Bracket Progress: Final 4 edition

This year's tourney is the tale of two brackets, one decent and the other crap-tacular.

This year's Final Four:

North Carolina, Oklahoma, Syracuse, Villanova

Mike entered this weekend with two Final Four teams still alive - and both died merciless deaths.  First the Dukies, who lost to Oregon in the 16's; then Virginia, who lost to their ACC rivals Syracuse in the 8's.  Mike's other two Final Four teams were Arizona (out in the first round to Wichita State, which had a frickin' play-in game) and Kentucky (out in round 2 to Indiana).

Tim lost 2 of his Final Four - Michigan State to Middle Tennessee in the first round (an upset that Mike successfully called), and KU losing to Villanova in the 8's.  He successfully picked Oklahoma and North Carolina to get to the Final Four.

Episode 193 - 2016 League Cup Batsu Game

As you already know, Mike and Tim picked Liverpool to beat Manchester City in the 2016 League Cup Final.  They were wrong and must now be punished.

The guys think long and hard for a good punishment - which leads to the two clubs' correlation with MLB: Liverpool is owned by the Fenway Sports Group, which also owns the Boston Red Sox; and City co-owns NYCFC with the New York Yankees (City owns 80% to the Yankees' 20%, and the team play their home games at Yankee Stadium).

The punishment: Mike and Tim - both devout Yankee haters - must pull for the Yankees on Friday, April 15, when the Bronx Bombers host the Seattle Mariners.

Tim still has an outstanding batsu - the Houston gear for his bad NFL picks.  Mike has TWO batsu games pending - one for his picking Juventus to win UEFA Champions League, and one for his bad NCAA bracket.

Fair use: due to the subject being Liverpool Football Club, we end with Gerry and the Pacemakers' rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone."



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Dukies done. Mike, Batsu Game!

Dukies lost to the Ducks.

The defending NCAA basketball champions Duke Blue Devils are done - in the round of 16, 2 rounds better than Tim predicted but just enough to destroy what was left of Mike's bracket.

Mike, batsu game!

Episode 192 - 2016 MLB Preview, American League and World Series

Baseball season is around the corner, and the guys make their MLB predictions.

Today, we start by picking the American League.
 

Division	Mike's Picks	Tim's Picks
AL East	Toronto	Boston
AL Central	Kansas City	Kansas City
AL West	Houston	Houston
AL Wild Cards	LA Angels Detroit	Texas Toronto

Mike's AL Champions: Houston
Tim's AL Champions: Kansas City

Mike's World Series Champions: St. Louis over Houston
Tim's World Series Champions: Kansas City over San Francisco

As always, all picks are subject to batsu game.



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Episode 191 - 2016 MLB Preview, National League edition

Baseball season is around the corner, and the guys make their MLB predictions.

Today, we start by picking the National League.
 

Division	Mike's Picks	Tim's Picks
NL East	NY Mets	NY Mets
NL Central	St. Louis	Chicago Cubs
NL West	San Francisco	San Francisco
NL Wild Cards	Washington Chicago Cubs	St. Louis Pittsburgh

Mike's NL Champions: St. Louis
Tim's NL Champions: San Francisco

Next time: the American League and World Series winners



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Tourney Brackets After 2 Rounds

The first two rounds of the 2016 NCAA basketball tournament are in the books.  How did the guys do?

First round:
Mike: 22 out of 32
Upsets he got right (10):

• UConn over Colorado
• Yale over Baylor
• Northern Iowa over Texas
• Virginia Commonwealth over Oregon State
• Providence over USC
• Stephen F. Austin over West Virginia
• Butler over Texas Tech
• Gonzaga over Seton Hall
• Syracuse over Dayton
• Middle Tennessee State over Michigan State

Tim: 23 out of 32
Upsets he got right (8):

• UConn over Colorado
• Hawaii over Cal
• Virginia Commonwealth over Oregon State
• Providence over USC
• Butler over Texas Tech
• Arkansas-Little Rock over Purdue
• Gonzaga over Seton Hall
• Syracuse over Dayton

Second round:

Mike: 7 out of 16
Correct picks: Maryland, Duke, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Virginia, Gonzaga, Syracuse

Tim: 9 out of 16
Correct picks: KU, Miami, Villanova, Oregon, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Virginia, Iowa State

16's that neither got right:
Indiana and Wisconsin

Mike has 3 of his 8, 2 of his Final Four and his Championship intact.
Tim has 6 of his 8, 3 of his Final Four and his Championship intact.

On paper, Tim picked a better bracket.  However, Mike picked a riskier bracket and it shows with the first-round upsets.

It's also too soon to issue batsu games for this challenge.

Juventus out. Mike, Batsu Game!

Mike just can't seem to catch a break.

Juventus, the Turin-based team Mike had picked to win this year's UEFA Champions League, crashed out to Bayern Munich 6-4 on aggregate.

Mike will receive a batsu game as a result.