MB Playoff Roundup – April 24

Posted: April 24, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: MB 2013 | Tags: | Leave a comment »

MB Playoffs – First Round

The first round of the MB Playoffs began Sunday, April 21 and will end on Friday, May 10. While the top 3 seeds will seemingly cruise into the 2nd round barring unforseen developments, the rest of the matchups are far from decided as there are plenty of points available between now and the end of the round. We will be providing daily updates on the round’s matchups. Here is our first installment….

Tuesday Pts

1

Bristol

160

24

16

NicCage

0

0
Bristol is seeking redemption after heading into last season’s playoffs as the top seed only to see his championship dreams all but shattered on his wedding day, due in large part to the Kentucky Derby. He nearly made a heroic comeback but fell 6 points short after some foreign guy blew a D-II tennis match. Bristol, the MB 2011 champion, earned the top seed after winning 9 blocks and also finished first in regular season points, event wins, champions picked, and bracket event points. He has essentially earned a bye into the quarterfinals as NicCage has been absent from MB for some time. There is still time for NicCage to join the playoff action albeit at a prohibitive disadvantage.

8

Doug

112

8

9

Greg

136

24
This 8/9 battle of MB veterans has all the makings of a classic down to the wire battle. Each user earned a playoff spot early in the season (Doug in Block 3, Greg in Block 4) but could not seal a block title to move up the seeding chart, finishing as a block runner-up twice apiece. Doug finished 4th in regular season points, just 17 behind abittner for 3rd and was 3rd in event wins and bracket event points, 4th in champions picked and 5th in user vs. user event points. Greg finished 7th in regular season points and 4th in event wins. Both are original members of MB and seek a berth in the quarterfinals, likely opposite fellow grizzled veteran Bristol.

5

Chris

100

0

12

JP

88

16
JP hopes to pull off the prototypical 5/12 upset over Chris, the winner of NCAA D-I Men’s Basketball. As is often the case in the NCAA tournament, the seeds do not always tell the whole story. Chris finished the regular season with just 65 more total points than JP but earned the 5 seed on the strength of his block title. JP finished with more events wins, champs picked, correct picks and bracket event points, meaning we could see a tight battle down to the finish. Chris narrowly missed winning the Original MB championship back when it consisted of only the 4 Men’s Division I basketball tournaments and finished 3rd in the MB 2012 playoffs. As always, JP represents all colleges with presidential names, especially Franklin Pierce.

4

skizzow

136

24

13

Bred

72

16
After knocking off top-seeded Bristol in the first round of last year’s 8 person playoffs, Bred is in search of another postseason upset. Bred is known for long periods of inactivity/unconsciousness followed by bursts of brilliance, so the potential certainly exists for another upset. skizzow, outright winner of Block 6 and the 2nd highest seeded MB newcomer as the #4 seed, hopes to fend off the upset that Bristol could not in MB 2012.

6

Ryan

156

8

11

mxknkl

128

8
Another intriguing first round matchup pits Ryan vs. mxknkl in the 6/11 contest. Ryan finished 2nd in overall regular season points, event wins, champions picked and bracket event points, and twice was runner-up for a block title (Block 12 and D-I Men’s BB). One block title would have results in a #3 seed and a date with MegaBot rather than a slugfest against the 11 seed. Mxknkl, a MB rookie, led Block 13 heading into the final day of the regular season before finishing 2nd behind Jimmy and qualifying as the 11 seed. Ryan, an original member of MB, was the MB 2012 runner-up, losing to Jimmy in the championship.

3

Jimmy

108

24

14

MegaBot

16

8
Jimmy snagged the Block 13 title from mxknkl on the final day to slip into the 3rd seed and earn a spot opposite MegaBot in Round 1. Jimmy is an original MB member who claimed titles in Original MB and MB 2012, while finishing as runner-up in MB 2011. Jimmy led all of MB 2013 in user vs. user event points and finished in the Top 5 in champions picked and bracket event points. MegaBot, our automated contestant who uses the randomizer for all picks, is not likely to put up much of a fight against the defending champion.

7

abittner

188

16

10

tonewil

116

24
This 7/10 matchup also shapes up as a competitive matchup. Both MB rookies, abittner & tonewil put together solid regular seasons with each losing a block title in a painful way. abittner lost the Block 6 title in the final game of the block as San Francisco defeated Green Bay in an  NFC divisional playoff game. He finished 3rd in regular season points, just 19 behind Ryan for 2nd, while also ranking 2nd in user vs. user event points, 3rd> in champions picked and 4th in bracket event points. tonewil tied Bristol for the Block 7 title, losing on the first tiebreaker (2-1 in block event wins) and finished 8th in regular season points, including 3rd among rookies. A block title for either user would have resulted in a top 5 seed.

2

Danny

152

8

15

Mattyb22

0

0
Newcomer Danny stormed to two early titles in Blocks 2 and 3, earning the 2 seed as one of just two users to win multiple blocks. Danny heads into the playoffs as the highest seeded MB rookie and finished 2nd to abittner in regular season points among newbies. He was 6th overall in points and finished in the Top 5 in events wins, champions picked and user vs. user event points. Similar to Bristol, it appears Danny will coast into the quarterfinals as Mattyb22 has not made a MB appearance in quite a while.