When the dust settled, 7 of the 8 protected seeds won their way to the Sweet 16, with only #11 Texas being able to knock off #3 Gonzaga.

Congratulations to our leader after Saturday night’s game, Matt Reilly – who sits all alone on top of the standings at 440 points. In a tie for 2nd are Porter Standley, Mark Walsh, and Sam Franklin – just 20 points behind. And then, in a tie for 5th, we have a 12 way tie between Brent Peterson, Karen Barton, Kathy Godwin, Tony Wilson, Jim Sell, Joanna Crabbe, Al Lester, Donnie McCullough, Eric Brown, Rosemary McKnight and Debbe Evans.

In the Upset Pool, Matt also has taken the lead at 202 points. In 2nd place is Tony Wilson at 187 pts, followed closely by Mark Walsh (181 – 3rd), Corey McConville (174 – 4th) and Lochlan Middlebrook (171 – 5th).

Tons of people are still pretty close to the leaders – as the favorites winning tend to also lead to a very full and close leaderboard. So, we should have an exciting competition to see who can continue to hang in the top ten of the standings.

Sunday will bring 8 more teams to the Sweet 16, and in an interesting twist of fate – the favorites aren’t always the favorite. In three games (Kansas vs. Saint John’s, Virginia vs. Tennessee, and Alabama vs. Texas Tech), the Vegas line actually forecasts the protected seed losing. So, we should be in for some exciting games tomorrow!!!!