Of the more than 60 entrants in the Southside Ballers NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament bracket competition, I found myself in fifth place at the close of the first Thursday of action.
A last minute, impetuous decision to change an original pick from Arkansas over Kansas to KU winning cost me a vital point. It wasn’t a pick from the heart, the Razorbacks’ top scorer and rebounder was out with an injury.
By the time Florida was cutting down the nets after a dramatic comeback against Houston in the title game on Monday night, AlvinReid1 had finished a disappointing 44th.
But who is this mysterious AlvinReid2 that also had a bracket?
This person wisely picked Florida to win the national title, and had more faith than me in the SEC. This bracket player survived a rough opening of the tournament to bounce back and finish near “the money.”
They must be a crafty basketball junkie, right?
No, AlvinReid2 is none other than my 24-year-old daughter Blaine – who finished a very respectable 12th.
I call her “the brains of the outfit,” as she nears completion of her master’s degree in electrical engineering at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
I inquired if she wanted to play a bracket (I could play two) with The Ballers and she accepted the invitation. Yes, I paid the entry fee. I’m a good dad.
She then proceeded to do much better than me. This is not to my chagrin, but to my delight.
When Blaine was in high school, I was filling out a bracket for that’s year’s tournament and I handed her one. “Hey, fill this out.” It was an experiment, of sort.
The only instruction I game her was that the team with a lower number (seed) was predicted to win that game. She filled it out and I kept track of her performance.
She did well for a first timer. Blaine sees things we don’t; an engineer is as interested in how things work as they are the finished product. Her first internship was at the Ameren Calloway Nuclear Power facility. Enough said.
Sports are not her thing, but she gravitates to the NCAA Tournament each year. She’s got this bracket thing down to a science.
I think that’s cool. I know she’s cool.
The Reid Roundup
Walter Clayton Jr., of Florida was definitely the Final Four Outstanding Player, and the best player in the entire tournament. After scoring a combined 64 points in amazing comeback wins over Texas Tech then Duke in a national semifinal, the star guard had just 11 points in the title game. But his block attempt on Houston’s Emmanuel Sharp forced a turnover and preserved the Gators’ 65-63 victory…Houston coach Kelvin Sampson as his team self-destructed in the game’s final minutes. After committing four turnovers during the first 35 minutes of the game, the Cougars had five in the waning moments of the game…Duke’s Cooper Flagg must live with the fadeaway jumper he left short in his team’s devastating semifinal loss to Houston. He then committed a silly foul (yes, it was a foul) and the dream season ended in nightmarish fashion…Houston has the best odds to win the 2026 national championship followed by the Duke, UCONN (14-1) and Louisville. Following are BYU, Kentucky, Arkansas, Kansas and Alabama…Missouri basketball freshman guard/forward Marcus Allen has entered the transfer portal. A native of Florida, I could see him tormenting Mizzou in the future for another SEC team…Mizzou had previously lost forward Aidan Shaw to Boston College…Regardless of the NFL mock draft, you will find former Missouri offensive tackle Armand Membo in the Top 10 picks. Several pundits have him destined for the New York Jets, who hold the seventh pick of the first round…Jacques Bouquot, a Penn State forward, will be a player of color in the NCAA Men’s Hockey Frozen Four in St. Louis beginning Thursday night. He hails from Windsor, Conn.
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