The Live Snitch
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are...
10:15 P.M.: I am not always perfect at predicting outcomes, and certainly my seeding for tomorrow will be way off, but it appears that most of my predictions on teams that will advance to the bracket have proven true. Once the bracket is released I will know for sure, but based on the results I have seen thus far, I believe that I successfully called 33 out of 35 teams that advanced to the bracket. The exceptions were Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY) advancing over University of Florida (Gainesville, FL) and New York University (New York, NY) over Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD). In the case of RIT, I simply thought Florida was the better team. After making the finals last year, and competing in their home state, I thought they would have a better showing. As for NYU, I struggled a lot with them vs. Johns Hopkins, and ultimately I made the wrong choice. I was about 55% for Hopkins and when two teams seem that closely matched, it's very easy to be wrong. If the information I've seen is correct, I'm still waiting on the resolution of Marquette University (Milwaukee, WI) and Boston Riot (Boston, MA). If Marquette does make it, that would advance my record to 34-36. There are also still some games to be played (although I don't think this will impact my record), and a three-way tie between Ohio State University (Columbus, OH), University of Richmond (Richmond, VA), and Tufts University (Medford, MA). I'm not surprised to see those three teams grouped so closely, but if the information I've seen is correct, Tufts, and Ohio State will advance as I predicted. Once again, I would like to emphasize that I am not onsite, and have not seen official results, the information I am using is pieced together through unofficial means and may be incorrect.
6:50 P.M.: I've been a little quieter than I planned on being, mostly because it's been difficult to keep track of all the scores. Like I said, I'm not in Kissimmee, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were lots of "West Coast Best Coast" cheers errupting. Currently three teams: Lost Boys (Lomita, CA), University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA), and University of California Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA) all top their respective pools. Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff, AZ) and Arizona State are both looking strong, and will likely make the bracket, as will Silicon Valley Skrewts, who after beating Florida in the morning, lost a disappointing 110*-30 match to Penn State University (University Park, PA). Right now, it looks as though six of the seven West Region teams will advance to the bracket.
The other regions have largely been a mixed bag. Marquette University (Milwaukee, WI) and Bowling Green State (Bowling Green, OH) are both disappointing so far, but others from the Midwest, in particular the three Michigan schools, are thriving. The Mid-Atlantic is seeing similar trends, with topdogs: University of Maryland (College Park, MD) and Villanova University (Villanova, PA) are faltering--with a combined 3-3 record on the day, while perceived lesser teams, like Penn State, Q.C. Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA), University of Richmond (Richmond, VA), and Virginia Commonweatlh University (Richmond, VA) are all looking strong so far.
11:00 A.M.: This is why I love quidditch, everything is so unpredictable. From what I can tell, the match between the Silicon Valley Skrewts (Mountain View, CA) and University of Florida (Gainesville, FL) this morning was quite a dandy. Skrewts prevailed 90*-60 in a back-and-forth contest. I had originally picked Skrewts based on talent, but changed my pick to Florida based on intangibles. Both teams should be able to make it through to the bracket though. Florida is looking more like the dangerous team at last year's World Cup, than the squad that has struggled this year.
In other news, Florida State Univeristy (Tallahassee, FL), a team I picked to miss the bracket, upset Marquette University (Milwaukee, WI) in overtime. Marquette was one of my favorites out of the Midwest, while I was generally down on the South, and especially FSU. This just shows how unpredictable the game can be, and why it's not played on paper. From what I can tell, it sounds like the games are a dandy.
