Bracket Buster Bonanza

Congratulations to Beth and the Defending Champion Florida Gators!!! Not only was Ms. Elliot the only remaining contestant with a contender in the championship game, but she had the winner picked. Here's how the final rankings played out:

Well, needless to say.....Saturday didn't go the way that most of us thought it might. Every single contestant except one, Beth, has been eliminated from having a pick alive in the final championship game. Only 4 people had a winning pick on Saturday, with only one person, Julie, picking those Buckeyes of Columbus.

As it stands, if Ohio State wins tomorrow night....Ray wins the pool. BUT, because of the increased point values in the final round, if Florida wins tomorrow night......Beth will win the pool.

This is how the score sheet looks at the moment, Beth's score is the only one that can be affected by the final game (remember, a win in the final round is worth 5 points!):

The implications of tomorrow's game must briefly be pointed out.......the match-up between Florida and Ohio St. will replicate the match-up between these two schools in this year's College Football National Championship (for the record, the Gators of Gainesville were the victors there). Not only did Florida win that championship game, but their win put them in the record books as the only school to simultaneously hold the National Championship trophy for Football and Basketball (having won March Madness in 2006). On top of all of that, Florida and Ohio St. have already met up this year in regular season play in a game that Florida came out on top of. And yet, the importances of Monday's game keep going......Greg Oden (OSU) and Joakim Noah (Fla.) are both viable contenders to be the number 1 draft pick in next year's NBA draft. Whose stock will rise, whose will falter? As a footnote, Oden is a freshman while Noah is a senior.

And with that....enjoy the game tomorrow night. The Madness has come down to this, 2 football powerhouses vying to cut down the nets in Atlanta. Who'll it be?!?

Four rounds are in the books and this is how the standings look:

Unbelievable......if Kansas had beat UCLA tonight there would have been a three-way tie for first place! But alas, the Bruins of Westwood channeled the Wizard and were able to outlast those pesky Jayhawks to become the 2nd team to make it to Atlanta for the Final Four (set to face the winner of Florida vs. Oregon). Ironically enough, Kansas, who was the overall Number 1, is the first 1 seed to be eliminated.

Janet and Ray continue their sparring for the Number 1 spot, with Ray regaining the top spot. That three-way tie for third remains, however based on their picks for Sunday's games I'm afraid the triumvirate will be broken up by the end of tomorrow. With 6 people who have the potential of going 2-0 tomorrow there could be a lot of shake-up. At this point we're down to only 7 people who have their Final Four picks still intact.

Here are your scores....and don't forget that tomorrow's games start at 2:40.

That is a fierce three-way tie for 3rd, perhaps today's games will provide a little separation. I have to say how impressed that I am with the fact that 3 of our contestants have winning percentages of over 70%: Ray (73%), Janet and Susan (70%). Going in to today's games only 2 of our players have their Elite Eight picks intact: Bob and Ray. Though even their picks differ on one game: Bob (Kansas) and Ray (UCLA).

Today features two match-ups of #1's against #2's.....Memphis vs. Ohio St. and UCLA vs. Kansas. Below are everyone's picks for today and tomorrow's games:

Some amazing games tonight! Memphis in an absolute nail-biter; Greg Oden with the definitive block to make sure that Ohio St. advances; UCLA living up to their legacy; Kansas rockin' and chalkin' their way to the Elite Eight.

Friday night two more Number One seeds are put to the test with 4 games all together, what will this do to the leaderboard......check back to see!