And all our leaders in the pool……
Not much to write about the games. Kentucky jumped on Baylor early and never looked back. Kansas and UNC was a much closer battle – tied at half, Kansas would get up a few baskets, and UNC would fight their way back – and then, in the final four minutes, it was all Jayhawks. In that crunch time, it was painful obvious how badly the Tar Heels missed their star point guard Kendall Marshall – after some turnovers and a bad foul by the freshman replacement (if you are going to foul a breakaway, make sure he doesn’t also score the layup). And in the end, the Jayhawks took advantage and earned their trip to New Orleans.
That leaves us with two re-matches for the Final Four. The Bluegrass State will be going crazy as the Big East conference tournament Louisville will get a second chance at SEC regular season champion Kentucky – this time on a neutral court instead of the Wildcats’ Rupp Arena. And in the other game, Big 10 regular season co-champion Ohio State will get a second chance against the Big 12 regular season champion Kansas – although this time it will not only be at a neutral court instead of the Jayhawks’ Phog Allen Fieldhouse, the Buckeyes will have a healthy Jared Sullinger.
At this critical time in the tournament, our leader is Jennifer Carter – out of 362 entries, Jennifer was the only person who correctly predicted that Kentucky, Louisville, Ohio State, and Kansas would be the four teams playing in New Orleans. She is closely followed by 6 people who are just 20 points behind – Robert Shipp, Steve O’Neill, David Caldwell, Kayla Lindvall, Philip Ventrella, and Ross Vetter.
In the Upset pool, Keith Schleicher has overtaken the lead from Christina Lee. However, Keith Lancette is closing fast riding the success of Louisville. And in the Second Chance Pool, Shirli Zelcer and Taylor Early continued their amazing run – going 12 for 12 through the Sweet 16 and Elite 8. They are followed by Stephen Glass – just 40 points behind.
As for the Lunatic – he has received a thorough beating, and it will only get worse. The Lunatic picked North Carolina and Michigan State in the championship game and so can finish no better than 163rd – and there will likely be others who will pass him in the final weekend. However, he is proud that his 2 year daughter has already beaten him using Vegas models to try to win, his mother-in-law Kate who was a mainstay on the leaderboard until her Tar Heels went down today, and even prouder of his dad, who is currently in a tie for 11th place.
Good luck to all the leaders in the pool!!!! And congratulations to everyone who has already STOMPED THE LUNATIC!