MB 2013 in Review

MB 2013 in Review

The 2013 MegaBracket season kicked off on June 22, 2012 with the Indoor Football League Playoffs. There was no clear demarcation between the 2012 and 2013 MB campaigns as the 2012 MB playoffs were still in progress. The first contest of the MB 2013 season was a 52-42 victory by the Tri-Cities Fever over the Colorado Ice in an Intense (the name as well as, no doubt, the descriptor) Conference Semifinal. In a bit of symmetry that reflects the changes to the MB schedule for MB 2014 and beyond, MB 2013 also came to close with an Indoor Football League game. On June 29, 2013, the Sioux Falls Storm defeated the Nebraska Danger 43-40 to win their 3^rd consecutive IFL title.

MB 2013 saw a change in structure of the block system that was instituted during MB 2012. The system was adjusted so that events could have points count in multiple blocks to account for leagues with extended playoffs that encompassed weeks and, in some cases, months. The regular season was extended to 14 blocks with each block champion (or highest placing user who had not previously qualified) landing a spot in the year-end playoffs. Thirteen of the 14 blocks were based on a specific time period while the Division I Men’s Basketball tournament served as the final block. The final playoff spots, up to 16 in MB 2013 from 8 in MB 2012 (the total number of users at that time), were awarded to the two users with the highest overall point total who had not yet clinched a playoff berth. The hope for MB 2013 was to expand to at least 16 users to fill a full playoff field. Many were called but only a few were bitten by the bug as the playoff field had to be rounded out by a robot using all randomized picks and three users who were either mostly or fully absent come playoff time. Despite that fact, the playoffs contained some exciting close matchups including one in which the winner was not decided until the last possible moment.

As mentioned, Block 1 of the MB 2013 season began on June 22, 2012. The opening block lasted 71 days, drawing to a close on August 31 and serving as the longest regular season block. Bristol locked down the first available playoff spot of the campaign with a 233 point victory over Jimmy. Seventeen users scored points in the first block, none of them were robots. Newcomer Danny captured the Block 2 title with a narrow 26-point victory over mxknkl. Bristol actually finished 2^nd in the block but the battle for the playoff spot was between Danny and mxknkl.

Block 3 saw a repeat winner for the first time as Danny captured his 2^nd consecutive block title. Bristol finished 2^nd and Doug 3^rd so Doug claimed the 3^rd playoff spot. (Playoff seeding would be determined by block wins and then overall points so Danny would still get credit for the block title.) abittner was 4^th in the block but 2^nd for the playoff berth, bested by Doug by a 112-point margin. Bristol climbed back on top in Block 4, winning his 2^nd block title, edging Greg by just 7 points for the crown. Block 4 was a 7-day sprint from November 11 to November 17 with 1152 points available on the 17^th, making it the 2^nd largest single day point total in the MB 2013 season. Although Greg did claim the playoff spot, the block title was up for grabs until the bitter end with Bristol securing the crown on the strength of a 1-0 victory by the Simon Fraser Clan over the Incarnate Word Cardinals in a D-II Men’s Soccer Quarterfinal match that began at 8:00 pm CDT. That correct pick was worth 8 points, turning a 1-point deficit into a 7-point victory and a block title late into the night.

Bristol won his 2^nd consecutive and 3^rd overall block title in Block 5 with a 913-782 victory over Doug. mxknkl finished 4^th in the block with 759 points but claimed the playoff spot while Ryan finished 2^nd in the playoff race with 702. Two championship picks on the final day of Block 5 proved to be the deciding factor for the playoff spot. mxknkl correctly picked the West Florida Argonauts (a 1-0 victor over the UC-San Diego Tritons) and the Messiah Falcons (a 1-0 winner over the Emory Eagles) to win the D-II and D-III Women’s Soccer championships, respectively. Each correct pick was worth 32 points, accounting for just more than the 57-point victory margin.

Just as in Blocks 4 and 5, Block 6 would play out to an exciting conclusion – and one that was known in real time unlike the others which occurred during very busy days that obscured the tight races. Block 6 reached its climax on January 12, 2013, just another full final day with 38 results and 240 points. With only one game remaining on the daily schedule – the Green Bay Packers at the San Francisco 49ers in an NFC Divisional Playoff game – the block title was still up for grabs. A Packer victory would result in a 1-point victory for abittner over skizzow while a 49er triumph would clinch the block crown for skizzow. The 49ers won a 45-31 shootout giving skizzow the Block 6 title – meanwhile, in Wisconsin much of the Packer defense is still wondering how to tackle Colin Kaepernick.

Block 7 also came down to the wire and resulted in the first instance of using the tiebreak system to determine the block champion. The final day of Block 7, February 22^nd, saw 37 results and 203 points up for grabs. tonewil made a furious comeback late in the day, outscoring Bristol on 3 different Men’s College Squash picks to draw even, but could never forge ahead. The first tiebreak criterion for a block title is the number of Event Wins (most points scored in an event that concludes during that block). Bristol claimed two Event Wins during Block 7 (Women’s College Squash and the Australian Baseball League) while tonewil collected just one (the Waste Management Phoenix Open). tonewil earned the playoff spot but lost out on the block title thanks to the tiebreaker.

Bristol claimed his 5^th block title in Block 8, outlasting Danny by 95 points. However, once again the playoff spot came down the final moments. Jimmy, Ryan and abittner were all locked in an intense battle to earn the Block 8 playoff berth. Jimmy and Ryan each outscored abittner by 16 points in the ACHA D1 Women’s Pool Play round, but it wasn’t quite enough as abittner held on to defeat Ryan by 29 points and edge Jimmy by a single point, 1108-1107.

Block 9 was the shortest block in MB 2013, lasting a mere 3 days from March 9^th to March 11^th. March 9^th was the busiest day of the season with over 2000 points up for grabs. Bristol won his 3^rd straight block title (and 6^th overall) with the playoff spot again a close battle between Jimmy and Ryan. The deciding pick was made on March 10^th and came in the CIS Women’s Hockey Championship. The championship pitted the Montreal Carabins (Jimmy’s choice) vs. the Calgary Dinos (Ryan’s pick). The Carabins edged the Dinos 3-2, giving Jimmy the corresponding 32 points, providing the winning margin in his 1442-1416 victory for the Block 9 playoff spot.

The broken record played on as Bristol won the Block 10 title, this time by a mere 39 points over Greg. The playoff spot was a 3-person race among Ryan, JP and Bred. Bred outscored Ryan by 36 points on the block’s final day but Ryan’s incoming advantage proved to be too much as he outspaced JP by 22 and Bred by 24 to claim the playoff spot. Block 11 saw Bristol win his 5^th straight block title and 8^th overall, although the margin was only 24 points over 2-time block winner Danny. We have to travel all the way to 10^th place in the overall block race to find the winner of the playoff spot – JP outscored Bred by 38 and Chris by 40 (at this point, the only 3 live humans still making picks) to clinch his spot in the year-end bracket.

While Block 11 was in progress, the Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament came to a conclusion. JP held the lead into the championship game but had no chance of winning the block title as he would be passed by either Chris (with a Louisville victory) or Doug (with a Michigan win). Louisville claimed the national title giving Chris the block title and moving him in line for a top 5 seed. The D-I Men’s Basketball Tournament is one of two events that JP, an avowed user of The Flowchart method for making picks, tries to win each season so it was a crushing blow to lose out on this event win in the championship game. However, JP would later earn his revenge in a most satisfying way.

Bristol kept his streak alive with another title in Block 12 by a 990-884 score over Ryan. Bred finished a strong 3^rd in the block to wrap a playoff berth by 410 points over the only other non-qualifier to score any points, MegaBot. MegaBot, running unopposed, gained its first taste of victory (but not its last) in Block 13 to claim the playoff spot. Block 13 also saw an end to Bristol’s tyranny as Jimmy earned his first block title of the season in a tight race that saw 5 users within 100 points of the crown. The block title on the eve of the playoffs moved Jimmy into the #3 seed heading into the year-end festivities.

The final two playoff spots were awarded to the two users with the highest regular season point total who had not already qualified for the postseason. Those two spots were awarded to Mattyb22 and NicCage, who went into playoffs as the #15 and #16 seeds and also as not having competed in several moons.

As is fitting, the playoffs in MegaBracket are indeed a mega-bracket. The 16 qualifiers are seeded 1 – 16 by block wins and then overall points. The seeding for the MB 2013 playoffs finished in this order:

1. Bristol                   9 block wins
2. Danny                   2 block wins
3. Jimmy                   1 block win, 12,705 points
4. skizzow                                1 block win, 10,143 points
5. Chris                      1 block win, 8,128 points
6. Ryan                      12,967 points
7. abittner                12,948 points
8. Doug                     12,931 points
9. Greg                      11,516 points
10. tonewil                 10,172 points
11. mxknkl                 9,368 points
12. JP                            8,063 points
13. Bred                      4,783 points
14. MegaBot             3,195 points
15. Mattyb22            3,133 points
16. NicCage                2,356 points

The playoffs proceed in a straight bracket format: 1-16, 2-15, etc. through all four rounds to determine a champion. Consolation brackets are also held to determine places 3 – 16. The first round of the 2013 MB Playoffs began on April 21 and ran through May 10. Four of the eight first round matchups were uncompetitive as the robot (MegaBot), the two completely absent users (Mattyb22 and NicCage), and the mostly absent user (Bred) all were defeated in lopsided margins by the top four seeds. Ryan and abittner survived strong challenges from mxknkl and tonewil and pulled away at the end for comfortable victories. Doug and Greg battled until the waning days before Doug escaped with a 122-point victory to move to the second round. The final matchup of the first round pitted Chris vs. JP. At a couple of different junctures it appeared that Chris had finally squelched the threat from the 12-seeded JP, but each time JP rallied to close the gap. The final day of Round 1 was very busy (as was most of the month of May) with more than 400 points possible. The two users traded points until only one final opportunity for points remained. Chris led JP 992 – 981 with Game 6 of the NHL Western Conference first round series between the Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues left to go final. The Kings led the series 3-2 and were looking to clinch the win and advance to the next round. The pick was worth 12 points with JP picking Los Angeles and Chris selecting St. Louis. If the Blues could stave off elimination Chris would hold off JP and move on to the second round while the Kings had to win the series in 6 for JP to secure the upset. As foreshadowed earlier, JP earned his revenge for losing the D-I Men’s Basketball tournament in the championship game to Chris on the strength of a 2-1 Kings victory, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat around midnight by the smallest of margins, 993 – 992. JP was the only lower seed to win the first round and it was fitting that it came on NHL points as his domination of the ice continued with his 3^rd consecutive NHL event victory (all 3 times it has been contested).

The second round saw four competitive matches in the winner’s bracket and four forgone conclusions in the 9^th place quarterfinals. Three of the four quarterfinals matchups were decided by less than 200 points – Bristol vs. Doug, skizzow vs. JP and Danny vs. abittner, each of them staying in doubt until the final days of Round 2. Bristol and skizzow managed to sew up their victories by the final day, finishing with 165-point and 188-point wins, respectively, while abittner had to hold on until the end, securing a 75-point win to knock off 2^nd-seeded Danny and move to the semifinals. In the other quarterfinal Jimmy pulled away in the last few days to defeat Ryan 1643 – 1259. Greg, Chris, mxknkl and tonewil rolled over the lowest four seeds in the 9^th place quarterfinals to advance in the consolation bracket.

Like Round 2, Round 3 lasted a mere 8 days, beginning on May 19^th and concluding May 26^th. The semifinals each pitted a past champion vs. a MB rookie as Bristol battled skizzow and Jimmy tangled with abittner. The old hands vanquished the upstarts by nearly identical scores with Bristol advancing 1173 – 970 and Jimmy winning 1163 – 937. In the 5^th place semifinals, Doug and Danny moved on with wins over JP and Ryan, while Greg defeated Chris and tonewil upended mxknkl in the 9^th place semifinals. In the 13^th place semifinals, MegaBot rolled to victory over Mattyb22 while Bred managed 32 points left over from picks made weeks earlier to knock off NicCage 32-0. Other than that matchup where the 32 points were an accident, the closest margin of victory in Round 3 was Danny’s 164-point win over Ryan.

Round 4 lasted 34 days as the sports world slows down in June. Absentee users Mattyb22 and NicCage played to a scoreless tie in the 15^th place match with Mattyb22 earning the victory based on a tiebreak of regular season points. MegaBot steamrolled the absent Bred for a 13^th place finish and mxknkl matched his finish to his 11 seed with a blowout defeat of Chris. The 9^th place match between Greg and tonewil was very competitive with the margin remaining under 10 points for most of the round. Greg picked up some key points in mid-June to pull away for a 1530 – 1452 victory. JP took advantage of a largely absent Ryan to roll up a 717-point victory for 7^th place, making JP one of four users (Doug, abittner and Jimmy) to out-perform his playoff seed. On the flip side, three users placed lower in the playoffs than their seed: Danny, Chris and Ryan. Doug and Danny had a very competitive battle in the 5^th place matchup as the margin never exceeded 100 points until after the final contest. Doug held off Danny by 121 points to earn a 5^th place finish. The closest match was for 3^rd place between skizzow and abittner where the result was in doubt until the final week. After trading the lead back and forth several times, abittner emerged victorious by a score of 1437 – 1404.

The championship match pitted the only two users who have been crowned champion of MegaBracket. Jimmy won Original MB and the MB 2012 championship while Bristol took the title in MB 2011. The pattern of alternating titles continued as Bristol was crowned MegaBracket Champion for a second time by virtue of a 1527-1239 victory over Jimmy that was clinched when the Miami Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs for the NBA title. While no bubbly was spilled in the home of the newly crowned champion there were noticeably fewer Landshark Lagers at the end of the night than at the beginning.