The Inaugural OU Hoops Photo Tourney >>> Bracket/Rules

[OUHoops]

As you probably already know by now, the 2008-09 season brought us an extraordinary amount of highlights, as well as fantastic photography capturing them in action.

I was going to put together a thread of the "Photos of the Year" but since there were so many, and since it is the offseason and things are slowing down on the board, I thought we'd showcase the Top 32 photos (in my unprofessional opinion) in a Poll Tournament tournament where you can vote to narrow them down to the Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, Final Two and Championship photo for this season. Trimming down the best of the best to the Final 32 was very tough, and I'm sure I've left a few deserving photos out. However, I do think that we have the best of the best.

As you can imagine, these are dominated by Blake Griffin — 18 of the 32 photos are of Blake with six of Willie. Here's an explanation of how the tourney will work.

The Photos

* The selection committee was a one-man show — me. So please send any complaints my way via pm.

* The photos being used are in-game action shots only. No team shots or coaches shots are in this tournament.

* The photos were shot by SoonerSports.com, the Associated Press, Getty Images, Sports Illustrated and other various newspapers and websites. They were not shot by OUHoops.com

The Draw
There are four regions of eight photos. For the first round each region will be divided into two separate brackets of four photos for a total of eight polls. The top two vote-getters in each poll will advance to the Sweet 16.

* In the Sweet 16, there will be four polls with four photos, with the top two vote-getters in each poll advancing to the Elite Eight.

* Once we hit the Elite Eight, the photos will be re-seeded by their previous vote totals and face off head-to-head in individual polls (1 vs. 8, 4 vs. 5, 2 vs 7 and 3 vs 6). The Elite Eight winners will meet in the Final Four, and Final Four winners in the title game.

* Each polling matchup will be open for two days.

* Region 1 and Region 2's first round matchups will be voted on today and tomorrow of this week, and Region 3 and Region 4 will be voted on Wednesday and Thursday. The Sweet 16 begins next Monday.

See the posts below for the complete draw. Again, Region's 1 and 2's first round are currently pinned to the top and available to vote on today and Tuesday. Also, I apologize in advance if any photos have been left out.

 

[OUHoops]

**REGION 1***************************************************

#1 Blake vs. Michigan

#2 Willie vs. UNC

#3 Blake vs. OSU

#4 Blake from above

#5 Blake vs. Davidson, bench reacts

#6 Man in the Middle

#7 Blake vs. Colorado

#8 Taylor vs. Texas

 

[OUHoops]

**REGION 2 **************************************

#1 Blake wants you vs. Colorado

#2 The Dagger vs Baylor

#3 The Gun Show vs. Michigan

#4 Pattillo block vs. Texas

#5 Blake dunk vs. American

#6 Blake dribbles vs. Syracuse

#7 Sky Crocker vs. Syracuse

#8 See ya, Travis vs. OSU

 

[OUHoops]

***REGION 3**********************************************

#1 Blake skys vs. Syracuse

#2 In your face vs. OSU

#3 Pattillo slam vs. OSU

#4 Blake meets Backboard vs. Syracuse

#5 Blake posterizes vs. Colorado

#6 Blake slam from above

#7 Blake meets backboard 2 vs. Syracuse

#8 Blake blows by Hansbrough vs. UNC

 

[OUHoops]

**REGION 4***********************************************

#1 Willie skies vs. Tech

#2 Air Willie vs. UNC

#3 Blake dunk vs. Michigan

#4 Willie Dunk

#5 Willie layup vs. Colorado

#6 Willie dunks vs. UNC

#7 Blake defense vs. Syracuse

#8 Blake dunk attempt vs. A&M

 

[Sooner23]

Damn! This is going to be tough. Region 3 and 4 are stacked, IMO.

Here's my Final Four predictions............

Region 1

Region 2

Region 3

Region 4

 

[tomkar98]

Damn! This is going to be tough. Region 3 and 4 are stacked, IMO.

Here's my Final Four predictions............

Region 1

Region 2

Region 3

Region 4

Those are all awesome pictures!

 

[Guitardeth]

Willie!!

Hey my avatar.