NCAA Tournament Pool 2026 - The Final Four

 

This is a quick update to the standings going into tonight's Championship Game.  This is unofficial.  Please give me a week or so after tonight's game to finalize calculations, re-score all of the sheets in contention, and to distribute payments.  Tonight's game is worth 28 points.

Standings after the Elite 8/Day 2

1.  Benny Merchant - 130 - MICHIGAN

     Silas Nichols - 130 - MICHIGAN

3.  Katie Zdrowak - 128 - UCONN

4.  Jeff Plamondon 1 - 116 - MICHIGAN

5.  Ashley Poer 1 - 112 - MICHIGAN

    Chuck Whitcomb - 112

7.  Kyle Henderson - 111 - UCONN

8.  Jason Spuhler - 110

9.  Brent Bellinger B - 107 - MICHIGAN

     Floyd Fonte 1 - 107 - MICHIGAN

     Rich Samuels - 107

12.  Colleen Giamberini - 106 - MICHIGAN

       John Hedgpeth - 106

       Justin Yung - 106 - MICHIGAN

15.  Shane Jernigan 1 - 105 - MICHIGAN

       David Kennedy - 105

       Mac Kroesen - 105 - MICHIGAN

       Martha Kroesen - 105

       Measha Williams (Canes 2 Bracket) - 105

       Mike Wolff 1 - 105

21.  Josh Zdrowak - 103

22.  Shane Jernigan 2 - 102

23.  Jim Coleman - 101

24.  Stephanie Henderson - 100

       Steven Usma 2 - 100

26.  Joel Chernoff - 99 - MICHIGAN

       Gracie Fonte - 99

       Hazy Frank - 99 - MICHIGAN

       Max Macon 2 - 99 - Florida

       Measha Williams (Buddy Canes 1 Bracket) - 99

31.  Glen Merchant - 98

       Steven Usma 3 - 98

33.  Jonathan Cox 2 - 97

       Mark Holbert 2 - 97 - UCONN

       Guy Hughes - 97

       Monte Lambert 1 - 97 - Houston

       Salvatore Plamondon - 97

       Bubba Zdrowak - 97

39.   Randy Bennett - 96 - MICHIGAN

       Pepe Sosa 1 - 96

41.  Trey Angus - 95

       Sean McInerney 2 - 95 - MICHIGAN

       Sean McInerney 3 - 95

       William Pujals - 95

       George Walks 4 - 95

46.  Paul Cummings 3 - 94 - MICHIGAN

       Rylee Montague - 94 - MICHIGAN

       Jonathan Wasserman - 94

49.  Jenna Finkelstein - 92

50.  Brent Bellinger A - 91

       Barbara Curlett - 91

       Mango Merchant - 91

       Brigadier General Kareem Montague - 91

       Javier Rodriguez 1 - 91

       Day Yi 2 - 91

56.  Daniel Barsky 1 - 90

       Ty Hedgpeth - 90

       Braeden Helland - 90

       Mike Litsey - 90

       Steven Usma 1 - 90

61.  Carolyn Fowler - 89 - UCONN

       Adam Jorgensen - 89

       Steven Usma 4 - 89 - MICHIGAN

64.  Steven Usma 5 - 88

65.  Daniel Barsky 2 - 87

       Paul Cummings - 87

       Crew Ferguson - 87

       Alyssa Hopps - 87

       Si "Papa Si" Nichols - 87

       Brittany Sosa - 87

       Cheryl Spuhler - 87

       Jonathan Wasserman 2 - 87 - MICHIGAN

73.  Justine Frank - 86

       Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 86

       Annette Pritchard 1 - 86

       Amy Zdrowak - 86

77.  Jonathan Cox 2 - 85

       Karen Katz 2 - 85

       Jane Reynolds - 85

80.  Mitchell K (Lamb) - 84

81.  Floyd Fonte 3 - 83

       Matt Thibaut - 83

83.  Max Macon 4 - 82

       Chris Simmons - 82

       Stephanie Soplop 2 - 82 - UCONN

86.  Matt Hopps - 81

       Karen Katz 1 - 81

       Katie Kollmeyer - 81 - MICHIGAN

89.  Megan Corrado - 80

       Paul Cummings 2 - 80

       Arlene Amo Hopps - 80 - UCONN

       Vincent Plamondon - 80

       Amanda Staudt - 80

       Measha Williams (Canes 3 Bracket) - 80

95.  Marcus Jackson - 79

96.   Henry Transecki - 78

        Biscuit Zdrowak - 78

98.  Duncan Merchant - 77

99.  Blake Jackson - 76

100.  Hannah Sosa - 75

101.  Quinn Jackson - 74

         Paul Kludt - 74

         Dave Piasecki - 74

104.  Ashley Poer 2 - 73

         George Walks 2 - 73

         Day Yi 1 - 73

107.  Dwayne Cushman - 72

         Max Macon 3 - 72

         Natalie Moon - 72

         Kingfish Parham 2 - 72

         Annette Pritchard 2 - 72 

         Pepe Sosa 2 - 72

113.  Keith Zdrowak - 71

114.  Sasha Moon - 70

         Jeff Plamondon - 70

         Lily Spuhler - 70

117.  Jenna Finkelstein - 69

         Keith W. (Lamb) - 69

         Javier Rodriguez 2 - 69

         Jasmine Tran - 69

         George Walks 1 - 69

122.  Skip LaForte - 68

         Monte Lambert 2 - 68

124.  Stacia Wilkaitis - 67

125.  Barkley Sosa - 66 - UCONN

126.  James Garvin - 65

         Mark Holbert 1 - 65

         Max Macon 1 - 65

         Caroline Spuhler - 65

130.  Floyd Fonte 2 - 63

         George Walks 3 - 63

132.  Megan Cox - 61

         Jacey Fowler - 61

134.  Sean McInerney 1 - 60

135.  Dawn Lamb - 55

136.  Stephanie Soplop 1 - 54

         Mike Wolff 2 - 54

138.  Kingfish Parham 1 - 52

139.  Colbie (Lamb) - 51

140.  Keith W 1 (Lamb) - 49

141.  Allison Parker - 47

NCAA Pool Standings - Elite 8 Day 1

NCAA TOURNAMENT POOL STANDINGS

Elite 8 Day 1

The Elite 8 has begun, and both number 1 seeds fell.  Kansas – the overall number 1 seed, the betting favorite, and the most selected champion in our pool, lost to Villanova, and Oregon, the most suspect number 1 seed, lost to Buddy Hield and the Oklahoma Sooners.  See you in Houston Wildcat and Sooner fans.

Kansas and Oklahoma were by far the most popular selections in our group for yesterday’s games, so if you did not at least select 1 game correctly, then you lost ground.  Congratulations to Steve Usma 3, Hilary Kroesen, Katie Kollmeyer, Mac Kroesen and Day Yi 2, for offsetting their choices of teams other than Oklahoma by winning their one game by correctly choosing Villanova for the Final Four.  This is not enough for the “Pick of the Day” award.

That award is shared jointly by Glen Merchant, Justin Yung, Josh and Katie Zdrowak (combined entry), and Amy Zdrowak who correctly selected both Villanova and Oklahoma as advancing to the Final Four.  Those picks, and the 16 points that go along with it, move you up in the standings considerably.

Some movement around the top, but no change to the leader as Greg Kummerlen remains in first.  This is not likely to last, however, as Greg has lost both of his finalists, and his only remaining points possible is by getting North Carolina into the Final Four.  So, if you are behind Greg and still have your winner and/or runner-up, you are still alive!  This is especially true for Glen Merchant, who has risen into a tie for first place.  He still has his entire final four alive!

It is now official that we will have a new champion.  Kingfish Parham, our defending champion, hovered near the top for a while this year, but has slipped in the standings recently, making it incredibly difficult to repeat.  However, as of yesterday, Kingfish can officially no longer earn any more points.  He has been dethroned, but let’s give Kingfish a big round of applause.

 

Two more potential champions, including the favorite, have been defeated, leaving our pool with 4 remaining champions.  For those of you that selected the favorite, Kansas, or took a flyer on Oregon, your chances took a tremendous hit. The remaining champions in the pool are:  Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan State, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Villanova and Virginia. 

We have an All-ACC day today, as North Carolina plays Notre Dame and Virginia takes on Syracuse.  Crazy, but yes Notre Dame and Syracuse are in the ACC.  Who knew?

For those of you that have North Carolina and Virginia as your champions/runners-up, the games today are of tremendous importance.  Nobody has Syracuse advancing into the Final Four, but we do have someone with Notre Dame.  Could that person know more than the rest of us?  We shall see.

Please remember to pay, if you have not.  Payment instructions are on the rule sheet, or you can make other arrangements with me as necessary.

Good luck to everyone, and happy game watching.  Now, on to the standings.

1.         Greg Kummerlen – 108

            Glen Merchant – 108

3.         Kevin McAlister – 100

4.         Jane Reynolds – 96

5.         Keith Bornhorst – 95

6.         Mango Merchant – 94

            Jonathan Wasserman 2 – 94

8.         Duncan Merchant – 93

            Kareem Montague – 93

            Debbie Niemann – 93

11.       Anthony LaPira – 92

            Measha Williams 2 – 92

13.       Steven Usma 3 – 91

            Justin Yung – 91

15.       Kent Armstrong – 90

            Kim Bancsi – 90

            Colleen Hamilton 1 – 90

            Eric Inge – 90

            Allison Parker – 90

            Rich Samuel 2 – 90

21.       Rebecca Seelig – 89

22.       Alex King – 88

23.       Jacey Fowler II – 87

            Karen Katz – 87

            Joshua Zdrowak – 87

26.       Carolyn Fowler – 86

            Pepe Sosa – 86

            Joshua and Katie Zdrowak – 86

29.       Matt Hopps – 84

            Hilary Kroesen – 84

            Measha Williams 4 – 84

32.       Jen Armstrong – 83

            Martha Kroesen – 83

            Measha Williams 3 – 83

35.       Bryan Apolinar – 82

            Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds – 82

            Ty Leatherman – 82

            Lee Seelig – 82

            Roxy Sheehan – 82

            Amy Zdrowak – 82

41.       Cory Mauro – 81

            Abigail Sosa – 81

            Jason Spuhler – 81

44.       Kline Kroesen – 80

            Kyle Sheehan – 80

46.       Matt Nieman – 79

47.       Brent Bellinger – 78

            Katie Kollmeyer – 78

            Steven Usma 1 – 78

50.       Jacey Fowler I – 77

            Chris Kroesen – 77

            Mac Kroesen – 77

            George Walks 2 – 77

            Hershey Zdrowak – 77

55.       Andrew Giannone – 76

56.       Barkley Sosa – 75

            Jonathan Wasserman 1 – 75

            Measha Williams 1 – 75

59.       George Walks 3 – 74

60.       Vic LaPira – 73

            Rich Samuel 1 – 73

            Kulwadee Yung – 73

63.       Day Yi 1 – 72

64.       Phil Doherty 1 – 71

            Kingfish Parham – 71

66.       Charli Aichele – 70

67.       Steffan Alexander – 70

            Steven Usma 2 – 70

69.       Stephanie Aichele – 69

            Michael Litsey – 69

            Hannah Sosa – 69

            Katie Zdrowak – 69

73..      Kyle Henderson – 68

            Ashley Poer 1 – 68

75.       Emily Lawson – 67

            Cheryl Spuhler – 67

77.       Colleen Hamilton 2 - 66

            Jason Murray – 66

79.       Jack Henderson – 64

            Traci Sheehan – 64

            Day Yi 2 – 64

82.       Samantha Sheehan – 63

83.       Serena Davila – 61

            Ashley Poer 2 – 61

85.       Alvaro Gonzalez – 60

            Silas Nichols 1 – 60

            Jeff Plamondon – 60

88.       Silas Nichols 2 – 58

89.       Jessica Koch – 57

            George Walks 4 – 57

            Keith Zdrowak – 57

92.       Phil Doherty 4 – 56

93.       Phil Doherty 3 - 53

94.       Phil Doherty 2 – 48

            George Walks 1 – 48