In the NCAA Tournament Survivor Challenge, contestants have to choose two teams that they think will win on each of the first two days of the tournament and then one team on every other day of the tournament. A contestant is eliminated once one of his picks loses. The last contestant standing wins. The 2009 results are displayed below.
First Round Picks
| Entry |
First Round – Thursday
|
First Round – Friday
|
||
California  |
Gonzaga  |
|||
| Connecticut |
Duke |
Syracuse |
Florida State |
|
| Tom Boorstein | Villanova |
Duke |
Syracuse |
Kansas |
| Villanova |
Gonzaga |
Xavier |
Wake Forest |
|
| Texas A&M |
Texas |
Syracuse |
Wake Forest |
|
| Dante Carnevale | Gonzaga |
Duke |
Missouri |
Michigan State |
| David Cohen | Gonzaga |
Duke |
Kansas |
Xavier |
| Jeff Dees | Washington |
Oklahoma |
Missouri |
Xavier |
| Purdue |
Gonzaga |
Syracuse |
Wake Forest |
|
| Villanova |
Gonzaga |
Syracuse |
West Virginia |
|
| Donald Desrochers | Gonzaga |
Oklahoma |
Syracuse |
Missouri |
| Theresa Desrochers | Oklahoma |
UCLA |
Xavier |
Michigan State |
| Josh Epstein | Purdue |
Gonzaga |
Missouri |
Xavier |
| Ed Gonzalez | Purdue |
Maryland |
Kansas |
Missouri |
| Purdue |
UCLA |
Missouri |
Wake Forest |
|
| Duke |
Oklahoma |
West Virginia |
Michigan State |
|
| Washington |
Oklahoma |
Missouri |
Wake Forest |
|
| Purdue |
Illinois |
|||
| Lukas Johnson | Villanova |
Oklahoma |
Syracuse |
Michigan State |
| Connecticut |
Villanova |
Wake Forest |
Florida State |
|
| Matthew Mills | Villanova |
Oklahoma |
Kansas |
Missouri |
| Duke |
UCLA |
Arizona State |
West Virginia |
|
| Kush Patel | Gonzaga |
Oklahoma |
Syracuse |
Michigan State |
| Rance Piatt | Gonzaga |
Duke |
Syracuse |
Missouri |
| Jeremy Prewitt | Washington |
Gonzaga |
Marquette |
Missouri |
| Gonzaga |
Duke |
Wake Forest |
Michigan State |
|
| Gonzaga |
Duke |
Syracuse |
Wake Forest |
|
| Kyser Thompson | Purdue |
Oklahoma |
Syracuse |
Xavier |
| Duke |
Oklahoma |
Missouri |
Wake Forest |
|
| Matt Zurek | Villanova |
Duke |
Syracuse |
Michigan State |
Thursday’s most popular picks:
Gonzaga (13 picks)
Duke (11)
Oklahoma (10)
Villanova (7)
Purdue (6)
Lowest seeds taken:
No. 10 Maryland (by Ed Gonzalez)
No. 9 Texas A&M (by Mariel Brady)
No. 7 California (by Jason Alt)
No. 7 Texas (by Mariel Brady)
Eliminated:
Jason Alt (California)
Kerry Johnson (Illinois)
Friday’s most popular picks:
Missouri (12 picks)
Syracuse (12)
Wake Forest (9)
Michigan State (7)
Xavier (6)
Lowest seeds taken:
No. 6 Arizona State (by Alicia Mullin)
No. 6 Marquette (by Jeremy Prewitt)
No. 6 West Virginia (by Brendon Desrochers, Todd Hinckley, Alicia Mullin)
Eliminated:
Ted Berg (Florida State)
Richard Bush (Wake Forest)
Mariel Brady (Wake Forest)
Brad DeNardo (Wake Forest)
Brendon Desrochers (West Virginia)
Eleazer Gorenstein (Wake Forest)
Todd Hinckley (West Virginia)
Stephanie Iovieno (Wake Forest)
Mike Kinsella (Wake Forest)
Alicia Mullin (West Virginia)
Mike Rudner (Wake Forest)
Mike Stukel (Wake Forest)
Rich Zuckerman (Wake Forest)
Second Round Picks
| Entry | College | Second | Round |
| Affiliation | Saturday | Sunday | |
| Tom Boorstein | Columbia | Gonzaga |
Missouri |
| Dante Carnevale | Massachusetts | Oklahoma |
Pittsburgh |
| David Cohen | Lehigh | Oklahoma |
Pittsburgh |
| Jeff Dees | Northwestern | Gonzaga |
Kansas |
| Donald Desrochers | Roger Williams | Villanova |
Xavier |
| Theresa Desrochers | Northwestern | Gonzaga |
Kansas |
| Josh Epstein | Massachusetts | Connecticut |
Michigan State |
| Ed Gonzalez | Hofstra | Gonzaga |
Michigan State |
| Lukas Johnson | Northwestern | Gonzaga |
Kansas |
| Matthew Mills | Missouri | North Carolina |
Pittsburgh |
| Kush Patel | Northwestern | Duke |
Kansas |
| Rance Piatt | Kentucky | Oklahoma |
Kansas |
| Jeremy Prewitt | Baltimore | Oklahoma |
Louisville |
| Kyser Thompson | Georgia | Gonzaga |
Missouri |
| Matt Zurek | UNLV | Gonzaga |
Xavier |
Saturday’s most popular picks:
Gonzaga (7 picks)
Oklahoma (5)
Lowest seeds taken:
No. 4 Gonzaga (by seven entrants)
Eliminated:
(None)
Sunday’s most popular picks:
Kansas (5 picks)
Pittsburgh (3)
Lowest seeds taken:
No. 4 Xavier (by Donald Desrochers, Matt Zurek)
Eliminated:
(None)
Sweet 16 and Elite Eight Picks
| Sweet 16 | Elite Eight | |||
| Entry | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Memphis |
||||
| Memphis |
||||
| Memphis |
||||
| Memphis |
||||
| Memphis |
||||
| Memphis |
||||
| Memphis |
||||
| Ed Gonzalez | Pittsburgh |
Louisville |
Connecticut |
North Carolina |
| Memphis |
||||
| Duke |
||||
| Kush Patel | Pittsburgh |
Louisville |
Connecticut |
North Carolina |
| Connecticut |
Louisville |
Pittsburgh |
||
| Connecticut |
Syracuse |
|||
| Kyser Thompson | Pittsburgh |
Louisville |
Villanova |
North Carolina |
| Connecticut |
Louisville |
Pittsburgh |
||
Thursday’s most popular picks:
Memphis (8 picks)
Connecticut (3)
Pittsburgh (3)
Eliminated:
Tom Boorstein (Memphis)
Dante Carnevale (Memphis)
David Cohen (Memphis)
Jeff Dees (Memphis)
Donald Desrochers (Memphis)
Theresa Desrochers (Memphis)
Josh Epstein (Memphis)
Lukas Johnson (Memphis)
Matthew Mills (Duke)
Friday’s most popular picks:
Louisville (5 picks)
Eliminated:
Jeremy Prewitt (Syracuse)
Saturday’s most popular picks:
Connecticut (2 picks)
Pittsburgh (2 picks)
Eliminated:
Rance Piatt (Pittsburgh)
Matt Zurek (Pittsburgh)
Final Four Picks
| Final Four | ||||
| Entry | Saturday | Monday | ||
| Villanova |
||||
| Villanova |
||||
| Connecticut |
||||
Saturday’s most popular picks:
Villanova (2 picks)
Eliminated:
Ed Gonzalez (Villanova)
Kush Patel (Villanova)
Kyser Thompson (Connecticut)
Note: Ed, Kush and Kyser share the title.
21 Comments
let’s do it Cal! Here’s rooting for Binghamton.
The first knockout game of the challenge comes in the second set of games on Thursday — Maryland vs. Cal, ACC vs. Pac-10. Gotta love it!
And congrats to Mariel for 1) having the guts to pick a No. 9 seed, 2) picking a No. 9 who waltzed through its first-round match more easily than Memphis and 3) being the first entrant to get a W. Genius!
The Big Ten is currently outscoring their opponents by over 2-1. I think that proves that we are the best conference.
roburt sallie is my boy
You knew a guy named Kyser would appreciate a guy named Roburt.
The Survivor Bracket favorite is now out of the tournament, a big relief to all the other competitors.
And Ed is the first to advance to Friday.
how does the Maryland Alumn not pick the upset lock of the day? =P
Like Pacquaio knocking em out
basketball sucks
No sweat for Mariel. Texas wins in a yawn. “The stars at night are big and bright, CLAP-CLAP-CLAP-CLAP!”
Hey, at least Jason has some company now.
It’s poisonous to have a close relationship with Lukas apparently. Roommate/best TV-loving friend — axed. Dad — axed.
I’ve disowned him as a result.
I’ve got a former roommate, a former co-worker, a current roommate, and a former classmate still on my hitlist.
I burned your nameplate that was hanging around the office to try to ward off the curse.
elimination central.
I am a bit late on this one, Jason, but I will say it anyway: I realized that for any competition involving you (survivor bracket, fantasy football, etc), the expected value is greater than zero for the other entrants. Here, I put up 1/30 of the pot for a 1/29 chance of winning.
Also, props to my wife for being the last female (of four) left standing.
All I have to say is survive and advance. Big weekend.
wow you Gonzaga guys were fortunate tonight
i’d like to thank all my friends (erika, justin, tao) who have/had winning schools. kyser…you’re next!