Congratulations to Duke and Michigan State for winning the final 2 spots in the Elite 8.  Duke managed to have one more extra run thanks to Justise Winslow, while Michigan State seemed to manage to stay consistently just one basket ahead of the Sooners to outlast Oklahoma.   But there was one really revealing thing that happened – the Blue Devils and Spartans showed a quality of a great team closing a game that gets overlooked.   They hit their free throws.

Duke hit 8 of their last 10 free throws (ignoring the 1 for 2 with 0.7 seconds left that at this point didn’t matter), and Michigan State hit their last 6 free throws to both seal the games.  It is hard to come back against a team when they hit those critical FTs at the end of the game.

So – the stage is set – we have Kentucky vs. Notre Dame, Wisconsin vs. Arizona, Louisville vs. Michigan State, and Duke vs. Gonzaga.   Four games with the winners heading to Indianapolis to play for the championship.

In our championship, Edward Zhang has reclaimed the lead at 770 points.   Nathan Standley and Kevin find themselves just 10 points back, Alex Simon is 20 points back, and Joe Haggerty and Ann Hawkins are just 30 points back.

In the Upset Pool, Will Shipley has taken over the lead of the Upset Pool thanks to picking Michigan State – Will is followed closely by Donna Woodburn – just 5 points back, and Edward Zhang who is just 9 points back.

This might be the year that we will have to use the tie-breaker vigilantly for the Second Chance Bracket – we have 22 entries that went a perfect 8 for 8 in the Sweet 16.  There will obviously still be some separation from the Elite 8 games – but if the chalk keeps winning, there are likely going to be some ties.

The Lunatic is quietly lurking in a tie for 25th place.  His insane picks of watching the East Region blow up have led to getting 7 of the 8 Elite 8 teams correctly – making up some ground from all of the other crazy picks he made.  Will the weekend squash any dreams for a comeback – we all probably know that answer.   STOMP! STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!