CBI Craziness Standings: Second Round!

It took Rick Neuheisel all the willpower he had not to join CBI Craziness!

Health care reform. Tom Pecora possibly going to Fordham. Another woman admitting she bedded Tiger Woods.

What do these three worldwide news events have in common? Combined they aren’t one-billionth as exciting or as riveting as the CBI final four, which begins tonight in St. Louis and Richmond! That’s right, proper names are for suckers, and those other crappy tournaments to which nobody pays any attention!

Pfft, everyone’s all goofy over five mid-majors making the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen. We’ve got FOUR mid-majors in the CBI final four! Take that, America!

Alas, I must begrudgingly admit those fools who participate in NCAA pools have one advantage over us: A set bracket. Somehow, in my excitement over starting the world’s biggest CBI pool, I forgot to note that the tournament re-seeds for the semifinals. So forget about seeing that much-anticipated VCU-Saint Louis matchup projected by a whopping seven of us.

However, the way I figure it, if the CBI is going to change the rules midstream, then damnit, so can we! So the 11 people left who have at least two teams in the field can pick the semifinal game that doesn’t feature their predicted champion—i.e. if you have VCU winning the championship, you can’t pick the VCU-BU game—and, with a correct guess, earn four valuable points! The 11 chosen ones (or the 10 chosen ones not named me) will have emails or Tweets awaiting them this morning.

Second chances in a second chance tournament. How perfect is that? Honestly, did you have any idea this kind of excitement awaited you when you joined the world’s biggest CBI pool?

Without further ado, here are the standings. VCU Pavarotti is the man thus far, with 11 points and three teams still alive, but Robert Simkins and—I swear this isn’t fixed—I are on his heels with nine points. I have no idea how I got to nine points.

On the other end of the spectrum, Josh Claywell has locked up last place with three points and no teams left. Poor kid is a Kentucky native who joined the pool based on my rantings about Hofstra, so his final four featured Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky and the Flying Dutchmen were his champion. Josh, I owe you a Coke.

Also: Fourteen contestants still have their champion alive: Six picked Saint Louis, five picked VCU, two picked Princeton and one picked Boston U. I’ll project the likely winners after the semifinals. Unless Pecora ends up moving to the Bronx, in which case it’ll probably get shelved for a few days.

CBI CRAZINESS ROUND TWO STANDINGS

VCU Pavarotti 11

Robert Simkins 9

Jerry Beach 9

Craig Smith 8

John Templon 8

Jim Waltman 8

Rob White 8

Gary Moore 8

Lee Warner 7

Tim Russell 7

Elise Russell-Manicke 7

Thad Brown 7

Steve Bittenbender 7

Michelle Beach 6

Mike Brodsky 6

Todd Golden 6

Mike Smith 6

Mike Hadley 6

David Kaye 5

Alisha Hord 5

Matt Edwards 5

Tony Sibilla 4

Enoram 4

Mike Stein 4

Sully Ray 4

Josh Claywell 3

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.