Pool of 42: 30th Anniversary Edition​

All,
Now it's finally March! After three days of mostly regular season level drama at best, we were treated to a few games that finally lived up to the Madness yesterday. The first came from two time defending National Champion Connecticut who found themselves in unfamiliar territory facing a #1 seed in just the second round. The Huskies were competitive during the first half keeping the contest close, but could not grab a lead - though they did tie it at halftime. The script flipped in the second half when a Samson Johnson dunk gave UConn its first lead of the game - which they would hold on to until the final 3 minutes. Florida retook the lead, but seemed determined not to pull away, having multiple turnovers and rushed shots down the stretch. It was a wild final 28 seconds in which 16 total points were scored - but it was not enough for Danny Hurley's squad to keep the dream of a three-peat alive as #1 Florida survived and advanced. The Not Pac-12 rivalry game between Arizona and Oregon that capped the night also brought its fair share of drama with the Wildcats outlasting the Ducks to move on. But the thriller of the tournament so far came in the 4 vs 12 matchup between Maryland and Colorado State. The underdog Rams led for nearly all of the first half, widening the margin to as many as 12. It seemed every Terrapin run would fall a little short and Colorado State would pull away again. The two stayed tight for most of the second half as well. The 12 seed held a 5 point lead until the 4:27 mark when Maryland's Ja'Kobi Gillespie hit a 3, followed by a Rodney Rice jumper which tied the game. Fellow Crab Five star Julian Reese would get the next 4 points capping a 9-0 Terrapin run. With just six seconds left, The Terps, with a 2 point lead, played stifling defense - but the Nique Clifford found Jalen Lake way outside for a gut-wrenching 3 pointer that game the Rams the lead. It seemed that Maryland was headed for another unfathomable loss as they had already set an NCAA record* for having their previous 4 losses coming on buzzer beaters. But with 3 seconds left and trailing by 1, Maryland got the ball to freshman phenom Derik Queen who, showing true courage under fire, didn't just post up, but dashed to the left, muscled his way inside and then lofted a play-ground style fade away from practically behind the basket. The shot fell sending the Terps on to the Sweet 16 and no doubt launching the College Park faithful watching at Terrapin's Turf and Looney's (not to mention the huge influx of Maryland fans in this year's instance of the Pool of 42) into virtual insanity . 
In the Pool of 42, Larry Kriz has retaken the top spot. thanks largely to Connecticut's sub 77 scoring output. That final 30 seconds had even more Pool of 42 drama than in the real world - as both teams looked like they would be nowhere near the negative thresholds (64-70 with 40 seconds left). But the final score of 75 to 77 sent pool entries flying in all directions. Yesterday's leader, Catherine Bopp remains in second, offsetting a huge negative pull from Mississippi with some Huskies points of her own. Joan Ganton has muscled her way into third place thanks to another win from Michigan State. Also entering the fray at the top of the pool is Mary Ellen "Why use one pot when two cauldrons will do" DePaul - who still has three teams remaining and is fighting for her second Pool of 42 victory. Keep your eye on Kerri Luftman too who, after being a few slots from the bottom just 3 days ago, now finds herself in 10th place with three teams remaining.
At the bottom of the pool, good ol' H-Dash, Adam Hudnut-Beumler has widened his lead thanks to the southern block of Duke, Florida, and Alabama. As defenses get tighter, having those extra teams still alive may work against his bid to be low-scorer however. The door is still wide open for Donald DeCaro or a host of other spoilers just waiting for their own negative point influx. 
In our first look at the 3rd place prizes, we have overall pool leader Larry Kriz in the most "regular" points category showing that he is not solely relying on bonus points for his current spot. Michael Martin has put up the most total bonus points thanks to a lot of player substitutions and his Kobe bonus. Unfortunately for him, his regular points are solidly negative and landing him in the dreaded "somewhere in the middle" territory. Ray Lacho, meanwhile, impressively has just 0.80 tota points making him the current front runner in the closest to zero race. Bill Lynch has earned the most actual points from his teams - and with 4 still remaining, he is likely to hold onto that spot for a while. Finally - Leo Dorfman has the dubious honor of being directly in the middle of the standings - though that is probably the hardest position in all of the Pool of 42 to retain. We also still have our mystery spot looming out there - you'll have to stay tuned on that one, but I guarantee everyone is still in contention.
Since the women's tournament is a day behind the men's,there will be a small supplemental update tomorrow. For now, the current scores are below with the complete standings attached.


Name TOTAL
POINTS
Larry Kriz 809.3
Catherine Bopp 758.6
Joan Ganton 749
Mary Ellen DePaul 708
Kerry Farrell 633.75
Monica Heffernan 629.45
Jack Schreiber 608.85
Jaklyn Limoges 571.95
Molly Wagner 567.35
Kerri Luftman 556.8
Charles Santanna 553.9
Big Sean Farrell 549.1
Michael Boyan 532.65
Mike Vogel 530.8
Pat Regan 529.7
Omar Azar 529.6
Andrea Pellicciari 521.35
Lauren Schreiber 519.4
Jose Alvarez 518.6
Josh Meyer 516.95
Pete Bine 512.9
Lainie Gussman 512.1
Robert Cappuzzo 507.1
Nabeel Azar 501.3
Patrick Steines 500.6
Sarah Ganton 497.8
Alisha Schreiber 494.6
Uncle Jack McDonald 472.6
Tony Miniaci 468.65
Brian Ganton 463.5
Derek Landel 451.9
Aunt Cathy McDonald 450.7
Michael Schoendorf 446.4
Mike Negley 441.6
Denis McCarthy 1 434.9
Natalie Luftman 433.8
Lauren Gentile 429.2
Salina McLaughlin 428.9
Dominic Sembello 423
Sam Matthews 421.8
Jackie Farrell 419.35
Mike Miniaci 411.3
Matt Solow 410
Mark Gruber 406
Katie Schreiber 404.55
Jim McCarthy 403.9
Funkle & Steph 403.4
Pat Appello 403.2
Michael Patti 402.3
Dave Marchisin 397.7
Lynn Delaney 396.9
Laurie Roche 395.55
Kevin Schessler 394.4
Eryn Payne 369.6
Caroline Schreiber 363
Michael Martin #1 354.75
Kevin Payne 354.4
Bobby Robertson 354.25
Ean Steinberger 350.2
Dan Voicescu 349.8
Lisa Ito 348.25
Will Sargisson 344
Brian Redington 342.4
Max Deckner 337.9
Randy Rutherford 337.65
Vin Hubner 330.65
Denis McCarthy 2 330.6
Bob Hopper 1 326.4
Matt Henrikson 316.9
Mark Sanicki 312.25
Rhonda Veugen 295.6
Tom Melton 294.4
Laura Spiegelman 294.1
Christopher Davis 288
Brian Pierpont 274
Paul Schreiber 272.1
Giuseppe Randazzo 271.35
Brian Thiemann 270
Leo Dorfman 266.1
Bob Corcoran 263.95
Jason Schreiber 263.05
Kurt Thiemann 257.6
Mike Heffernan 255.25
Kelly Hirano 247.2
Molly Farrell 245.9
Michael Martin #2 244.15
Seany Farrell 242
Meri Schreiber 237.2
Rodney Dopp 232.4
Kim Huang 231
Andrew Limoges 224.1
Patrick Keisler 219.6
Ethan Deckner 212.6
Eric Fishman 202.4
Mike Bopp 198.3
Killer B's 194.75
Dave Luftman 191.25
Victoria Keisler 183.2
Dave "Blue Anger" Pettit 1 181.1
Jason Gaddy 178.9
Joshua Deckner 177.05
Massimo Randazzo 168.6
Michael Deckner 160.95
Thom Terrific 160
Jeremy Schreiber 157.5
Don Chiossi 155
Jakub Stosik 152.1
Chris Pierpont 146.3
Brian Leamy 126
Mavis Mai 125.8
Kyle Cassara 117.5
Kevin Park 115
Aaron Gottesfeld 108.6
Charlie & Maeve Dowd 106.2
Mike Pinbell 98
Alina Svizzero 97.6
Bob Wagner 94.85
Mary Ellen Groth 93.9
John Englert 93.75
Ryan Heffernan 87.8
Steph Dowd 83.65
Ben Tobin 71.35
Philip R. DePaul 50.6
Michael Schreiber 50.3
Matthew Schreiber 19.2
Mario DePollo 16.7
Daniela Randazzo 15.3
Connor Gentile-DePaul 9.6
Zac Favreau Smith 3.8
Ray Lacho -0.8
Manny Delarosa -16.1
Bill Lynch -16.4
Julia Ford -18.35
Dave Miller -24.2
Neal Griffin -26.85
Greg Nilles -43.15
Bill Scarpinato -61.2
Corwin Rhyan -73.6
Brian Bharwani -74.8
Nick Hurt -77.8
Philip G. DePaul -78
Ryan Flynn -86.65
Bob Hopper 2 -97.6
Tom Groth -99
Ben Benoit -134.6
Lorenzo Quiogue -153.1
Shubhro Biswas -161.5
Juliana Jackson -183
Admiral Tom Pohlen -190.85
Luke Schreiber -209.8
Jillian DePaul -226.6
Eileen Rosa -301.7
Kyle "Kramer" Charters -305.6
Big Things Poppin Pohlen -382.9
Dave "Blue Anger" Pettit 2 -390.45
Donald DeCaro -420
Adam Hudnut-Beumler -572.7
Thanks,
-j
* probably