We are only just beginning…

by Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt Sailing News
The 2026 College Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament got underway for 64 teams on March 19 in what is considered to be the biggest and most exciting annual sporting event in the USA. To get on the court, the “official” pool for sailors – Scuttleball – is underway too.

It took only the first game played – TCU beating Ohio State – for my bracket to be busted. If you recall, I used ChatGPT to make my selections, and it was like getting advice from someone with five cups stacked at a Mount Gay Rum party. AI is not there yet.

TCU’s win was a 9 seed over an 8, so hardly the upset that followed when High Point (12) beat Wisconsin (5). Located in North Carolina, High Point is a private, “life skills” university focused on holistic, experiential education, renowned for being ranked the #1 Best-Run College in the nation by The Princeton Review. It is not renowned for basketball. Madness!

But it was the Siena (16) and Duke (1) game that gripped the nation. With over 98% of brackets picking the Blue Devils to win this game, they trailed for nearly the full 40 minutes. Siena, a small private university in eastern New York, stayed with their starters and weary legs allowed Duke to get the lead in the final minutes for the W.

Since the odds of a perfect bracket are 1 in 120.2 billion (and that’s if you know a little something about basketball), failure in the first round is not too significant. However, massive upsets do derail the path toward Scuttleball infamy.

Speaking of infamy, here are Scuttleball Champions we can recall:

Allan Terhune (2013)
Steve Pennington (2014)
R Dub (2015)
D Contraire (2016)
Bruce Nairn (2017)
Kris Matthews (2018)
Jim Lodico (2019)
Pandemic (2020)
Arthur Libby (2021)
David Krupka (2022)
Buttons Padin (2023)
Kathy Alven (2024)
Matt Brock (2025)

At the time of this report, Clare Brock and Trey Ritter lead the 2026 standings, with Kathy Alven, John Dodge, Will Meyer, Patrick Serbrooke, Warren Richter, Chris Field, Brad Read, and Marly Isler filling the top ten. There no consensus among this group as to who will win the championship game on April 6, though nobody has Duke. Hmm!

We are only just beginning…