NCAA Tournament - Final 4 is Set

All:

The remainder of the Final Four is set is set, with Duke and Michigan State joining Kentucky and Wisconsin.  Kingfish Rod Parham of Atlanta remains in the lead, and will have the lead through the time I touchdown in Indianapolis on Friday.  Keep your eyes on this blog for updates after Saturday's Final Four, but also for our semi-live blogging of the trip.

We lost one more champion as the Gonzaga Bulldogs fell.  As a reminder, the champions selected this year are:  Arizona, Duke, Gonzaga, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, Notre Dame, SMU, Villanova, Virginia, Wisconsin.  Bold teams remain in the tournament.

A couple of notes, the picks of the day go to Cory Mauro and Steve Usma 2, the only two brackets to have selected both Michigan State and Duke.  The antithesis of that is Arlene Hopps - which has the dubious distinction of being the highest ranked entrant with the possibility of zero additional points from here on out.  Another mention to Katie Butler Litsey, who is the highest ranked entry to have correctly selected 0 of the Final Four participants.

There is a formatting glitch that I really do not want to take the time to try to find, so my apologies for the random spacings.

A payment reminder:  For paypal:  sosalaw@yahoo.com; For Google Wallet:  pepsosa21@gmail.com

As always, please double check your math as I may have missed something.  I corrected a few ballots from yesterday’s results, as yes, I even double-check myself.

Now, on to the standings.  Ties, for now, are listed alphabetically.

1.         Kingfish Rod Parham – 124  Kentucky/Duke

2.         George Walks 1 – 120 Wisconsin/Iowa State

3.         Paul John Reichert IV – 113 Kentucky/Duke

4.         Si Nichols 1 – 111 Wisconsin/Duke

            Silas Nichols – 111 – Kentucky/Duke

6.         Adam Jorgensen – 108 Wisconsin/Duke

            Paul John Reichert 2 – 108 Duke/Kentucky

8.        Jacey Fowler 2 – 105 Kentucky/Duke

9.       Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds – 103 Villanova/Kentucky

          Kim Bancsi Lumpkin 2 – 103 Wisconsin/Virginia

          Si Nichols 2 – 103 Kentucky/Duke

12.         Griffey Parker – 101 Kentucky/Villanova

13.       Anthony LaPira – 100 Kentucky/Duke

14.       Jacey Fowler 1 – 98 Kentucky/Gonzaga

            Cory Mauro – 98 Kentucky/Duke

            Debbie Nieman – 98 Duke/Kentucky

17.       Greg Kummerlen – 97 Kentucky/Duke

18.       Day Yi – 95 Kentucky/Duke

19.       Trenton May – 94 Virginia/Kentucky

20.       Albert Harper III – 92 Kentucky/Villanova

21.       Colleen Hamilton – 91 Kentucky/Villanova

22.       Serena Davila – 90 Kentucky/Gonzaga

            Jonathan Wasserman – 90 Kentucky/Virginia

24.       Brent Bellinger – 89 Kentucky/Duke

            Brian Spatchek – 89 Wisconsin/Gonzaga

            Cheryl Spuhler – 89 Virginia/Kentucky

27.       Steven Usma 2 – 88 Kentucky/Duke

28.       Karen Katz – 87 Kentucky/Villanova

            Kareem Montague – 87 Kentucky/Villanova

            Sasha Moon – 87 Kentucky/Duke

            Joshua Zdrowak – 87 Duke/Kentucky

32.       Allison Parker – 86 Duke/Kentucky

            Steve Usma 1 – 86 Kentucky/Villanova

34.       Alvaro Gonzalez – 85 Kentucky/Virginia

            Arlene Hopps – 85 Villanova/Arizona

            Matt Nieman – 85 Kentucky/Blank

            Traci and Kyle Sheehan – 85 Duke/Wisconsin

38.      Ashley Poer 1 – 84 Wisconsin/Gonzaga

            Stacia Wilkaitis 2 – 84 Villanova/Wisconsin

40.        Koma Gandy – 83 Wisconsin/Duke

            Ty Leatherman – 83 Duke/Kentucky

            George Walks 3 – 83 Arizona/Virginia

43.       Rich Samuels 2 – 82 Kentucky/Virginia

            Barkley Sosa – 82 Kentucky/Duke

            George Walks 2 – 82 Kentucky/Duke

46.       Carolyn Fowler – 81 Kentucky/Villanova

            Kim Bancsi Lumpkin – 81 Wisconsin/Virginia

            Noel Martinez – 81 Kentucky/Duke

49.       Steffan Alexander – 80 Kentucky/Duke
            Jed Dorsey – 80 Wisconsin/Villanova

            Matt Hopps – 80 Kentucky/Duke

            Amy Zdrowak – 80 Kentucky/Duke

53.       Ashley Poer 2 – 79 Iowa State/Kentucky

            Jason Schultz – 79 Kentucky/Virginia

            Abigail Sosa – 79 Kentucky/Virginia

            Hannah Sosa – 79 Kentucky/Duke

            Steve Usma 4 – 79 Kentucky/Virginia

58.       Alex King – 78 Arizona/Duke

            Mac Kroesen – 78 Virginia/Kentucky

            Sam Lozier – 78 Wisconsin/Virginia

            Pepe Sosa – 78 Kentucky/Villanova

62.       Kyle Henderson – 77 Kentucky/Virginia

            Eric Inge – 77 Kentucky/Duke
            Michael Litsey – 77 Wisconsin/Virginia

            Stacia Wilkaitis 1 – 77 Kentucky/Villanova

            Hershey Zdrowak – 77 Arizona/Villanova

67.       Jessica Koch – 76 Kansas/Duke

            Steven Usma 3 – 76 Gonzaga/Kentucky

            George Walks 4 – 76 Kentucky/Duke

70.       Erin Devlin – 75 SMU/Kentucky

            Katie Butler Litsey – 75 Arizona/Villanova

            Chad Upson – 75 Kentucky/Iowa State

            Katie Zdrowak – 75 Kentucky/Gonzaga

74.       Rich Samuels 1 – 74 Kentucky/Virginia

            Justin Yung – 74 Virginia/Kentucky

 76.     Vic LaPira – 73 Kentucky/Gonzaga

            Jane Reynolds – 73 Kentucky/Iowa State

78.      George Walks 5 – 71 Villanova/Arizona

79.       Jen Mahoney – 70 Wisconsin/Virginia

80.      Rich Samuels 3 – 69 Notre Dame/Oklahoma

           Keith Zdrowak – 69 Villanova/Kentucky

82.      Martha Kroesen – 68 Kentucky/Gonzaga

83.       Jason Spuhler – 67 Kentucky/Virginia

84.       Kyle Henderson 1 – 65 Arizona/Virginia

85.       Chris Kroesen – 56 Arizona/Villanova

86.       Braeden Helland – 51 Kentucky/Northern Iowa

NCAA Tournament Elite 8 Day 1

All:

Half of the Final Four is set, with Kentucky and Notre Dame playing one for the ages and Wisconsin setting up a semi-final rematch with the Wildcats.  The lead that George Walks 1 of West Palm Beach had was short lived, as Kingfish Rod Parham of Atlanta retakes the lead.  I suppose that George should have went with the favorite Wildcats.  A ton of entries had Kentucky and Wisconsin, so there is no “Pick of the Day”.  

We lost two champions yesterday, so four selected champions remain.  One more will fall today as Gonzaga plays Duke.  Although nobody has Louisville or Michigan State winning, several entries do have them advancing to the Final Four, so that is a nice place to pick up some much needed and valuable points.  As a reminder, he champions selected this year are:  Arizona, Duke, Gonzaga, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, Notre Dame, SMU, Villanova, Virginia, Wisconsin.  Bold teams remain in the tournament.

Have fun watching the Elite 8 today.  Remember today’s game count for 8 points each.

A payment reminder:  For paypal:  sosalaw@yahoo.com; For Google Wallet:  pepsosa21@gmail.com

As always, please double check your math as I may have missed something.  I corrected a few ballots from yesterday’s results, as yes, I even double-check myself.

Now, on to the standings.  Ties, for now, are listed alphabetically.

1.         Kingfish Rod Parham – 116  Kentucky/Duke

2.         George Walks 1 – 112 Wisconsin/Iowa State

3.         Paul John Reichert IV – 105 Kentucky/Duke

4.         Kim Bancsi Lumpkin 2 – 103 Wisconsin/Virginia

            Si Nichols 1 – 103 Wisconsin/Duke

            Silas Nichols – 103 – Kentucky/Duke

7.         Griffey Parker – 101 Kentucky/Villanova

8.         Adam Jorgensen – 100 Wisconsin/Duke

            Paul John Reichert 2 – 100 Duke/Kentucky

10.       Jacey Fowler 2 – 97 Kentucky/Duke

11.       Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds – 95 Villanova/Kentucky

            Si Nichols 2 – 95 Kentucky/Duke

13.       Anthony LaPira – 92 Kentucky/Duke

14.       Serena Davila – 90 Kentucky/Gonzaga

            Jacey Fowler – 90 Kentucky/Gonzaga

            Debbie Nieman – 90 Duke/Kentucky

17.       Greg Kummerlen – 89 Kentucky/Duke

            Brian Spatchek – 89 Wisconsin/Gonzaga

            Cheryl Spuhler – 89 Virginia/Kentucky

20.       Day Yi – 87 Kentucky/Duke

21.       Trenton May – 86 Virginia/Kentucky

22.       Arlene Hopps – 85 Villanova/Arizona

23.       Albert Harper III – 84 Kentucky/Villanova

            Ashley Poer 1 – 84 Wisconsin/Gonzaga

25.       Colleen Hamilton – 83 Kentucky/Villanova

26.       Cory Mauro – 82 Kentucky/Duke

            Rich Samuels 2 – 82 Kentucky/Virginia

            Jonathan Wasserman – 82 Kentucky/Virginia

29.       Brent Bellinger – 81 Kentucky/Duke

            Carolyn Fowler – 81 Kentucky/Villanova

31.       Jed Dorsey – 80 Wisconsin/Villanova

            Amy Zdrowak – 80 Kentucky/Duke

33.       Karen Katz – 79 Kentucky/Villanova

            Kareem Montague – 79 Kentucky/Villanova

            Sasha Moon – 79 Kentucky/Duke

            Ashley Poer 2 – 79 Iowa State/Kentucky

            Jason Schultz – 79 Kentucky/Virginia

            Steve Usma 4 – 79 Kentucky/Virginia

            Joshua Zdrowak – 79 Duke/Kentucky

40.       Mac Kroesen – 78 Virginia/Kentucky

            Sam Lozier – 78 Wisconsin/Virginia

            Allison Parker – 78 Duke/Kentucky

            Steve Usma 1 – 78 Kentucky/Villanova

44.       Alvaro Gonzalez – 77 Kentucky/Virginia

            Kyle Henderson – 77 Kentucky/Virginia

            Michael Litsey – 77 Wisconsin/Virginia

            Matt Nieman – 77 Kentucky/Blank

            Traci and Kyle Sheehan – 77 Duke/Wisconsin

            Stacia Wilkaitis 1 – 77 Kentucky/Villanova

50.       Steven Usma 3 – 76 Gonzaga/Kentucky

            Stacia Wilkaitis 2 – 76 Villanova/Wisconsin

52.       Erin Devlin – 75 SMU/Kentucky

            Koma Gandy – 75 Wisconsin/Duke

            Ty Leatherman – 75 Duke/Kentucky

            Katie Butler Litsey – 75 Arizona/Villanova

            Chad Upson – 75 Kentucky/Iowa State

            George Walks 3 – 75 Arizona/Virginia

            Katie Zdrowak – 75 Kentucky/Gonzaga

59.       Rich Samuels 1 – 74 KentuckyVirginia

            Barkley Sosa – 74 Kentucky/Duke

            George Walks 2 – 74 Kentucky/Duke

            Justin Yung – 74 Virginia/Kentucky

63.       Kim Bancsi Lumpkin – 73 Wisconsin/Virginia

            Vic LaPira – 73 Kentucky/Gonzaga

            Noel Martinez – 73 Kentucky/Duke

            Jane Reynolds – 73 Kentucky/Iowa State

67.       Steffan Alexander – 72 Kentucky/Duke

            Matt Hopps – 72 Kentucky/Duke

            Steven Usma 2 – 72 Kentucky/Duke

70.       Abigail Sosa – 71 Kentucky/Virginia

            Hannah Sosa – 71 Kentucky/Duke

            George Walks 5 – 71 Villanova/Arizona

73.       Alex King – 70 Arizona/Duke

            Jen Mahoney – 70 Wisconsin/Virginia

            Pepe Sosa – 70 Kentucky/Villanova

76.       Eric Inge – 69 Kentucky/Duke

            Rich Samuels 3 – 69 Notre Dame/Oklahoma

            Hershey Zdrowak – 69 Arizona/Villanova

79.       Jessica Koch – 68 Kansas/Duke

            Martha Kroesen – 68 Kentucky/Gonzaga

            George Walks 4 – 68 Kentucky/Duke

82.       Jason Spuhler – 67 Kentucky/Virginia

83.       Kyle Henderson – 65 Arizona/Virginia

84.       Keith Zdrowak – 61 Villanova/Kentucky

85.       Chris Kroesen – 56 Arizona/Villanova

86.       Braeden Helland – 51 Kentucky/Northern Iowa

NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Day 2

Ladies and Gentlemen:

So we are now onto the Elite 8, and after Louisville and Michigan State victories, we have a new leader, George Walks 1 of West Palm Beach.  George manage to select both Michigan State and Louisville into the Elite 8, gaining him extra points over most of the pack.  Also selecting both the Spartans and Cardinals was Si Nichols 1 and Si Nichols 2 of Scottsdale, Arizona and Cory Mauro of West Palm Beach, FL.  Collectively, these were the picks of the day.

In addition to a new outright leader for the first time since the first day of the tournament, we also had our first entries with 0 points for a day.  That dubious distinction goes to Jennifer Mahoney of West Palm Beach, FL/Monmouth, II, Jason Spuhler of Acworth, GA and Braeden Helland of Jacksonville, FL.  Due to the other half of the bracket, though, these entries can still score some points today and next week, just not tomorrow.

We lost no champions yesterday, so the champions in play remain the same.  Although two of those will definitely fall tonight as both matchups consist of two champions:  Kentucky v. Notre Dame and Wisconsin v. Arizona.  As a reminder, he champions selected this year are:  Arizona, Duke, Gonzaga, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, Notre Dame, SMU, Villanova, Virginia, Wisconsin.  Bold teams remain in the tournament.

Have fun watching the Elite 8 today.  While most entries have Kentucky winning the Midwest regional, there is a large split among the selections in the West regional, with a large number of selections for Wisconsin and an equally larger number who selected Arizona.  That game will go a long way to separating our participants and if Kentucky loses today, the few that did not select those Wildcats will be incredibly happy.  Remember today’s game count for 8 points each.

A payment reminder:  For paypal:  sosalaw@yahoo.com; For Google Wallet:  pepsosa21@gmail.com

As always, please double check your math as I may have missed something.  I corrected a few ballots from yesterday’s results, as yes, I even double-check myself.

Now, on to the standings.  Ties, for now, are listed alphabetically.

1.       George Walks 1 – 104 – 3/4 Wisconsin/Iowa State

2.       Kingfish Rod Parham – 100 – 3/4 Kentucky/Duke

3.       Paul John Reichert IV – 89 – 4/4 Kentucky/Duke

4.       Kim Bancsi Lumpkin 2 – 87 – 3/4  Wisconsin/Virginia

          Si Nichols 1 – 87 – 4/4 Wisconsin/Duke

          Si Nichols 2 – 87 – 4/4 Kentucky/Duke

          Silas Nichols – 87 – 4/4 Kentucky/Duke

8.       Griffey Parker – 85 – 3/4 Kentucky/Villanova

9.       Adam Jorgensen – 84 – 3/4 Wisconsin/Duke

          Paul John Reichert IV 2 – 84   - 3/4 Kentucky/Duke

11.     Jacey Fowler I – 82 – 4/4 Kentucky/Gonzaga

12.     Jacey Fowler 2 – 81 – 3/4 Kentucky/Duke

13.     Carolyn Fowler/Jane Reynolds – 79 – 3/4 Villanova/Kentucky

          Day Yi – 79 – 3/4 Kentucky/Duke

15.     Arlene Hopps – 77 – 3/4  Villanova/Arizona

16.     Anthony LaPira – 76 – 3/4 Kentucky/Duke

17.     Colleen Hamilton – 75 3/4 Kentucky/Villanova

          Katie Butler Litsey – 75 – 3/4 Arizona/Villanova

19.     Serena Davila – 74 – 4/4 Kentucky/Gonzaga

          Cory Mauro – 74 – 4/4 Kentucky/Duke

          Debbie Nieman – 74 3/4 Duke/Kentucky

          Jonathan Wasserman – 74 – 2/4 Kentucky/Virginia

23.     Brent Bellinger – 73 – 3/4 Kentucky/Duke

          Carolyn Fowler – 73 – 2/4 Kentucky/Villanova  

          Greg Kummerlen – 73 – 3/4  Kentucky/Duke

          Brian Spatchek – 73 – 3/4 Wisconsin/Gonzaga

          Cheryl Spuhler – 73 – 3/4 Kentucky/Virginia

28.     Kareem Montague – 71 – 3/4 Kentucky/Villanova

          Sasha Moon – 71 – 3/4 Kentucky/Duke

          Ashley Poer 2 – 71 – 2/4 Iowa State/Kentucky

          Jason Schultz – 71 – 3/4 Kentucky/Virginia

          Steven Usma 4 – 71 – 3/4 Kentucky/Virginia

          George Walks 5 – 71 – 2/4 Villanova/Arizona

34.     Mac Kroesen – 70 – 3/4 Virginia/Kentucky

          Trenton May  70 – 3/4 Virginia/Kentucky

          Allison Parker – 70 – 3/4 Duke/Kentucky

37.     Alvaro Gonzalez – 69 – 3/4 Kentucky/Villanova

          Kyle Henderson 2 – 69 – 3/4 Kentucky/Virginia

          Matt Nieman – 69 – 3/4 Kentucky/Blank

          Traci and Kyle Sheehan – 69 – 3/4 Duke/Wisconsin

          Hershey Zdrowak – 69 – 3/4 Arizona/Villanova

42.     Albert Harper III – 68 – 3/4 Kentucky/Villanova

          Ashley Poer 1 – 68 – 3/4 Wisconsin/Gonzaga

          Steven Usma 3 – 68 – 4/4 Gonzaga/Kentucky

45.     Chad Upson – 67 – 2/4 Kentucky/Iowa State

          George Walks 3 – 67 – 3/4 Arizona/Virginia

          Katie Zdrowak – 67 – 3/4 Kentucky/Gonzaga

48.     Rich Samuels 1 – 66 – 1/4 Kentucky/Virginia

          Rich Samuels 2 – 66 – 2/4 Kentucky/Virginia

          George Walks 2 – 66 – 2/4 Kentucky/Duke

          Justin Yung – 66 – 3/4 Virginia/Kentucky

52.     Kim Bancsi Lumpkin 1 – 65 – 3/4 Wisconsin/Virginia

          Noel Martinez – 65 – 3/4 Kentucky/Duke

          Jane Reynolds – 65 – 2/4 Kentucky/Iowa State

55.     Steffan Alexander – 64 – 3/4 Kentucky/Duke

          Jed Dorsey – 64 – 2/4 Wisconsin/Villanova

          Matt Hopps – 64 – 3/4 Kentucky/Duke

          Steven Usma 2 - 64 – 4/4 Duke/Kentucky

          Amy Zdrowak – 64 – 3/4 Kentucky/Duke

60.     Karen Katz – 63 – 3/4 Kentucky/Villanova

          Hannah Sosa – 63 – 4/4 Kentucky/Duke

          Joshua Zdrowak – 63  - 3/4 Duke/Kentucky

63.     Alex King – 62 – 3/4 Arizona/Duke

          Sam Lozier – 62 – 2/4 Wisconsin/Virginia

          Pepe Sosa – 62 – 3/4 Kentucky/Villanova

          Steven Usma 1 – 62 – 3/4 Kentucky/Villanova

67.     Eric Inge – 61 – 2/4 Kentucky/Duke

          Michael Litsey – 61 – 2/4 Wisconsin/Virginia

          Rich Samuels 3 – 61 – 2/4 Notre Dame/Oklahoma

          Stacia Wilkaitis 1 – 61 – 2/4 Kentucky/Villanova

71.     Jessica Koch – 60 – 2/4 Kansas/Duke

          Martha Kroesen – 60 – 2/4 Kentucky/Gonzaga

          George Walks 4 – 60 – 3/4 Duke/Kentucky

          Stacia Wilkaitis 2 – 60 – 3/4 Villanova/Wisconsin

75.     Koma Gandy – 59 – 3/4 Wisconsin/Duke

          Ty Leatherman – 59 – 3/4 Duke/Kentucky

77.     Barkley Sosa – 58 – 4/4 Kentucky/Duke

78.     Kyle Henderson 1 – 57 – 2/4 Arizona/Virginia

          Vic LaPira – 57 – 3/4 Kentucky/Gonzaga

80.     Abigail Sosa – 55 – 3/4 Kentucky/Virginia

81.     Jen Mahoney – 54 – 2/4 Wisconsin/Virginia

82.     Keith Zdrowak – 53 – 3/4 Villanova/Kentucky

83.     Jason Spuhler – 51 – 2/4 Kentucky/Virginia

84.     Erin Devlin – 49 – 2/4 SMU/Kentucky

85.     Chris Kroesen – 48 – 2/4 Arizona/Virginia

86.     Braeden Helland – 43 – 2/4 – Kentucky/Northern Iowa