WKUFan518 has gotten the most points so far (311), and he moved into the Top 10 (9th), ahead of techdawg88 (267) and Motley Blazer (138), who slumped from 9th down to 11th place.

But the top of the leaderboard is now a little tighter. With 255 March Madness points, ICB moved ahead of Mike77 (231) into 2nd place. He’s now only 198 points behind UMFtball Tiger (237).

Here are the 1st-round games that they picked correctly that at least one of this Top 3 missed:

UMFT: Houston, Michigan, Miami, Creighton, Memphis, UCLA, UNC
ICB: Ohio St., TCU, Providence, Richmond, Iowa St., Creighton, Notre Dame, Michigan St., Texas
Mike77: Houston, TCU, Notre Dame, Memphis, UCLA, Murray St., UNC.

Now looking at their 2nd-round picks, here are the winners that would make a difference in the Top 3’s relative scores:

UMFT: Villanova, Houston, Auburn, Wisconsin, UCLA
ICB: Ohio St., Illinois, Auburn, Iowa St., Providence, Purdue, St. Mary’s
Mike77: Villanova, Houston, Wisconsin, UCLA

Note that six of ICB’s difference-making choices (all but Auburn) are different from UMFT’s (some of which had lost their 1st-round games). If he’s correct on all of them, he’ll gain 170 points on the leader, nearly wiping out the entire gap!! What are the chances?

So the answer to my Topic Question is, "Not quite. But almost."

Good luck to all this weekend!




Posted: 3/20/2022 9:52:32 PM

What an incredible finish!!!

Up by 25 with 10:08 remaining in the game, UNC’s hot-shooting Manek is called for flagrant 2 foul and ejected for swinging his elbow up into the face of Baylor’s Sochan. Baylor then revs up both its had-been-dormant shooting and defensive pressure, while UNC seizes up. Baylor outscores the ‘Heels 38-13 to tie the score at 80-all with 15.8 seconds left!!

UNC misses a last-gasp 3. On to Overtime!

But Baylor can’t sustain the excellence and momentum of its previous 10 minutes. Bears miss 3 contested layups and a follow-up dunk, among others, while UNC players hit some shots and free throws.

A Baylor win would have tied the greatest comeback in NCAA tournament history … but the Tar Heels ended up winning by 7, 93-86.

Sorry about that, ICB!




Posted: 3/19/2022 12:22:55 PM