It seems that ESPN has gotten an early jump on its contest this year. Is anybody going to take charge in creating a group for Outsports, or should I? Let me know....

It seems that ESPN has gotten an early jump on its contest this year. Is anybody going to take charge in creating a group for Outsports, or should I? Let me know....

I tried to set up a group yesterday and again today, but the link doesn't seem to work properly.

have u tried cbssportsline? we've used them the last 2 years.

Okay guys (and GatorJamie!) I got the link to work and set up a private group!!! Go to the ESPN Fantasy Games Home Page to sign up!

You will need your own ESPN.com ID and password. Then click on the Men's Tournament Challenge link. Our Group name is OutBrackets and the password to the private group is Outsports.

Last year we had so much interest we had to set up a second group. Good luck!

Any problems, let me know and I'll do my best to help you out.

[ March 05, 2003, 02:18 PM: Message edited by: George_vikingfan ]

G-Lo, I found the 'Outbrackets' group but I can't get the password 'outsports' to work. frown

The password may be case-sensitive so be sure to type Outsports with a capital O.

That did it. Thanks.

Good work, George! Thanks

We've got 8 players signed up so far. You have until tipoff of the first tournament game, which is approximately 12:20 Eastern time Thursday March 20. And remember, you'll need to set up a FREE ESPN.com ID and password before you can register for our group!

I just became the 11th Outsports member to join -- only 10 days til Selection Sunday and 14 days until March Madness begins!....I'm looking forward to it already -- I just hope I do better with my brackets than I did with this contest last year....as usual, it should be a blast.

Make it an even dozen now. I'm sure my picks will yield mediocre results again, but this was lots of fun last year. Good luck everybody! Thanks, George, for setting this up again.

Well I just joined the group and prepare for Da Kid to make his presence known. Just as I did in the OFFL, and just like I currently am in Virtual GM. Theo, you may have a lock on football, but as you know from our fantasy b-ball league, b-ball is MY sport. Look for Da Kid to run away with 1st place.

Da Kid.

Up to 15 players. Brackets will be announced a week from tomorrow.

i'm in.

Add me in too.

Having trouble getting the tourney site to come up. I did get a name registered however.

The site has been very fussy. Since its only been up a couple of days, I'm assuming its just because so many people are trying to access it.

I would recommend trying to access it during off peak times. I'm sure all the college hoops on TV isn't helping matters.

I would also suggest not trying to do your brackets the minute they are posted. Gotta figure it'll be really busy then as well.

Obviously late mentioning it, but I joined a few days ago, lol.

18 players but no sign of Cyd or Jim. Anybody know how to type out chicken sounds?

Brackets to be announced one week from today.

I just signed up tonight.

Speaking of NCAA Pools, we are up to 20 players in the ESPN group. And if Jim and Cyd set one up here at Outsports, go nuts and play 2 brackets!

Still time to sign up for the ESPN Pool. There are valuable prizes being offered by ESPN.com! And like I said, when the Outsports Pool is posted, play 2!!! Its the most wonderful time of the year!!!

The Duck is in Da House!

Yeah Duck, but can your boys pull it together at the end here and have a strong showing in the big dance? If the Luke's can get hot, I think they can!

Still room for more players in our group. Go to the ESPN Fantasy Games Home Page to sign up!

You will need your own ESPN.com ID and password. Then click on the Men's Tournament Challenge link. Our Group name is OutBrackets and the password to the private group is Outsports.


And be sure to sign up for the game here at Outsports when the brackets are announced so you'll be in two pools!

[ March 16, 2003, 08:30 AM: Message edited by: George_vikingfan ]

OK, OK - I've signed up. My Final Four right now:

Arizona
Kentucky
Florida
Syracuse

Arizona beats Florida in the final.

I'm in. The initial thrill of throwing caution to the wind in the Outsports bracket entry was quickly followed by a rush of anxiety, so I made this entry much less shocking. It will be an interesting compare and contrast scenario in any event.

I've picked a couple of upsets...now I hope they don't upset me.

cyd, we're close on the final 4

Kentucky
Arizona
Florida
Louisville

Still time to play the ESPN game with our group. You have until tipoff of the first game to register and complete your brackets.

i'm in. 31 total so far.

did my pics : ) this should be a blast and by the way everyone is playing for second place : )
Good Luck to everyone

Cyd, my picks are almost identical to yours! My Final Four: Kentucky, Arizona, Maryland & Syracuse. Kentucky defeating Syracuse in the final... Ya gotta have some upsets!

I have Kentucky, Arizona, Oklahoma and Maryland, with Kentucky beating Maryland in the finals. Too bad the committee put Pitt and Kentucky in the same bracket. Couldn't Pitt have been the No. 1 or even No. 2 seed in the East and Oklahoma the No. 1 in the South? Not sure Texas deserves a top seed.

Hey edchow, did you sneak a peek at my brackets or something?? We have the exact same final four pics!! i too know that there has gotta be upsets here or there.

Da Kid.

Just posted my entry. My Final Four picks:

Kentucky
Illinois
Florida
Oklahoma

Two #1s, a #2, and a #4; 2 teams from SEC. Oklahoma beats Kentucky to win it all.

Upsets:
Weber St (12) over Wisconsin (5)
Butler (12) over Miss St (5)
Tulsa (13) over Dayton (4)
Holy Cross (14) over Marquette (3)
(might regret this one!)

I've got Kentucky, Duke, Oklahoma and Xavier in the ESPN game with UK over the Sooners in the title game. But in the Outsports game I've got Kentucky, Mississippi State, Kansas and Maryland in the Outsports pool with Kentucky over Maryland in the finals.

Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh---I'm going to so happy for all those Kentucky pickers that Kentucky will not have a tough game until it's meets it demise at the hands of the Pitt Panthers. The rest is a toss up - could be Texas, KU, OK and or Wake - but I don't care because the BRASS RING will grabbed by Pitt this year. J

Just under 24 hours to enter, but there is still room for more players in our group. Go to the ESPN Fantasy Games Home Page to sign up!

You will need your own ESPN.com ID and password. Then click on the Men's Tournament Challenge link. Our Group name is OutBrackets and the password to the private group is Outsports.

If you've already registered, remember to complete your bracket!!!


And be sure to sign up for the game here at Outsports when the brackets are announced so you'll be in two pools!

[ March 19, 2003, 09:23 AM: Message edited by: George_vikingfan ]

Well, I entered and just finished filling out the bracket. Had to use the non-flash version though, the flash version wouldn't work right!

Don't expect too much from me, I know shit about basketball.

But I do know the Longhorns are taking the whole thing!
eek!

billsf- Being a fellow Texas grad, I think that Texas may make it to the Final Four, but someone besides T.J. Ford (Sporting News National Player of the Year) needs to step it up, in order for them to win it all. Depending upon upsets in other brackets, anything could happen though.

My Final Four Picks:
Kentucky
Arizona
Texas
Syracuse

Champion: Kentucky

[ March 19, 2003, 11:41 PM: Message edited by: SmoothRon ]

I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO f**king mad right now!!!!!!!!!! I just went to espn.com to check on my brackets and see how many points I have and they tell me that there are no brackets entered under my username. I spent an hours decided on my pics wednesday morning at work and now all my hard work is rewarded with this BULLSHIT!!!! This was my first time checking it since I submitted my bracket on wednesday. The site told me that everything was fine after I submitted it. f**k!!! Why me!! Somebody must have prayed really hard for my brackets not to go in because they knew that I would win it all. So far I only have one game that I chose wrong and that's the NC State/Cal game. Does anybody know what I can do, or is it just a lost cause now??

Da Kid.

Da Kid, I'm truly sorry to hear about your fate with the ESPN pool....btw, did you happen to enter the Outsports pool as well? -- I believe there are 314 total entries here....I don't know what else you can do other than e-mail ESPN.com and see if they somehow have record of your entry and perhaps it is just some glitch in the system that is causing your point total not to appear on the site.

Are you saying that you are 31-1 with your first round picks?....now that IS impressive!....I had a great day Friday going 15-1 (missing only St. Joe's OT loss to Auburn) but am still only 26-6 overall (thanks to Creighton, Memphis and Dayton being upset along with NC State's OT loss to Cal and So Illinois' one point loss to Mizzou on Thursday)....in either event, good luck with the rest of your bracket and I hope this "problem" with the ESPN pool is resolved.

Kudos for your success though -- we all knew you were a basketball genius but we didn't realize your prognosticating ability was THAT good! eek! wink

Kid:

I'm thinking maybe you forgot to fill out your ESPN bracket after doing your Outsports entry. Hope having two brackets (ESPN and here) to complete didn't cause confusion. I didn't know Jim and Cyd were doing brackets until after i ahd already set up the ESPN group.

Actually I did submit brackets on both sites. I made sure that I had two different brackets so that if I bombed on one maybe the other could be more successful. I did though, end up 30-2 (NC State and Miss St.) overall in the bracket that I submitted to espn. Oh well, I guess that's what happens sometimes. I'll be okay.

Da Kid.

I just checked the ESPN tournament challenge site. They seem to be having problems with recording points. Last night it looked like we all had ten points less than we should have. Now it looks like they just recorded the points from yesterday's games.

I've tried checking the site three times in the last couple of days and of those three times, twice I couldn't even get the contest's home page to log in, let alone access the brackets or standings. I just tried again now and somehow managed to get through. If the point totals are accurate I'm tied for second. Woo-hoo!

I just checked and you guys are all safe. I'm squarely positioned at rockbottom and I aint givin'up NOTHIN'.