One, One, One and One, for the first tme ever.

Four No. 1 seeds advance in college basketball's national championship tournament,. That was good for cyn, the second day leader in the Napa Valley Register's Hoops Challenge. Cyn is back atop the standings going in to the Final Four, with a pick of Kansas to win it all.

Well, techincally, headmotha is tied with cyn, but for one problem. Headmotha did not pick a winner in the North Carolina v. Kansas game, or in the title game. So yes, headmotha is tied right now, but that is a short-lived tie.

Judy, just 20 points back, has no winner picked in the UCLA v. Memphis matchup or in the title game, so judy is going to slip a few pegs.

Parkay can't move up past cyn, for both have Memphis and Kansas meeting in the finals, both with Kansas winning.

Horton1998 and napard50 are tied for 5th place, each with a chance at the local standings title. Both picked UCLA and North Carolina to get to the title game, but they have different winners, so each could end up on top.

You have to go down to 11th place someguyinnapa to find the highest ranking person picking Memphis to win it all.

Check your local standings and national standings today, then jump back in next weekend through Monday night for the Final Four and the title game.

Saturday Update

Come on, admit it, how many of you had Davidson winning three games, knocking off Georgetown and Wisconsin along the way?

I was close, as I had Davidosn's first round opponent, Gonzaga, winning three, so I was close, but, um, uh, well, it counts as three losses for me.

For the local standings, jets gave up the lead for the first time in quite a while, slipping to a tie for sixth, as second-day leader cyn, along with headmotha and stretch, leaper to a three-way tie for the top spot with 710 points.

Judy and schlag81 are 20 point s back in a tie for fourth, while parkay is in sixth with jets at 680.

Where is your team in the local standings and national standings?

Check now, and check back again as the Elite Eight shrink this weekend down to the Final Four.

Friday Update

The top spot in the Napa Valley Register Hoops Challenge local standings did not change as one half of March Madness' Elite 8 was established last night. Jets retained the No. 1 position. Jets did, however, slip from No. 2 to No. 12 in the national standings.

Schlag81 jumped in to the No. 2 spot in the local standings, 30 points back of jets and 30 points ahead of a pack of seven that includes opening day leader roserunquist and day 2 leader cyn.

How is your bracket doing? I made a big leap, from a tie for 98th place to a tie for 68th place. Not exactly something to be proud of, but hey, I'm celebrating every win I can get.

Why, because the points get bigger as the games go on, so you're not out of it if you have teams still alive in your bracket. Check your bracket today and as the tournament goes on.



Thursday update

Sweet 16 time is here, with games kicking off in just a few hours.

How are your brackets going?

Are you competitive with Jets, the local standings leader who is just 10 points out of the top spot in the national standings for our March Madness Hoops Challenge contest?

Or are you more like me, in a group of seven who are tied for, um, uh, 12th place. Really, we are tied for 98th place in the local standings, but the page is set up to group people differently, so I don't look QUITE as bad.

Good luck tonight, everyone, and check back here after tonight's games, tomorrow's games, and the weekend's games to see how badly your brackets are fractured, or how well they are holding up.



Monday update

Now that the teams in the Sweet 16 are set, the main question around here is ... Are you better off with your Final Four still in place, or better with a 50 point lead and only 2 of your Final Four in place?

Sure, Jets has a 50 point lead -- 520-470 -- over a pack of 6 other Hoops Challenge players, but Jets has what looks like a big problem.

Jets lost both UConn and Pitt from the player's Final Four picks, leaving the UCLA-North Carolina matchup as the remaining teams.

Five of the 6 players chasing Jets in the local standings have all four of their Final Four teams still going.

Check the local standings to see how you are doing.

Be sure to check the national standings to see that Jets is in second place overall, just 10 points back from the top and tied with 2 others for second in the national standings.



Saturday update

Duke falls, UCLA nearly does, and one player in the Napa Valley Register's Hoops Challenge moves to the top of the local standings after Saturday's games.

With 400 points, Jets is not only 30 points ahead of the other 166 players in Hoops Challenge, but Jets is just 10 points out of being tied for the lead in the national standings.

Although Jets moved to the top, there is a group of 5 lurking just 30 points back, including Friday leader Cyn, Duck Smith, Julianna,  Thursday leader roserunquist, and a newcomer to the leaderboard in Stretch.

Be sure to check the local standings throughout Sunday's games to see where you are.

Jets, you might want to also check the national standings to see where you are.



Friday update

With the first round of games done,two people in Hoops Challenge have established themselves in front of the pack.

Western Kentucky's last second three-pointer in overtime sent them past Drake to start the day, altering the local standings a bit, but the leaderboard with 20 games gone had 13 players tied for first.

Toss in San Diego's overtime stunner of an upset over UConn in the early afternoon games and the lead group was down to 10 people at the top of the local standings with 200 points.

Once the evening session was complete, Cyn was alone at the top with 27 wind for 270 points.

jets had leapfrogged the entire lead pack from earlier in the day, well, all but Cyn that is, and grabbed second place alone with 260 points.

Some of the group in the lead all day long was in a pack of a dozen tied for third place with 250 points. That group includes dernst, Duck Smith, headmotha, HORTON1998, Judy, Julianna, mike b, napard50, roserundquist (the day 1 leader) , smitty61091 and SommerGal

Check out the local standings to see where you are leading in to the Saturday games.



Thursday update

OK, folks, March Madness is finally here, and so is the Napa Valley Register's Hoops Challenge college basketball tournament brackets.

You can check for yourself how you are doing in the local standings and national standings, but I thought I'd give updates as the Hoops Challenge tournament goes along.

After just a few of the 16 Thursday first round games, there was a large group of players all tied with a perfect 70 points, including:

abasayne1, Big Daddy, bill harrison, camsell, Cane, casano, Cyn, dernst, Devin, JCad, Lengle, lrollings, mike b, mito16m, pholbrook5, RLJARECKI, roserundquist , smitty61091, tsimpkins, vdeitrick, whitld08, Zeus.

As Thursday wore on, roserundquist reached 120 points, establishing a 10 point lead over a group of 16 others tied with 110.

By the time the 16 Thursday games were over, 6 others joined roserundquist in the lead, each missing only one game for a total of 150 points, including camsell, Cyn, JCad, mito16m, pholbrook5 and Zeus.

There are 23 others one game behind, gathering 140 points by only missing on two opening day games.

You get 10 points per first round win, no points for a loss, so being behind right now doesn't count you out, unless you had Georgia heading in to the Final Four!

Good luck, and check back for Hoops Challenge local standings updates throughout each day and the entire tournament.

There are 167 people playing along just on this Web site, and thousands more in a national version of this Hoops Challenge.