RICHARD LEE is the winner of the 2002 Pac-10 Hoop-Pundits Pool. Richard, who led the standings for most of the season, finished 62nd, 82nd, 36th and 38th (out of 40) the last four years. Nate Jolly, who briefly took the lead late in the season, fell back after getting only two of the ten CONFERENCE LEADERS questions correct.

Lee, a Los Angeles attorney, is a graduate of Cal and USC law school. He explains his contest strategy: I used to pick Cal to win every single game, but that didn't seem to work out very well, so I have adopted a new strategy.
This year, I figured that Cal and Stanford would be better than the experts thought and that the L.A. schools would be pretty below average. I also thought Arizona would walk through the Pac 10 undefeated and that WSU would win a big one game in the conference season. From there, I just made my picks, with close calls going the home team's way. I think most people used this same "strategy," but I suppose I got luckier than most. Since I've been burned in the past by submitting my picks early, I decided to wait until almost the last possible minute to get a gauge on the teams. Just as in years past, I think all my margins of victory were less than 20 points, with the vast majority being less than 10 points.

CONTEST FACTS AND FIGURES:

M. Brenner had the most Conference Leader questions correct with seven. To see how our picks compared with the actual category winners, go to Summary of Picks . The toughest category turned out to be scoring leader, where only three entrants, Scott Morrison, Paul Frickey, and Critchfield had a Cal player (Joe Shipp).

Team Standings - total of top three from each school(best individual)

  • (1)California 3503 (Richard Lee)
  • (2)UCLA 3406 (Jim Reach)
  • (3)Oregon 3385 (Nate Jolly)
  • (4)Arizona 3296 (Jim Lyding)
  • (5)Stanford 3283 (Tim Verceles)
  • (6)USC 3262 (Trojan66)
  • (7)Washington 3223 (Patrick Thrapp)
  • (8)Oregon St 3129 (Frank Wu)
  • (9)ASU 3075 (Michael Bishop)
  • (10)WSU 2924 (John Neal)

    Most exact margin picks: 9 (David Bartman)

    Fewest exact margin picks: 0 (Larry Harris, Jeff Schloss, Mark Brown, Big Al, Jeff McKay, Savin Vy, Jeremy Hruska, Jason Marsh)

    Best winning percentage: 79.2% (76-20) (Richard Lee)

    Worst winning percentage: 44.8% (43-53) (Tom Troyer)

    Previous winners:

  • 1997 Dale Wheatley 9th
  • 1999 Eric Yabu 30th
  • 2001 Steve Steinhart 25th
  • 2002 Michelle Temple 32nd

    First ten to send in entries averaged 989.7. Last ten to send in their entries averaged 989.9.

    Last year/This year: Steve Steinhart #3/#25, Larry Harris #11/#22, Charles DeMartini #4/#19, Dale Wheatley #14/#9, Julie Yabu #15/#23

    Most consistent: Julie Yabu finished 13th, 13th, 15th, 23rd the last four years. Larry Harris finished 12th, 11th, 22nd the last three years.

    Football/Basketball experts: Richard Lee #18/#1, Steve Steinhart #6/#25, Charles DeMartini #15/#19 in the two pools this year.

    FINAL STANDINGS: all ties broken by (1) winning pct; (2) exact picks

    # NAME W-L (E) TOTAL
    1 Richard Lee (Cal) 76-20 5 1207
    2 Nate Jolly (Oregon - Pit Crew) 75-21 6 1184
    3 Critchfield (CALIFORNIA BEARS) 74-22 2 1169
    4 Jim Reach (UCLA '62) 74-22 4 1141
    5 Chris Shaffer (BRO) 73-23 8 1134
    6 David Bartman (UCLA Fanatic) 71-25 9 1131
    7 M. Brenner (Cal Fan) 73-23 1 1127
    8 Jim Lyding (U of A) 73-23 4 1122
    9 Dale Wheatley (UCLA '88) 72-24 2 1114
    10 Sean Grove (Oregon '96) 68-28 1 1113
    11 David Patterson (Cal student) 70-26 5 1111
    12 Bill Allen (UCLA'60) 70-26 3 1111
    13 Rihan Javid (Cal '00) 71-25 7 1109
    14 Trojan66 (USC Alum) 73-23 2 1107
    15 Barry Abel (Ucla) 71-25 2 1106
    16 Frank Wu (Oregon State) 70-26 3 1106
    17 Doug Slaton (Cal Band 84) 73-23 3 1102
    18 Barry Beck (UCLA) 74-21 6 1101
    19 Charles DeMartini (California) 71-25 3 1098
    20 Tim Verceles (Stanford) 71-25 6 1097
    21 Jeff T. (81) (Stanford) 71-25 4 1095
    22 Larry Harris (USC) 71-25 0 1095
    23 Julie Yabu (Cal '90) 69-27 3 1094
    24 Doug Car (Cat Tracks Magazine) 70-26 6 1091
    25 Steve Steinhart (Stanford Indians) 70-26 2 1091
    26 Bryan Butcher (Oregon '87) 71-25 6 1088
    27 CONSENSUS 71-25 3 1088
    28 Alex Hall (UCLA '94) 72-24 5 1086
    29 Patrick Thrapp (UW - dawgman.com) 71-25 1 1086
    30 Eric Yabu (Cal '89) 67-29 4 1084
    31 David Steinmetz (UA '07) 71-25 4 1083
    32 Michelle Temple (Cal Bears) 70-26 5 1081
    33 Cliff Slaughterbeck (UW/Index Sensors) 72-24 2 1080
    34 Ben Browdy (UCLA) 72-24 2 1079
    35 Edmund Johnson (UC Berkeley) 66-30 3 1079
    36 Linas Polikaitis (UCLA '83) 63-33 5 1073
    37 Michael Magee (Oregon Ducks) 68-28 6 1070
    38 Nick Haselwander (UO Pit Crew) 69-27 1 1065
    39 Don Shennum (Cal '93) 72-24 3 1064
    40 Michael Bishop (SDSundevil) 68-28 1 1064
    41 Paul Frickey (Cal '88) 71-25 4 1060
    42 john dmohowski (USC) 70-26 5 1060
    43 Lance P (UW) 65-31 3 1057
    44 Rusty Van Cleave (Arizona) 71-25 3 1055
    45 Curtis Godt (California '86) 67-29 2 1053
    46 Randy Enders (Ducks) 69-27 4 1049
    47 Kenyon Colloran (Stanford) 69-27 2 1049
    48 Steve McCanse (Cats) 70-26 4 1046
    49 Rich Meyer (UCLA) 72-24 3 1045
    50 Steve Moore (Cal Alumnus) 71-25 4 1039
    51 Steve Jacobson (UO73) 70-26 4 1036
    52 Sean Shanahan (Honey Buckit) 65-31 2 1036
    53 MattO (UCLA '99) 70-26 2 1035
    54 Ron Sakai (Cal '77) 66-30 4 1033
    55 kev hayashida (Ucla '87) 66-30 1 1029
    56 John Poprac (UCLA '88) 70-26 3 1025
    57 James Wheeler (ASU) 69-27 8 1022
    58 Les P. (USC) 65-31 5 1022
    59 Rich K (Stanford) 71-25 2 1019
    60 Jeff Viducich (Cal) 68-28 4 1017
    61 Scott Thomspon (EvilBeaver - OSU) 67-29 1 1017
    62 Rick Kranz (UCLA Law) 66-30 2 1014
    63 Howie Ludwig (Cal '69) 63-33 3 1012
    64 Steve Durrett (Stanford '74/Bootleg) 69-27 1 1011
    65 Ty Sherman (UCLA) 68-28 3 1009
    66 Ben Pflaum (Oregon State) 63-33 4 1006
    67 Richard Brisacher (UCLA '88) 63-33 2 1005
    68 John Neal (WSU 2000) 67-29 2 1004
    69 Mike Bowles (USC) 73-23 2 997
    70 John Plummer (Oregon) 67-29 4 997
    71 Michael Conkey (Oregon Ducks) 67-29 2 993
    72 DOGFISH (GUAVA) 66-30 4 992
    73 Tower (none) 66-30 2 991
    74 Jeff Schloss (OSU '94) 66-29 0 990
    75 Morgan R. (ASU Alum) 69-27 1 989
    76 K.M. Petersen (UW) 64-32 4 988
    77 Eric Noon (Beaver Fan) 61-35 5 983
    78 Byran Smucker (UO) 66-30 2 982
    79 David Wiley (Cal '81) 62-34 2 981
    80 Lisa Lam (Cal) 66-30 2 978
    81 Mitchell Brisacher (UCLA Class of 2016) 60-36 2 978
    82 Autzen1 (Ducks) 66-30 2 976
    83 Sam Kerr (California) 63-33 2 974
    84 Bryan O. (UofA) 68-28 1 973
    85 DPostal (UCLA 1991) 64-32 1 972
    86 WATROY (USC) 65-31 4 967
    87 Andy Lofstedt (Go Huskies) 64-32 2 966
    88 Erik Kleven (WSU Alum) 65-31 2 965
    89 Cory Hibbert (OSU) 57-39 5 965
    90 David Minces (Former student at UA) 63-33 3 962
    91 Chris Davis (UNLV) 64-32 3 961
    92 Scott Canfield (Washington Huskies#1) 64-32 3 960
    93 Mark Brown (USC 2005) 65-31 0 957
    94 E Perkins (WSU) 60-36 4 955
    95 Alex Dyer (USC Alum) 67-29 2 946
    96 Erik Grimshaw (Cal '95) 60-36 2 945
    97 Jim Chough (Fight On) 62-34 5 942
    98 Big Al (UCLA) 60-36 0 942
    99 Paul Baisted (OSU) 60-36 5 940
    100 David Ansnes (Oregon) 66-30 3 937
    101 Tricky Dick Kiburz (Arizona State '88) 59-37 4 936
    102 Scott Morrison (The Beavs!!!!!) 62-34 4 935
    103 Mike T (UCLA) 58-38 3 924
    104 Jeff McKay (Duck fan) 69-27 0 903
    105 Jon Berke (UCLA) 60-36 3 901
    106 Michael Brace (wazzu) 60-36 2 895
    107 Ty Gonrowski (Ducks - Pit Crew) 61-35 2 893
    108 Steve Lane (WOSC '92) 61-35 2 864
    109 Savin Vy (WA) 59-37 0 850
    110 Da Griffy (Go BEARS!) 57-39 2 848
    111 Andy Campbell (Go Ducks!!) 57-39 4 846
    112 Jeremy Hruska (Beaver Believer) 61-35 0 796
    113 Matt Rai (WSU) 50-46 3 756
    114 Jason Marsh (Sun Devil Pride!) 57-39 0 749
    115 Tom Troyer (AHQ) 43-53 2 701