so I’ll let this slide as a one time thing.

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Photo from Lawrence Journal World

This game was close for about 8 minutes and then the Jayhawks figured out what they needed to do and Missouri didn’t. In a game that saw KU commit 23 turnovers to just 5 form Missouri, nothing else seemed to go right for the Tigers. They were out hustled to every ball and thus out rebounded 56-28. Kansas dominated in every phase of the game and stepped on the Tigers throat every time they tried get something going. For a more detailed breakdown on why Kansas is superior to Missouri check out a Mizzou fan’s blog that states the Jayhawks statistical dominance.

All Time Record:   Kansas – 169 | Missouri – 94

Found a post on the Columbia Daily Tribune that is rather interesting considering MU’s recent performance in the Texas Bowl. Apparently Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel sent out a mass email asking for donations to the Mizzou Athletic Performance Department to “enhance the athletic abilities of team members”.

As the author of the Open Column point out:

1. The Mizzou football team was man-for-man bigger and stronger than Navy. It made no difference, or their athleticism wasn’t used to our advantage.
2. The Mizzou football team was overall faster than Navy. (See item No. 1 above).

It was the coaching staff who devised the game plan, called the plays but were amazingly “dumbfounded” by the results.

And now, less than a week after the Texas Bowl disaster, Mizzou wants even more money to create stronger, faster players!

Why?

It seems that they are asking for more money to create bigger and faster athletes that are coached to lose to smaller and slower teams.

One commenter provided a possible answer to the authors closing question:

So they aren’t forced to waste donations on frivolous pursuits like academic scholarships. they’re currently hamstrung by the “Tiger Scholarship Fund” being designed to actually help kids get an education. They’d much rather spend money elsewhere.

For all their crying about how their football team always gets slighted at bowl selection time you would think that Missouri would at least show up to the Texas Bowl to prove this point. Alas they jumped out to a 7-0 lead and decided that was good enough. Navy owned the rest of the game by stunning margins and won 35-13. Here are just some of the stats.

Time of Possession
NAVY:     41 min
Missouri:    19 min

Offensive Plays
NAVY:    81
Missouri:    57

Rushing Yards
NAVY:    385
Missouri:    65

The Washington Examiner‘s Kevin Dunleavy noted “If it wasn’t for three fumbles by MVP Ricky Dobbs (296 yards rushing and passing), the final score would have been obscene.

Pinkel said Navy had a “nice little team” and did a “nice little job.” If they get crushed by a nice little team only doing a nice little job how are they going to handle the Big Ten? Might want to try the Missouri Valley Conference instead.