tOSU wins NIT

Your 2008 NIT champion is The Ohio State University. Say it with me, Buckeye fans: "We're #66! We're #66!" (Okay, so it's more like "We're #49," really; nobody was ever suggesting that the NCAA auto-bid teams seemed lower than #12 are better than the top-tier NIT teams. Although, tell it to San Diego and Siena...)

Anyway, here are the final standings of the 4th annual Irish Trojan NIT Pool. As I mentioned already, Gary Kirby won the pool. Kirby, a resident of San Bernadino, California and a former USC student, finished with 273 out of a possible 317 points under the pool's 7-10-15-20-25 scoring system. That's five better than the 268 points he got in winning last year's pool, and represents a new NIT Pool record. He made only four mistakes in the entire bracket. Kirby, a.k.a. "gahrie," is celebrating over on his blog.

Joshua Krause of New Britain, CT finished second with 258 points, just ahead of Mark Gardner of Fredericksburg, VA, who had 257. Jeff Burch of Syracuse, NY was fourth with 253, and Ginny Zak of Gold Canyon, AZ was fifth with 250.

Patrick Roach and Derek McDonald (243 apiece), Katrina Lewonczyk (235), Steve Ivey and Larry Caplin (234 each) round out the Top 10.

I finished dead last, 62nd place, with 76 points. :) Behold my hideous bracket! Heh.

Complete standings here and after the jump. 

4th annual NIT pool
1. Gary Kirby - 273
2. Joshua Krause - 258
3. Mark Gardner - 257
4. Jeff Burch - 253
5. Ginny Zak - 250
6. Patrick Roach - 243
6. Derek McDonald - 243
8. Katrina Lewonczyk - 235
--. *AGGREGATE PICKS BRACKET* - 235
9. Steve Ivey - 234
9. Larry Caplin - 234
11. Ted Zak - 226
11. Brian Dupuis - 226
--. *ALL FAVORITES BRACKET* - 221
13. Joe Hiegel - 211
14. Cam McLachlan - 208
15. Michael Rosenkrantz - 207
15. Scott Robertson - 207
17. David Mathues - 206
18. Randy Styles - 190
19. M.T. Swanson - 188
19. Chris Bravo - 188
19. Pat Caplin - 188
22. Jennifer Elam - 184
23. Dan Port - 183
24. Sandy Berman - 182
25. Brian Nicholson - 179
26. Diane Krause - 177
27. Jeff Morrison - 176
27. Don LaPlante - 176
29. Matt Thomsen - 173
30. Joey Perucki - 171
31. Kevin Hauschulz - 169
32. Matt Wiser - 163
32. Scott Schmidt - 163
34. Mike Dagen - 162
35. Mike Quinn - 158
36. Josh Rubin - 156
37. Weston Cross - 152
37. Joshua Carpenter - 152
37. Wilson Loftis - 152
40. Gerry deSimas - 151
41. Jay Johnson - 150
42. Rick Boeckler - 149
42. Andrew Long - 149
42. Matt Higgins - 149
45. Sean Sullivan - 148
46. Greg Plank - 146
47. Danny Pilz - 145
48. David Kreutz - 143
49. Brandon Minich - 142
50. Matt Scarborough - 141
51. Kevin Curran - 139
52. Kay Torg - 137
53. Becky Loy - 134
54. Ian Auzenne - 132
55. Dave Whelan - 131
56. Jeremy Gist - 129
57. Scott Paine - 127
58. Brian Newbold - 126
58. Tom Keck - 126
60. Chuck Wessell - 124
61. Mike Wiser - 86
62. Brendan Loy - 76

Comments

[yea]

winning the nit is arguable better than losing in the first round of the ncaa. i think it gives more momentum for the next season, lets the kids practice/play for a longer period of tiem and lets the program know that they won something. i dont get all the NIT hating.

[Brendan Loy]

I don't hate on the NIT. Heck, I remember one year when UConn won a bunch of games in the NIT, and people in Connecticut were all excited. (UConn won the NIT back in 1989, but that was one year before I started following college hoops.) Still, I can't resist a little mockery. I mean, c'mon, it's the NIT. You gotta poke fun a little bit.

Though, at least it isn't the CBI... :)

[Brendan Loy]

P.S. It's sort of like making fun of, for instance, the Meineke Car Care Bowl. I don't begrudge teams their shining moment of glory in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. I don't blame their fans for getting excited, if it's their first bowl in forever, or they get a win and show promise for next season, etc. But that doesn't mean I won't make fun of it, because c'mon, it's the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

[Marty West]

Darnell Harris won the 3pt competition!!!!!