The first day of the NCAA tournament wasn’t a good day to be a Tar Heel. North Carolina, a six seed, became an early upset victim, losing to VCU in the first round.
But one Tar Heel didn’t have that much faith in her beloved team. Kate Lord, longtime Glimmer and UNC alum/superfan, correctly picked that upset — going against her heart to pick her team to lose in the first round.
In fact, it was a good weekend to be Kate Lord. Her GDTBATH 2 bracket (Good Day To Buy A Terrible Hat? Good Day To Befriend A Time-traveling Hamster? Good Day To Be A Tar-Heel?) went 28-for-32 in the first round, then an impressive 15-for-16 in the second round, only missing Iowa’s upset win over top-seeded Florida.
That was good enough to catapult the 2016 Glimm champion to the top of the leaderboard. Entering the Sweet 16, GDTBATH 2 71.5 points was enough for first place, ahead of Owen Lester’s OWL1 (69.5) and Chris Rotar’s Crotar3 (66).
Speaking of Florida’s upset, it was surprising how little of an impact that had. Typically, when a one seed goes down, it busts lots of brackets. But Glimmers never had much faith in the Gators. Just 11 people Florida to win the national title, far less than any of the other top seeds.
In the women’s bracket, it was a Good Day To Back (most) All Higher Seeds. Upsets were few and far between. The key, of course, was picking those few upsets correctly.
John Schippman did that best so far. He picked all favorites in the first round, and then mostly favorites in the second round — but correctly picked Notre Dame’s upset over Ohio State. That was enough to vault his John Schippman 1 bracket into first place with 60 points, just ahead of Ramona Shelburne (59.5) and Jeff Keating (58.5).
A housekeeping note: Some of you have not yet paid your Glimm dues. Please get that to me ASAP.
The tournament resumes with the Sweet 16 — the men play Thursday and the women Friday.
Men’s leaderboard (full men’s standings here, full women’s standings here):
| Rank | Name | Score | Pick % | Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GDTBATH 2 | 71.5 | 87.5% | Duke (150) |
| 2 | OWL1 | 69.5 | 81.3% | Illinois (132) |
| 3 | Crotar3 | 66 | 87.5% | Michigan (143) |
| 4 | PCatOne | 65.5 | 87.5% | Michigan (168) |
| 4 | Winner Winner | 65.5 | 79.2% | |
| 6 | Ottomatic 2 | 65 | 83.3% | Houston (158) |
| 7 | Buddha 2 | 64.5 | 81.3% | Michigan (144) |
| 8 | Earl Camburn 2 (JB) | 63 | 81.3% | Arizona (161) |
| 8 | JimCat | 63 | 81.3% | Arizona (148) |
| 8 | jkedit1 | 63 | 81.3% | Arizona (153) |
| 8 | Roid Rage | 63 | 81.3% | Duke (135) |