10-way tie atop men's pool

Ten contestants are tied for first place in the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by the UCLA Bruins, with 26-for-32 prediction records at the end of the first round.

The ten co-leaders are Matt Kagan, Khalil Aboukhaled, Liz Janelle, Amir Sadaghiani, Ryan Morgan, Robert Dokes, Carolyn Blessing, Joe Swiderski, Benjamin Rumery and Alex Whitfield. Each has 130 of a possible 160 points. 24 contestants are tied for 11th place with 125 points apiece, and 42 contestants are tied for 35th place with 120 points each.

The pool is scored on a 5-7-10-15-20-25 basis, so the 7-point second-round games today and tomorrow will probably begin to break many of the ties.

Complete standings here and after the jump.

1. Matt Kagan - 130
1. Khalil Aboukhaled - 130
1. Liz Janelle - 130
1. Amir Sadaghiani - 130
1. Ryan Morgan - 130
1. Robert Dokes - 130
1. Carolyn Blessing - 130
1. Joe Swiderski - 130
1. Benjamin Rumery - 130
1. Alex Whitfield - 130
11. Gordon Strickland - 125
11. Ken Wagner - 125
11. Charles Susano - 125
11. Ryan Dalidowitz - 125
11. Mark Saviola - 125
11. Jeffrey Ferguson - 125
11. Joseph Hiegel - 125
11. Kevin Pilz - 125
11. Greg Kagan - 125
11. Ryan McBride - 125
11. Jeremy Kwock - 125
11. Kevin Curran - 125
11. Chris Mulvey - 125
11. Blake Hanson - 125
11. Nathan Evangelista - 125
11. Michael Hale - 125
11. Ken Inadomi - 125
11. Sandy Berman - 125
11. Jennifer Elam - 125
11. Dave Roberts - 125
11. Melanie Peralta - 125
11. Joshua Carpenter - 125
11. Jeff Belisle - 125
11. Jeff Morrison - 125
35. Gary Kirby - 120
35. Adam De Guire - 120
35. Larry Caplin - 120
35. Ben Eng - 120
35. Brian Dupuis - 120
35. Nick Genco - 120
35. Tony Gjolaj - 120
35. Gerry deSimas - 120
35. Tom Keck - 120
35. Jackie Wilson - 120
35. Scott Loomer - 120
35. Joel Thrift - 120
35. Jay Schwartz - 120
35. Nick Surmacz - 120
35. Dan Dinunzio - 120
35. Jake Burke - 120
35. Greg Plank - 120
35. Weston Cross - 120
35. Chuck Wessell - 120
35. Scott Robertson - 120
35. Brian Neudorff - 120
35. Marty West - 120
35. Cam McLachlan - 120
35. Duane Homan - 120
35. Derek McDonald - 120
35. Jenna Auriemma - 120
35. Keith DeMonstoy - 120
35. Bob Lutts - 120
35. Jeff Dickens - 120
35. Marlene Saviola - 120
35. Dave Whelan - 120
35. Michael Walsh - 120
35. Danielle Thomsen - 120
35. Drew Smith - 120
35. Eric Soskin - 120
35. Kevin Hauschulz - 120
35. Lauren Taylor - 120
35. Brandon Minich - 120
35. Danny Pilz - 120
35. Jeremy Gist - 120
35. Randy Styles - 120
35. Matthew Thomsen - 120
77. Logan Pugh - 115
77. Matt Wiser - 115
77. Chris Aemisegger - 115
77. Willie Wheaten - 115
77. Tom Greca - 115
77. Mark Gardner - 115
77. Amy Greca - 115
77. Jay Eysol - 115
77. Steve Hartranft - 115
77. Robin Crocker - 115
77. Rick Garnett - 115
77. Joe McDade - 115
77. Brian Rogers - 115
77. Shari Long - 115
77. Mike Deeds - 115
77. Paul Lucht - 115
77. Phillip Price - 115
77. Ernesto Lopez - 115
77. Ken Stern - 115
77. Jeff Vaca - 115
77. Rachel Wetherill - 115
77. Andrew Long - 115
77. Kay Torg - 115
77. Trent Kelso - 115
77. Conor Sullivan - 115
77. Keith Evans - 115
77. Lisa Velte - 115
77. Brian Nicholson - 115
77. Hannah McLaughlin - 115
77. Abby Smagula - 115
77. Oanh Tran - 115
77. M.T. Swanson - 115
77. Matt Scarborough - 115
77. Justin Vale - 115
77. Peter Timbrell - 115
77. Colin Son - 115
77. Bill Reece - 115
77. Cody Groeber - 115
77. Denise Reidy - 115
77. Mike Marchand - 115
77. Akash Patel - 115
77. Dan Port - 115
77. Christopher Drewry - 115
77. Russell Caplin - 115
77. Lauren Moy-Kim - 115
77. Bill Pancoast - 115
77. Jay Johnson - 115
77. Dave Martins - 115
77. Rick Boeckler - 115
77. Tyler Condon - 115
77. Jon Benski - 115
128. Joshua Krause - 110
128. Brian Newbold - 110
128. Dennis Chow - 110
128. Joe Resper - 110
128. Jeff Cultrera - 110
128. Jeff Freeze - 110
128. Jon Schoenwetter - 110
128. Roger Snyder - 110
128. Loyette Loy - 110
128. Andrew Hunter - 110
128. Sean Sullivan - 110
128. Dean Thornton - 110
128. Eric Gobel - 110
128. Jim Hu - 110
128. Cath Doo - 110
128. Beth Milewski - 110
128. Scott Paine - 110
128. Rachel Luberda - 110
128. Frank Rooney - 110
128. Matt Higgins - 110
128. Ginny Zak - 110
128. Don LaPlante - 110
128. Patrick Cullen - 110
128. Gary Atkinson - 110
128. Kelly Strutz - 110
128. Joey Perucki - 110
128. Jason Rogers - 110
128. Esteban Coca - 110
128. Trisha Neudorff - 110
128. Sharon Lee - 110
128. Jessica Fortuna - 110
128. Ian Drayton - 110
128. Carol LaPlante - 110
128. Kristy LaPlante - 110
128. Greg Shtraks - 110
128. Chris Bravo - 110
128. Stacey Dubois - 110
128. Brenden Roche - 110
128. Quvondo Johnson - 110
128. James Devine - 110
128. Kristy McCray - 110
128. Pat Caplin - 110
128. Johanna Cummings - 110
128. Patrick Roach - 110
128. Bridget Saviola - 110
128. Ted Zak - 110
128. Barry McGinnis - 110
128. Tom Caputi - 110
128. Soren Hammerschmidt - 110
128. Jon Caplin - 110
178. Robbie Loy - 105
178. Jaime Duque - 105
178. F. X. McGahee - 105
178. David Mathues - 105
178. John Chung - 105
178. Andrew Hiller - 105
178. Katrina Lewonczyk - 105
178. Leanna Loomer - 105
178. Courtney Tawresey - 105
178. Darby Shaw - 105
178. A.J. St. John - 105
178. Becky Loy - 105
178. Antonia Namnath - 105
178. Chris Evans - 105
178. Dmytro Aponte - 105
178. Meredith Steffen - 105
178. Colleen Duggan - 105
178. Mark Jordon - 105
178. Barbara Cross - 105
178. Tristin Thomsen - 105
178. Joanna Rubin - 105
178. Chai Park - 105
200. Crys Dalangin - 100
200. Scott Schmidt - 100
200. Jim Wall - 100
200. James McGinnis - 100
200. Ian Auzenne - 100
200. Pat Gonzales - 100
200. Emily Wood - 100
200. Kristin West - 100
200. Kristen Wall - 100
200. Stephen Copenhaver - 100
200. Lauren Davis - 100
200. Yvette Webster - 100
200. Rob Atherton - 100
200. Steve Koppitsch - 100
200. Keith Stefanczyk - 100
200. Neil Waechter - 100
200. Jen Ham - 100
200. Michael Tran - 100
200. Toby, Sasha and Butter Zak Loy - 100
200. Katherine Kirkpatrick - 100
200. George Heidkamp - 100
200. Rosalie Town - 100
200. Brian Kiolbasa - 100
200. Todd Stigliano - 100
224. Steve Leys - 95
224. Jessica Cowans - 95
224. Neil Rampal - 95
224. Jeff Sklar - 95
224. Joe Loy - 95
224. Andrew Leyden - 95
224. Bea Duque Long - 95
231. Michael Rosenkrantz - 90
231. Steve Duvernay - 90
231. Bonnie Stone - 90
231. Shireen Garcia - 90
231. Mike Wiser - 90
231. Diane Krause - 90
231. Susie Ogden - 90
238. David Kreutz - 85
238. Josh Rubin - 85
238. Mike Dagen - 85
238. Brendan Loy - 85
238. Zoe West - 85
238. Jessica Osborne - 85
244. Eddie Regan - 60
245. Casey Zak - 35

Comments

[fezafou]

Hey Brendan it's your pool and all but im wondering why you chose to go with the point system that were using in this one and not the traditional 2-4-8-16-32-64 point system were each round has a max score of 64 points. Over the years that is the scoring that I have used most commonly. But hey where else am I gonna get to go up against Geno Auriemma's daughter and the West F-ing Virginia guy. I'm Khalil Aboukhaled and this years bracket of mine is by far the best I have ever had, I just hope I an keep it going

[Brendan]

Fezafou, I use the 5-7-10-15-20-25 point system because it's the one I've used for 13 years, and I like being able to compare point totals over the years, so I don't want to change it now.

As for why I chose it in the first place? Heh -- because back in 1995, the primitive Windows 3.1-based pool software I was using, which I think I found on CompuServe, had those point totals as the default setting, and I didn't question them. How's that for a rationale? :) It's really an historical coincidence that I use those particular point values, but there we are.

If I were starting from scratch, I would use a point system that weights the later games somewhat more heavily -- but not as heavily as the traditional 2-4-8-16-32-64 (or 1-2-4-8-16-32) system. I think that system weights the later games TOO heavily. Picking the champion shouldn't be worth as much as all 32 first-round games combined, IMHO. On the other hand, it also shouldn't be worth only five times more than each individual first-round game, as in my system. I think an ideal system would be something like 2-3-5-8-13-18-24. But at this point I'd rather maintain historical consistency than mess with the numbers.

[Brendan]

P.S. I would also include "upset points" if I was starting from scratch.

Congrats on your great bracket BTW :)

[Joe]

Stupid Clemson. Well, its fun being in first,even if it only lasts a little while.